I'm here covering the Shin Megami Tensei panel at Anime Expo here in Los Angeles (more coverage on that later), but I wanted to drop in now and say that Persona 4 does have a US launch date now. I'm so happy!
After hearing the full history of the Shin Megami Tensei games (awesome, by the way), Atlus surprises us with the screen you're seeing above. Just in time for the holidays, P4 will hit shelves on December 9th, 2008. This will also include a bonus soundtrack CD!
I know some of you haven't finished Persona 3: FES yet, so you better hurry!
Are you ready for P4 yet?
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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Contest:
9:26 PM on 07.05.2008
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@ Projectexodus: RPG, aimed squarely at the heads of weeaboos. It can get really repetitive at times, but P3 has an amazingly mature story and cast of characters. Not mature as what the gaming industry thinks is mature (gratuitous sex, profanity, and violence), but actual maturity that makes you feel at home with those aforementioned subjects. Probably the most mature game I've played.
Reserving this is a nobrainer, can't wait.
>>What type of game is Persona anyway? I've heard so much fuss about these games, but I really dont know...
The Persona games are spinoffs from the core Shin Megami Tensei franchise. The series itself is distinguished by a closer emphasis on the school-life setting so popular in most anime TV shows. Gameplay-wise, the battle system features Persona, which are basically summoned creatures who perform attacks, each with weaknesses and strength. Personae can be switched out, leveled up and fused together to make new ones.
The first two PS1 games were fairly bog-standard jRPGs.
Persona 3 introduced Social Links, which are basically scores representing your relationships to the game's cast and ancillary different characters, each relationship corresponding to a persona's arcana grouping.
Building ranks by spending time with the characters produced stronger personae during fusion, and netted special story events that were like an anime series' various plot arcs.
With P3 the series evolved from a standard cutscene-to-cutscene ride common in the jRPG to a time-management game with an attached dungeon-crawler. Good call on that for ATLUS.
That's quite a long way away. I'll have to import it of course, I bet 3 FES doesn't even come out in the UK til 2009
I'll buy P4 just in hopes that it grabs me, and to financially support Atlus. They've brought so many amazing games to the States that never would have benn localized by anyone else.
For Rule of Rose alone, I am indebted to them for life.
I don't know why I thought that, and I know it'd be a huge pain in the ass and bit of work for Atlus to even come close to pulling off, but that's one of my dreams for a future Persona game.
FUCK YEAH, ATLUS!
What I expected: A decent RPG
What I got: A 999 hour long episode of Degrassi
Seriously, people need to stop making so many good games, so maybe we can finish what we have. We are only human.
Fuck yeah.
Still have to beat FES though. I have three or four more Ordeals to get through.
Maybe I'll give it another stab later, but I got kinda burnt out. P4 looks awesome, however, and I will most definately give Atlus my monies.
Characters drop-kick the cards, pull them out over fans, hit them with a chair, crush them in their hands, and so forth. At least they're not drawing them over some ridiculous card-holding device and laying them on a deck*coughYuGiOhhack*.
Another key device seems to be a pair of glasses, which is cute since it provides additional visual twists to the characters. Daytime = no glasses, Nighttime = glasses. It's more interesting than the addition of a SEES armband to the school uniform, at least.
Weather looks like it plays a part in the proceedings, and there are group victory animations. So the game still oozes style like blood from a horror-house wall and drives a neon-colored stake into the grays and browns of "next-gen" gaming. Works for me!
Indeed, great news, but us people in Europe would be waiting until June for this. By that time, the Americans will have the special edition. ¬_¬
All I can say about P4 FES is "want."
^.^
I'll play it anyway, though. ;)