Atlus announced the release date for Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth for 3DS, the second game in first-person dungeon crawling Persona Q series. Whereas the first Persona Q game brought the characters of both Persona 3 and 4 together, Persona Q2 will add in the cast of Persona 5, as well as the female main character of Persona 3 Portable. Persona Q2 similarly to its predecessor, will borrow from Atlus's Etrian Odyssey and give players the ability to draw their own maps. Early buyers of Persona Q2 will also get a special collection of battle music, including themes from Persona 3, 4, and 5. Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is set to be released on November 29th in Japan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NeoQFpmGzQ

Persona Q2 acts as a side story to Persona 5. When exploring Mementos, the Phantom Thieves are sucked into an alternate dimension, where a pair of strange girls awaits. They introduce themselves as Nagi and Hikari, and they inform the Phantom Thieves that they apparently just stepped out of a movie. The Phantom Thieves, along with the casts from other Persona games, must now navigate increasingly complex dungeons. In keeping with the New Cinema Labyrinth subtitle, all of the dungeons are movie-themed, though Atlus didn't exactly say how these themes might be made apparent. More details are coming in the issue of Weekly Famitsu releasing later this week, on August 9th.

Persona Q2 was announced late last summer and left many wondering when its release date would get locked down. The first Persona Q was lauded for its approachable dungeon crawling, and heaps of fanservice. Though it may not have been as difficult as traditional dungeon crawlers, Persona Q was still a nice side story for Persona fans. Though Atlus hasn't announced any plans for an English localization at this time, the Western version of Persona Q released just five months after the Japanese version. Regardless of the translation, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth comes out on November 29th in Japan.

Quick Take

Releasing on the 3DS after the dominant rise of the Switch may seem like an odd choice, but much of the appeal of Etrian Odyssey and Persona Q comes from drawing your own maps. You may recall that Atlus announced that Etrian Odyssey X will be the final Etrian Odyssey game on the 3DS. So then why is Atlus releasing Persona Q2 exclusively for the 3DS? Aside from the obvious design choices, one reason might be that there are roughly 3.5 3DS handhelds for every Switch console. Games straddling generations is nothing new with Nintendo consoles, and we may well see a Switch release down the road. Still, it'll be interesting to see what form the next Etrian Odyssey game takes on.