But would a smug grin be the deciding factor in whether or not a newcomer to the series picks up this game? Seems like there are a lot more impactful reasons why someone wouldn't like Persona (difficulty, social sim elements, bad anime tropes) that aren't related to small, subjective design decisions.
The deciding factor? Of course not. Nobody's looking at Persona 5 and saying "Well this game looks great, but that smirk has put me right off".
On the other hand, the way that the character is portrayed in the key art tells you a lot about the tone and character of the game. I think anime fans seeing a smirking character who is secretly aware of how super cool and powerful he is will think it's great, because that kind of thing happens a lot in popular anime like Dragonball Z. But in the west it isn't cool for that to happen. I don't think we want to see a character posing with an expression because invariably it doesn't fit the context, and that's why so many modern posters have characters looking expressionless.
As a final point to this, think of western characters smirking in promotional art. It's often a sign of obnoxiousness, and a character who isn't really meant to be likeable. Again, my mind goes back to comics by Garth Ennis and Mark Millar. I can imagine a character like the Phantom on the front of something like The Boys or Kick Ass.
I'm not saying that the smirk will prevent Persona 5 from achieving its potential success. But I am saying that the smirk suggests a character who will be at least partially responsible for that. I also disagree that things like social sim elements and difficulty are more likely to put people off. I sincerely think that they would have no negative impact whatsoever.
As far as anime tropes go, I guess it depends how far you want to take it. I absolutely think Persona would be a better game without the shite bath house scenes. They're like the sex scenes in Witcher 3, in that as the games in the series improve, they feel more and more out of place and stupid.
I don't think appealing to the mainstream is nearly as important as you're making it out to be, Dantis, nor should it come at the expense of the game's artistic vision.
That aside, Persona 5 is shaping up to be a very visual, loud game. The characters are dressed up in garish costumes representative of Thief tropes in fiction and it's operating on the same level as superhero comics and manga/anime series where the character transforms, given each character a defined, personable look that is instantly recognizable and iconic. The characters want to be seen while they operate in public places, compared to Persona 3 and 4's characters who dressed normally while exploring strange, warped, inhuman areas.
PS: Naoto's romance was dumb.
Whether or not it's important is debatable, depending what you want from the series. The point came from me seeing how well Witcher 3 has done, and that it's a series that I've been following since before the first game was released on PC. The Witcher 3 has broken into the mainstream in a very sincere way, despite being a fantasy game involving elves, with a huge pre-existing lore and despite coming from Poland. But it hasn't compromised itself whatsoever. When I play it, and I hear the dialogue, it feels like it always did. It's obnoxious and it's offensive and it doesn't give a damn because it is what it wants to be. And yet it's broken through into the mainstream to the extent that people who don't know what an RPG is and couldn't give a hoot about Lord of The Rings are aware of it and even playing it. That's what I'd like from Persona and that's what I think the team would be capable of if they switched things up a little and catered to a certain part of their fanbase just a bit less.
In terms of why they're dressed like that, you're right, but those ideals could still apply with better costume designs. Like I say, Glasses-kun's shirt is more than something that someone wouldn't wear, it's something that just wouldn't exist. But even regardless of that, they're not costumes that the west will find appealing, I don't think. The best fantasy costumes, I think, are the ones that combine real world fashion with the theme they're trying to portray. Starlord, again, is a great example:
The best part about comparing Starlord to The Phantom is that the costumes are actually really, really similar, but The Phantom's is miles less fashionable, poorly coloured and adds a twist of nonsense because "WOAH VIDEOGAMES".
Which leads me back to what I said above: I really feel like they're so close to hitting something that could appeal to a huge market, but they just have to go and fuck it up. The three core creative leads are three of most talented developers in Japan, and they can and should be doing better.
PS: No
you're dumb.
