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[Lunar15]

Now that is a valid point.

I feel like it being on a handheld has some part in that though. I know a lot of people who abhor anime and JRPGs, but who are quite happy to dedicate tens of hours to Pokemon.

I think that's a similar situation to Final Fantasy. They most likely grew up with the franchise, and back on older consoles and handhelds, those didn't exactly look "anime" because everything was pretty crappy graphics. They also didn't really care because they were kids.

Persona definitely doesn't really have the legacy to boost it in that regard, but a lot of what's going to make it appealing is its quality. (assuming it IS quality in the first place)

What also helps is localization: When Giant Bomb decided to do an Endurance run of Persona 4, they did so thinking they'd just be making fun of this super weird Japanese JRPG thing about school life, but ended up getting pretty enthralled with the characters and the writing. A big hand goes out to the localization team on that one, and I hope they bring their A game again with P5.

 

[kenta]

This is Persona 5's main menu:

Curious to know if it's still the main menu. That's a year old at this point...

Persona 3 is arguably the most grounded of 3 and 4, but 4 remains the more popular game, even from a western standpoint.

This might be different if they had released a Golden equivalent of Persona 3 on a modern platform... (Not that I'm picking a fight with you; I just saw an opportunity to whine about this)

 

[Mikey Jr.]

Man, what an absolutely missed opportunity to get P3 and P4 remastered on PS4.

Fuck, even just P4 golden. At least something! I think that ship has sailed at this point. Ohh well.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

The suspense is terrible! I hope it will last.

This is Persona 5's main menu:

From the style of music (Black music, acid jazz), to the narrative influence (Arsene, Carmen, Captain Kidd, Zoro), to the urban leanings, to even what we've seen of the cast so far excluding Yusuke, P5 absolutely conveys a more Western influenced tone to me than P3 and P4's Japanese one.

Everything here screams 80s/90s Japan commercial art that voraciously devoured worldwide influence and tossed out wonders like that. Most of Persona 3/4/5 does.

 

[marmoka]

Well, Chopper is also participating in Persona 5, giving voice to the black cat.

About the west and anime, I know many people, myself included, who watch One Piece, and are anime ignorants. Just watch (or have watched)Dragon Ball, Doraemon, and some other even our parents know their existence.

As long as the game is good, nobody will care if the cartoon style is a generic anime or if it looks like Dexter's Laboratory. Everyone will enjoy this Persona. Except us Europeans, if the region lock of Persona 4 Arena happens once again.

 

[sense]

Man, what an absolutely missed opportunity to get P3 and P4 remastered on PS4.

Fuck, even just P4 golden. At least something! I think that ship has sailed at this point. Ohh well.

P3 and p4 will be released as ps2 on ps4 releases with trophies most likely

 

[Ooccoo]

I just rewatched the TGS 2015 trailer and the bar looks exactly like the one in Catherine.

 

[Olengie]

P3 and p4 will be released as ps2 on ps4 releases with trophies most likely

I am hoping for that.

Down to rebuy it again.

Want dem trophies for P3.

 

[marmoka]

P3 and p4 will be released as ps2 on ps4 releases with trophies most likely

I want Persona 4 Golden for PS4. It would have been a great announcement last year, considering how well the PS4 is selling, how bad the Vita sold, and how hard waiting one more year is.

Unless it's a surprise tomorrow (or tonight, depending where you are living) and it's digitally available this week, I don't think it will happen, considering that P5 is supposed to be released in less than half year.

 

[Mikey Jr.]

I want Persona 4 Golden for PS4. It would have been a great announcement last year, considering how well the PS4 is selling, how bad the Vita sold, and how hard waiting one more year is.

Unless it's a surprise tomorrow (or tonight, depending where you are living) and it's digitally available this week, I don't think it will happen, considering that P5 is supposed to be released in less than half year.

Yeah, its too late me thinks.

Only way it happens is if P5 gets delayed. But I think releasing P4 now and with P5 coming soon, people will probably just get burned out. P4 a year ago would have been nice.

 

[KoroEunectes]

I show someone a picture of Vincent and they say "Huh, neat". I show them the Phantom and they say "Dan what the fuck is this?".

