New details have emerged for Persona 5 in the latest issue of Famitsu, including information about the protagonist, the game mechanics, and the game's design. Nothing about the masks yet, but still a lot to think about.
The protagonist is a second year high school student who moved to the city in spring. He lives in the outskirts of town, with his parents friends, at a coffee shop. His seemingly docile nature is an elaborate ruse.
He meets Ryuji, Anne, and the cat Morgana early in the game. The cat has an important role to play, and can transform, perhaps to enable a game mechanic. All three humans share a history of having lost a place to live. This is all set in Shibuya, but the game will be going all over Tokyo.
The protagonist's dilemma is something that could make him a lot of trouble in the future, apparently likely to place him in a mental prison.
The protagonist's persona, Arsene, is clearly named after the famed fictional French thief Arsene Lupin. He is meant to evoke a vintage vibe, with his wings/cape creating the impression of a thief that can go to places that people can't. Similarly, the game's logo is meant to give a youthful vibe.
Production IG will be making the anime cutscenes, and it was their director that thought of the characters sliding in the latest trailer.
The game is definitely ambitious. This is the first time many Personas will be rendered in HD, and if you remember, most of the enemies will be Personas themselves. There is apparently a reason for having many enemy Personas that we may learn later.
Also partly teased is a Social Link feature, that will be changed up, again for reasons to be revealed later. While random generated elements are part of the game, most places are designed, with special gimmicks and also to play up the burglary theme.
The game will continue to be turn based, but with changes to make it more fun to play. The protagonists have guns, that they can use in combat, but aren't real guns. There will also be sympathizers in the town, whom you will be able to interact it in a way that will help you out in combat.
Finally, part of the game's staff has been revealed:
Director: Katsura Hashino
Character Designer: Shigenori Soejima
Composer: Shoji Meguro
Persona 5 is releasing this year to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.
