New Persona 5 Information (FINALLY)

So, we have some brand new Persona 5 information. Notably, this new information tells us absolutely nothing about the game, except for where it is trending thematically. Ready? Here we go:

“Looking towards the coming year, we’re rallying around the idea of bringing change through our own individuality. Internally, this is summarized in our team motto as ‘Be personal for change.’ Now when people think of the idea of individuality, it’s often framed in terms of straying away from social norms and the everyday rules of day-to-do living. People often refer to Atlus’ philosophy as a developer in this sense, although it’s also not without some negative connotations; dangerous people, for instance, are often viewed as having a sense of individuality that makes them go too far. But to me personally, individuality is as much about the good as it is the bad and as we display it towards other people, it affords an opportunity for our words, our thinking processes, our conduct to change. Individuality, for me, is most strongly about that power of human potential.”

“In recent times especially, there’s a pervading sense of oppression for many people at an existential level, but so long as we as a species are able to form relationships one another in this world, we’ll always have the ability within ourselves to be able to break free from such restraints, both as individuals, but especially for groups that have a strong sense of self. In making a new proper numbered entry in the Persona series, we’re hoping to bring those issues to the forefront and are working tireless on it to make it happen, so be sure to keep an eye on more information about Persona 5 in the coming months.”

SOURCE

It sounds, more and more, that the theme of this game will be individual assertion versus societal expectations. The themes for the last three games in the series, for context, were the power of rumors and perception, death and mortality, and truth and identity respectively.

More information about the game, including its soundtrack reveal, is expected shortly after the new year.

Very strong set of themes to be dealing with. Very much looking forward to it. I'm sure many of us can relate to wanting to understand who we are as individuals and how we fit into our society.

Simply judging by the music of Persona 4 Arena and Persona Q, the soundtrack, as it stands, is the last thing I am worried about.

I'm hoping they work on the dungeons as well, though again, they said they will take cues from Persona Q and the Hollow Forest in Persona 4 Golden, so that makes me pretty damn excited there as well.

I've never played a Persona game, but i love that this game is exploring such deep and complex social themes that are pretty rare in the video game world. I'm intrigued to check it out for sure, esp as a gay guy the idea of social expectations is one of obvious relevance to me. Hopefully they can do the story justice.

Gameplay is traditional turn based with a job system, right?

No job system, but it is turn based. Think of Persona as Pokemon meets Sims meets Final Fantasy, and you'd have the right idea.

If you have a PS2, PS3, or PS Vita, I highly encourage you to play Persona 4/Golden, as that is a game that managed to tackle a lot of socially relevant issues pretty damn well.