This weekend, Atlus shared a glimpse of Persona’s future, which included an RPG title for 3DS, a dancing rhythm game, more on Persona 4 Arena’s upcoming sequel, and finally a reveal for Persona 5. Series director Katsura Hashino shares some thoughts and info on the latest announcements in a Famitsu interview.
Famitsu begins by mentioning that it must’ve felt like it was due time for the Persona team to make a new announcement since they revealed Persona 4: The Ultimate Suplex Hold this summer.
“Yes, this past year or so, we’ve caused you fans who’ve been supporting Atlus to worry, and we haven’t been able to find the right timing to bring you any announcements, so we truly apologize for that,” explains Hashino. “With the thought of being able to present a new game to you all soon, we zealously continued development, and are very grateful to have been able to make such an announcement this time!”
Next, Famitsu asks if the Persona producer and director could share a few words on the recently announced Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, which they say appears to be a new Persona RPG with elements from the Etrian Odyssey series.
“Just like the experiment of making a fighting game based off the Persona series in Persona 4 Arena, which was also well received by fans, the plan of making Persona Q came from wanting a game that could bring further joy from an even more ‘unexpected element’,” shares Hashino. “This will be the first title the Persona team will be making for Nintendo 3DS, and we also have Etrian Odyssey that represents Atlus for the 3DS, and we’ll be using its system as part of a ‘festive’ collaboration mindset in the development for Persona Q.”
“While we are implementing Etrian Odyssey’s system into it, just as the name implies, Persona Q will be a completely new title, but first and foremost, it’ll be for the fans of the Persona series,” emphasizes Hashino, when asked about what kind of game system we can expect from it. “However, since next year will be the 25th anniversary of the Atlus brand, we’d also like to use this opportunity to spread the essence from other titles apart from the Persona titles.”
After having announced several new titles earlier this weekend, Famitsu asks about how far have they progressed in the development of the games.
“Persona Q is just entering its testing phase, and we’re currently polishing its contents,” says Hashino. “As for Persona 4: The Ultimate Suplex Hold, the folks from Arc System Works are helping out, and the development progress is going very smoothly. By summer of next year, we’ll be delivering a very voluminous PlayStation 3 version.”
“Persona 4: Dancing All Night, too, is pretty much done for the most part, but we’re about to make more dances and events for it,” continues Hashino. “We, the Persona team, along with Arc System Works, and Dingo, are strongly focusing on our objectives and giving everything we got to meet your expectations, and we’ll continue doing so!”
Famitsu then asks Hashino to share a little on the Persona series’ newest main-numbered title, which was finally revealed.
“We’ve kept you waiting. The title will be Persona 5, a proper main-numbered game of the series,” says Hashino. “Continuing from the previous Persona 4, I will be the director, Soejima (Shigenori) will be in charge of character designs, and Meguro (Shoji) will be composing the soundtrack.”
Finally, Hashino shares a message for the fans:
Katsura Hashino: “I truly apologized for the delayed announcement! The development staff are working together as one in hopes of making each title something that can leave you with pleasant memories. Again, we will keep making games for you fans who continue sharing your love for the games we make, so thank you very much for your ongoing support!”
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth will be coming out June 5th, 2014 for Nintendo 3DS; Persona 4: Dancing All Night in fall 2014 for PlayStation Vita; Persona 4: The Ultimax Suplex Hold for PlayStation 3 in summer 2014, and Persona 5 for PlayStation 3 next winter.
Published: Nov 25, 2013 12:06 am