Atlus knows how to make some kickass goodies. A soundtrack plus the art book. And the art book is an awesome hardcover type too. Really really nifty.

Got about 2 hours of playtime in so here's some initial thoughts on the game.

- LOTS OF ANIMATION. Normally you think a game has an awesome opening and then you won't see cutscenes of that calibur for a while. Not here, no less than 4 really awesome (and over at least a minute each) in the first 30 mins or so.

- Along with that comment, be prepared to truly not get into the game for at least 40 minutes. While you have control over your character sometimes, you really don't get a battle until then. There is a lot of story and such going on.

- The high school approach is kinda interesting. In order to get better persona, you have to establish social links. Doing things such as helping a classmate out in class or answering questions yourself can give you stat bonuses to improve grades/popularity etc which helps build links.

- Good graphics. While the character models not in battle are kinda ok, the battle versions of the characters look much better.

- You see enemies onscreen, and can hit first to get initiative. Enemies can do the same.

- Outside support can do an analyze on enemies to show HP/weaknesses.

- You can give tactics commands to other party members. You only completely control your character. Also your character is the only one who can have more than one persona.

- Hitting an enemy with its weakness knocks the enemy down AND gives that character another attack

- Perfect example - first enemies are weak to fire, which amazingly you just happen to have. You can hit one with fire, knock it down and get another turn. If there's another enemy weak to fire, repeat again.

- If you manage to knock all enemies down, you're allowed an all out attack. All your party members jump the enemies at once and you get a hilarious cartoon style brawl (complete with a huge cloud of dust and sound effects). You can elect not to do the all out attack, but right now I haven't seen a reason not to.

All in all, I'm impressed. I wish I had more time last night, but tonight I'll make this the priority. It really is an awesome game.

EDITED - Added the two intros you see from letting the title screen idle. And the music is very different and awesome.