A new trailer has revealed more features for the upcoming Persona 5 Royal, an expanded version of Persona 5 first announced back in March. The game’s developer, Atlus, has been releasing videos—“Morgana Reports”—to unveil different aspects of the new game.
The latest video focuses on various gameplay mechanics, especially partner attacks. These attacks have an official name now: Show Time attacks. Atlus has shown Show Time attacks from several character duos so far, including Haru-Morgana, Ann-Morgana, Ryuji-Yusuke, Yusuke-Ann, and Makoto-Ryuji. How to actually use Show Time attacks, which deal high damage, hasn’t been revealed yet, though the trailer seems to suggest that accessing them is connected to the relationships between the characters as they develop throughout the story.
Another combat element that had a prominent feature in the video was the Baton Pass mechanic. Originally, the mechanic allowed the player to transfer one of their party members’ extra turns—earned when the player landed critical hits—to another member of the party. Persona 5 Royal will utilize Baton Pass even more, as spells and attacks can be used without expending HP or SP after performing a Baton Pass. Party Members will also restore some HP and SP when they receive the extra turn from the Baton Pass.
Players will be able to equip accessories to their party members’ personas to aid them in combat. Items will have different effects, such as allowing characters to cast spells they wouldn’t normally be able to perform. The video shows Ann use an Ice-type attack via accessories.
A new area awaits players: Kichijoji, which features various places, such as a pool hall and jazz bar, for players to improve their characters’ relationships and abilities through mini-games and other activities. Like previous games in the series, there will also be a Shrine for the player to visit, which will boost Joker’s SP. Players can also exchange items they don’t use in exchange for points, which can be spent on other items.
Though there is a lot of new content compared to the original Persona 5, the core story will remain the same, though “an episode untold in Persona 5 will unfold.”
Persona 5 Royal will release exclusively for the PlayStation 4 in Japan in October 2019 and worldwide sometime in 2020.