Atlus USA and Deep Silver had unveiled a brand new game trailer for Persona 5 focusing on Palace’s which our characters must infiltrate and defeat the evils within in a similar vein to Persona 4. Much like previous games, there is a unique why of entering these places within the game and in Persona 5 we’ve gone full-on and character enter via their smartphones. The world they enter is known as the Metaverse which is essentially the “collective unconscious” of all mankind.
The more I see of Persona 5 firstly the more a want to play it, secondly is how I can’t help but laugh at how Persona-ish it really is. You’d think that the developers would be trying something new, which they are in some areas, but they seem to be really doubling down on everything that makes a Persona game what it is. I for one love what I have been seeing and really can’t wait to get my hands on the game, roll on 4th April.
While the Phantom Thieves keep up their guise as normal Japanese high-schoolers during the day, they travel to another world (via smart phone) to unleash their true Personas and raise some hell at night. This world is known as the Metaverse, and it’s essentially the “collective unconscious” of all mankind. In the Metaverse, the most distorted desires of people manifest themselves as Palaces, and it’s up to the Phantom Thieves to infiltrate and defeat the evils within a Palace.
In order to enter a Palace, the team picks a target, figures out certain key bits of information, and plugs it into their Metaverse Navigator app to gain access. Once the thieves are in the Palace, they must fight hordes of Shadows, solve puzzles, defeat the Palace ruler, and steal the target’s deepest darkest desire (which takes the form of Treasure). When the Treasure is stolen, the target’s heart will be changed and they’ll finally understand the evilness of their core desire. Every target in the game will have a Palace with a different look and theme, so be prepared to see some truly twisted stuff! Unfortunately for the Phantom Thieves, infiltrating a Palace is anything but easy. The team will need to use stealth and plan their moves wisely to ensure a successful heist. Sneaking by and/or ambushing Shadows is essential to reaching the Palace Treasure, so be sure to always make the first move. If the Thieves get caught too many times, they’ll be kicked out of the Metaverse and can only return the next day (always keep an eye on the security meter)!
So what do you do once you’ve challenged a Shadow to a fight? The easy answer is to send them to Shadow hell with a variety of attacks, but sometimes a more “diplomatic” solution would be more beneficial in the long run. You can “Hold Up” Shadows to negotiate with them to yield money, items, and even a chance to avoid a battle entirely. Oh, and this time around the protagonist can even convince them to join the Phantom Thieves to be utilized as a Persona! Of course if you’re more of a shoot first ask questions later type of person, feel free to destroy all the Shadows. We’ve even included the Baton Pass feature that lets an attacking party member switch turns with another character to maximize attacking weaknesses!