So this is too silly:

but this somehow isn't?

 

[Zophar]

I would love to have P3 FES and SMTIII on PS4 with trophies. I feel pretty satisfied with P4G on Vita, but it would be a smart thing to put on PS4 for those who missed out.

 

[ar4757]

Man, what an absolutely missed opportunity to get P3 and P4 remastered on PS4.

Fuck, even just P4 golden. At least something! I think that ship has sailed at this point. Ohh well.

What about the anniversary event in September. They implied some sort of game release, I believe

 

[kenta]

What about the anniversary event in September. They implied some sort of game release, I believe

If I recall correctly, they said they had something planned that would please fans. That could be a book or a figurine or a tablecloth for all we know

 

[Mikey Jr.]

What about the anniversary event in September. They implied some sort of game release, I believe

Back to back Persona games would hurt P5 sales I think.

 

[Qurupeke]

P3 and p4 will be released as ps2 on ps4 releases with trophies most likely

I'd like a neat retail collection but whatever will do.

 

[Mediking]

I would love to have P3 FES and SMTIII on PS4 with trophies. I feel pretty satisfied with P4G on Vita, but it would be a smart thing to put on PS4 for those who missed out.

It's a dream we all have.... but will we get a Definitive Persona 3 and Persona 4 Collection on PS4? I sadly doubt we will.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

and the perceived passe turn-based system will keep it tethered.

This is actually one of the reasons why I think P5 will be a lot more successful than past games in the series. There's no big or even medium budget competition in the area of turn-based JRPGs these days (whereas there were plenty of turn-based RPGs on the PS2). Persona 5 has the market all to itself.

Open world sausage fest action RPG with huge marketing budget will easily eclipse FF XIII. Witcher 3 might as well be a new IP on consoles and we seen how well that did. Only thing I can see holding this game back is not having a 90+ metacritic. If the reviews on it is good, expect it to be the best selling FF game. You just can't loose when it comes to being open world in this generation.

And this is one of the reasons why I think FF15 will underperform. There's fierce competition in the open world market in the West so it's going to be held up to a very high standard. It's up against The Witcher, DA, GTA, Assassin's Creed, and more. Unless it gets top marks, it's going to be a tough hill to climb. "It's like The Witcher but you're a boy band, it's for teenagers, and it's not as good" isn't exactly a great marketing pitch.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

This is actually one of the reasons why I think P5 will be a lot more successful than past games in the series. There's no big or even medium budget competition in the area of turn-based JRPGs these days (whereas there were plenty of turn-based RPGs on the PS2). Persona 5 has the market all to itself.



And this is one of the reasons why I think FF15 will underperform. There's fierce competition in the open world market in the West so it's going to be held up to a very high standard. It's up against The Witcher, DA, GTA, Assassin's Creed, and more. Unless it gets top marks, it's going to be a tough hill to climb. "It's like The Witcher but you're a boy band, it's for teenagers, and it's not as good" isn't exactly a great marketing pitch.

As long as another open world RPG thing doesn't drop around the same time and it gets good reviews, it'll do really really well. The character designs aren't really a problem IMO. Although they do look stupid, there are quite a few successful games out there with bad character design.

 

[AgentLampshade]

Where are Vincent's nipples?

 

[N30RYU]

just a few more hours... please be the release date for this year...

 

[Chie Satonaka]

I'm really trying my hardest not to get excited, but it's happening anyway.

 

[StoopKid]

just a few more hours... please be the release date for this year...

It's only the 3rd today.

 

[Pandora012]

It's only the 3rd today.

Some people live in the future. It's like 8am in Japan.

 

[N30RYU]

This is my phone wallpaper since quite a lot time...

 

[Jigolo]

So I gotta ask as always with the time zone shit. What time is this in EST?

 

[UmbraeCruxis]

So I gotta ask as always with the time zone shit. What time is this in EST?

8:30 am on the 5th. Earlier if you want the preshow.

 

[Audioboxer]

Guys stop teasing my heart with P3/P4 PS4 pipe dream announcements :'(

No doubt this is a new trailer and new release date?

