Now, before I start, I already know what you are thinking: “you’re a damn liar – Persona 4 was the best RPG ever. There is no way any game could be better – I’ll kill you!” Well, first of all, I am not a liar, and you need to get some help for that anger issue, pal. But secondly, as good as Persona 4 was, the fifth installment is going to have improvements that – believe it or not – actually make it better in almost every aspect – gameplay, level design, characters, you name it. So, calm down and drop that knife – here are 5 examples of what I am talking about:
1 – Dungeon Crawling Will Actually Be Fun
As much as you loved Persona 4, think back and remember the dungeon crawling. Now, be honest – this was one of the enjoyable parts of the game. The dungeons were a bit repetitive and boring – run down endless corridors looking for the stairs to the next, pretty much identical floor, rinse and repeat. There was virtually no reason to “explore” these hallways and rooms, as you inevitably encountered the same monsters over and over. And the loot you earned in treasure chests or from battles was paltry (“another iron lump – yay!”). Dungeon crawling in Persona was mostly just a race to the boss-battle, dealing with monsters that happened to get in your way.
Persona 5 will change all of that. Dungeon levels will be individually designed, as well as be randomly generated. Atlus has taken great pains to make the dungeons in Persona 5 places you will actually enjoy exploring, with more intricate designs and set-pieces that allow you to use the new thievery aspect. From what the game-play trailer shows us, there will be platforming elements in addition to the usual running on the ground. And it appears you can now use stealth to avoid conflicts with enemies in corridors if you so choose. Put it all together, and dungeons will be one of the more interesting aspects of Persona 5, which would be a major change from the last instalment.
2 – It Will Have a Bigger and Better Setting
Persona 4’s setting in the small town of Inaba served a purpose – I get that. The main quest story was built on a newcomer from the big city (you) who gets swept-up in a local murder mystery that shakes up a quiet village. But the downside of this was there was kinda jack-squat to do in town. Between bouts of questing you had either a few shops to check out in the main drag or you could go down to the river and talk with some locals. That was essentially it for side distractions in town.
Persona 5 will take place in Tokyo, specifically, the Shibuya area from what we know so far. There has been talk that other areas of Tokyo will appear in some form as well. And it is clear that the devs are working to make this setting a much more open sandbox. The subway scene, for example, seems to show a much more populated and “alive” world than has been present in previous Persona games. It also suggests that travelling to the various locations in Persona 5 won’t be done by fast-travel menus, which also seems to point to a sandbox-style world.
With the move to a bustling metropolis like Tokyo rather than a sleepy fishing village, is it possible we might see many more options for fun between quests. Karaoke? Arcades? Maybe even … (gulp) Hostess bars? Ok, probably not the last one.
3 – The Protagonist Will Actually Be an Interesting Character
In the last game, you played the role of the Protagonist, who was a pretty non-descript, quiet character who mostly listened to other, more interesting people who surrounded him. Your actions during the main storyline, such as your answers to various conversation prompts, didn’t really affect the world you inhabited – you were a spectator along for the ride (as fun a ride as it was).
The character you play in Persona 5 seems to be a much more intriguing and complex protagonist than his predecessor. He is quiet on the outside, but he hides a dark inner secret. It’s obvious from the image below that this dude has some serious issues that will be worked out through the course of the game, and it looks like he will be some kind of vigilante or amateur superhero-type guy as well. One scene in the trailer shows him actually transforming into a Persona which, if it is true, is insane, because characters did not do that in previous games. His Persona, by the way, is named Arsene Lupin, and he will have wings and stealth skills. It is rumoured that the protagonist will transform into his Persona each night, rather than just during battles. One thing’s for sure: the line between protagonist and Persona in this game will be very thin – and that opens up some exciting new elements for this episode that we haven’t seen before.
4 – It Will Be Even More Stylish
While I realize that the last Persona title looked amazing, especially when you consider that it was made in 2008, this latest instalment positively blows away anything we have seen before in the series. The trademark style in art direction is clearly carried-over, but the anime character models and environments have a new jaw-dropping 3D look to them that seems to just jump out of the screen and punch you in the face … in the best possible way. This is definitely a game that will take full advantage of the PS4’s hardware muscle. A wide spectrum of bright colors just dazzles the eyes and makes Persona 5 look to be one of the most visually stylish video games ever made, period. I mean, this game is so stylish, even its menus are cool! If you haven’t already seen the screenshots released earlier this year, here is what I mean:
5 – It Will Be Much Darker and More Mature
Persona 4 revolved around a group of normal, well-adjusted high school students who solved a mystery in their spare time. But let’s face it: didn’t we sometimes long for more of an “edge” when we played it? Well, this time around the group will be made up more by “outsiders,” characters who are flawed and have a definite dark side to them. As already mentioned, the protagonist himself will hide a secret identity underneath his quiet exterior. He and his companions will make up a group of thieves who work at night under their alter-egos.
As Persona 5 director Katsura Hashino recently explained in an interview, Persona 5 will be modelled on the Picaresque genre of literature, in which an outcast hero survives in a corrupt world by using guile and intelligence. He goes on to explain that the characters in the game will be “on the run for doing what they think is right after something happens completely out of the blue.” Persona 5 will take the series to a much more mature and sophisticated level, focusing on the darker side of society, as symbolized by its night-time settings. From what we saw in the trailer and screenshots, this instalment of the series will be sexier, more grown-up, and a lot more interesting.
So, hopefully you have stepped off the ledge and calmed down by now, and I have convinced you that Persona 5 will not just be better than Persona 4 – it will blow it away. Somehow, Atlus seems to be doing the impossible, taking a series that already seemed to be perfect, and making it way better. When it releases later this year – the latest intel says that it will drop in October or November 2015 – we might see something that we never imagined before: a game that is actually an improvement on Persona 4.
And in case you haven’t seen it yet, and want to see a bit of this game in motion, here is the trailer to wet your gaming appetite so to speak: