'Persona 5' Details Emerge; New Information On Protagonist, Setting And More

After a long period of silence, "Persona 5" developer, Atlus, is finally giving fans what they crave -- concrete news on its upcoming game. Last week, Atlus released a long-awaited trailer, giving gamers a first glimpse of the new gameplay, characters and locations. Now, a new report goes into even greater detail, painting a much clearer idea of what to expect from the highly anticipated JRPG.

The news comes from this week's issue of Famitsu Magazine and is translated by gaming website, Siliconera. The information covers details on the protagonist, specifics on the setting and location and outlines general gameplay.

"Persona 5," much like the other games in the series, will feature a high school student as the main protagonist. Having only just transferred to Tokyo in the spring, he moves into a coffee shop run by friends of his parents. Famitsu states that the first "Persona" ability unique to the protagonist will be named "Arsene," possibly in reference to the fictional thief created by French writer Maurice Leblanc, a detail that might give players a hint on what to expect with regard to his character.

The game starts out in the crowded Shibuya region of Tokyo, but gamers will have the chance to visit other areas within the iconic city. Shibuya is popular for its fashion and nightlife, especially among young people. This marks a distinct change of pace from Atlus' own "Persona 4," which took place in an unnamed sleepy countryside setting in the shadow of Mount Fuji.

The story, also picked up by Gematsu, states that "Persona 5" is set to retain the "Social Links" gameplay mechanic introduced in later games in the series. The Social Link mechanic allows players to gain access to unique "Persona" abilities by strengthening their bonds with friends. Players build Social Links by hanging out with friends, engaging in conversation, and completing chores with them.

At its core, the "Persona" series is a dungeon-crawling RPG featuring randomly generated maps. While the dungeons return in "Persona 5," not all of them will be randomly generated. An example was given of the dungeon featured in the trailer released last week. As noted by Kotaku in its breakdown of the trailer, the protagonist was seen leaping from chandelier to chandelier and engaging in brief stealth gameplay. It appears the game will feature a number of these specially crafted environments designed to challenge the protagonist's stealth abilities.

"Persona 5" has been in development at Atlus since 2010, with "Catherine" director, Katsura Hashino, overseeing the project. The game is scheduled for release on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in late 2015.

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Persona 5 PV#01 (Credit: YouTube/atlustube)