‘Persona 5’ Coming To North America This Year For Sony PS4, PS3

Atlus is about to make some North American fans very happy. The publisher has announced that the highly anticipated “Persona 5” game will reach North American markets later this year. Many fans expected the game to hit Japan first, then reach across the Pacific a year or two later, but that doesn’t appear to be the case now.

Atlus made the announcement on its official website, where “Persona 5” is showcased an an eye-popping Web design. Those who have seen the first gameplay trailer know the site is attempting to emulate the game’s gorgeous art style.

Curiously, “Persona 5” was not mentioned during last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. But IGN reports that Atlus likely will wait for Tokyo Game Show 2015 to make some official “Persona 5” announcements. The Tokyo show will run Sept. 17 to 20.

Another possible reason the role-playing game (RPG) was benched may have been the official announcement of “Dark Souls 3” during E3. The “Dark Souls” series has proven to be one of the most popular the publisher has ever released, so it’s a definite possibility that it didn’t want one game to overshadow the other at E3.

Whatever the reason, it seems that “Persona 5” will be everything a fan wants in a “Persona” game, and should continue the hot streak of the "Shin Megami Tensei" series, because it features elements that have been in previous games. For example, the protagonist is a high school student who seems quiet and friendly, but can summon a “Persona” for help during combat.

However, it seems that “Persona 5” will have some interesting twists along the way. Atlus has stated that the protagonist will be a Phantom Thief. While not much has been revealed about that particular aspect of the character, the publisher said the reveal will bring a thrilling new twist to the RPG genre. Add some stealth elements with platforming sections and it seems like "Persona 5" will also differ greatly from previous games.

“Persona 5” will be coming to Sony's PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 consoles this year. As of this writing, there seems to be no immediate difference between either version, though that may change when the game is revealed in Tokyo.

Persona 5 E3 Trailer (Credit: YouTube/AtlusUSA)