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"...we do not go astray because we do not know, but because we think we know."
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is an RPG for the Nintendo 3DS and a sequel to Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth. It is a crossover game betweenPersona 3, Persona 4 and Persona 5. The main theme and opening for the game is Road Less Taken.
Plot
The story begins after the P5 hero ends his class at Shujin Academy alongside Morgana, and they meet the other Phantom Thieves of Hearts members in Cafe Leblanc to explore Mementos. These members include Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Niijima, Futaba Sakura, Haru Okumura and Goro Akechi. They enter Mementos and drive the Mona-bus to explore it while beating Shadows in the process. However, all of a sudden, the Mona-bus goes out of control and rushes in an incredible speed, dashing towards a movie screen initiating a countdown at the depths.
The Thieves quickly found themselves in a city inside a movie where they were instantly attacked by strange Shadows. After defeating some of them it was also revealed that their guns do not work in this reality. To make matters worse, a large Shadow resembling an obese man in a superhero chicken costume appears and pursues them, forcing them to escape via a movie screen into a Cinema. When they reach the Cinema, Makoto and Haru were left missing. The party also notices strange locks being put on the Cinema gates, preventing their escape.
Despite the Cinema seems deserted, the party quickly notices that a strange, black creature is in the projection room of the Cinema, which does not talk and does not interact with them, standing completely still. When his body is touched, it bounces. Morgana then notices something began to emerge from the theater's seats and tells the party to investigate. Despite the party believes that something dangerous will appear and were caught on guard, two women with a clear lack of hostility emerge from them. The party drops off their guard and the women in white introduces herself as Nagi, the curator of the Cinema, who was protecting a depressed girl known as Hikari, who exhibited an inability to communicate or socialize properly, instead staying still in a downtrodden fashion. Nagi claims that the customers of the Cinema has suddenly vanished aside of Hikari and strange locks were put on it, preventing them from leaving the Cinema. As the Cinema's curator, she took the duty to protect her from any harm.
The party asks the women about the whereabouts of their lost comrades and Yusuke provides picture proof, in which Hikari quickly recognizes where they are. Since she was too shy to speak to the party directly, she whispers to Nagi about it instead. Nagi notifies the party that they are indeed inside a movie known as Kamoshidaman. The movie then quickly airs and a figure that resembles Kamoshida appears to be its protagonist. The movie is a superhero movie that spread a message that authority cannot do anything wrong, with the Kamoshida-like figure being considered a superhero.
Ryuji and Ann expresses disgust about Kamoshida being a superhero and is portrayed as absolute justice, but Nagi does not know who Kamoshida is. She also notifies the party about Doe, who is a projectionist that is supposedly responsible for the Cinema lockdown, and he would only broadcast the same strange movies over and over. When the party worries about Doe likely being related to Kamoshida, Nagi explains that Kamoshidaman is an actor and is not related to the real person, and the movie was initially also not called "Kamoshidaman." Ryuji then began to stick his hand onto the theater screen and it submerges into it, causing great shock for everyone watching. The women then befriend the party and both sides are willing to assist each other in escaping the Cinema, although they do not know who the Phantom Thieves are despite their notoriety due to isolating themselves from any electronic communication. The party also inquires Nagi about the chicken creature, which she identifies as a F.O.E.
At the second time entering the movie, the party investigates the movie labyrinth and a Shadow drops a mysterious film. Futaba senses that a strong presence is in the staff room of the Cinema and retreats the party. Back to the Cinema, Morgana attempts to open the door, but was unable to so the party was put on guard. Eventually after using all of his strength, the door is removed and Caroline and Justine pop out from the staff room, unlocking the Velvet Room. The film picked before is revealed to be a Pixie Sub-Persona.
The party members other than the P5 hero do not recognize the Twins, but the Twins quickly recognize the P5 hero and can command Morgana due to the two sharing the same origins. Alongside them Elizabeth and Theodore appeared and Theodore asks Nagi and Hikari about the whereabouts of his guest who vanished from her reality when she was alongside him in the Velvet Room. Both of the women have no idea where she is, but Yusuke affirms that she must be in the movie. Despite Theodore does not believe it, Elizabeth forces him to do so.
