The Persona video game series cemented a place in my heart as one of my favorite RPGs that I've ever played since I played Persona 4: Golden on the PS Vita when it came out. I loved everything about it; the characters, the story, the game mechanics and everything it had to offer. After I finished it, I went back and played Persona 3 Portable and I loved that game just as much. It came at a time in my life when everything it had to offer was new and fresh and completely different from what I was used to. Persona 5 was announced and I was already hooked into getting it. The game was completely hidden on what would be in this installment but Atlus has done a great job keeping the lid tight on what information is revealed. The game will be releasing in the US on February 14th, 2017 but it will coming out in Japan on the 15th of September this year and I'm jumping with hype and excitement at what awaits me. This review is going to be focusing on the prologue 30 minute episode animation that has recently come out.
The episode follows a single escapade of the group known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, our heroes of the story which take on alter egos that act as gentlemen thieves. Their persona is their spiritual power given a physical form with which they can fight enemies and use magic. They are usually based off a specific theme, the one for Persona 5 is based off of famous thieves, bandits and outlaws. For example, the main protagonist's persona (who remains unnamed except for his code name, Joker) is based off of Arsène
, the literary gentleman thief of the same name. The other characters follow in suit with their personas. The main focus is on a crook named Kazuya Makigami who is the leader of a small group of thieves that use inside job information of a security firm that details the security levels of their targets and they rob them. I won't say any more about the plot of this episode because it has a very cool twist near the end and I can't spoil that. I absolutely loved watching it. The main theme of the whole game is this slavery aspect to yourself, bills, school, society etc. The game will have the players come to grips and confront these issues and to find a freedom for themselves not seen in any other games in the series. I also really have to mention how much enjoyed the music so far. It has this acid jazz vibe going for it and it fits really well and it lends itself to the heist, Ocean's Eleven feel. It makes it stand out from the rest of the Persona series.I'm eagerly awaiting the release of Persona 5 next year. I love the music, the characters, and everything that is going into the production of this game. This animation definitely solidified my purchase and I highly recommend seeing this. You can skip this altogether if you'd like, but it at least gives you a glimpse of what to expect when the game finally launches. I'll see you all again next year with a review of the game when it comes.
