Persona 5 is playable on PC with this PS3 emulator

While attention has lately focused on emulating the Wii U version of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild, PS3 emulation is still a focus for some – especially with the release of Sony-exclusive Persona 5. Emulation whiz Nekotekina has managed to get the critically acclaimed JRPG running in the RPCS3 PS3 emulator (via GamesBeat), and has made some significant progress of late. (Note, while the western release is this week, Persona 5 has been out in Japan since September).

According to a post on the RPCS3 site, Nektekina has managed to increase the emulated framerate of Persona 5 from 1 through to about 10fps, while battle and dungeon areas can often peak at 30fps. Meanwhile, recent work on the emulator has also improved the performance of Demon's Souls and Catherine – neither of which have ever officially released for PC.

The progress coincides with other updates to the emulator, including a feature which auto-detects the firmware module needed for each title. "RPCS3 will analyze the game executable and automatically load the required libraries now," the notes read.

There's footage of Persona 5's PS3 version running in the emulator below. If you're curious about the ethics and legalities related to emulation, Wes covered pretty much everything you'd want to know in his exhaustive report.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.