I'm gonna say darker than either. I'm not privy to what the advertising for 3 and 4 were, but the teaser image they've shown hasn't exactly been sunshine, rainbow, and wackiness.

I'm guessing you'll be playing slightly older people (college students ) so the game will reflect that. Maybe not darker but much more mature

@darkstalker: They've already said it high school students.

I hope its around P3 in terms of story darkness. I didn't realize what a difference there was between the tones of 3 and 4 until now. Every picture of persona 4 seems to be super bright and colorful, but P3 was just dark. I kind of want to see a more... serious (?) story than P4, but not one that takes itself as seriously as P3. Somewhere in the middle would be nice.

It's not related to Persona 5's story.

@willin: good to know .

I'm still thinking a more mature story. I'd say something like the tone of 3 . Maybe a bit less dark

But like Hashino said, the image is thematically relevant to Persona 5.

Emo cutter dark.

In so far as a loose way of saying that shit will go down before things get better, sure. I recall that the main reasoning towards that image though was the relationship between the gamers and what he wants them to get out of Persona 5.

Yeah, it's vague, but the thoughts behind that image were both: what Hashino wants to convey through Persona 5 as well as who he wants to speak to.

Out of the gate, it appears to be their darkest yet. Slavery is leagues darker than destruction. Though so far everything we've seen is merely symbolic so who knows what the hell this game is actually about. I liked Persona 3 much more than Persona 4 though, so I'm hoping Persona 5 goes dark.

What's with all the grumpiness? Let's hope for 'Animal Crossing light' :)

You get to visit each other's town, decorate your room, buy clothes, play minigames in the school clubs if bored and the villain will be some random company disposing toxic waste illegally in the city. Then they discover the truth behind the toxic material and then it gets 'Persona 2 dark'.

Animal Crossing with cock-chariot demons

Hard to say. Kinda seems like they're going for something darker than the last two games, which I don't mind. I kind of hope you play the shitty kids at school this time. That would be a good way to differentiate from the last couple games. I wonder if Japanese schools even have the same kinds of shitty kids.

Rape and brutal murder everywhere the eye can see.

So like persona 4?

Define "dark". Was Persona 3 dark? Isn't this kind of like asking "How much small arms fire will the next Call of Duty have?"

Given the information available to the public, mostly:

Katsura Hashino was interviewed on the behalf of Atlus, the first question he was asked had to do with the teaser image that was released in order to announce the existence of persona 5. Hashino answered that the general theme of the game would be freedom. He also remised on today’s society.

“I feel that in today’s world there’s no shortage of people that are bored and discontent with their lives. They’re at a dead end, chained down to a world which they resent being a part [of]. Persona 5, in that sense is a game about freedom, the kind that these sorts of people haven’t had living in the real world,”.

from the article: http://www.obstructedviews.net/persona-5-a-red-game-about-freedom-and-made-for-the-discontent/

It should be at least as somber as Persona 3.

@extomar: My technical definition of the word "dark" is in complete relation to the subject material of which the game presents.

It will throw dark, let's just say that.

I'm not sure how dark it got in P3 but I think it's probably gonna be a lot darker than P4.

Black Metal kind of dark :P

Ok more realisticly speaking , Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne or Digital Devil Saga dark

@animasta said:

This post took me on a journey. Thank you.

“I feel that in today’s world there’s no shortage of people that are bored and discontent with their lives. They’re at a dead end, chained down to a world which they resent being a part [of]. Persona 5, in that sense is a game about freedom, the kind that these sorts of people haven’t had living in the real world,”.

Reading this gave me the weirdest idea:

*trailer guy says the following*

Imagine the life of an otaku who has at least 5 waifus, goes to the concerts of his favorite idol and dreams about having a Bankai. But the sad reality is, that he will never be able to interact with his waifus (doing thing to figurines don't count,) the idol he cheers for doesn't even know he exists and all he could get is Dan's shitty Hadouken. The realization of these facts lead him to a dark dark place...

But one day... all of that is about to change!

*a Michael Bay quality CG montage*

*Titlecard*

Persona 5: Shit Just Got Actually Real

That game already exists and it's called Chaos;Head.

@animasta: I haven't played the game but seen the anime. I don't remember much of it but what I do remember is that it's really bad.

I think it will be darker than 4, but not by much.

I hope is not that heavy-handed. Persona 4 wasn't exactly an uplifting game, but I feel the more relaxed moments (like the festival) really sold me on the characters...

It will go dark at some point and I believe it will be darker than 3 and 4

Well, who can say what the game will wind up being, but considering I much prefer the tone of P3 over P4, I really hope P5 is closer to that.

But what does that mean? FF13-3 is "very dark" by that definition.

Bigger question: What adorable four legged animal will assist you this time?

Maybe...

It's hard to get much darker than Persona 3 without having a 'bad guys win' ending.

