Even in trailers, Persona 5 menus to victory screens to point out stylized fonts, transitions, and more, but after seeing gameplay shown at the Atlus booth during E3 this week, I can say that even trailers didn’t do the gameplay justice. Persona 5 looks damn good.

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Every animation, on-screen prompt, and speech bubble is meticulously thought out. A "Start Mission" prompt we saw in a classroom didn't just appear on screen, but on a chalkboard instead, and was erased (with eraser smear!) once accepted. Test questions presented in a biology class are no longer text prompts, but appear on screen as graphs or images with multiple choice options. This is a game absolutely dripping in style, with an aesthetic so unique that even a quiet moment of running through the Tokyo streets looks gorgeous.Atlus showed roughly 10 minutes of footage at the show, beginning with the classroom, and later showing off dungeon exploration. A counter at the top of the screen shows how many days remain to complete the current dungeon (if you fail, the main character gets expelled) and activities shown included studying in a restaurant, hanging out with friends on the school rooftop, or killing some time in a bath house or movie theater.The generational leap over PS2-era Persona 3 and 4 is clear. School hallways are densely populated, with characters chatting as you walk by (complete with stylized floating speech bubbles). While Atlus didn’t specify whether the demo was running on PS4 or PS3, a rep did tell IGN that both versions will feature identical content aside from shorter loading times on PS4 and increased performance overall thanks to the stronger hardware.We also saw the main character increase social qualities by working part-time jobs, performing tasks at home, and more. This time around, you can level up your Charm, Proficiency, Knowledge, Guts, and Kindness. As you earn a point toward each, animated music notes fly toward the screen before adding to your overall stats.At each part-time job (in the demo, we saw a flower shop, cafe, and convenience store), Morgana was present and accounted for in her cat form, either spying on you from the window, struggling to get out of your bag, or sleeping at your side. Persona 5’s equivalent of the Mega Beef Bowl challenge from Persona 4 was present, too - this time, you’ll attempt to complete the terrifyingly large Big Bang Burger to boost your stats.Instead of visiting Junes to jump through a TV or running to Tartarus, in Persona 5, the party enters the “other world” via an app on their phones. In fact, that phone is your key to everything - from texting friends to viewing your map.The dungeon shown off in Atlus’ E3 footage was Kamoshida Palace, inspired by Mr. Kamoshida, a teacher trying to get you expelled. The teacher sees himself as a crazy king, so, much like the themed dungeons in Persona 4 representing each character you’re trying to save, the dungeon here is a large castle, and the shadows inside are knights.Inside the dungeon, Atlus showed off the new cover system and stealth mechanics, with players able to sneak up on enemies for a Chance to get a combat advantage. While trying to sneak inside a room, the protagonist also used a Third Eye ability (think Batman’s detective vision) that helped him track footprints to figure out which switches to pull to gain entry.Battles have also changed -- after knocking down an opposing party, the main character’s team will now “Hold Up” the enemy and have a conversation with them. This can simply lead to an All-Out Attack, or can become a Shin Megami Tensei-style negotiation that leads to the enemy joining you as a Persona. The main character can also pass his turn onto another member of the party with a Baton Touch that will offer a stat boost. For example, if every enemy is weak to fire, you might give up your turn in order to boost a friend with Agi skills.It’s clear that Persona 5 is a huge leap forward for the series -- not just aesthetically, but mechanically as well. We still have eight months (to the day!) to wait for the North American release, but if this E3 showing is any indication, Persona 5 is shaping up to be one of the most gorgeous, novel RPGs in years, if not ever.Persona 5 will launch on September 15 in Japan and February 14, 2017 in North America. For more, read about the Persona 5 collector’s edition and find everything we know so far in our Persona 5 wiki guide

Andrew is IGN’s executive editor of news and may or may not have written this while wearing a Morgana hat. You can find him rambling about EarthBound and cute animals on Twitter