The movie reality is one where a superhero known as Kamoshidaman has terrorized and occupied a city, effectively becoming into its dictator and forcing all of the people in the city to worship him out of blind faith. Anyone who opposes him will be considered evil and will be smitten. When the party re-enters the movie for a third time, it was evident that via the F.O.E pursuing them, Kamoshidaman kidnapped Makoto and Haru and announces their execution, then sends wanted letters to the other thieves. The party then encounters the girl as described by Theo midway exploring, who was defending herself from Shadows. The girl is actually the P3P heroine and she too is a Persona user, much to the party's shock. They help her fend off the Shadows and bring her back to Theo in the Cinema. The P3P heroine then joins the party.
In an attempt to save their comrades, the party braves to the labyrinth depths, the central plaza and confronts Kamoshidaman. Kamoshidaman easily overwhelms the party, but due to a police officer slipping the clues, Makoto instantly recognizes a statue on the center plaza as Kamoshidaman's power source, which can be stolen to severely weaken Kamoshidaman. Fortunately, it is extremely light and a gust of wind can slightly knock it back. The party devises a heist where they shut down the electricity of the city and tie the statue away with balloons and successfully execute their plans moments before Makoto and Haru's execution, then notifies Kamoshidaman by sending a calling card to him. The operation weakens Kamoshidaman to the point that the P3P heroine can trample him by landing on top of him.
Due to his power source being removed, Kamoshidaman becomes pathetic and is easily defeated. The seemingly brainwashed citizens of the city are also snapped out from their delusions and began to doubt Kamoshidaman's justice. The party also frees Makoto and Haru. However at this time he uses a pair of carrots to transform himself into Super Kamoshidaman, a monstrous rabbit-like creature and viciously attacks the party. They defeat him and Kamoshidaman is no longer considered an absolute authority in the city. The ending credits roll as the movie changes, with Hikari and Nagi watching the ending and the former expressing shock that the ending of the movie actually changed to a good one. Makoto and Haru thanks the party for rescuing them and they join them.
However at the same time Doe began to seemingly writhe in pain, which shocks the party and they were put on guard. Hikari also seemed to be in pain as well, causing the tension to increase. Doe eventually settles down and it was revealed that he is actually creating a key, but he does not respond to any questions and leaves. The key is then used to unlock one of the locks that seal the Cinema exit.
The announcement of the airing of the second movie quickly commences. The second movie is Junessic Land, a dinosaur movie that spread the "moral" that the opinion of the masses is the only thing that matters. The party expresses disgust on the "moral," considering it completely inappropriate.
They enter the movie, which takes the form of a artificial jungle island inhabited by dinosaurs. However, as soon as they enter the labyrinth, the P5 hero was confronted by a hostile man that relentlessly attacks him, with the two standing on equal ground. The man and the P5 hero's teammates were shocked by the confrontation and the man apologizes for the mistake, identifying himself as the P4 hero and his teammates as the Investigation Team, and both parties made friends with each other. Most of the Investigation Team joins the party back at the Cinema, with Yosuke left missing.
The investigation Team were attempting to investigate the Midnight Channel one day, but instead of bringing them to its lobby, the TV at Junes transported them into a dimension and they were sucked into a movie screen that initiates a countdown, putting them into the movie reality.
As the party explores the labyrinth, they encounter what seems to be Yosuke but the dinosaur confirms that he does not know what are humans. He introduces himself as Yosukesaurus and is interested in learning their customs, and he talks of a "paradise" which is supposedly not accessible by carnivores. However as soon as the two began to interact, a group of Shadows attack Yosukesaurus while the other dinosaurs fled and left him alone, leaving the party to save him from danger. Yosukesaurus also talks of a "paradise" according to a human book, which is supposedly unreachable by carnivores. A further exploration leads the party to a Shadow dropping a Blank Card, in which they give it to the Velvet Room where Marie and Margaret appears and explains its function.
As the party re-enters the movie reality and assists Yosukesaurus in repelling the carnivorous dinosaurs, they realize the Herbivore Dinosaurs in the movie reality do not defend themselves from the carnivores and simply lets their comrades to be eaten out of cowardice. They eventually sense Yosuke nearby, who is defending a Herbivore Dinosaur from a carnivorous dinosaur. The party helps him distract the carnivorous dinosaur and faints it with a single unison attack from the P4 and P5 hero, fainting and securing it. Despite their help, the Herbivore Dinosaurs recognize the humans as threats and voted to lynch them, with Yosukesaurus reluctantly agreeing with the outrageous decision because all of the dinosaurs agreed with it and he feared retaliation for opposing the many. They all fled and the party retreats to the Cinema, where Yosuke joins them.
