Persona 5 developers Atlus have revealed the first major details of the game’s plot as well as a breif background on the 5 main characters of the game.
In an interview by Game Informer, Persona 5 director Katsura Hashino said that the 5 main characters have no real place in society, but are drawn together under a common goal after discovering the Isekai-Navi. An item that allows the party to travel into alternate worlds wherein they can remove the malicious intent from people’s hearts.
Hashino goes on to say that this plot is in contrast to the plot of Persona 5 is in contrast to the previous game in the series.
“In the previous game, we wrote a story that involved having a justice group chase down a bad guy that could easily be feared by just about anyone,” he added.
“This time, it’s about a group of high school students that are being ‘chased’ by unexpected occurrences due to the justice they believe in. We’re writing [the story] to convey a thrilling everyday life in the shoes of these characters, that are as large as life, in this juvenile school setting.”
He also describes the 5 main characters. Calling themselves the ‘Phantom Thieves’ The protagonist is described as a cool, silent type similar to previous persona protagonists, with a slight roguish almost anti-hero edge. The character Ryuuji on the other hand wishes to use the groups powers for noble goals, such as reforming society. The third character, Ann, has lived abroad and therefore stands out but also has difficulty relating to people as a result.
The fourth character is Yusuke, an unusual artist who has suspicious amounts of knowledge about the worlds the party are visiting. Finally there’s Morgana, the ‘instructor’ of the group, who is unaware of her own origins and hopes to discover them on this journey.
Persona 5 will be released on PS3 and PS4 in Summer 2016 after having been delayed from a 2015 release back in September.