The Persona 5 “Take the Treasure” event live stream, which started on July 18, ended yesterday and here is a retrospective post on the news and developments that took place.
Previous Persona 5 Event Summary
Starting on July 18, the first segment of the live stream was dedicated to recapping the previous Persona 5 events:
- Persona Super Live 2015 (where trailer PV01 was first shown)
- Business Trip! Persona Channel TOKYO GAME SHOW 2015 (where trailer PV03 was first shown)
- Take Tokyo Tower (where trailer PV04 was first shown)
- Revealing the Phantom Thieves at E3 2016 (where the first straight gameplay demonstration was shown)
The Persona Stalker Club V hosts, Mafia Kajita and Tomomi Isomura, hosted this part of the live stream, summarising and speculating on Persona 5.
New Gameplay Footage
The stream then transitioned into showing off new gameplay footage for Persona 5.
The first day of the live stream ended with a shot of Tokyo National Museum, the venue for the event, and hints at what the event had in store.
Entertainment reporter Noriko Shoji appeared to cover the goings on, as with previous Persona 5 live streams.
Tokyo National Museum
As the event started, the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures at Tokyo National Museum was redecorated for Persona 5, and the venue welcomed specially selected visitors who applied so that they could play the first public demo of the game.
Persona 5 pre-order merchandise and other items (such as a script of the game signed by the voice actors) were displayed at the exhibit.
Futaba Sakura Collaboration Headphones
One of the items put on display were the Futaba Sakura collaboration headphones announced just a few hours prior to the event. They are modeled after the wireless AKG K845BT headphones; a special limited edition “Persona model” of them sold exclusively at the Atlus D Shop.
Persona 5 Demo
The live stream continued by featuring various Japanese media outlets—including Famitsu, Dengeki PlayStation and Atsushi Morita (president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan)—and their impressions of the playable Persona 5 demo.
Participants in the event got to play two different demo versions of the game: the “Early Game Experience Edition” and the “Battle Experience Edition.” The first version starts from the very start of the game, while the second is designed to give players an enjoyable experience with the combat system, using a later game save.
Live Stream Takes Off
At 8:00 PM JST, police sirens started going off at the venue, representing the start of the Phantom Thief heist.
The Phantom Thief (voiced by Jun Fukuyama) was then heard, introducing the latest information for Persona 5.
Persona 5 Opening Animation
The first piece of information revealed was the full opening animation sequence for Persona 5.
Persona 5 First 18 Minutes
The second piece of information they showed off was from the “Early Game Experience” demo of the game, showing off the very first 18 minutes of Persona 5.
Developer Staff Interview
The third piece of information was a new Atlus developer staff interview with director Katsura Hashino, character designer Shigenori Soejima and composer Shoji Meguro.
Television Commercials
The fourth reveal was that, as a countdown, new Persona 5 television commercials will start broadcasting in Japan on July 25, 2016 for a duration of eight consecutive weeks until the launch of the game.
The first of these features the main protagonist.
Persona 5 Manga
The fifth reveal was an original Persona 5 manga that will begin on September 15, 2016. It will be illustrated by Murasaki Hisato.
Additional Persona Orchestra Concert
The sixth announcement is that, following the “ATLUS Special ~Persona 20th Anniversary~” orchestral concert by Game Symphony Japan on August 13, 2016, an additional performance will be held on November 27, 2016.
Persona 5 the Animation: The Day Breakers
The seventh announcement was for Persona 5 the Animation: The Day Breakers. An original anime of the game, a preview trailer for it was shown and it will start broadcasting in Japan on September 3, 2016.
Persona 20th Anniversary Festival
The eighth announcement was that the “Persona 20th Fes” culture festival will be taking place from December 8 to December 18, 2016.
The event will feature locations representing areas from the games such as the Junes food court and the Velvet Room, and a Pixiv artist contest will be held for it.
Persona 5 Morgana Car & Free Quest
Next, a new gameplay video was shown revealing Morgana as a shapeshifter who can transform into “Morgana Car,” the vehicle that the Phantom Thieves will use to travel randomly generated “Mementos Dungeons.”
The “Free Quest” system was also announced, for side quests in the game that will tie into Mementos Dungeons.
Nationwide Demo
The tenth reveal was that of a nationwide demo for Persona 5 in Japan that wil take place from July 30 to August 27 at public locations.
There will also be “premium experience meetings” where a select group of people will be able to play the game from its start for two hours.
Persona 5 TGS 2016 Event
A launch event for Persona 5 at Tokyo Game Show 2016 was announced to take place on the day of the game’s release: September 15, 2016. It will feature another heist by the Phantom Thieves.
Cooperation Characters
Finally, a new group of seven “Cooperation” characters were revealed, each with their own trailers and updated character pages on the official Persona 5 website.
Souvenirs
At the end of the event, those who got to participate received a souvenir package for Persona 5 merchandise.
ちゃっかり、会場限定のお土産もいただきました。このトートバッグなんて布が丈夫で贅沢で…大切に頻繁に使います。PSCのお二人には到底敵いませんが実機も自分なりに楽しませていただきました。私もソフトを持ち帰りたかったです。#ペルソナ5 pic.twitter.com/7kIpbxHaG4
— 松澤千晶 (@chiakinman) July 19, 2016
Persona 5 is slated to be released for the PS3 and PS4 in Japan on September 15, 2016, and in China on the same date for the PS4. It will have a February 14, 2017 North American release date, and the game has been announced for a European release.
