The highly-anticipated role-playing game “Persona 5” will reportedly roll out in Japan next month during the scheduled press conference of the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Association (SCEJA) on September 15.
Game developer Atlus did not make any official statement or announcement about it but the company’s very enthusiastic PR team apparently hinted it in recent interviews.
“Persona 5” is the sixth installment of the role-playing game from the Megumi Tensei franchise and its announcement on the upcoming SCEJA event will focus on the details of its official release to the retail markets in Japan, North America and Europe.
Previous reports have indicated that “Persona 5” would indeed be launched and released in Japan this year, but it is unlikely that the game will make it to other retail markets outside of its home country before the end of the year.
However, John Hardin, Atlus USA PR manager, is insistent in a recent interview that “Persona 5” will hit video game shelves in the Western shores before the end of 2015, details Push Square.
Aside from Japan, “Persona 5” actually has majority of its gamers based in North America and Europe and as such, Atlus is really under pressure to release the video game on those markets once it officially unveils it in Japan by next month.
“Persona 5” and other spin-off titles
According to Christian Today, “Persona 5” was first announced alongside several “Persona” spin-off titles like “Persona 4: Dancing All Night,” “Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth,” and the PlayStation 3 reboot of “Persona 4 Arena Ultimax” back in 2013.
The game was initially scheduled to be released for PlayStation 3 during the winter season of 2014, but an announcement during last year’s SCEJA press conference revealed that the release date has been pushed back to include a PlayStation 4 version sometime in late 2015.
It is expected that once Atlus makes the announcement on the release date of “Persona 5” in the Japan retail market, and perhaps in foreign countries, the developer shall also unveil the game’s latest trailer.
“Persona 5” will focus on the game protagonist’s adventures after he transfers to Tokyo’s Shujin High School. He will stay with some family friends, and will embark on exciting heists and adventures with two other students as well as a talking and shape-shifting cat.
In order to play the game, players shall take over the role of the protagonist, who is capable of summoning different aspects of his personality, which is also known as Personas. For the upcoming game, new elements will be added such as the ability to jump across gaps or dash while going undercover.
Another big showing
“Persona 5” is also expected to whip up a storm in the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, Japan’s biggest gaming expo.
While a 2015 release date for “Persona 5” is a welcome news to gamers, whether it is released within the year or not, the important thing is that it is confirmed to arrive in the gaming consoles soon enough.
Based on previous reports, Atlus has said that it will be pushing the release of “Persona 5” before 2015 comes to an end.
Accordingly, the development team of Atlus is still pretty much hard at work trying to figure out the plot for the next installment of the very successful “Persona” video game franchise.
Atlus executive Yu Namba also shared that the game could paved the way for the entry of gay characters too. The whole gay character issue originated from “Persona 4” where Kanji had some issues on sexual identity. It went as far as seeking the acceptance of the public with regards to his personal dilemma.