2015

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Persona 5.

2015#

February#

PV 01#

Watch on YouTubeThe very first trailer showing gameplay was officially uploaded on February 5, 2015 by Atlus, containing a fair number of differences from the final game:

• Many of the angular scenes look somewhat different in color, looking brighter and shinier than the final.
• The scene of the subway train bumping along with the animation isn't in the final game. The camera angle is also similar to the prototype build that was seen in the Persona Stalker Club.
• The camera angle of the classroom scene is different and shakes when the chalk hits the protagonist.
• The cut-ins behave differently; they act as if the scene is "torn" from a piece of paper rather than being ripped up.
• Ann's cutin art has some details that were changed in the final.
• There is a scrapped location where Ann, Ryuji, the protagonist and Morgana overlook. It remains in the final game as an unused location, and the event can be seen in earlier builds of the game.
• The meetings took place inside the ground floor of Café Leblanc rather than on the school's rooftop for Kamoshida's Palace. Though the location would be used again for later heists, it takes place in the attic in the final.
• Morgana, interestingly is seen using his Metaverse form rather than as a cat in the real world.
• The pause menu is mostly the same at this point, however there are some differences:
  • Camp: and Main Command Select, was renamed to Menu: Main Select a Command in the final.
  • Mission was renamed to Quest.
  • Party was renamed to Status.
  • Joker's 2D art is mostly the same, just some details in the eyes being different.
  • Weapon icons weren't colored.
• The protagonist cannot enter Kamoshida's palace through over the front doors in the final.
• There are a lot more enemies present than usual in the reception of Kamoshida's palace.
• The Takemi clinic looked different.
  • The curtain is open unlike the final game.
• The player is shown to perform a Bullet Hail rather early in the game, rather than being learned after the player grants access to Confidant in September. The effects are also different.
• Critical hits seemed to have worked differently, where the characters attack in slow-motion before proceeding to do it. The protagonist's portrait is also different.

Screenshots#

To do: List the screenshots, and compare it to the final game.

Several screenshots were posted on the website, along with some on a survey in March and higher resolution ones on the PlayStation product page: ^{1 2 3}

The protagonist at the bus station:

• Oddly has the date of 4/7 set in the morning, which is an impossible date in the final. It could of been possible that the protagonist originally arrives in Tokyo at 4/7, instead of 4/9.

Early	Final

The protagonist summoning Arsene while getting a critical:

• The protagonist battle icon seems to have been redrawn a bit.

Early	Final

Arsene using a skill:

• The chains around Arsene look a lot bigger and noticeable.
• The protagonist seems to use a different skill use animation.
• The protagonist battle icon seems to have been redrawn a bit.

Early	Final

Everyone doing a Bullet Hail.

• The protagonist battle icon seems to have been redrawn a bit.
• Seems like Bullet Hail was going to be used when getting a "Player Advantage". In the final this move is only used by ranking up Shinya's confidant and only has a random chance to be used in battle.
• The effects for Bullet Hail look a bit different.

Early	Final

Persona Magazine Interview#

To do: Document any important info in this article.

https://personacentral.com/p-studio-interviews-about-persona-5-persona-4-dancing-all-night/

March#

Survey Images#

Several new images were released via a Persona 5 survey.⁴

June#

PV 02#

Watch on YouTubeThe second trailer "PV 02", for Persona 5 was released via a bonus edition for Persona 4: Dancing All Night before it eventually came out in the Tokyo Game Show later on in September. A few number of differences are present in the trailer:

• A lot of footage used here is the same as PV01.
• 1:15 - Joker fights Norn instead of Moloch.
• Last Surprise sounds a lot different, a full version of this song was later found in the Dec 4, 2015 prototype.
• A lot of sounds here sound different.

E3 2015#

The English subtitled PV 01 trailer was released, where the game was still confirmed to be coming in 2015.⁵ An Atlus USA representative was asked why no new information wasn't shown at that time, because they didn't have it ready at this time.⁶

September#

Tokyo Game Show 2015#

Delay Announcement Persona 5 was shown off at the Tokyo Game Show 2015, where it was revealed that the game was even further delayed to "Summer 2016". The reasoning for this is that Hashino wanted to make the game feel "more complete".⁷

PV 03 Trailer#

Watch on YouTubeA new trailer was released, where many of the elements are now close to the final game, such as most of the climatic spoiler cutscenes being present.

• The map icons weren't color-coded.
• The rain effects were different and looked more realistic.
• There is a cut cafeteria area marked on the map just before the player checks the phone; despite only being seen in cutscenes in the final, this area is fully functional, complete with a usable vending machine!
• Morgana's awakening didn't take place in Kamoshida's cells.
• Like the last trailer, the characters could do a Bullet Hail before they gain access to the Confidant in September, as Futaba's Palace is visited during August.
• An unused room where the characters originally turned into mice were present, before the puzzle was likely moved to Shido's Palace.
• Shadow Kaneshiro's skin color is the same as his normal self. Portraits for this design are still left unused in the final game and used in the Dec 4, 2015 prototype.

Staff Interview Katsura Hashino#

Watch on YouTubeShortly after PV03 was shown off, A video interview with the director Katsura Hashino was released. There are a few differences compared to the final:

• Debug info is shown on screen, all of which is seen much clearer in the debug builds of the game.
• Kamoshida's danger icon is always shown under the date HUD.
• When "CHECK!" appears, it has a different sound effect.
• 0:20 - Has the date of 4/1. An impossible date in the final.
• 1:21 - Has the date of 4/2. An impossible date in the final.
• 1:29 - A scrapped room meant to be in Madarame's palace. And despite being in Madarame's palace, it still uses Kamoshida's danger icon.
  • The time of day is in the evening. Which it is impossible to be in a palace in the evening.
• 1:57 - All the portraits in the thought bubble box use their smiling portraits.

Persona Series 20th Anniversary#

Watch on YouTubeThe opening theme, Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There was confirmed to be the opening theme of the game, as sung by Lyn Inaizumi⁸. It was first shown as the PERSONA PRESENTS SPECIAL STAGE livestream. Though the vocals are somewhat identical to the final release (aside from a slight echo filter), the instrumentation is slightly different.

December#

Game Informer Interview#

To do: Document any important info in this article.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/12/09/persona-5-director-on-how-p5-is-different-from-prior-entries

2016#

April#

Atlus announces a countdown on April 22, where it would end with a livestream on May 5, 2016.⁹

May#

PV 04#

Watch on YouTubeThe fourth and final trailer for the game was released to coincide with the Persona series' 20th Anniversary, where it now reveals the final Japanese release date of September 15, 2016. Much of the content present in the trailer is now closer to the final.

• The Ambush animation was slightly different.
• Futaba's support animation was also different; it doesn't show a view of the party in the final game.
• There is not a point where the game skips from April to May, but it may have been done for the trailer.

September#

References#