PERSONA 5!

"ペルソナ５　PV#01" (Watch on YouTube)

I don't know what I was expecting with the next Persona. Like, I just couldn't imagine what it would look like, and that has made it hard for me to be too excited. But last night Atlus released P5's first legit trailer, and man. MAN. Just LOOK AT IT. There's just SO MUCH TO LOVE. Everything is so slick and stylish, and the art direction is superb. I think I was expecting the same basic format/style as P3 and 4, just with HD, more detailed graphics, but it seems like they are taking things much further.

AND UGH THE CHARACTERS LOOK SO GREAT ALREADY. Ryuji (the blonde boy...already icon'd him!) will probably be my P5 crush, Anne looks awesome (and her name implies she might be half-Japanese, or maybe an international student?), the mascot-y character, Morgana, is a shapeshifting cat (YESSSSSSS!), and the protagonist is a phantom thief. A PHANTOM THIEF!

The director gave a short interview with Famitsu, and he said this about the game's theme:

“These days, I believe it isn’t uncommon for people not to know where they’re headed [in life] or to have various problems, be they big or small,” says Hashino. “Accepting the rules and values society deems acceptable isn’t a very fulfilling way to live—and yet, there are those that lack the courage to change the status quo, even as they’re held down by it.”

He continues, “This negative side of modern society is part of the backbone of this title. In the midst of all that, you have these rambunctious high school kids, who fight back against the things that might hold them down. If the game can give people the courage to face everyday life or even act as a trigger for positive change, I believe we will have accomplished our goal.”

I am definitely down for a game about challenging status quo. That kind of theme also leaves plenty of room for an actual, no butts about it LGBT character, SO MAKE IT HAPPEN, ATLUS. Or at least let me have romantic options with ALL the social links, not just the girls. PLEASE.

Ugh, I was kind of just planning to write a paragraph about this then move on to other things, but this kind of seems long enough as is, so I will end things here. Anyway, I am officially super hyped for this game. Anyone else with me?

ETA: Another message from the director here, def a good read.

ETA2: Also, seeing the girl's name as Anne AND Anzu around the web, not sure which it is. The kanji for her name IS often read as アンズ（anzu）, but it also has an alternate reading of アン(an), so could be either? Also, apparently her surname, Takamaki, is also a Finnish last name, so WHO KNOWS. Since she has proper Kanji for her full name, I doubt she'd be FULL Finnish, but even half-Finnish would be pretty awesome.

Oh gush.

Too much happy game stuff today. Tonight there was a Xenoblade X livestream (almost forgot about it in the midst of Persona hype), and ughhh the game is looking SO GOOD. It was mainly focused on the world and exploration, and it was so damn pretty.

( Cut for short Xenoblade talk, mostly for my own sake )