Welp, it’s hard to say that we didn’t see this coming from a mile away. Despite insisting that the game was in fact going to release by its projected 2015 release date, Atlus revealed early this morning that Persona 5 has been delayed until Summer of 2016. That’s nearly an entire year from now! I’ll give you a minute to collect yourself before we continue.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole seven years since the launch of Persona 4, and three since Persona 4 Golden released on the Vita. We’ve had other titles in the Shin Megami Tensei series like Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and the upcoming Persona 4: Dancing All Night, but it goes without saying that we’ve been craving the fifth entry in the main series since it was first teased back in 2013.

As for the delay, the game’s chief Director Katsura Hashina shared a message with fans, both apologizing and explaining why we won’t be seeing the title until 2016.

While I don’t understand Japanese, according to Siliconera, Hashino explains that all of the “parts” of Persona 5 have been assembled, but now they’re taking time to tune up the gameplay. In order to create the best version of Persona 5 possible, the team is focusing on making it into a “more complete game” and asks if it is okay to keep fans waiting  a little bit longer. He also wanted to stress that the the game’s development is going smoothly.

As for the story and the trailer itself, Hashino hints at the importance of the concept of “stealing hearts”, which he notes is done by sneaking into another’s heart in phantom/thief form. There will reportedly be a huge focus on this concept in the game.

Again, the new trailer is only in Japanese at the moment, so until we get an English translation, it’s hard to explain exactly what is going on. But, from what the developer has revealed thus far, we know that the game follows a new set of teens (and a talking cat) attending Tokyo’s Shujin High School. The protagonist moonlights on the side as a sort of cat burglar dubbed “The Phantom”, allowing himself and his friends to carry out heists, and of course, encounter monsters.

From the looks of the trailer, the characters will be able to do things like jump in and out of paintings, fight ridiculous enemies (of course), and even play around in the batting cages. It looks wacky, wild, and like it’s going to be a whole lot of fun. We can’t wait.

Are you excited for Persona 5? What did you think of the trailer? Let us know in the comments below.

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HT: YouTube, Siliconera, Gematsu