Reaching the farthest reaches of the island, the Herbivore Dinosaurs blamed Yosukesaurus for leading them to "paradise," a dead end in the middle part of the island. Since humans wrote the book depicting the "paradise," the other Herbivore Dinosaurs force him to attack the party since they were humans, drive him into despair and turns him into a carnivorous dinosaur resembling Shadow Yosuke, causing him to go into a rampage and attack the party. In the battle he calls other Herbivore Dinosaurs for help, but all of them were defeated and he becomes sane again. The dinosaurs apologize for their mistakes after their defeat and promise to build an actual friendship with each other. However at this time, the carnivorous dinosaur appears and attacks everyone in the clearing, dinosaur or human alike. To repay the party, the dinosaurs for the first time attacked the carnivorous dinosaur and severely damaged it, allowing the party to force it to flee. The ending of the movie is changed with Nagi and Hikari watching it, with Hikari showing significant recovery from her depression, allowing her to communicate properly. Doe then creates another key with the same severe reaction as before, allowing the second of the locks on the Cinema exit to be removed.
At the same time, the third movie began to air in the Cinema. The movie is a sci-fi robot movie known as A.I.G.I.S, which spreads the "moral" that personality is a crime and it must be removed to create an utopia. This again invokes the feeling of disgust on the party and they venture through it. As soon as they enter the reality, the P3P heroine picks an Evoker, which causes her to be worried as her teammates might be trapped there. They then encounter a group of persona users fighting a legion of featureless robots, which quickly overwhelms them with their sheer numbers.
The party helps them defeat the robot legion and the P3P heroine greets her SEES "comrades." Much to her dismay, none of the SEES members recognize her and the awkward situation is further intensified when the heroine calls the SEES members by name despite they never recognized her. This results in the P3P heroine being struck with a sense of confusion and alienation for the remainder of the game, as she has effectively became a lone wolf and an outcast among the united Persona users. The SEES members introduce themselves to the party and join them. They also report their leader and Aigis missing, and to make matters worse, their leader dropped his Evoker in the movie, indicating the duo is in danger.
The SEES members also reveal the reason behind their appearance in the movie world; One day in a Tartarus exploration trip, the floor of Tartarus suddenly collapses with a movie screen initiating a countdown on top of a staircase being the only way out. They enter the movie screen and were lost in the movie world.
As the party explores the reality, they encounter a robot resembling Aigis. She was being asked by the other robots to undergo initialization due to having a personality, which she agrees to perform. However, the party stops them and destroys the robots, and the Aigis lookalike wonders why they save her, as she is a defect robot that must be initialized under the orders of the Overseer, a supreme entity who has a strong hatred over anyone who had a personality. They persuade her to give up the self-loathing and enlisted her to assist them, despite it seemingly did not have any capabilities that would benefit them.
The Overseer makes an announcement for the renegade robot's capture, in which she is coded UIY-2249 due to the robots in the reality not having a name. The party makes a bunch of strange nicknames for her until Futaba suggests them to name her "Ribbon." Ribbon accompanies the party and begins to learn human customs, and was pulling herself out from the self-loathing. The Commander also resembled Shuji Ikutsuki, but SEES does not recognize his true nature at that time and was completely confused until the party tells them that he is an actor with no relation with the real person.
The party manages to enter the research lab and as soon as they enter, they encounter the SEES leader and Aigis fighting a group of drones. Aigis' Orgia Mode had no effect on them and she collapses from overheating, while the leader did not have an Evoker and was in danger. The party helps them fend off the drones and when the SEES leader met the heroine, they felt a nostalgic feeling with each other and did not know why. The SEES leader introduces himself as the P3 hero and he and Aigis join the party in the Cinema. He also deduces that the P3P heroine is a copy of him in another reality.
The party confronts the Overseer at the next time around and he easily incapacitates Ribbon with one shot of his gun. They defeat him and it was found that Ribbon was just put on forced sleep, as a flip of a switch is capable of reactivating her. Using the keycard they obtain from the commander, they reach the depths of the research lab while an announcement is made for the capturing of irregulars despite the Overseer was supposed to be defeated, indicating a Mother Computer was the true leader of the reality.
They confront the Mother Computer after neutralizing the security system by exploiting a bug using the P3P heroine and the P3 hero's identical existence and the AI states that the world views personality as a crime and manipulates Ribbon into believing that her personality is dangerous. With the party's help she breaks free from the manipulation and they deny it, forcing it to attack the party. Despite demonstrating powerful instant recovery abilities, Futaba devises a plan to hack Ribbon into the computer and defeat it, and they succeed in defeating the AI in two hacking attempts.
