A RPG video game that is Stranger Things meets the Persona Series
Just an idea, but seriously… why hasn’t anyone thought of this yet?
Stranger Things would make an incredible Persona style video game.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that the basic gameplay loop of the Persona series almost feels like it was designed for Stranger Things. You already have a group of teenagers trying to balance their normal lives, friendships, school, relationships, and family problems while secretly fighting supernatural monsters in another dimension. Replace Persona’s supernatural worlds with the Upside Down, and suddenly you have the foundation for what could be an amazing RPG.
The game could adapt the entire Stranger Things story from Season 1 through Season 5, allowing us to experience Hawkins from the beginning of the series all the way through its conclusion. Then something like Tales From ’85 could work perfectly as a DLC expansion or additional campaign.
For most of the game, I think you should play as Mike Wheeler. Like Persona, every day would give you a limited amount of time, forcing you to decide how you want to spend it.
Do you investigate a strange clue?
Go searching through Hawkins?
Head into the Upside Down?
Spend the afternoon at the arcade?
Ride bikes with Dustin, Lucas, and Will?
Visit Eleven?
Hang out with Nancy?
Help Hopper investigate something?
Or maybe you spend the evening playing Dungeons & Dragons with the Party.
Those choices could become one of the most important parts of the game.
Instead of Persona’s Social Links or Confidants, Stranger Worlds could have a relationship system built around the characters from the show. Spending time with Dustin, Lucas, Will, Eleven, Max, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Hopper, Robin, and everyone else would not just give you added dialogue. Strengthening those relationships could unlock actual gameplay abilities.
Maybe reaching a certain relationship level with Dustin improves your ability to analyze enemy weaknesses. Lucas could unlock stronger ranged attacks. Will’s connection to the Upside Down could eventually let the party detect nearby enemies or supernatural activity. Steve could specialize in protecting other party members. Nancy could become one of your strongest offensive characters. Eleven would obviously be insanely powerful, but using her abilities too much could drain a limited resource or temporarily remove her from battle.
That would make hanging out with characters actually matter.
And that’s exactly what makes Persona such a perfect blueprint for Stranger Things.
The monsters are obviously important, but Stranger Things has always been about its characters and their relationships with one another. A Persona style RPG would finally give players enough time to explore those relationships beyond what we see on television.
Imagine getting completely optional conversations between Steve and Dustin. Spending an afternoon at Family Video with Steve and Robin. Going to the arcade with Max. Helping Hopper with something at the cabin. Playing D&D in Mike’s basement. Visiting Scoops Ahoy. Going to the Starcourt Mall.
You could even have smaller character stories that develop across multiple seasons.
Meanwhile, the Upside Down would basically function as the game’s dungeon system.
Hawkins could act as your main explorable hub, while different supernatural locations become increasingly dangerous dungeons. Early in the game, simply entering the Upside Down would feel terrifying. As the story progresses, though, the environments could become larger and stranger.
You’d have vines covering familiar Hawkins locations, abandoned buildings, underground tunnels, laboratories, gates between dimensions, Vecna’s mindscape, and eventually entire sections of Hawkins transformed by the Upside Down.
Combat could use Persona’s turn-based system while giving every character a specific role.
Mike could be the flexible strategist.
Lucas specializes in ranged attacks.
Dustin becomes support.
Steve is the tank.
Nancy specializes in weapons and massive physical damage.
Robin focuses on buffs, debuffs, and enemy analysis.
Will has supernatural support abilities because of his connection to the Upside Down.
And Eleven basically becomes the party’s nuclear weapon.
But here’s something else that could make the game really interesting:
Your party would constantly change.
Characters would join and leave exactly as they do throughout the television series.
During Season 1, Will would be missing for a huge portion of the story. Eleven would eventually join. Later seasons introduce Max, Robin, and other characters. Sometimes the story would split everyone into completely different groups.
Instead of fighting against that, the game could embrace it.
One chapter might have Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Eleven investigating something together. Another might suddenly put you in control of Steve, Dustin, Robin, and Erica. Another could follow Nancy and Jonathan.
Eventually those different storylines converge for the giant end-of-season boss battles.
And imagine those bosses.
The Demogorgon.
The Mind Flayer.
The Spider Monster.
Vecna.
Each season could essentially function like a massive chapter of the game, with its own central mystery, dungeon, enemies, party combinations, and final boss.
Even the Dungeons & Dragons influence could become part of the gameplay. The kids already use D&D terminology to understand the monsters they’re fighting, so the game could visually transform those ideas into RPG mechanics. Dustin identifying a monster and giving it a D&D-inspired name could literally unlock its entry in your enemy database.
The soundtrack could also be ridiculous.
You could combine Persona-style battle music with synth-heavy 1980s horror music, while licensed ’80s songs play around Hawkins, at the arcade, in stores, or during major story moments.
And visually?
Go all-in on the Persona aesthetic.
Stylized menus.
Comic-book transitions.
Character portraits.
Huge animated critical-hit screens.
Red lightning and Upside Down vines crawling across menus.
VHS effects.
Cassette tapes.
Arcade graphics.
D&D imagery.
Every season could even slightly change the UI as the characters get older and Hawkins becomes increasingly corrupted.
Most importantly, though, a game like this could accomplish something television can’t:
Let us actually live in Hawkins.
Instead of watching these characters hang out for a few minutes before the next major plot point, we’d get dozens of hours with them.
We’d ride bikes through Hawkins.
Go to school.
Play at the arcade.
Explore Starcourt.
Build friendships.
Solve mysteries.
Fight monsters.
And then somehow still have to make it home before our parents realize we’ve spent the entire night fighting creatures from another dimension.
It could be part JRPG, part horror game, part mystery, and part life simulator.
Basically:
Persona + Stranger Things + Dungeons & Dragons + 1980s horror.
Tell me that wouldn’t work.
I genuinely think Stranger Things is one of those rare franchises where a Persona-style adaptation could actually make MORE sense than a traditional action game. The entire series is already built around a group of friends balancing everyday teenage life with a secret supernatural world.
Persona already figured out how to turn that exact concept into an addictive gameplay loop.
Give it a huge Hawkins map, meaningful relationships, changing party members, turn-based combat, explorable versions of the Upside Down, seasonal story arcs, and five seasons worth of characters and monsters.
I don’t know…
Does this sound completely ridiculous?
Or are we accidentally describing a multi-million-dollar video game that absolutely needs to exist?