Sorry to break it to you folks - just shown on the Atlus TGS stream (which, oddly enough, is a countdown to the Persona 5 stage show).

Stream link - Pepsiman Restream cos Atlus' site is getting hammered. Note; the event is midday on Saturday in Japan but the release window has already been announced - weird.

A new trailer was shown, and the game looks incredible (way more dramatic too). *Update* - Here's the full quality trailer from Atlus;

*Update 2* Here's the dev interview they put up as well. It's untranslated, but you can tell that they're saying they need more time to really finish the game. (maybe I'm reading into it?)

hahaha, god damn you atlus.

I assumed it was going to push into 2016 even though they kept saying 2015. Oh well, there's still too much coming out in 2015 that I probably wouldn't get to Persona 5 until next spring anyway.

I wish I could hibernate until then. Persona 5 was the only thing I had going in my life

Holy cow they're showing a LOT of footage of this game.

Tune into the stream. (updated the post above)

Kinda glad that happened. 2015 is stacked right now

Fuck. I honestly thought it would make it. Oh well, at least now D-Drew will have time to finish MGSV and give up his slot for a Persona 5 endurance run.

glad as I am since fall is so packed already, all this "no seriously guys, 2015" talk beforehand kind of sucked

Thread updated with the awesome new trailer. Also changed the stream link to Pepsiman's stream since p-ch.jp is getting hammered.

This was pretty much inevitable, but on the bright side, the game is looking fantastic (even in that garbage quality stream capture).

Called it months ago, we heard so little about the game that it was obvious something was up.

Probably for the best honestly. They get an extra 6-8 months to polish things up and it will come out in a far less crowded period.

It seemed inevitable, but I wonder why they were so insistent even up until weeks ago that it was definitely coming out this year - I would have thought they maybe would have just started dodging the question or something when it became clear to them they'd have to delay it. I've been waiting for this game for like seven years now, so I guess another delay isn't the end of the world. The back half of 2015 and early 2016 should keep me busy with other releases anyway.

@excast said:

Yup. Persona games usually come out in June or July, which is perfect (2 was in June, 3 and 4 were in July).

Any earlier and it'd be competing with shit like XCOM and Uncharted 4 for my time. Any later and it'll be up against effing Mass Effect and FFXV...

I wonder if the game really does only have the handful of characters we have seen so far. One of the things I really appreciated about past games was the rich blend of party members and the interactions between them. All they keep showing is the main character along with the same 2 other people (and that cat/dog/whatever). It would be disappointing if that is the extent of the party this time.

Holy shit that looks good.

Like, really, really good.

Battle music (I assume, starting at 1:50 ish) was VERY reminiscent of Mejuro's older stuff, especially with Digital Devil Saga and the Raidou games.

I knew it!

no excuse me while I cut my wrists.

naw just kidding ill just play just cause 3 over xmas instead

but seriously this year is stacked and ive already been waiting 7 years so an extra few months aint nothing.

I just kind of had naive hope that it would somehow make it this year, but deep down I knew it more than likely wouldn't.

Persona 5 is shaping up to be one of those rare games I throw money at without the need to read/watch release coverage before making my decision. Those types of games only come around once or twice a year for me.

I'm not even mad. Too many games I still have to play this year, plus I'll have time to maybe even buy a PS3/PS4 instead of borrowing it. Summer is probably the best time to play a 100 hour game.

EDIT: Also, this guy

Considering how little was shown prior, I laughed off the whole "it's coming in 2015 guys!" thing. Not shocking it's coming out in 2016, though unfortunate that it's THAT deep into it.

edit: unfortunate in that I really want to play it, but in all reality I want them to take their time and put out something of high quality.

So you're saying a 2017 release for Europe, right?

I'll never let that go after P4Arena, never.

I'm bummed, but now I don't have to choose between this and Yakuza 5. Silver lining.

I mean they always showed minimal amount of stuff before these games come out so thats no totally surprising

@teddie: My personal beef with Atlus stems from the year it took them to release SMT4 in EU. I have a US ps4 account set up just so I can bypass the inevitable delay.