However, the AI makes an emergency recovery and manipulates Ribbon into forgetting her personality. The attempt failed when Ribbon used a great deal of her energy to activate Orgia Mode thanks to an operation by Futaba and she uses all of her energy to cripple the Mother Computer, allowing the party to deactivate it. Due to losing all of her energy, Ribbon collapses and Futaba and Aigis team up to repair her while the credits roll. Hikari and Nagi watch the movie with the former sobbing and expressing a desire to discard her self, which the latter appears to sympathize. However, Rise notifies them that the movie has not ended, with Futaba and Aigis' attempts being successful and Ribbon making a full recovery, allowing her personality to be put to good use.
Hikari recovers further from her depression and is willing to recognize the party as friends, and Doe creates a keycard with the same violent reaction. However after he creates it, Doe supposedly kidnaps Hikari and vanishes, creating a tension in the Cinema with Nagi requesting the party to retrieve and save Hikari. The keycard is then inserted into one of the locks and breaks it.
The fourth movie now begins to air and unlike the previous movies, its announcement quickly becomes ominous and its trailer displays a suspiciously cheery and whimsical fairy tale landscape, with a depressed Hikari being surrounded by three copies of her past selves, which repeats the message of individuality being useless, if everyone says so it cannot be wrong, and authority is justice, complete with a message at the end stating that Hikari decided to discard her self to become 'normal,' with the movie's name obscured by black scribble. The party enters the movie reality to save Hikari from Doe.
As the party explores the labyrinth, which appears as a cheerful, yet highly unsettling fairytale landscape, they encounter musical-like stages, each of them representing a personal trauma that Hikari experienced in the past, starting from her primary school to her eventual breakdown. As soon as they reach the first of them, they encounter the real Hikari who denies a copy of her tormentor with her cognitive past self joining in the rejection, in which the tormentor transforms into a Shadow that attacks the party. After defeating the Shadow of the musical, Hikari reveals that she was not kidnapped by Doe, but followed him to this labyrinth so she could face her own self and recollect the memories of the events that ruined her life.
The party now accompanies her to travel the labyrinth, in which the truth of the movie world was revealed; the movie world is actually a cognitive world that is created from Hikari's heart, with Kamoshidaman being created from her resentment of being falsely accused of poisoning and killing the class rabbit by her primary school teacher and class, Junessic Land created from her alienation by her secondary school friends because of their own selfish reasons, and A.I.G.I.S being created by the rejection of her desire to become a film director by her relatives. However, there was still one person who supported Hikari throughout her life; her father. He was the only one who provided unconditional support to his daughter and inspired her dream of becoming a film director, so she decided to invite him to watch the movie she created by sending him an invitation letter she wrote.
However, all of this comes to a standstill after the incident related to her relatives; The combined traumas in the form of repeated emotional abuse has consumed Hikari with extreme depression, self-loathing and grief. Giving up the meaning of her existence, she locked herself in her room and never came out of it. Her father asked her to get out of her confines to take a notebook he bought for her as a gift, but she remains unresponsive due to her depression. He then asked her "Why do you have to be like that." As all of her tormentors asked her such a question when they emotionally abused her, she began to believe that her father was joining in (presumably due to the belief that her father was talked in by her relatives) and she had became an embarrassment for him, causing her to be overwhelmed by a series of traumatic flashbacks that completely broke her down.
The party enters the depths of the labyrinth, which in sharp contrast from the cheerful-looking upper levels, appears as a monochrome and sinister flowerbed with the flowers having hollow eyes and tearing blood, symbolizing its owner's desire for self destruction as a terminal for her pain, and the viewing of her life as a torture. Doe appears in the center clearing and Hikari talks to him, in which she confesses for all of her self-destructive behavior, but also stating that she will never forget him. He expresses a desire to keep her forever in the Cinema to end all of her pain, which she denies and he becomes berserk, transforming into a morbid abomination surrounded by film tapes with his eyes swirling through them. When the party destroys his head, his remains spills gunk that triple binds the party. Hikari steps in to aid them, using her support to remove binds from party members and they defeat the rampaging Doe.
