For all of its otherworldliness and demon spawn, Persona has become in the past several years a series that's thematically tied to emotional and psychological issues that people experience as they go through life. In a recent interview of the Japanese Persona magazine, series director Katsura Hashino shed some light on the narrative direction of the in-development Persona 5, and it sounds like the PS3 sequel will be sticking to that trend.
"I feel that in today’s world, there’s no shortage of people that are bored and discontent with their lives, Hashino said in a translated interview. "They’re at a dead end, chained down to a world of which they resent being a part. Persona 5, in that sense, is a game about freedom, the kind that those sorts of people haven’t had living in the real world.”
Persona 3 and (especially) 4 dealt largely with issues affecting high school students coming to grips with identity and finding their place in the world, though Hashino's comments about being at a "dead end" and "chained down to a world which they resent being a part" sounds a lot like the sentiment of being, say, a working stiff with a dead-end job. No plot details about Persona 5 have yet been released, so it's still a complete unknown whether or not the game will start a cast of teenagers, as has traditionally been the case in past series entries.
Nevertheless, Hashino added that "through sheer force of will, [these characters] are out to destroy that which suffocates people in today’s society and, again, keeps them chained down in place."
Whether Persona 5 is about corporate slaves or just a cast of average people chained by the rules of society, though, it certainly sounds potentially intriguing. Check out more from the interview at the link below.
Via Siliconera
"Persona 5" To Tackle Thematic Demons Ennui, Listlessness
Could this sequel take place beyond high school?
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