 

[Burbeting]

P5 will definitely sell lot more than what P3 and 4 did back in the day. The series is much more known and popular than it was 10 years ago, and PS4 is sorely lacking in JRPGs so far. This game along with FF15 will definitely scratch that itch, assuming both are review darlings.

Selling exceptionally though? Ehh.. I seriously doubt that. No matter how you look at it, anime aesthetics haven't been popular in West lately outside of Ghibli, so I can't see Persona 5 having mainstream appeal the same way Final Fantasy 15 can have. But I'm not saying this as a bad game, I love the art direction and character designs of these games. But the art is also a huge stopgap from obtaining western mainstream appeal, which would be needed for exceptionally good sales/matching FF15 sales.

 

[Pandora012]

8:30 am on the 5th. Earlier if you want the preshow.

That's pretty awesome. I don't have to wait the whole day for this.

 

[N30RYU]

It's only the 3rd today.

+24h to me is even a few hours since all the years of waitting..

 

[bryt]

Dumb question but am I seeing the countdown correctly? I see 53 hours on it, but isn't the show starting in 37 hours?

 

[Guess Who]

Dumb question but am I seeing the countdown correctly? I see 53 hours on it, but isn't the show starting in 37 hours?

The countdown clock goes by your computer's clock, I think, so unless you're in Japan it's probably inaccurate.

 

[Olengie]

The hype is real

 

[bryt]

The countdown clock goes by your computer's clock, I think, so unless you're in Japan it's probably inaccurate.

Ah gotcha. Thanks!

 

[Inuhanyou]

I think the fact that the Persona brand only came into relevance at the very end(and after) the PS2's lifecycle, as well as the Golden revival only being on Vita had much more to do with its lack of mainstream success, than being "weird" or "too Japanese" or "so anime"

Like seriously guys, people aren't that....closed minded

 

[Jigolo]

8:30 am on the 5th. Earlier if you want the preshow.

Thank you

 

[SolidSnakex]

P5 will definitely sell lot more than what P3 and 4 did back in the day. The series is much more known and popular than it was 10 years ago, and PS4 is sorely lacking in JRPGs so far. This game along with FF15 will definitely scratch that itch, assuming both are review darlings.

Selling exceptionally though? Ehh.. I seriously doubt that. No matter how you look at it, anime aesthetics haven't been popular in West lately outside of Ghibli, so I can't see Persona 5 having mainstream appeal the same way Final Fantasy 15 can have. But I'm not saying this as a bad game, I love the art direction and character designs of these games. But the art is also a huge stopgap from obtaining western mainstream appeal, which would be needed for exceptionally good sales/matching FF15 sales.

I think it just depends on what we're talking about as far as "exceptionally well" goes. Because I think there's exceptionally well by the standards of Atlus and other mid-tier developers, and exceptionally well by the general standards of the industry. I've been saying for a while that I think P5 will sell around 3m units. This would make it by far the best selling game that Atlus has ever produced. And would absolutely qualify as doing exceptionally well for them. But for the general industry, you have games now selling over 50m units and others routinely hitting upwards of 20m. So it wouldn't apply there. But those games have bigger marketing budgets than what's likely P5's game and marketing budget. So can you really compare them?

I think as long as it does exceptionally well by that goals Atlus has set, then that's all that matters. A game selling 3 million for them would be absolutely massive.

That was an image Atlus USA posted after Catherine's launch. I expect P5 to at least double that in its opening week. Again, that would be a huge success for them.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Ratchet and Clank did well, so many people i know picked it up just because it got good reviews...if Persona 5 can replicate the previous Persona's great scores, it'll give tons of people who didn't even know about it a reason to pause i think

 

[NichM]

I've been saying for a while that I think P5 will sell around 3m units. This would make it by far the best selling game that Atlus has ever produced. And would absolutely qualify as doing exceptionally well for them. But for the general industry, you have games now selling over 50m units and others routinely hitting upwards of 20m.

Do you have sources for any of this? Are you sure you're not confusing earnings with units sold? I have a hard time believing any franchise short of GTA is selling anywhere near 20M, let alone 50M, "routinely."

 

[Darksol]

Eagerly waiting.