Doe calms down after his defeat and the reality of Hikari's breakdown was made clear; When her father asked why she was like that, he actually did not have any ill-intent and is just asking her to get out of her room so she can obtain the notebook he bought for her as well as being worried about her welfare, with the finishing blow that resulted in her breakdown being nothing more than her misinterpretation to his words. Hikari steps in to hug Doe and he transforms into her father, revealing that Doe is nothing more than a cognitive copy made by her which is twisted by her distorted perception that her father is a terrifying figure, but also from her admiration for him and her suppressed desire to break free from her shell. She tearfully repents for her erroneous perception towards her beloved and Doe transforms into the key required to remove the last lock along with her invitation letter. Hikari then confesses to the party about the reality of her distorted self-destructive desires and thanks them for changing her heart and giving it back, completing her rehabilitation from depression and allowing her to escape from her living death. The credits roll with Nagi watching alone and the movie's true name revealed as "Hikari" and "To Be Continued" shown afterwards.
The party completes all of the movies and removes the last lock with Nagi's full approval and permission. Hikari expresses a will to escape the Cinema and Nagi, despite upset, approves. However, as they escape the Cinema, they found that they are inside a twisted landscape, with Nagi dropping off her guise, transforming into a malicious-looking version of herself with red hair and beads on it. What seems to be Nagi reveals herself to be Enlil, a god created from humanity's desire to end all of their pain. She reveals that the Cinema is in fact a part of her domain in the collective unconsciousness and the party is in fact trapped in it all the time. She also claims that weak humans should accept her salvation plan, which comes in the form of drawing in depressed people into the Cinemas in her domain.
Enlil reveals that Hikari was only one of the people trapped and many other people were trapped as well. The Cinema acting as the hub of the game is Hikari's Cinema, and each of the other cinemas contain a person who was suffering from the pain of living just like Hikari before them. She also reveals that technically she did not prevent them from escaping, but they expressed a lack of desire to be free from their self-imposed imprisonment and also a lack of enthusiasm to live, effectively playing themselves into her plan. Despite showing extreme arrogance, Enlil still lets them leave anyway, but the party and Hikari decided to stay there in order to confront Enlil, so others can be freed from her domain and escape from their very own living deaths.
The party ventures through Enlil's domain and she sends out a duo of Shadows to deter the party as they reach its depths. Once they are done for, she kicks them off to the Cinema. It was revealed that the movies in the Cinema are initially not the in-game labyrinths, but are instead an Akashic Record of negative thoughts flowing from the projectors at the depths to the Cinemas, in which Enlil believes that having them watch such movies can relief their pain of living. However, this does nothing other than to feed in their negative impulses and makes their collapsing mental health worse. In the projection room, they find the edited versions of Hikari's films and devise a plan to replace the negative film projections in Enlil's domain with them. Every Persona user and Hikari now automatically recognize themselves as the Phantom Thieves. They execute the plan and replace the four projectors, defeating the projections of Kamoshidaman, Yosukesaurus, Mother Computer and Doe in the process.
After the negative films were replaced, the party and Hikari confront Enlil and send a calling card to her. She reads the calling card and is severely angered as the Theater District begins to be purified by the edited versions of Hikari's movies. The purified movies display Kamoshidaman expressing a desire to protect the weak, the Herbivore Dinosaurs and Yosukesaurus began respecting each other's opinions, Ribbon teaching a group of robots with personality to love flowers, and the high school copy of Hikari made Doe vanish by expressing the will to escape the Cinema and for her father to watch her movie.
Enlil is enraged as her "salvation plan" crumbles and combats the party in human form. She exerts a terrifying power that wounds the entire party, but Hikari began to rally the trapped into escaping the Cinema, and the edited movies began to take effect. Enlil views Hikari's actions as a betrayal and is further enraged, causing her to reveal her true form, an angelic, eagle-like god. Enlil chastises that the party's hope is completely pointless and claims that they are foolish for opposing her. Despite the party's greatest efforts, they suddenly find themselves unable to fight as she removes all combat members on the field, leaving Hikari and the navigators helpless. The navigators told Hikari to leave, but she ignores the warnings and steps in to confront Enlil alone. Despite Enlil claims that her hope is an illusion like a movie, she quickly stands completely still, leaving her open to a unison attack by the four protagonists.
