Atlus has been teasing us with a new Persona for awhile, much like you may tease a kid with a birthday gift or your significant other with an engagement ring. “It’s coming, I promise” Atlus says, then we grow skeptical as time goes on, thinking this promised gift will never come, then Atlus shows up one day and goes “Bam, blow your mind did I?”
And so it was. Atlus and P-Studio have announced not one, not two, but four new games all out on different consoles. Let’s start with the rhythm game starring everyone’s favorite murder mystery investigation squad, Persona 4: Dancing All Night.
Now, the idea of a Persona 4 dancing may seem a bit weird, a little “cash milky” even, especially since we’ve been marketed Persona 4 again and again and again. But consider this, Persona didn’t seem like it could work as a fighting game and it came together pretty well, plus teen idol Rise Kujikawa was basically made for a game like this, as was that magnificent bastard Yu Narukami. Dancing All Night will be coming to the PS Vita.
Speaking of P4 Arena, Atlus has a followup to the fightan title named P4U: Persona 4 The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold.
The title is a bit of a mouthful, the game is looking at a summer 2014 release in Japan for the PS3. Though the game worryingly reuses assets from Persona 4 Arena, it does stand as a “sequel” of sorts and features a new, sinister looking chap, as well as reintroducing old series favorites to the brawler. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ll be playing as Persona 3’s Yukari Takeba, or as the game calls her; The Tacky Pink Sniper.
The crazy emotional train wrecks that are the teens of Persona 3 and 4 aren’t just all about dancing and punching each other’s faces in, sometimes they do RPG-y type things like explore dungeons and fight monsters. As can be seen here in a new 3DS title called Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Not many details are known at this point, other than it’s (obviously) a crossover between Persona 3 and Persona 4, the game also promises to be a bit more of a “comedic” take. I wonder why though, what’s not already hilarious about a pantheon of Gods that likes hitting the reset button on humanity once in awhile? What’s not funny about folks skirting insanity because their minds are being stretched like a starchy rubberband?
Okay, okay, so the Persona 4 Inaba Investigation Squad and Persona 3’s Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad are cool and all, but maybe we’re getting (gasp) a little tired of them? They have spinoffs and remakes galore, manga and anime everywhere you turn. Well here’s the best announcement for last:
Persona 5, oh yeah. After years of waiting Atlus has finally delivered on an official announcement for a sequel. So it’s not much of a trailer, they’re still kind of teasing us, but we know it exist now! There’s also an official website. The game will be out in Japan for Playstation 3 “Winter 2014”, no word on localization yet on any of the titles, but Persona 5 hitting western shores is a safe bet. Watch Enemy Slime for more updates on the Persona series and Atlus at large.
