Following the names and personas of the three new characters, new Persona 5 information from the upcoming issue of Famitsu magazine has leaked.

Characters

Sakura Futaba (Voice Actor: Aoi Yuki)

She has inhuman computing abilities, as a girl genius in programming capability, but she has trouble communicating with others.

Her age is that of a first-year student in high school, however she becomes a shut-in after a certain incident after she graduates junior high school.

Hashino comments that Sakura changes after encountering the hero. Her situation has special circumstances associated with it, and she has a key role in the story.

Alone with the main character, she will behave normally, however when she is face-to-face with several others she tends to wear strange headgear.

Makoto Niijima (Voice Actor: Rina Satō)

A third year who attends the same high school (Syujin High School) as the hero. She has a strong sense of responsibility and morals as a student council president, and she is a very serious honor student who doesn’t compromise.

Hashino comments that Makoto becomes a focus in the story after the first incident at Syujin High School, where she starts to keep an eye on things. At a glance she doesn’t appear to be someone who would be part of the Phantom Thieves as a student at the academy, given her righteous nature.

Haru Okumura (Voice Actor: Haruka Tomatsu)

A third-year high school student of Syujin High School who is the daughter to the president of a large restaurant company. Elegant but naive to the ways of the world, she tends to observe people.

Even though she is very elegant and good at communicating with others, she does not find value in human relations, and avoids having relationships with other people.

As the daughter of a company’s president, her life has always been much different from the norm.

Hashino comments that Okumura’s relationships with adults have been warped from past experiences.

She will have a key role as the story moves forward.

Velvet Room

Caroline and Justine (voiced by: Aki Toyosaki) are the new Velvet Room’s hosts, who greet the protagonist there.

Personas

Johanna (Makoto Niijima’s persona)

This persona is based on Pope Joan, a fabled female pope from the Middle Ages in Europe.

Necronomicon (Sakura Futaba’s persona)

This persona symbolizes an unknown force.

Milady (Haru Okumura’s persona)

This persona is based on Milady de Winter of the Three Musketeers.

Story

The prologue consists of the hero confronting a man who harasses women, and subsequently being detained by the police because of the injuries he inflicts on that man. The hero is then sentenced to probation. He becomes a Phantom Thief afterwards to fight against that.

A woman in a suit by the name of “Sae Niijima” appears. Is she Makoto’s sister or mother?

The activities of the Phantom Thieves attract the attention of the government and the police force, with frequently occuring mysterious incidents in the streets.

System

As stated previously, the heroes use an app called “Isekainabi” to infiltrate the mysterious world known as “Palace.” Palace represents the distorted minds of adults, and the goal of the heroes is to steal hidden “treasure” from the world in order to reform their targets.

The progress of the game is like Persona 3 and Persona 4, as Persona 5 takes place over the course of a year. There are events such as swimming, a cultural festival, social studies tours and school trips.

Interview

The Famitsu article contains an interview with creative producer and director Katsura Hashino.

The Picaresque novel elements are ever-present throughout the game in a way to be enjoyable to the players.

Each persona is designed to embody an outlaw, reflecting characteristics of the Palace. The requirements for a persona to evolve are completely different from one another.

The reason for the Velvet Room embodying a prison is one of the great mysteries of the story.

The twins Caroline and Justine are the protagonist’s correctional officers, who act with an innocent and a sharp attitude as the Velvet Room’s child jailers. There is also a reason behind them.

There are multiple “structures” to the game’s story that are quite tricky and expand it, lending to a better feeling of immersion in the game world.

Translation help thanks to Mystic of TRADUKO Soft.

Persona 5 is slated to be released for the PS3 and PS4 in Japan on September 15, 2016, with a 2016 North American release date.

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