Thou thou thou thou thou.....

 Persona 5.

 That's really all I have to say, isn't it? No matter what, somebody out there is going to stumble across this post just because I started off with that. Of course I'm going to write about it, so don't worry about that. It's on the way, without a doubt, but you're going to have to wait.

 If you haven't noticed, the Atlus brand has been pretty hot the past few years. They sort of snuck up on everyone and did the quietest takeover of their patented genre. In the 90's, Squaresoft had the dominance and their release list was absolutely massive. If a competitor wanted to get a game out on the market, they had to complete directly with Squaresoft. Rarely did a company sneak something by on the RPG front that made people notice. Enix was lucky enough to have the influence to get some games by, and certainly Capcom made it onto shelves alongside Final Fantasy with their Breath of Fire series, but even the first two titles in the Persona series were completely overshadowed by Squaresoft's presence.

 To be honest, they flooded the market and themselves out of dominance. The original PlayStation was subject to an overwhelming number of RPG titles, and the vast majority of them were of good quality. That market hold gave the mainstream gamers the impression that an RPG was only worth trying out if the game carried Squaresoft's logo. When the jump to the PS2 came, the playing field evened out despite the merger that birthed Squeenix when it came to the North American market. Final Fantasy, Front Mission, and Dragon Quest were always going to sell well, but by the end of the PS2's lifespan it became apparent that they had begun to milk their franchises and produce some uninspired RPG's. To their credit, their expansion beyond RPG's and their focus on selling their A titles beyond expectations keeps them wildly profitable, but other companies had snuck in. Atlus quietly put out quality port after quality port, and by the time Persona 3: FES hit shelves, the Atlus logo had started to become a magnet for players looking to experience a new and creative RPG.

 We're two months shy of 2009, and the year has been huge for Atlus. I should clarify that we're talking about Atlus USA, because they have truly become the center of attention for American RPGrs. They're lucky enough to be able to port not only their own parent company's games, but a good selection of Japanese titles that weren't developed by Atlus at all. Because of that, we've been lucky enough to get not only the usual Atlus fare, but games like Demon's Souls and The Dark Spire.

 The most telling information can be found in review scores through the year. Each major Atlus game this year has been critically loved while Squeenix has been proportionally absent. The popular Persona series has put out two remakes to keep interest going, and the SMT series has gained a couple DS games as well. 2007 through 2009 marked Atlus' coming out party with excellent SMT spin-off titles leading the charge. What can you expect from here on out? Yes, I will be mentioning Persona 5...just wait.

 First of all, expect a major SMT game to be announced soon. The difference between the past and now is that I think the North American market is finally ready for that game. Now, I can honestly say I'm not that versed in the main series, but a major title for the main SMT series has been rumored and oft-mentioned for the past year. Atlus has not released a MegaTen game for any current gen system, but they will. There was a recent announcement that Atlus was recruiting developers for the PS3 and XBox 360, which is a little late in the game. Gamers are a lot more used to mature games these days, so the time is ripe to get a darker SMT game out the door, but don't expect it anytime soon.

 My prediction is that you will hear of an announcement for the next title in the main series at E3, but even then, I'm expecting that this game will demand patience beyond E3 and for the gap to be filled by more ports. You can expect more of the SMT backlog to be re-released on the portable systems, and you should also keep a lookout for Atlus to put a pair of ports on the PSN and XBLA to test the waters of digital releases. Basically, there's a very good chance Persona 2 will be on the PSP next year, but not SMT4. Atlus is going to make a lot of money cashing in on quality ports and original, low cost portable titles such as Strange Journey and Devil Survivor. Not that these games are bad, because they aren't.

 You kept reading for Persona 5, right? First, I'd like to go into editorial mode, because there's a few things that I would love for the sequel to have.

 Dealing with mature topics isn't exactly a foreign concept to Atlus, so when Persona 5 does come out I fully expect it to play to the next-gen's strength in rendering good imagery. On the PS2, they played to the strengths that the console still had. If you're playing with underpowered hardware, you can still put out a fundamentally terrific RPG, but in the graphics department, you really needed to find a style that fit the mood of the game. For Persona 3, there was a clear attempt to give the game an "in the shadows" vibe, as the color scheme for most of the main-plot covered most of the color shades in between blue and black. Even in the brightly colored "safe" public areas outside of the plot, you could see a clear difference in mood between starting school and the endgame.

 The release of Persona 4 happened over a year and a half into the lifespan of the next-gen, but the vivid color scheme and overall style helped it overcome its technical inferiority. yet, it still carried a mysterious tone throughout it all. People often tend to forget that sexual-orientation is a more sensitive topic in Japan than it is elsewhere, mainly because of the discomfort and denial of it in Japanese culture. So, what seemed a little whimsical to American audiences was actually a mature inclusion to the plot. The point is that they are still very unafraid to deal with topics other developers don't usually tackle.

 When it comes to the PS3/360, I fully expect things to get dark, but I'm going to take it one step further. I am truly hoping that the game will go beyond dark and get the player more involved with that mood. Demons, Nazis, serial killers, and "the battle for everyone's souls"....the Persona series has thrown the light-hearted high school mentality into some pretty serious situations, but I'm hoping that P5 will really drive it home.