Enlil is defeated in complete disbelief, but the party and all of the trapped people persuade her into surrendering and giving up her "salvation plan." She returns back into the form of the black-haired Nagi and vanishes into light, finally acknowledging the possibilities and strengths of humanity, but not before leaving a warning that she will return as long as people wish for her to. Enlil's domain is destroyed and all of the people in it return to their realities. However, their memories of the adventure will be wiped out and nobody will remember anything that happened. Hearing this, Hikari is drown in tears as her first friends will no longer be able to recognize her anymore. She wants to give the P5 hero her notebook as a memento, but he returns it to her as it was her most precious memories, and without it, her movie will never be complete. Accepting truth and moving on, she exits the Cinema back to her reality. In order, SEES and the Investigation Team leave and return from their realities as well, with the heroine and the P3 hero expressing sadness as they part, still feeling nostalgic towards each other. The P5 cast now returns to reality, with Goro Akechi stuttering for a while before moving on, indicating that he is still the traitor.
As Hikari returns to reality, she wakes up as if she had a dream and she was puzzled with the events as her memories were wiped, but her change of heart is still intact. She meets her father in the living room and he was revealed to be a kind man who is much unlike how she once perceived he was. He wonders why Hikari was so worked up in all of a sudden while she used to be extremely withdrawn, implying that the Hikari that the Persona users encounter in the game is not her real person but her will. She expresses the desire to continue production of the movie she created before she fell into depression, and her father approves. The two then had a chat with each other.
SEES return to reality as well and the P3 hero found a movie DVD from an unknown source. Despite the fact that Junpei believed that it was porn, it was in fact a sci-fi movie. With the chairman's approval, the P3 hero's partners bought snacks and drinks for everyone to watch the movie.
The Investigation team returns to reality and is greeted by Nanako Dojima. In order to celebrate, the P4 hero and Nanako prepare dishes and a dinosaur movie began to air on TV. It features a dinosaur with Yosuke's head, but as their memories are wiped out, the Investigation Team does not recognize the dinosaur.
The P3P heroine returns to reality as if she fell asleep in her studies. Her real comrades, the alternate version of SEES were worried about her disappearance. Regardless, they found a sci-fi movie DVD from an unknown source and bought snacks and drinks to watch it with the chairman's permission. The heroine began to have an uneasy nostalgic feeling, but as her memories are wiped, she does not realize why.
The P5 cast returns to Cafe Leblanc with Akechi absent but they had plenty of time until the heist deadline. Ann receives an invitation to a high school student movie festival which they attend. As they attend the festival, Hikari steps into the dais of the auditorium and announces her new movie, New Cinema Labyrinth. The P5 hero makes a curious look, and if he remembered anything, or did this made him remember anything from his journey was left ambiguous.
Gameplay
Unlike in the previous game, Persona Q, there will be no route selection based on the characters from which Persona game the player wishes to follow; Persona 5's cast will automatically be the focus. By focusing on P5, the relationship between characters and the story could be improved and have more of a focus instead of separating the story into two paths. Encounters between the characters are linked to Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth. It is also confirmed that the game will not be dubbed in English just like Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux, instead having English subtitles with Japanese voices. Additionally, horror elements are toned down in this game although they still exist, and labyrinths are made easier to navigate as compared to the previous game.
The Persona users of Persona 3 and Persona 4 are not in the story, nor available to use in battle, at the start of the game. Each of these groups will be be present at the same time, crossing over in the same story later on in the game. The Persona 4 protagonist and characters will appear before the Persona 3 protagonists and characters. The female protagonist of Persona 3 Portable will join early on in the game and will be significantly involved in the story. Unlike in Persona Q, or any Persona game for that matter, a protagonist character will not be required in battle unless in the hardest difficulty. The original characters for Persona Q2 will have a different role from participating in battle, namely Hikari having a support role instead of an active battle role along with Nagi and Doe eventually becoming enemies of the party.
Unlike in Persona 4 Golden or Persona 5, if a player has never played the Q series or any game in the Persona series before, it is advised to choose the Safety or Easy difficulty, as Normal is proven to be too difficult by many players.
A mechanic originally in Persona Q is being brought back, which involves no protagonist having the power of the Wild Card because of the distortion of the new world; rather all party members will be able to be equipped with a second persona (Sub-Personas), which can be summoned in battle.
Because the game’s story is centered on the protagonists of Persona 5, the battle background music is P5 themed at the beginning. However, as members of Persona 3 and Persona 4 join the party, the variations in music will change.
Unlike in Persona 5 where Shadows appear like their Persona counterparts, they appear as Arcana Shadows in this game.
