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Persona 5's much-expanded Royal edition is heading west on PS4 next year

New characters, new gameplay features, and more.

Atlus has formally unveiled Persona 5 Royal, an expanded version of its critically acclaimed school-life J-RPG, that's due to launch in the west some time next year on PS4.

Details of the release (which has been teased for some time now) came during Atlus' Persona Super Live concert in Japan earlier today, with the publisher promising a raft of new features for Persona 5's enhanced edition.

There are new characters (including the mysterious red-head seen in Atlus' teaser trailer, now known to be called Kazumi Yoshizawa), plus new areas of Tokyo to explore, new confidants, reworked dungeons with new enemies, graphical and UI enhancements, new music, and a brand-new third semester at Shujin Academy.

Atlus also says to expect a deeper delve "into the personal lives, as well as the trials and tribulations, of the enigmatic (and exceedingly-stylish) Phantom Thieves". Persona Central has a few extra details in its translation of the Persona 5 Royal website.

To celebrate Royal's full reveal, there's an accompanying Japanese trailer:

Watch on YouTube

Persona 5 Royal is actually scheduled to release in Japan later this year, on October 31st, where the game will go under the ever-so-slightly different name of Persona 5: The Royal. Those in the west will have to wait until an unspecified point in 2020 to play the localised version, however.


Can we expect official word on the heavily rumoured (if still unconfirmed) Persona 5 Switch port now that details of Royal's PS4 release are out in the wild? Only time will tell.