As expected of Atlus, there are a lot of aspects of the brand new Persona 5 trailer that need analyzing. Keep in mind that while some of this will be fact, other aspects will be stipulation based off what is seen in these shots. At the end I’ll talk about a theory I have going that could absolutely be off the rocker. I’ll let you be the judge. Let’s get this party started! The video version of this editorial is playing above.
True to the picaresque genre, the main character does some good old fashion sneaking around before getting potentially caught. While that’s all fine and dandy, it isn’t until the intro/credits that something stands out. After the main character is shown, you see An, and then you see a foxy character. This character appears to be wearing a fox mask and has a tail – he/she looks too humanoid to be Morgana (the cat character).
The next stop on the ride is this version of the Velvet Room. In front of Igor there are two children who appear to be twins wearing the Velvet Room Attendant uniforms. The children can be separated by the fact that the one on the left has her hair in a braid and the one on the right has her hair in a bun.
You’ll see the main character’s persona bust from the ground with wings and horns. Soon after you’ll see the various Persona 5 logos. The black line that breaks up the letters is actually the cat character Morgana.
Due to the fact that Persona games have a recent history of starting on trains, you got to have the main character on a train. There are a few things you should focus your eyes on here. In the top left corner of the screen you’ll see the date and weather icon which we’ve become familiar with. In the trailer, the main character is also overprotective of the bag he’s holding, we’ll get to that soon.
The next scene has the main character walking through the underground mall. Look closely at his bag. You’ll see a cat’s head popping out of the back. While we’ll see this again later, this seems to be the reason why he protects that bag so much – it has a live animal in it.
In the classroom I can only assume that the teachers will lecture and you’ll have to answer based off the context clues. Always remember, ‘popularity leads to intimacy’ Is he tired because he’s been being a thieving-rogue at night?
In this next shot, the four revealed characters are all hanging out. That cat that the main character walks around with is actually Morgana – in some unexplained way the cat transforms.
Then there is this sort of lounge or café area. The four characters are all chilling with the cat in the humanoid-Morgana form. True to their roguish actions, it appears the crew is planning some sort of heist here.
I only bring up this next screen shot because it interests me. While An is spinning, if you stop the video at sporadic times you can see she is grabbing her ankle like an ice skater would to spin. Perhaps this means An has an ice skating background or it’s just completely random. It could simply be that the street is slippery from the rain.
The cat that the main character has been carrying around walks across the screen, walks off the screen, and then Morgana comes on screen – sort of like a Clark Kent and Superman thing going on. That is just a minor part of this though. You have to watch certain frames for the spam of Latin words. Luxuria is obvious and it means lust. Six of the other words or the other of the seven deadly sins. The other two Latin words are ‘Cavum’ which means cavity or hollow. Irritum means nothingness, worthlessness, or vanity. Could these have replaced the Tarot Cards?
Here is a shot of the menu. You’ll see skills, items, equip, persona, cooperation, mission, and system. Cooperation will be social links. "Don't look at me!"
Under equip, the characters have weapons and guns separately. It appears that characters will have a melee and ranged weapon. There are also protector, accessory, and clothes options. I’m going to assume protector is armor and clothes are appearance. This whole picture screams Pulp Fiction to me – that or Boondock Saints.
In the dungeon, the shadows appear to be stationary and scattered across the level – this could be just an intro dungeon though. There is also a sun icon in the corner which means it’s either sunny out or that this dungeon is being run through during the day time. I can’t tell if the main character is platforming on the chandeliers or just pressing a button to auto jump across. Regardless, I’ve never seen a Persona dungeon look so good before.
Then, there is this whole stealth or cover based section. The MC (main character) is alone here so I’m not sure if this is a one-time deal or a regular practice in the game. Note though, when he dashes from side to side, he becomes a shadow for a split moment. I have no idea what is actually going on but I love it.
Besides the pure beauty of the menus, note that the cat is in the bag here. This could mean the cat is in the bag in every other scene where the MC is holding it. If you remember on the train, he’s very protective of the bag. The nurse’s name is also Takemi Tae.
This shot could be the whole party if the cat is in the bag. This clip shows possibly Tsundere characteristics from An, even though her ‘All In Attack’ has her winking and biting her tongue showing a more silly personality.
If you notice in the scene where the roof is falling, the is the same one that was in the main character’s bag earlier. Also, take note that the three characters are in their battle attire but Morgana isn’t? Sounds like they are one and the same.
Here the MC is in jail that is actually the Velvet Room. The color scheme and outfits of the jailers reveal that they are attendants. Did the children have eye patches before? I that a thing? You can practically hear the Velvet Room song playing behind Igor’s voice.
The next segment shows off the combat and what the battle garb will look like. I love that they’re still using the same Persona models. This may be a stretch, but every character has max SP; An has 60 and Morgana has 54 which could possibly mean they are more of your mage characters than MC and Ryoji. The All in Attack looks phenomenal and very anime. Why are they fighting personas and not shadows though? The enemies are definitely Sandman and Pyro Jack. Fun note, the explosions from the protagonist are masks.
The ending possibly eludes to character being able to wear their personas/shadows or that they can somehow transform? Note that the main character has yellow eyes here which traditionally are the eyes of shadow characters. What if you don’t use personas in this game but shadows? Is that why they are fighting personas? Is that the way you possibly use the seven deadly sins and are arcana in place of the traditional Tarot cards? Also, Igor DOES have you in jail instead of being more friendly. Unknown but fascinating.
Lastly, whenever the footage shows a date, it’s always April 11th which means that most likely every event in this trailer occurred on a single game day. Weather also swaps from sunny to stormy throughout the day. There is a possibility this is just a stand in image which makes all this theory crafting moot anyways. That’s the fun of it all though, we don’t know.
Thanks for going on this ride with me!