During battle, certain characters can initiate a Unison attack, which seems similar to a mechanic in Persona 4 Golden where certain characters can perform a follow up attack after an All-Out Attack.
The character groups that can perform these attacks are:
- Skull Bro-Bash: Skill by two tough, manly boys: Kanji / Ryuji
- Brand*New*Bam: Skill by two endlessly cheerful girls: Chie / Ann
- Kacho Fugetsu: Skill by two paragons of grace: Yukiko / Yusuke
- Lightning Duo: Skill by two wildcard team leaders: P5 hero / P4 hero
- Prince Pincer: Skill by Detective Princes: Akechi / Naoto
- Severed Fate: Skill by heiresses unbound: Haru / Yukiko
- Presidential Combo: Skill by student council presidents: Makoto / Mitsuru
- Strike of Bonds: Skill by a heroine and her classmates: P3P heroine / Yukari / Junpei / Fuuka
- Roar of Hunger: Skill by three hungry lads: Yusuke / Shinjiro / Akihiko
- Trainee Air Raid: Skill by thieves and their disciple: Ken / Morgana / Ryuji / Ann
- Charge of Trust: Skill by a heroine and her senpai: P3P heroine / Mitsuru / Akihiko / Shinjiro
- Animal Capriccio: Skill by (mostly) loveable enigmas: Morgana / Teddie / Koromaru
- Pair of Aces: Skill by Skill by wildcards with guts of steel: P4 hero / P3 hero
- Destined Strike: Skill by a heroine and her new bonds: P3P heroine / Aigis / Koromaru / Ken
- Double Trigger: Skill by two mature wildcards: P5 hero / P3 hero
- Beauty Quartet: Skill by four beauties(?): Haru / Aigis / Rise / Teddie
- Triple Support: Skill by three navigators: Futaba / Rise / Fuuka
- Martial Artistry: Skill by three martial artists: Makoto / Akihiko / Chie
- Partner Power: Skill by three partners(?) of the wildcards: Junpei / Yosuke / Ryuji
- Wildcard Order: Skill by four wildcards: P5 hero / P3P heroine / P4 hero / P3 hero1
1 Only used in Enil Final Boss Battle
System
- Inside Each Movie is a Mysterious Labyrinth!
Each dungeon is a movie (labyrinth) with a different theme, and each one is a unique creation. No dungeon is straightforward and child's play. Work with your team to clear each one!
- Hit the Enemy’s Weak Point to Gain the Upper Hand in Battle!
Switch out Personas! Utilize various tactics!
- Everyone is Here!
What is their reaction of meeting each other? Totally must-see dialog!
- Draw Maps While Going through the Dungeon!
By drawing maps, you can clear each dungeon smoothly! There is also an auto-map feature.
Deepen the Bonds with Your Comrades to Take on Strong Enemies!
Powerful Shadows called F.O.E wander around the dungeons.
Like the previous game, it is based on Etrian Odyssey.
Themes
The game has a theme that arches between P3, P4 and P5, namely death, truth and identity. The "identity" theme is connected between the Phantom Thieves of Hearts being criminals that rebel against the machinations of society and the game featuring characters that are considered outcasts due to being different from others, such as the P3P heroine who lacked any teammates to fight alongside her unlike the other Persona users, as well as the movie characters that are frequently persecuted and disrespected due to being different from their respective movie's other inhabitants. The "truth" theme is connected between the Persona 4 cast's desire to find the truth of the murders of Inaba and the fact that the final blow that made Hikari broke and fell into despair is because of a false belief that her father hated her, despite it was clearly not the case. The "death" theme is connected as the Persona 3 characters frequently put themselves into life and death situations and the fact that people who are being trapped in the Cinema are actually forfeiting their lives despite not actually being dead, having subjected themselves to a state of apathy that equals to the death of heart.
Much to the Persons 5 theme, it also discusses different modern society problems, namely dictatorial authority, authoritarian masses, the inability to pursue one's own goals in modern society as well as emotional abuse towards children, depression and the shut-in escapism that they result in.
Characters
Original Characters
- Hikari: A very shy girl who the persona users met in the theater. She seems to have issues communicating with people. She is voiced by Misato Fukuen.
- Nagi: The curator of the movie theater, trapped alongside Hikari inside the complex. Like everyone else, she is perplexed by the series of events taking place. She is voiced by Kikuko Inoue.
- Doe: A suspicious being lurking inside the projection room. He is the one who plays the movies that Hikari and Nagi watch. He doesn't speak, and he's jiggly to the touch. It never talks, even when spoken to. He is voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue.
