Atlus sucks at keeping secrets. 

Let me explain, in the spirit of full disclosure: I love Atlus. I also have to admit that I get the "Atlus Faithful" newsletter every so often, the latest of which ends with a little tease: "you'll absolutely love what we're getting ready to announce next week ..." Fans knew about Persona 3 FES coming stateside weeks prior to its announcement, and Colette seems to have beaten them to the punch again, bringing us a de facto announcement of Persona 4. It's on its way, and here's a 15-minute trailer to prove it.

I have to congratulate Akayuki for digging these up, as the Atlus website is totally devoid of any information on the game (since, y'know, it doesn't officially exist yet). Info on P4 is sparse, and unless you are fluent in moonspeak, this trailer isn't going to fix that.

The second half of the trailer (available after the jump) shows a bit of gameplay and some combat, both of which should seem familiar if you played Persona 3 (please do). It seems like Social Links and the tarot influences are back, and the art style and character models are instantly recognizable (Hi, Igor! Nice limo).

That being said, I'm going to reserve judgement -- as much as I loved Persona 3, which was a lot, I'd rather see a new, innovative experience than Persona 3.5. I know that Atlus is capable of innovation in a genre that most people think is stagnant, and I would hate for the bar, admirably raised, to get stuck at Social Links and persona fusion. 

[Via Akayuki -- thanks Jak!]