 

[Olengie]

I remember when Square Enix got mad that Tomb Raider didn't sell the amount they wanted, despite being a big success.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Do you have sources for any of this? Are you sure you're not confusing earnings with units sold? I have a hard time believing any franchise short of GTA is selling anywhere near 20M, let alone 50M, "routinely."

Doesn't CoD hit 20m routinely? BO3 in the US alone moved 8.3m units by the end of last year, so just two months of data.

 

[HMD]

I remember when Square Enix got mad that Tomb Raider didn't sell the amount they wanted, despite being a big success.

And the sequel sold even worse, I just hope the series isn't dead after RoTTR.

 

[Olengie]

And the sequel sold even worse, I just hope the series isn't dead after RoTTR.

RoTTR being a timed X1 exclusive was total bs imo.

 

[Guess Who]

Doesn't CoD hit 20m routinely? BO3 in the US alone moved 8.3m units by the end of last year, so just two months of data.

Nonetheless, CoD and GTA are giant outliers, not anywhere near representative of what most games achieve.

 

[NichM]

Doesn't CoD hit 20m routinely? BO3 in the US alone moved 8.3m units by the end of last year, so just two months of data.

Yeah, but a yearly franchise like CoD doesn't usually have long legs on individual entries. Those two months of holiday sales were probably the majority of its LTD. I could be wrong, but absent someone coming to correct me, I'm still skeptical that even a heavy hitter like CoD is routinely going as high as 20M. 10-12 seems more likely.

(I'm only pressing on this because I feel like people don't have a clear understanding of what qualifies a game as a hit outside the AAA space, which P5 is. I don't think Atlus would have to sell even 1M to be ecstatic about its sales, let alone 3.)

 

[spatenfloot]

I think P5 will easily sell over a million and be quite the success for Atlus.

 

[YankeeDonB]

As long as another open world RPG thing doesn't drop around the same time and it gets good reviews, it'll do really really well. The character designs aren't really a problem IMO. Although they do look stupid, there are quite a few successful games out there with bad character design.

I suspect you're right - FF XV has a few things going for it potentially: open world but still story focused (which is still a small niche in open world RPGs, this gen in AAA it's really just Witcher); a scale that, at least so far, we haven't seen in other open world RPGs (summons, set pieces, ability to warp all over environment); an enormous marketing budget; potentially snappy and in depth action mechanics (again, a rarity in open world RPG space); and a redemption story - sure, the game comes with baggage (XIII's reception, development hell), but a lot of people would be happy for a new mainline FF to shine again, even if only for reasons of nostalgia.

Of course, the story may be poor, the mechanics might be off, reviews could be terrible. Maybe it will crash and burn. But it has enough unique elements that I don't think it will be predominately viewed as "basically the Witcher but with worse writing" if it more or less delivers what the developers are aiming for.

As for Persona 5, I hope it grabs more mainstream Western attention, I want these quirkier high production jRPGs to thrive again. And I suspect P5 and FF XV sales could be synergistic - I'm of the mind that a rising jRPG tide carries all ships. Too long we've been fighting over table scraps, and lots of Persona and FF fans now seem to view the games as in zero sum competition.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

Looking back at the discussion from previous page, I agree with Dantis that this game will be a tougher sale to western audience than Catherine.

Putting aside the whole anime debate, one of the reasons that I think helped Catherine in the west, was the fact that it focused on adults. Vincent and the whole cast were adults. The kind of problems that each character had, their worries, their relationships, those were things that a lot of us could relate to. The game might have been really weird with the whole climbing rocks as sheeps, but the actual characters and their relationships in the real world felt a lot more grounded compared to what we are seeing in P5.

I think that's part of the reason why Catherine resonated better with a western audience, and that's something that P5 lacks. It's way easier to put yourself in the shoes of a guy who is feeling trapped inside his relationship with his girlfriend than to try and understand the feelings of a teenage Japanese student that has a secret identity as a phantom thief.

Also, let's not forget that Catherine was a puzzle platformer and P5 is a turn-based JRPG. These are two very different titles, and imo, JRPGs (with anime looking art styles) in general are a tougher sale in the west than puzzle platformers.