- Yosukesaurus: The "villain" of Junessic Land, he is not well liked by his fellow Herbivores for being different from them.
- Ribbon: The "villain" of A.I.G.I.S, she is put on execution bounty by the Overseer due to having a personality.
Persona 5 |
Persona 3 |
Persona 3 Portable |
Persona 4 |
Antagonists
- Kamoshidaman: The "superhero" of his titular movie, he rules over his city, "Kamocity" with an iron fist.
- Herbivore Dinosaurs: The weak majority of Junessic Land, their stubbonness and selfishness causes them to be easy prey for carnivorous dinosaurs.
- Overseer: The A.I. ruler of A.I.G.I.S out to destroy all with a personality.
- Mother Computer: The true master of A.I.G.I.S.
- Enlil: The almighty being who is the true ruler of the game's setting.
Early Purchase Bonus
There will be a early purchase version of the game, which includes the “Persona 3, 4, and 5 Battle BGM Set,” for free, which includes the following tracks:
- Persona 3: "Mass Destruction"
- Persona 3 Portable: "Wiping All Out"
- Persona Q: "Light the Fire Up in the Night *'Kagejikan'"
- Persona 4: "Reach Out To The Truth"
- Persona 4 Golden: "Time To Make History"
- Persona Q: "Light the Fire Up in the Night 'Mayonaka'"
- Persona 5: "Last Surprise"
- Persona 5: "Life Will Change"
- Persona 5: "Will Power"
These tracks can be purchased as DLC for people who didn't purchase the game early.
The download code with first-print copies of the game will also include a special Nintendo 3DS theme.
Gallery
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Videos
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Japan Release Announcement Trailer (August 4, 2018)
First Trailer PV (August 5, 2018)
Japan 15 Second Trailer (August 10, 2018)
Second Trailer PV
Battle Music DLC Trailer
Kamoshidaman Trailer
Junessic Land Trailer
A.I.G.I.S Trailer
English Trailer
English Story Trailer
English Phantom Thieves Trailer
English Launch Trailer
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| Character Trailers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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P5 hero's trailer
P4 hero's trailer
P3 hero's trailer
P3P heroine's trailer
Yukari's trailer
Junpei's trailer
Akihiko's trailer
Mitsuru's trailer
Fuuka's trailer
Aigis' trailer
Koromaru's trailer
Ken's trailer
Shinjiro's trailer
Yosuke's trailer
Chie's trailer
Yukiko's trailer
Kanji's trailer
Rise's trailer
Teddie's trailer
Naoto's trailer
Morgana's trailer
Ryuji's trailer
Ann's trailer
Yusuke's trailer
Makoto's trailer
Futaba's trailer
Haru's trailer
Akechi's Trailer
Elizabeth's trailer
Theodore's trailer
Margaret's trailer
Marie's trailer
Caroline and Justine's trailer
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Trivia
- This game does not have an English audio.
- As Goro Akechi appeared in this game as the traitor based on his stuttering in the epilogue of the game and his absence during the post-credits events, the events of this game might take place in the Niijima's Palace heist arc.
- This game contains the most amount of unique playable characters in any game in the Megaten franchise, having a grand total of 28. If Hikari is counted towards a playable character with a support role, the number goes to 29 instead.
- This is the first combat-based game in the Persona series after Persona 3 without any direct or implied Shadow Selves, although Cognitions with Shadow Self-like traits constantly appear throughout it.
- The quote at the start of the game is "We do not go astray because we do not know, but because we think we know" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. This can refer to any of the following events in the game;
- The P3P heroine encountering what seems to be her SEES comrades in A.I.G.I.S and believing that they reunited with her, only to discover that they are identical-looking clones serving under the P3 hero and does not recognize her, which caused her to be struck with confusion, disappointment and alienation as this means that she has to fight as a lone wolf;
- Hikari breaking down due to a belief that her father hated her simply because of a question that he asked which is identical to the one that each of her tormentors asked, although unlike such people, he had no intent to demean his daughter;
- The people trapped in the Cinemas in Enlil's realm believing that they cannot get out due to their depression and apathy, despite Enlil lets them leave all the time;
- Enlil's delusional belief that her "salvation plan" that involves trapping "weak" people in Cinemas will relieve their pain of living, but in fact inversely increases their pain further. She also believes that humanity is weak and needs her protection, although that is simply not true.
External links