It’s a little ridiculous that Persona 4 is seemingly so popular that it deserves not only rereleases and two anime series, but its own dancing game. But that’s what happening, and considering Shoji Meguro’s music in Persona is always fun to listen to, a game centered around that music seems natural. Persona 4: Dancing All Night is coming out on Vita sometime this year, and Atlus’s latest trailer is a lyric video for the opening theme. Seeing as fans usually get a lot of the English lyrics wrong when a new Persona theme is revealed due to the Japanese accent, this is not a bad idea, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a little more gameplay. Read more…
Playing fighting games is great, even if I’m merely competent. But watching the pros at the EVO Championship Series every July is another thing entirely. The back and forth is actually exciting, with massive levels of “hype” to savor. This year’s EVO is being held July 17-19 at the Bally’s/Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, and the main tournaments have been announced. The games are: Ultra Street Fighter IV, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat X, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Tekken 7. I’m sad my personal fave BlazBlue isn’t in there, but it’s understandable when two other Arc System Works games are in there. What’s more annoying is the lack of King of Fighters XIII, easily one of the most exciting tournaments in previous years. I’d rather have that in there than two Smash Bros. tournaments, but I guess Nintendo wanted to show off their newest game while allowing hardcore players to play their tournament classic. Read more…
Hoo boy, this is already getting confusing. Nintendo is putting out an upgraded 3DS with more power called the New 3DS and New 3DS XL. But since that’s not being released outside of Japan until 2015, any new 3DS models are going to cause confusion. Take some limited edition 3DS XLs announced for release at Gamestop. There are limited run models featuring designs from Super Smash Bros. (September 19), NES (October 10), and Persona Q (no date, but likely November 25, the day of the game’s release). But while these are all awesome, new designs, they are not the “New 3DS XL,” so anyone buying these new models should be aware that the hardware will be outdated sometime in the first half of 2015. The designs are still worth getting, but it’s a weird time to release them. Also, that NES model could have a better design on the shell than just the controller. Read more…
As long as the characters are balanced, offering additional characters as DLC for a fighting game can be a good way to extend playability. It’s a bit weird when that DLC is available at the launch of a new version (with new characters) of a previous fighting game, though. Perhaps to head off any complaints about money-grubbing, Atlus USA has announced in their newsletter that the Adachi DLC character for the upcoming Persona 4 Arena Ultimax will be free for a week after launch. You don’t even need to own the game yet, as you can download Adachi from Xbox Live or PSN during the free period. I’ll spare any further discussion which could spoil Persona 4‘s story and say that not only is this good, but that I also approve of Adachi’s alt-color that’s shown above. He belongs to the Jester arcana, so a Joker palette seems appropriate.
Since their reinvention with Persona 3, the Persona games have been known for their striking, colorful openings, showing off the characters and setting the tone of the game. I know I’m not the only person to have rewatched them too many times to count. Well, it seems that Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, the upcoming 3DS dungeon crawler, isn’t too much of a spin-off to get its own fancy opening number. It shows the characters from Persona 3 and 4 looking cool and interacting with each other, since this is a crossover game. I’ve already watched this a few times, because the music is as catchy as usual. Alas: this game won’t be out in North America until Fall 2014. Read more…
It was a buffet of Persona news as Atlus announced Persona games for everything. Ever. First up, they announced the much anticipated Persona 5 for PS3 next holiday. No other details aside from the announcement itself came out, though. Persona 4: Dancing All Night, on the other hand, is an unexpected Persona dancing game for PS Vita. Then Atlus also revealed Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth on 3DS, a dungeon crawler directed by Daisuke Kaneda (Etrian Odyssey 4). Lastly, they also listed a sequel to their Persona 4 fighting game spinoff, called Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold for PS3, which will arrive Summer 2014. Whew! Talk about a lot of Persona! Read more…
Though it still doesn’t have the broad name recognition of Final Fantasy here in the US, Atlus’s Persona series has risen to prominence among gamers who have been searching for new, meaty games this generation, which has seen a dearth of quality JRPGs. While Persona 3 laid reinvented the series and proved popular, it was Persona 4 that exploded in popularity, leading to an anime and tons of spin-off material. Soon, Persona 4 will get a port for PlayStation Vita with lots of new content. Read more…
I have to hand it to Atlus. Just when you think they’re ready to move on, they find a way to surprise us. After they announced the Persona 4 anime, and fighting game, I seriously thought that would be the last we saw of the series. It wasn’t long before they announced a port of the original for Sony’s Playstation Vita, which will launch stateside next year. Now, they’re even discussing plans for a stage adaptation of the game to debut next March. The show’s being produced by Marvelous AQL, who some of you might recognize from games like Harvest Moon, and Rune Factory. They also happen to be involved in musical theater, television series, and other forms of media, so they’ve had experience with this sort of thing in the past. In fact, they recently produced a popular musical based on the anime Prince of Tennis.
Persona 4 was practically an anime to begin with, just like all Persona games before it, but if you’re anything like my JRPG-playing friends, you probably want to watch the new Persona 4 anime anyway. The bad news? It just premiered in Japan. The good news? You can watch it subtitled right now. The Anime Network offers you a heaping helping of streaming Persona animation almost unreasonably soon after it airs in Japan, so get on it! You don’t even need to go to A/V club or flirt with that mousy girl to make it happen. Read more…
It’s rare to find myself excited about a new anime series that hasn’t even aired yet. Perhaps I’m just a bit jaded, but so many new shows air each season that it can be hard to stand out. Fortunately, Persona 4 is the exception. Sharing both name and plot with the game its based on, Persona 4: The Animation seems to be shaping up rather nicely. Fans will likely appreciate the attention to detail, while new viewers will likely fall in love with the characters and story that made the game a hit. With that in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Aniplex bring the series stateside sooner rather than later. I still have my hopes up for a simulcast when it airs in Japan later this Fall. Until then, they’ve given us this nifty trailer to sink our teeth into. Any of you as excited as I am?
We can’t really call it a trailer, but this video’s the latest in a series of teasers for the upcoming Persona 4 anime. Fans of the series have been freaking out since plans for an anime adatption were recently announced, and I really can’t blame them. So far, it’s looking pretty fantastic. Unlike the Persona: Trinity Soul anime which was loosely based on the world of Persona 3, this one will feature the main characters from the fourth installment of the series. It’s probably safe to assume that it’ll follow the plot of Persona 4, so those of us who haven’t already played it may be in luck. If not, you’ll have a nice excuse to pick up a copy. The series is set to air later this fall.Read more…