I'm replaying that game right now, and the game is just Death, Death, and a little extra Death. MC's family? All dead. Yuka's dad? Dead. Akihiko's entire family? Dead. Ken's family? Dead. Shijiro? Dead. Mitsuru's family aside from her dad? Dead. Koromaru's master? Dead. Aigis' sisters? Dead. A majority of the social links? Dead family members. Then guess what happens at the end? Hint: You die.

Death even visits you in your dreams. I would love to see them try and top that.

I think since P4 was about as merry as it gets, Atlus will want to reign in that vibe a little for P5. I'm not sure they'll go quite as far as the persistent dread/ themes of depression we got in P3 since P4 did so well but I expect it to be less cheery.

@extomar: Look. All I was trying to ask was how "dark" people felt the subject material of the game was going to get. I was just curious as to other people's opinions on the topic. I apologize that my question caused this unexpected confusion.

Most anime and video games have a real problem just letting things be upsetting and making you live with that. Persona 5 will probably be pretty grim at times but in the end the heroes will simply reject whatever dark themes are broached and you'll be able to walk away unchallenged. (Huge fan of Persona and anime by the way, just not too hopeful when it comes to narrative innovation.)

Then again, sometimes stuff like Berserk happens. The end of that series makes the Red Wedding seem like a Kirby's Epic Yarn.

@hollitz: You do know how P3 ends, right? The darker themes of that game are not simply overcome by friendship or whatever.

What I am getting at is Japanese pop stuff like this tends to be "dualistic" or more so asking "Is it dark?" is the wrong question because by definition neither dark nor light nor whatever. I fully expect the main ending for Persona 5 to be a "mixed result" where good guys win some and lose some which is not dark

The question makes plenty of sense. Perhaps a better phrasing might be "Will Persona 5 lean as much or more into dark themes than its predecessors?" It's not a binary "is it or isn't it dark?" question, it's a question of scale, and he's clearly using earlier Persona games as a reference point.

The word "negative" probably works, but I don't think that a dark theme and a negative theme are the same thing.

Only three people die in Persona 4. OK, four. But when you get on the train home, it's only three. Otherwise, the game is probably the single happiest game that Atlus has ever put out. The game's main color is freaking bright yellow and there's pop music at practically every turn, except for the boss theme that edges a little closer to hard rock.

hopefuly it will stick to the P4 level i think it hit a good balance of dark and fun/likeable characters

@lord_canti: The eternal debate. As someone on the other side of it, who really feels P3's writing was overall stronger, I'm hoping for P3 or darker.

@believer258: Nah, the last Etrian Odyssey game had the noble lords of Canada as your guild patrons. And this wasn't a one off thing! One of your party members was honest-to-god fantasy Canadian nobility. Not as in a fantasy counterpart culture, either, it was just straight-up Canada. That was definitely the fluffiest Atlus game.

I didn't forget about the Etrian Odyssey games, but I was primarily thinking about Shin Megami Tensei games and their spinoffs. Probably should have said that instead of Atlus. Still, I think my statement holds true with the added "aside from Etrian Odyssey Untold" bit.

EDIT: Worth mentioning that I have played the Etrian Odyssey game in question but I forgot about the fact that Raquna is from Canada, which for some reason I never really gave much thought. Now that I have, that is, indeed, fucking insane.

Dunno. Maybe it'll be more persona 2 batshit-insane? Who knows. I thought 4 had a nice blend, though it was alot more feelgood and slice of life than 3, but it would be dissapointing to see them do the same thing over again.

@thebluthcompany: I was thinking something closer to this...

@rejizzle: As long as Drew does the VA, I'm all for it.

It's tough to say. That teaser made it look pretty dark, but I feel like the early marketing for Persona 4 and Catherine made them look far more serious than they were. The Hashino interview made it sound pretty uplifting.

"I feel that in today’s world there’s no shortage of people that are bored and discontent with their lives. They’re at a dead end, chained down to a world which they resent being a part [of]. Persona 5, in that sense is a game about freedom, the kind that these sorts of people haven’t had living in the real world,"

So, I'm guessing you'll be social linking with Adachi and the Fish-Eye Kid in Persona 5.

@thebluthcompany said:

Bigger question: What adorable four legged animal will assist you this time?

Maybe...

It won't assist you. It'll be the main character.

Well they said its gonna be alot darker, and thats what I always wanted :P

as for the four legged animal....CA_umm NEKO!

Black Metal kind of dark :P

Ok more realisticly speaking , Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne or Digital Devil Saga dark

well Nocturne WAS black metal dark sir :D

Was Persona considered Dark in tone? Other than the Nanako thing and the real goofy evoker thing in Persona 3 I never actually thought anything in these were really Dark in tone.

If you want a story with a very Dark tone check out the Berserk movie trilogy or better yet the manga. That's a dark and bleak tone done right!

Shinjiro Aragaki

Chidori Yoshino