I just can't stop watching the trailer. Shoji Meguro's theme for the trailer--and I hope to God this is the actual game's main theme--is the perfect blend of electric guitar and synth, with enough riffs to keep you bobbing along the entire time. I'm consistently amazed at how he can produce such different feels using the same instruments.
But the trailer's visuals! It's slick and stylish in a way that 3 and 4 weren't. The latter Persona games have been about rocking that whole "secret powers/double life" vibe. I mean, Persona as a whole is urban fantasy at its best, but the latter games have been focused on the concept of living an everyday life on the surface, with the frequent escape to an otherworld to fight an enemy beyond normal comprehension. We don't know a whole lot about 5 right now, although from what I've seen, the main cast seems to be running around in the real world, not some other alternate place like the Midnight Channel. Their double life is--so far--confined to something more realistic. We don't know how they get their Personas, and what or where the snippets of the dungeon scenes mean. But the whole thing so far promises an intrigue and excitement that didn't really come across in the earlier games.
1 and 2, your characters are fighting to save a friend in jeopardy and to right the wrongs said friend committed, along with fixing the world in the bargain. 3 and 4, your characters are fighting for justice, to protect the world from weird forces threatening people. (Yes, I've distilled the plots down to really simple elements here, but work with me.) And of course, your characters in all the games are working through their own issues at the same time. Character development (internal) and plot/world development (external). What do we know of 5? Our character are facing personal issues that entrap them, and so far, their reaction is to turn to crime (albeit fun, glamorous, decidedly non-violent crime) as a way to cope. We've got really no idea what else could be happening in this world, what the external forces going on are.
We're given a glimpse of a subway train driver losing control of the train and crashing it; his face gives us hints that he's perhaps being possessed or even cursed? Persona has long been full or urban legends, charms, and curses, so perhaps Atlus is weaving this in as an external force the protagonists must fight against? Could there be some malevolent force at work, preying upon the citizens of Tokyo?
There is just something about the idea of magic and fantasy within an urban landscape, Maybe because it's just such the epitome of civilization, of science and progress and modernity. Of...humanity, I guess. And the idea of primal forces beyond man's control or comprehension seeping through the cracks of the pavement...it's exciting and thrilling in so many ways.
I got into the Megami Tensei franchise back in 2009, well after the release of Persona 4. Since then, it's been so much fun to be present for the release of new mainline games, plus spinoffs (Devil Survivor) and even ports of games we never got before (Soul Hackers). But being present for the first new Persona game in a long time is something special, For once, I'm on the same page as everyone. I'm not discovering something new that people have known about and talked about for years; this something unknown, with secrets hidden away that nobody but Atlus knows about.
I'm just excited beyond words at the chance to be a part of something new like this. I can't wait for more news.
