Persona 5

Unreleased

Persona 5 is the sixth game in the Persona series. It is an upcoming role-playing game developed by Atlus' P-Studio.

Plot
The story focuses on the 16-year-old protagonist after he is transferred to Syujin High School in Tokyo, Japan. He is currently staying with his parents' friends at a coffee shop called Sumikon. At school, the protagonist meets up with problem child Ryuji Sakamoto, the withdrawn Anne Takamaki, art student Yusuke Kitagawa, and a talking, shape-shifting cat-like creature known as Morgana.

During the protagonist's time there, feeling suppressed by their environment, the five form a group known as the "Phantom Thieves of Hearts", working together to explore the "Palace", a castle created by the hearts of people, and steal ill intent from others' hearts to help them: during this quest, they confront adult authority figures opposing them, along with a greater enemy revealed by their activities.

Themes
The story of Persona 5 will discuss the hardships of modern-day 21st century society and feature characters that are restrained by the rules set by this society, especially in Japan where the game is set. As a result, players will be confronted with trials and chains that they will have to overcome.

However, the mood and tone will be different. Persona 5 is about a kind of freedom that is different from the other games in the series. This freedom is meant to liberate those who "are bored and discontent with their lives".

Atlus expects and wants players of Persona 3 and Persona 4 to feel at home with this game. Persona 5 is meant to be an emotional experience that stirs up its audience and finally lets them go with a strong message of catharsis after everything is said and done.

Gameplay
Players engage in combat with demons of unknown origin using both melee and ranged weapons, instead of only one weapon type.

The primary dungeons are not randomly generated, consisting mainly of places a phantom thief would want to infiltrate, and will feature elements of real-time gameplay such as platforming, stealth, and traps. The game also incorporates a new way of aquiring new Personas, even though the exact way has not been detailed yet.

The Cooperation system will be similar to the Social Links of Persona 3 and Persona 4 and will involve building relationships with helpers around the city for various benefits in battle.

The third trailer released during Tokyo Game Show 2015 also teased a variety of minigames.

The SNS system seen in the PV03 trailer will have players chatting with other characters using phone text messages. This will allow players to personalize and expand their stories.

Players will be able to explore various locations in the Greater Tokyo Area, as seen in trailers.

When activating into battle when the player is in stealth mode and able to encounter it in time. The player has a head start during battle where everything has a detailed UI.

Playable Characters

 * Protagonist / The Phantom: The player character and also a delinquent moonlighting as a gentleman thief. He wears a bird mask and uses knives and pistols in combat.
 * Ryuji Sakamoto: A blonde-haired boy who attends the protagonist's school and joins him in his heists. He wears a skull mask and wields bludgeons and shotguns as weapons.
 * Anne Takamaki: A blonde girl in the protagonist's homeroom, who joins him in his heists. She wears a cat mask and uses whips and sub-machine guns.
 * Morgana: A shape-shifting cat-like creature that meets the protagonist at the start of the game and joins him in his heists; she has some sort of connection to the Seven Deadly Sins and will play a key role in the story. She wields swords and slingshots.
 * Yusuke Kitagawa: A blue haired boy dressed in a white uniform, he is first seen in the first trailer near the beginning (though barely recognizable); in the trailer that comes with Dancing All Night he is seen painting writings about the crew. He appears to be an ally in the third trailer. He wears a fox mask and can be briefly seen running down the pyramid and away from the large ball with the rest of the group.
 * Queen (true name currently unknown): A girl.
 * Futaba Sakura: A bespectacled girl with orange hair who is the dungeon navigator.
 * Beautiful Phantom Thief (true name currently unknown): A girl.

Supporting Characters

 * Igor
 * Caroline and Justine: Two young assistants to Igor in the Velvet Room. They both wear an eyepatch over one of their eyes and a blue prison guard outfit. One has a long braid, the other hair buns.
 * Iwai Munehisa: Owner of the Military Shop Untouchable.
 * Tae Takemi: Owner of the Takemi Medical Clinic.

Downloadable Content


Persona 5 will launch for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 in Japan for 8,800 yen on September 15, 2016.

A 13,800 yen 20th Anniversary Edition will include the following additional content:
 * A copy of Persona 5
 * Persona 5 art book
 * Persona 20th Anniversary All-Time Best Album (five CDs)
 * Disc 1: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
 * Disc 2: Persona 2: Innocent Sin / Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
 * Disc 3: Persona 3 (FES)
 * Disc 4: Persona 4 (The Golden)
 * Disc 5: Persona 5


 * Special Collaboration DLC Set #1: “Orpheus Picaro” and “Izanagi Picaro”
 * Special Collaboration DLC Set #2: Persona 3 “Gekkoukan High School Uniform” costumes and Persona 3 battle BGM set
 * Special Collaboration DLC Set #3: Persona 4 “Yasogami High School Uniform” costumes and Persona 4 battle BGM set
 * Special Custom Theme
 * Special Persona 5 Art treasure box

Development
The game was first mentioned to be under development in August 2011 in an interview between Katsura Hashino, the producer of the Persona series and Famitsu, the Japanese gaming magazine with the most circulation, even though he only called it "the next numbered title". Hashino confirmed that the basic preparations for the development were finished and announced the return of Shigenori Soejima and Shoji Meguro as character designer and music composer, respectively. Both Soejima and Meguro previously worked together with Hashino on Persona 3, Persona 4 and Catherine.

Unlike Catherine, which used the Gamebryo engine, Persona 5 will be made with a new engine. Before it was decided that the game would be released exclusively for the PlayStation 3, it was also discussed internally to move the series to mobile gaming devices like the PlayStation Vita or smartphones. Eventually, Hashino and his team chose the PlayStation 3 as they felt that fans would love to see another game for home consoles.

Persona 5 was officially revealed on November 24, 2013 following a 72-hour countdown that eventually resulted in a series of announcements that included Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth and Persona 4: Dancing All Night. A Persona 5 website domain was previously registered on June 25th, 2013 by Index Corporation, the former parent company of Atlus. An American release was confirmed on February 25, 2014 with an originally estimated release in 2015. A PlayStation 4 version of the game was announced on September 1, 2014 during Sony's Tokyo Game Show conference with a new trailer that gave a first look on the setting and the game's protagonist. A bonus Blu-Ray containing a variety of Persona 5 related content was released as preorder bonus for the Japanese version of Persona 4: Dancing All Night on June 25, 2015, which also included the second trailer for the game.

On September 17, 2015 a third trailer for Persona 5 was shown as part of the company's Tokyo Game Show 2015 broadcast which revealed that the release date would be postponed to Summer 2016. According to Katsura Hashino, this decision was made so that game could become the biggest out of all the games he has directed so far.

Videos
Teaser 1= Teaser 2= PV1= PV2= PV3= PV4= TGS Interview= Staff Interview=

Trivia

 * Unlike previous Persona titles, which were set in fictional locations, Persona 5 takes place in Tokyo, primarily in the Shibuya ward.
 * The dates shown in the gameplay trailer coincide with the 2016 calendar, suggesting the game may take place in that year. However, another trailer just says 20XX, leaving it ambiguous.
 * According to Hashino, Persona 5 will have the biggest content that he has ever produced unlike the previous entities.
 * This is the first time for the Persona series, the main characters are travelling overseas in one of the cutscenes seen in the PV4 trailer.
 * The Japanese VA of Igor in Persona 5 has a deep tone of voice due to a voice actor switch.
 * The box art of Persona 5 has a similar box art style of Persona 4 in terms of scaling, setting and characters.
 * Two new elements were found in the PV4 tralier where fans assume it is nuclear and gravity.