Story details for 'Persona 5' revealed, including the purpose of the 'Phantom Thieves'

"Persona 5" is one of the more highly anticipated video games coming in 2016 from publisher Atlus.

During an interview with Game Informer Katsura Hasino, the director of “Persona 5,” talked about some details about the upcoming roleplaying game (RPG), most of which should please longtime fans of the genre.

Hasino stated that the lead characters of the game, including the player, would feel like outcasts who have no place in the society. However, once they discover the Isekai-Navi, they realise that they can steal the malicious intents from the hearts of various people.

From that moment on, the group decides to call themselves the Phantom Thieves, dedicating their lives to rid the world of malicious intent. Like in most “Persona” games, along with every teenage film ever, the ones standing in the way of the Phantom Thieves are the adults of higher authority.

Like in other instalments of the series, the lead protagonist will continue being a cool but quiet character that the players are meant to identify with. Soon enough, he meets Ann, Ryuji, Yusuke and Morgana, forming the Phantom Thieves after feeling like they don’t belong anywhere.

The feeling of not belonging is a common one with high school narratives. While it’s not a particularly new subject to take on, it is slightly new territory for the “Persona” series. After all, most of the supporting cast members who’ve appeared in previous games have had their fair share of problems and insecurities, but they never felt like life didn’t have a plan for them.

Ridding the world of malicious intent and trying to mess with society’s norms is new territory for the series as well, as previous games focused on mysteries and the midnight hour. That’s not to say the series has changed completely, since the characters still summon Personas to do most of the fighting for them.

“Persona 5” will be coming to the PS4 and PS3 next year, with a summer 2016 release, according to GameSpot. The title was originally planned to come out this September but was delayed so that the developers could make sure that it wouldn’t disappoint fans of the series or genre, whether they be old or new.