Really not that weird. Especially from Atlus. There's still a decent amount of PS3's in Japan and I highly doubt the PS4 has sold very well in Japan. I honestly think the only reason Japan has been putting games out on PS4 is because that's what sells in the west and that's becomin a lot more important to smaller Japanese devs.

I don't know about you guys but I'm super happy that Atlus USA has been using their localisation staff to work on such bangers as Odin Sphere: HD bullshit, instead of this. The fuck is a Persona anyway?

I'm joking. I'm sure they're hard at work.

(I swear there's no salt here)

(OK, maybe a little bit)

(Or a lot)

@planetfunksquad: Odin Sphere is a good game. Don't hate.

Frankly I'd be way more disappointed with Atlus if they decided to ignore all their other localization obligations in favor of pumping out their biggest games as fast as possible. One of the major reasons Atlus has a dedicated fanbase is because they actually take the time to localize just about everything that comes out of Atlus Japan. They're one of the rare publishers that I don't have to worry much over whether one of their games are going to get localized. 6 months is nothing in the long run compared to forever.

I just pre-ordered both the North American special edition and an import copy of the Japanese special edition. The hype train for Persona 5 charges forward even though I really wanted to play this game in 2016.

@zeik: yeah I'm fully aware that Atlus got where they are by being the go to company for niche Japanese stuff and not huge releases and I honestly appreciate that. I mean their willingness to localise small stuff is why Persona is as big as it is. I'm just jonesing for it bad ha.

Guess I'm importing the NA collector's edition then. I don't even want to risk what ends up being in the European collector's edition after last time...

A FUCKING PUZZLE ARE YOU KIDDING ME

No Uk/ EU release date anounced! ?

Hopefully we get it sooner rather than later. Was never holding much hope for a 2016 western release

I wonder how this effects GOTY on most sites. If it was out this fall, it could have torn up and had a shot at this year's best game on Giant Bomb. But now, it'll release in February and risk being forgotten about, and the "real" release will have been in 2016. Will that disqualify it? I haven't seen a game likely for that kind of award be translated after its year of release before.

Honestly I doubt it ever had much of a chance on Giant Bomb for game of the year considerations, simply because most of them probably won't actually finish it. (Having a whole year could mean a few more actually finish, but I'm still thinking it's unlikely given the time investment.) As far as other outlets go, I think it all depends on just how memorable an experience it turns out to be.

I'm not sure what you're talking about with the "real" release though. No western gaming media outlet treats the Japanese release as the "real" release. Until it's readily available to western audiences it basically doesn't exist.

If you listen carefully, you can still hear Square Enix letting out a long sigh of relief.

Seriously, though, I'm glad to have a release date. Honestly, that release date is fine by me, that gives me a lot of time to play the game next year. And it gives the Giantbomb crew a lot of time to play next year, too. If it had come out this year, it would be pretty late into the year, and I imagine the Giantbomb crew would have played a few hours of it and then gone back to the holiday rush of finishing things, getting ready for GOTY stuff, etc.

Now if only Atlus remembers that Europe exists...

I think I'll pick up a Japanese copy. I'm horribly impatient, and besides, this'll give me some motivation to brush up on my (currently horrendous) Japanese.

JAPANESE INVESTIGATION TEAM GO!!!

Great that us in the UK get shafted again! I get that it's much easier to translate from a English edition and Europe is a complex market but we only ever need an American version! Don't make me import!

The 25 anniversiery edition is coming out in the US and is coming out for the PS3 right...RIGHT????

Man.