 I don't want Shadows for P5. As far as MacGuffins have gone, the Shadows have been some of the best and functional that we've ever seen in gaming. Their constant presence has always been threatening, but their plain simplicity have allowed for more villainous individuals to rise above them to take the spotlight while also never making a direct interference in the year-long plots. They're flexible and perfect for the job of a long tale, but this needs to be adjusted for the next installment. I especially do not want any attempt to link 3, 4, and 5 together in any way. So far, the series has stayed away from the big no-no of crossing plots, and I hope it stays that way. I don't care if characters from 3 and 4 show up or locations are shared (as 4 and P3:Portable have done), but for God's sake, don't tie plot-lines together! I beg you! It's better that way, unless there's a beyond awesome reason to do it.

 That said, the next enemy should be a more hungry one, and when I say hungry, I mean bloodthirsty. I liked the imagery of Persona 3's cutscenes, because they really left a lot to the imagination when it came to the fate of those awakening during the Dark Hour, but I was seriously expecting something to hit the fan at some point. I'll give Atlus credit in that the final battle really culminated in something truly epic when the player considers the plot as a whole, but after the first few hours, the game never reminded me to be scared of the dark.

 Oh, wait, I take that back. Death made me run like a scared little bitch every time somebody called out his name.

 To quote a famous wise man, I want a "corpse explosion extraordinaire". Something seriously wrong needs to happen in the next game to remind players that Persona is serious business. Graphics are no longer an excuse, as the resources are there to make the experience truly visceral, and that needs to happen in the next game. If social links and a time span aren't brought back in favor of a more sandbox approach to NPC's behavior, then this game needs to bring every visual flair it possibly can to make the game threatening. However, if social links are brought back as everyone expects (and they will come back)....

 ...kill someone. Everyone on your buddy list should be fair game during the course of the story. Remember Aeris getting knocked off? Well, that was shocking, sure, but how are you going to react when your "Social Link MAX" girlfriend gets her head chomped off by a rabid demon? Exactly. This goes on my list of wants as well as my lists of predictions, which actually sums up the rest of what I want from P5.

 I don't expect this game to push the boundaries of the cell processor by any means. It won't come close. Atlus is not a big budget developer, so they aren't going to dump millions beefing up the graphics on this game beyond what they need for creative purposes. Expect social links to come back, and expect twice as much dialogue. That said, whatever girl you max first is going to die. I'll put money on it. It won't be a selected character either. No way. You're going to have the freedom of choice, and you'll have unknowingly selected a coffin stuffer.

 In that vein, Persona 4 reminded players that multiple endings was an idea still in the cards so long as the plot would allow it. Mostly, games offer up variations to one singular ending. Occasionally we're lucky enough to have the choice of two endings, with one being the "bad" ending and the other being the "good" ending. There are also "true" endings that rarely come along, but you can generally throw that in with the dual-ending scheme. So thinking about the social link's being fair game, I'll remind you once more that the next game will most likely find its way to Blu-Ray with plenty of space for dialogue. This game will bring back the concept of true multiple endings to a game. Not only do I hope loved characters will die in the game, but the storyline should reflect that all the way up to the very end.

 That's a likely scenario, too. The extra space on disc will allow greater flexibility for plot variations, and Persona has already established itself as a character-heavy series. I won't drop spoilers, but P1 and P4 each had characters that could live or die depending on your actions, and certainly the attention given to NPC relationships isn't lost on Atlus. It would not surprise me that the ending of P5 could be uniquely different for at least three playthroughs, which is very significant compared to other games. In the Persona series, the characters that interact with you do so on a daily basis and are a constant personality in your main character's life. The removal of just one personality has already proven to seriously change the mood of P4, and I completely expect 5 to expand on that since the response was so strong. This doesn't mean that the NPC's will be watered down versions of what you're used to. Instead, the game will drastically change to revolve around your choices. This is just my personal expectation, but the direction that Atlus has taken with the series suggests that the New Game+ will be more important than ever.

 Call it overthinking, but I could think of several creative uses of a New Game+ in an expanded Persona sequel than what we've come to expect. What if you absolutely had to play the game through the first time with a guaranteed fatality, but in the second playthrough you have some "instinct" that warned you so that you could prevent it? What if your best buddy dies and reveals the location of some letter that he wants delivered as his dying request that is unique for each new game, but carries over to a New Game+ so that you can unlock new NPC's by finding the letter while he's still in your party? What if certain characters did something unique in the ending depending on how you played the game, but you could only unlock the true ending by playing through the game a few times to get them all in your final party at once? This replaying wouldn't even bother most players if the social aspect was halfway fresh each game. It's not even outside the realm of imagination that the story itself could explain this and be a critical part of the plot. I can hear Igor commenting on something "mysterious" about the main character already.

 Of course, there have to be Personae or it wouldn't live up to its namesake. I'm sure a huge roster will be present per tradition, but I'm personally hoping that there will be a little more reason for them being around than there was in 4. 3 didn't explain it well either, but it wasn't necessary in either one to do so. I'm not even sure if I want them explained, but I guess I'm curious to see how Atlus would use them in a story that gave their presence a little more weight. It's just a thought.

 Now, release dates. The P3 engine was reused to allow for FES and P4's releases to happen, roughly, a year apart from each other, so the difference between 3 and 4 was two years. That would slate P5 for spring/summer 2010, but since the game is obviously going to be built from scratch, the timeline is suggesting that a summer 2011 release is most likely. You'll get your fix of Persona in some way, whether it be Innocent Sin/Eternal Punishment for PSP or an enhanced version of P4 making its way to another console, and I wouldn't even be surprised if a spinoff gets released next year for the DS. Just don't hold your breath for any concrete news on P5 to happen until the TGS next year.

 Of course, stranger things have happened... Digg It Stumble it ! Reddit