Atlus Announces Persona 4 Arena Sequel, Teases New Persona Studio Game

Fans of Atlus’ Persona series and the Persona 4 Arena fighting game spinoff are in for some good news today, and we might- might- be looking at an announcement of a Persona 5 announcement.

Yes, you read that last part right.

Above is the trailer for Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold (I know, I know), the successor to Atlus and Arc System Works’ 2D fighter from last year. The trailer imples that the gameplay has not been hugely revamped, but the game will pick up from where Arena’s story left off and introduce three new playable characters: Yukari Takeba and Junpei Iori from Persona 3, as well as newcomer Sho Minazuki. Sho appears to be playing a similar role to Labrys from Arena, standing as a brand-new and totally mysterious character who the plot will likely be centered around. 

Speaking of the plot, Gematsu reports that the story in this one will involve a red mist which has descended on Persona 4’s Inaba as well as a video from the series’ mysterious Midnight Channel showing the Persona 3 cast crucified. Somehow this will all be resolved via stylish one-on-one battles.

And for those of us who have been waiting for a new main-series installment since 2008’s Persona 4, we might- might- have some good news on our hands. At p-ch.jp, we can find a big red screen with three squares and Sunday, November 24th, 2013 at 8:00pm as the time for… something. That’s still almost exactly two months away, so it’s possible this page- and the strange squares on it- will update as time passes. 

Of note is the presence of the Persona Studio’s logo at the bottom of the page, and while they have made non-Persona games such as Catherine, there is evidence to support the idea that it is time for a Persona 5 announcement: development on P5 with the same high-level staff members as Persona 3 and 4 reportedly began in 2011, and Atlus trademarked a Persona 5 domain name back in June.

Even if it’s not Persona 5, any new game from the Persona Studio is worth keeping an eye on. November 24th will be quite an interesting day. 

[Source: Gematsu]