Well, at least the eventual game you’ll play is looking sweet…
Sigh… Sometimes being right can be a real bummer. All year, Atlus and Atlus USA were both sticking to their story that Persona 5, the loooooooooooong awaited new entry in the best JRPG series around, would come out in 2015. As spring turned into summer, then gave way to fall, the publisher and fans were still calling it a 2015 game, but I had delay suspicions that have now been confirmed. Persona 5 is officially a 2016 game, as the snazzy new trailer from Tokyo Game Show confirms.
Damn, that’s a great trailer, which makes the “summer 2016” at the close hurt all the more. This new footage not only plays up the fun, Lupin-esque thievery of hearts, along with the thematic imagery of imprisonment and masks, we also get some intriguing open world exploration of P5’s version of Tokyo – at least I’m assuming, because that sure looks like the unnamed hero is walking around Shibuya. Also, the team member who’s a talking cat, Morgana, seems like my new favorite character.
Longtime Persona series director Katsura Hashino apologized for the delay, giving the usual platitudes of them working hard to make it the best it can possibly be, and I 100% believe him. It’s been seven years since the last original, mainline Persona game, so obviously he wants P5 to be deserving of the series’ pedigree. I just wished they hadn’t waited until SEPTEMBER to let fans know it was now a 2016 game. Usually you find out this kind of thing at E3. Ya know, like at the end of this trailer, perhaps?
Oh, by the way, unless you’re planning to play the Japanese version, I wouldn’t expect to get Persona 5 in NA next summer. Atlus USA has only said that the game is coming in 2016 in America. Now, it’s possible they could pull off a worldwide launch in the summer, but I’d put my money on September at the earliest. Seriously, English-speaking Shin Megami Tensei fans, prepare yourself for a full 12 months of waiting, and then be surprised if I’m wrong.
All whining aside, Persona 5 is still my most anticipated game no matter what year it arrives. While so many RPG makers struggle with staying relevant, Atlus and Persona Team have made some of the most emotionally engaging and technically proficient role-playing games of this current millennium. Persona 5 looks to keep that streak going, and hopefully, in the interim, I can just play the Persona-style Shin Megami Tensei/Fire Emblem crossover in the meantime – assuming that actually comes out in the US before P5.
(pleasedon’tbedelayedpleasedon’tbedelayedpleasedon’tbedelayedpleasedon’tbedelayedpleasedon’tbedelayed)
By the way, you know what was my big tip off for months that we weren’t getting Persona 5 this year? No fancy special edition was announced for pre-order. Atlus is a pro at making snazzy special editions that I’ll pay $80 for, which is exactly what they’re doing with Persona 4: Dancing All Night. But I mean, c’mon! How could I resist this celebration of Persona music?!?!
So yeah, it’s going to be a long time before I actually get my hands on Persona 5, but I have a feeling it’ll be worth it when it happens. Hmm, maybe I can really step up my Japanese studies in the meantime. I’m sure I can be proficient enough to be able to play the Japan release next summer, right? I mean, how hard could it be? Oh, by the way, if you’re looking for more Persona talk, check out the Persona-centric episode of VGMpire that I hosted.
P5 has to be my most anticipated game of next year and this year. I’ve never played a Persona game the same year its come out before, I can hardly wait to get my hands on it. At least the delay gives me some more time to buy a PS4.
NOOOO!
Ah, who am I kidding, this was inevitable. It would have been an act of god if it actually came out in 2015.
Goddamit, it was this and Fallout 4 the only two games I was looking forward to this year. Maybe it just takes awhile to make sure the dialogue isn’t the usual japanese-to-english garbage like a lot of games.
James?
What? You know it’s me
Guys we all know the story, characters and music eventually become secondary to the real reason we play. Fusing and maxing out persona like crack fiends.
I’m not surprised, but the fact that John Hardin said back in August that the only thing he could confirm for Persona 5 was a 2015 release year, that actually makes me wonder if the game will launch simultaneously (or very close to it) when it does finally launch. Here’s my logic.
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I believe Hardin believed what he was saying during that interview and for that to be the case, they’d have done a lot of localization work already and probably have English VAs recording stuff in order to have a chance to hit a 2015 date. I’m assuming this because a Kinda Funny interview with Chie’s VA in April said she already recorded most of her lines for Dancing and Dancing was 5 months away for the US at that time.
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December was 4 months from August when John Hardin did that interview. If their localization process is similar across games, that math would imply P5 has its English voice actors now and they are recording things.
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If they are recording things now, English P5’s schedule must be a lot closer with the Japanese P5 schedule than English P4D’s was with Japanese P4D because by the time English VA’s would be recording P4D in April, P4D would have just about gone gold in Japan.
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P5 isn’t close to going gold, so if I’m right and there are English voice actors doing P5 work now (which also means a lot has already been translated), the Atlus Japan and US branches must be working more closely than they were on previous Persona games to close the release date gap between territories.
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It would also make sense for John to be so caught off guard by the delay within a month of it happening if he was working much more closely with the Atlus Japan than he has in the past. If they wait for the Japanese version to essentially be ready to ship before doing most of their work on it (which seemed to be the case for PQ and Dancing), they can’t be caught off guard if there’s a decision by the Japanese team to delay it. If instead they play a more active role in the process and start their localization process much earlier, suddenly the decision for Atlus Japan to delay the game throws everything Atlus US says out of whack in a way that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.
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So yeah, there’s my conspiracy theories.
Sigh… curse your unexpected but inevitable delay Atlus. Still, good that they’re polishing things up. Game already looks brilliant. Also some really good Japanese voice actors on board, as usual. Shame they almost never have dual audio options on the US and European releases.
Persona V has kept us waiting huh?
‘m actually pretty stoked about this delay, barely able to fit in school, work, and Metal Gear. No time to also go to Japanese school, Japanese work, and Japanese Egypt.
I guess I shall continue to slog through Persona Q until this finally rears it’s beautiful head. Goddamit