‘Persona’ Fans Rejoice; 5th Installment Of Cult Franchise To Come Stateside

“Persona 5” is coming and the PlayStation Blog announced that the North American release date will be on Feb. 14, 2017. The fifth installment of the cult video game hit has been long anticipated by fans of the Japanese Role-Playing Game (JRPG) and it will be exclusive to the “PlayStation 3 and 4.”

The last title in the series that had a number as well as an actual established brand that players connected with, was “Persona 4,” and it was released for the “PS2” back in 2009. A “PS Vita” version was released in 2012 as well.

As Time explains, “Persona 5” will still follow the same theme as the series where high school friends team up to save the world from a shadowy side that few even know about; it’s basically a typical Japanese manga premise. The main protagonist will still be speechless and he will still discover his Jungian powers by accident. Unlike the TV-hopping experience of the fourth title in the series, though, the characters in the latest game will instead hop inside dimensions where they will attempt to save people from corruption.

Now, the Japanese release date for the game will actually be on Sep. 15, 2016. This means that there will be a gap of five months before it comes to the U.S., but there is a good reason for this. John Hardin, the PR manager of the development studio behind the franchise “Atlus” explained that the studio needed the time to make sure that everything is in place.

"We're making sure every bit is in place,” he wrote on the PlayStation blog. “Persona has exponentially grown as a franchise, and considering this is our first numbered sequel since 2008, Atlus is taking its time to ensure this is the best possible experience."

“Persona  5” was first revealed back in 2013, so combined with the 2009 release of the last official game in the franchise, fans have been waiting for a total of six years for the game.