Originally announced in December last year, Atlus stated that it was set to reveal more about its mysterious Persona 5 R over the weekend, following the conclusion of its anime finale. Fully titled Persona 5: The Royale, the upcoming RPG is set to feature a female character that fundamentally disagrees with the actions of the Phantom Thieves.
The teaser trailer is actually shorter than its initial unveiling, this time focusing on a new red-haired student. In response to the question “what do you think of the Phantom Thieves,” she states that “helping people is a wonderful thing, but if I had to say, I don't like them. I don't think the Phantom Thieves' methods will make the world a better place or help anyone. In the end, I feel like you can only solve that yourself.”
Translated by Gamatsu
Exactly who this girl is and her role in the game remains a mystery. Fundamentally disagreeing with the Phantom Thieves automatically puts her at odds with the original cast, but her kind-hearted opinion on helping people makes her less likely to be a villain – although even bad guys think they’re helping people at times.
Instead, it’s more likely that she will be the catalyst for new gameplay elements, such as Atlus' predilection for adding social links and dungeons. Keen eyed Twitter user @ResoFluke has pointed out that she is a first year student in comparison to the original protagonist, Joker, being in second year, which could also provide fundamental differences.
In the Persona 5 Royal trailer the girl is shown to be a first year in high school instead of a second year like Ren so if she is the female main character and not a new confidant added then there might be a large amount of changes between how the two mcs' routes play pic.twitter.com/u8jmOwhzBx
— Conrad @ Metroid Prime (@ResoFluke) March 23, 2019
It remains to be seen whether Persona 5: The Royal will be an enhanced version of the original game akin to Persona 4 Golden, a expansion like Persona 3 PES or a spin-off. We will have to wait until April 24, 2019 to find out.
KitGuru Says: Given the trailer is set during the height of popularity for the Phantom Thieves, it’s likely to follow the events after the main game, but it could be anything at this point. What are you hoping for?