I’m glad to say after months of waiting, and what seemed to be endless teasers we finally have official news and details on Persona 5 Royal including a new phantom thief and a release date. Persona 5 Royal was first officially announced last month after being teased back in 2018 when it was featured in an official website for a game then titled “Persona 5 R“. Atlus then released its first trailer for Royal which some thought would be be featuring a new antagonist to the Phantom Thieves. However, that obviously has now been debunked.

With the information gained form the trailer, Royal is apparently an updated version of Persona 5 featuring tons of new content, similar to Persona 4 Golden. In a separate,teaser the studio also confirmed that Persona 5 Royal will release in Japan 31st October, and 2020 worldwide for PlayStation 4.

Persona 5 Royal introduces a new character named Kasumi Yoshizawa. Kasumi is a transfer student at Shujin Academy; she’s a rhythmic gymnast and she shows off her skills elegantly dancing in an animated cutscene. She also she uses a rapier-style sword and a Winchester-type rifle. There’s also an additional major character revealed by the name of Takuto Maruki, who is a counselor at Shujin and a new Confidant that appears right after the Kamoshida incident.

We know from a previous teaser that Kasumi rejects the Phantom Thieves’ methods, but she does have a Persona form so she will most likely become a party member later on. Though she also doesn’t seem to be an alternative protagonist similar to Persona 3 FES; So its still unclear if she will be a full playable character or not. Kasumi is also seen in a screenshot on the website showcasing new date spots, so she may be a new romantic interest to the protagonist.

There are lots of additional content additions besides a whole additional third semester, that is meant to expand on the Phantom Thieves’ school life. There’s new stuff such as additional attack animations, and a new location for dating named Kichijoji. Also included are a shopping district with plenty of new activities to engage in, new social scenes, the ability to visit an aquarium, and playing pool and darts at a game bar called Penguin Sniper.

An image on the Japanese site also shows a young man who is most likely is Morgana; the cat companion of the phantom thieves. More specifically it is likely to be his human form since he is seen on Joker’s couch in his room.

Additionally, the trailer showcases what appears to be a new Palace dungeon for the team to explore. The website also introduces a new function in the velvet room and new “Assist Commands” you can use outside dungeons in towns. We can also look forward to stronger enemies which can appear in battles, and graphical improvements available on PS4 Pro as well. It is a lot of surprising new content; the sort of thing Atlus does for their existing game series such as previous Persona titles and Catherine. As a big Persona fan i’m also looking forward to all the new content this new version brings along.

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