They’re back!

So you guys remember the countdown that Atlus has a few days ago? Well, it was surprisingly not for one game, but for four.  We have Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona 4: Dancing All Night, P4A: The Ultimax Suplex Hold, and Persona 5.  All are planned for release in 2014 for Japan, so you could say it’s going to be the year of Persona.  I am extremely excited for all of these titles, so let’s take a quick look at all of them!

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (for 3DS)

Interesting. I want it.

Another game for my 3DS, and it’s Persona? Sign me up.  Now there are many things to note about this picture above.  First, the protagonists of both Persona 3 and 4 are together with two mew characters.  Second, the art is very chibi.  The story takes place in Yasogami High, the school in Persona 4.  A strange tower appears on the campus and a rumor spreads that those who hear the bells are doomed to die.  Along with the appearance of this tower, the main cast of P3 (except for female MC) suddenly appears as well.  The gameplay seems to be very similar to that of the Etrian Odyssey series, due to the chibi art and five-member teams.  The battle animations and cutscenes from the trailer also look very awesome.  As for the two new characters displayed, no information has been revealed as of yet, but they clearly have something to do with Yasogami High.  This game is going to be released in Japan on June 4, 2014.  I am really looking forward to more news on this game.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night (for PS Vita)

Show me your moves!

So…I wasn’t planning on getting the Vita, but this is another game that is pushing me towards getting one.  I really didn’t see this coming, but I guess it makes sense with the rising popularity of rhythm games.  Taking two very popular things and combining them into one game is a very clever move by Atlus.  In the trailer, we see Rise and Yu dance it out to the original opening of P4.  A new character name Kanami was also revealed, but no other info on her is available yet.  The names of several of P4’s main cast are also listed as available characters for dancing with, but I’m sure all party members will be able to show their moves.  The gameplay looks really good, but that’s to be expected since Atlus is collaborating with Dingo, the studio responsible for the popular Hatsune Miku games.  This game seems very stylish and makes me want to get a Vita…soon.  The announced release for the game in Japan is Fall 2014.

Persona 4 Arena: The Ultimax Suplex Hold (for PS3)

Saw this coming, but still full of excitement.

So we heard about the arcade version of this game quite some time ago, but now it has been officially announced to be ported to consoles.  Only the PS3 version has been announced thus far, but there’s a chance the 360 could get one as well…hopefully.  The character roster has been fairly extended thanks to the addition of Junpei, Yukari, a new red-haired guy, and the shadow versions of everyone.  The gameplay will probably be exactly like the first one, but now we have a ton of more playable characters to mess around with.   The game is announced to be available for PS3 in Summer 2014.

Persona 5 (for PS3)

Strange image….but who cares? Persona 5!!

It’s about time this game received an official announcement!  While the trailer didn’t show much, it showed a mysterious phrase “You are a slave, want emancipation?”  This likely has to do with the overall theme of the game, but we’ll certainly see more in the future.  More importantly, the game is set to be released on the PS3 in Winter 2014.  This is some exciting news and I can’t wait for more info!

So I hope everyone is as excited for these games as I am!  To finish off, here are links to the trailers for these Persona games.