I have no problem with this, just keep up the good work!

I am fine with delays in today's world of games broken at launch.
Make it good the first time so you don't have to waste everyone's time patching it.

I only got into the whole SMT franchise after P4 was out for quite some time, so this is the first time I've really followed one of these. I've just been conditioned by other games to associate not much being shown at all to it being too early for a release date. I suppose that frame of mind helped because I tapered my expectation for a 2015 release.

Not shocking, as long as it's good on a technical side, then I can wait.

@planetfunksquad: You could import the disc too, there's no region locking on PS4. I'll probably do that if it doesn't come out day and date in the US and EU.

@spitznock - This is a Persona game. There's going to be another version of it at some stage but the original should work right out of the box.

I'm actually a little relieved. There were already too many 60-100 hour games this year for me to play through (Witcher 3, MGS V, Fallout 4, maybe Battlefront) that I didn't see how I could finish them all this year with the high priority Persona 5 would have with me. This gives me some breathing room.

@spitznock said:

I can't really think of marquee Japanese game series which has had that issue outside of PC versions and the latest Steet Fighter. They tend to polish way more (or like not at all).

Catherine was silky at launch - heck, Persona Studio has a perfect record.

That said, if they needed this extra time for that very polish, more power to them.

Was that a general Atlus stream, or P5 only? At school, haven't watched the footage. Any news on Persona X FE? Is it still a dancing j-pop idol anime nightmare?

I expected as much. There was no way they were ready for a 2015 release unless they purposefully held back large swaths of the game from the public eye. I'm fine with the wait though. There are enough quality games coming out at the tail end of this year to keep me occupied.

It's funny; most games that show off the amount of footage that trailer shows off, you may say "Save some for the real game!". Then you remember Persona games are 90 hours long. I cannot goddamn wait.

This is pretty much perfect for me. There was no way I was going to fit playing Persona 5 into 2015, between the other games coming out and my classes.

A sigh of relief for both my wallet and spare time. Well, looks like I can spend first few months of 2016 continuing my Fallout 4 playthrough!

Yeah. Basically ATLUS USA knows jack and Index calls all the shots. I didn't believe 2015 but there was hope. I thought a March 2016 release date was more realistic but hearing Summer 2016 is pretty rough.

Honestly, with MGS 5 and the upcoming Bloodborne DLC I'm pretty set for the rest of this year.

Just some further observations.
This pirate persona crackdown's a-go
The character icons in the lower right when in dungeons (not in combat) look pretty badass.

I was still hopeful it would come out this year. I thought they were crazy, but hopeful. Since they were so insistent I thought they would have a big, random push for it and announce it for December.

The thing is summer 2015 just ended, so this means Persona 5 could be delayed for another year, if they really mean this game is coming out in Summer 2016.

<ultimate sigh>

Wow, this news is totally unsurprising to me. I'll never understand why people kept hoping this was a 2015 release when we're already in september and no word was said about it.

It's good that we get new trailers though.

Summer 2016 can't come quick enough

Oh Atlus PR. Why go so out of your way to dick people around.

lol people thought it was actually going to come out this year

The Persona thirst is real.

I've watched Persona more than I've played it (thanks to this site), but the hype is real. I'm seriously considering getting a PS4 for it.

@jeff pretty much called it in the last podcast...and IT HAPPENED.

By the way, Atlus is owned by SEGA now right? I really hope that this game gets released on PC at some point. Probably not going to happen but hey it happened with Valkyria Chronicles yeeeeeeears later.

Why did you do this to me, Atlus. I figured since you were so insistent that if it was delayed to next year it would be out in like, Februrary.

I don't mind it being out in a dryer time slot, and hey, it coming out in summer means I can play it on break, but fuck. You said it would be out in two-three months, now you're saying it'll be a YEAR.

Dat trailer doe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is good news, now I have time to finish persona 3 before this one comes out.

Well who fuckin' thought it was actually coming out this year and not just lying to yourself.