The Persona series has always had its following, but with the release of Persona 5 and its enhanced re-release, Persona 5 Royal, it seems things have been taken to the next level. More people are discovering the franchise, it seems, including its music. Persona has always had some great beats, and now you can get them on select streaming services, though they may be a pain to swift through at the moment.

Seemingly out of nowhere, soundtracks for the various Persona titles appeared on Spotify and Apple Music. It’s not just music for Persona 3-5, either, but many of the various spinoffs such as the Dancing games, Persona Q and Persona 4 Arena. What’s maybe even more surprising is there is also the OST for Persona 2 (if you’re unaware, the style of the series changed significantly with Persona 3, and the first two games are largely ignored), though the first game is still absent.

Unfortunately, as you’ll notice in the links above, despite being available on English storefronts many albums and songs are still in Japanese and are somewhat terribly organized, especially on Spotify. Something similar happened when Square added the Final Fantasy tracks a few years back, which was fixed eventually to make it more manageable, so hopefully this will happen here, too. Still, though, it’s all here even if you have to do some parsing through. It’s unclear at this time if the soundtracks will come to other streaming services such as YouTube Music and Tidal. The next game in the series, Persona 5 Strikers, is set to release on February 23rd on PS4 and Switch.

Atlus has revealed the pre-order bonuses for the upcoming Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, the rhythm games based on Persona 3 and Persona 5’s soundtracks respectively (I say respectively, but that really should be clear without my having to).

If you pre-order Dancing in Moonlight, you get the free character add-on for fan favorite and beloved character Shinjiro Aragaki, alongside his song The Hymn for Everyone’s Souls (why that is his song, I’m not entirely sure, but let’s go with it). Pre-ordering Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight gets you your favorite pancake loving detective Goro Akechi for free, alongside his song Will Power (this one does make sense). If you pre-order the All Night edition, which includes both games, you get both characters with their songs (not to mention also getting Persona 4: Dancing All Night on the PS4, presuming you get the PS4 version. This is, right now, the only way to get the game on the PS4 at all).

On Vita, both games are digital only; buying them two weeks within launch will get you this content for free instead, which is almost a better deal (except for the part where you don’t get a physical copy). Both games launch on December 4. Check out the pre-order bonuses trailer below.

In the vein of Persona 4: Dancing All Night, Atlus will be releasing two new rhythm games this December, one each for Persona 3 and Persona 5. The prospect of having to buy Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight separately might not be the most alluring even to a lot of series diehards- which is why the Endless Night collection exists.

The Endless Night collection basically bundles both the games, along with some goodies, such as a soundtrack selection, and a PS4 port of Persona 4: Dancing All Night (which is also the only way to get that game on the PS4 for now). Atlus has put out a new teaser trailer to show off that collection for those of you who, like me, may want both games- especially since, at $99, it’s cheaper than getting both the games individually.

The Endless Night collection will be available physical and digitally for PS4, and only digitally for PS Vita. You can check out the teaser trailer for yourself below.

Atlus had already confirmed that Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, the localizations of the rhythm games based on Persona 3 and Persona 5, would be launching in the west earlier this year. However, they had originally been announced for early 2019. Now, Atlus has come through by confirming they will be launching a bit earlier than that.

The company has confirmed that both games will launch for PS4 and PS Vita (… yes) on December 4 this year. You can get each game standalone for $60 on PS4, $40 on Vita, or you can get a bundle with both games included for $100 on PS4, and $70 on PS Vita. Additionally, Persona Dancing: Endless Night Edition will be available for PS4, including a copy of Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, Persona 4: Dancing All Night (the only way to get it on PS4), and a hard cover artbook. Fans of the series will probably want this one.

Make sure to watch new trailers for both games below. Which one of these, if any, will you be picking up?

Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night and Persona 5: Dancing Stars Night are coming to the PS4 and PS Vita this week. The new games are rhythm game spin offs based on the superlative soundtracks of the games i the vein of Persona 4: Dancing All Night, so it’s easy to see why they are so eagerly anticipated by the series’ fanbase.

Now, we know what the file size for both games will be on the PS4- 3 is 8.67GB, and 5 is 8.64GB. If you get the Special Edition which also includes a PS4 version of Persona 4: Dancing All Night, that one is 5.17GB. If you get all three, you’ll need 22GB free on your system. The file sizes for the Vita versions have not yet been shared, but we can expect them to be smaller than the PS4 versions, which include higher resolution assets, and PSVR compatibility.

Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night and Persona 5: Dancing Stars Night are both launching on PS4 and PS Vita in Japan; for now, a western release date has not been confirmed.

This year, Atlus will release Persona 5: Dancing Stars Night and Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night, rhythm games based on the characters and soundtracks of Persona 5 and Persona 3 respectively, on the PS Vita an PS4. But while the Vita will now have Dancing games based on Persona 3, 4, and 5, the PS4 will be missing Persona 4: Dancing All Night.

Thankfully, Atlus is also fixing that- to a degree, by making it part of a so far Japan only Limited Edition- by putting Persona 4: Dancing All Night on PS4 as well. If you want to see what the PS4 version of the game looks like, we now have a gameplay video to show you.

… it looks like Persona 4: Dancing All Night, alright. Flaws and all, Dancing All Night was a fun and compelling game on the Vita, so let’s hope PS4 owners end up enjoying it too. Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night and Persona 5: Dancing Stars Night are due to launch on PS4 and PS Vita later this year. Check out the video for yourself here.

Maybe a lot of it has to do with the fact that, yet again, Atlus has tried to shoehorn a story into the proceedings; and not only does that story exist, it is also apparently canonical, taking place roughly a year after the events of Persona 4 Golden, and finding our heroes facing their most contrived challenge yet. Maybe it is because of the quality of writing, which has plummeted dramatically not just from the excellent standard in Persona 4/Golden, but also from Persona 4 Arena/Ultimax, where it was pretty poor to begin with.

This poor story and writing should not detract from what is otherwise a rather excellent rhythm game. The issue is that it really does, and even when you avoid it by sidestepping the story mode altogether, you do find yourself running into a fair few other issues that hold the experience back from being everything it could have been.

"It’s a ridiculous premise, and it doesn’t get better. It is not helped by the terrible writing; the Persona 4 Arena games had some pretty contrived and terrible setups too, but their overall quality of writing was far better than what is on display here."

I guess I’ll just get the story mode out of the way here first. Set roughly a year after the Golden epilogue in Persona 4 Golden, the story begins with Yu Narukami and his friends helping Rise and her comeback concert, by being backup dancers. Rise’s ‘rival’ from Persona 4, Kanamin, is also introduced here, along with her group, since she’s also performing at the same festival that Rise’s own concert will be held at. However, pretty soon, things go south- a rumor of a mysterious video on this musical festival’s website starts circulating, which apparently pulls people into an alternate dimension. Yu Narukami, Rise, Kanamin, and everyone else find themselves on the other side, assuaged by shadows that they cannot fight, meaning their only course of action here is to dance their way out, since dancing somehow enraptures the shadows, and subdues them.

It’s a ridiculous premise, and it doesn’t get better. It is not helped by the terrible writing; the Persona 4 Arena games had some pretty contrived and terrible setups too, but their overall quality of writing was far better than what is on display here. The dialog here is frequently cheap, reducing characters to less than even the one note caricatures that the Arena games reduced them to, and is many times cringe inducing. This same issue continues to pervade the entirety of the 8 hour story mode, as the game tries to find believable reasons to shoehorn not just the entire Investigation Team from Persona 4 into the ‘other world,’ but also tries to fit Kanamin and her troupe into the mix, as well as completely unrelated characters such as Nanako and Dojima. It also does not help that it takes itself so seriously, and that there is so much of it, with there often being as much as 40 minutes of dialogs between gameplay segments.

The story mode, then, is terrible, and inexcusably so. Happily enough, it is also mostly inessential. The ‘Free Dance’ mode (where you can jump straight into dancing without having to endure any of the poorly written dialog) exists largely independently of the story mode. You just pick a song, pick a difficulty, and you dance. As you complete more songs, you unlock more songs, and completing them on higher difficulties unlocks more partners for you to pick from per song (you are limited to one pre-determined character per song who is your main dancer, but you do get a backup dancer of your choice).

"The actual rhythm game mechanics of Dancing All Night are great, and can easily pull even someone who isn’t necessarily too into these kinds of games in."

The actual rhythm gameplay is very well done- it’s a multi rail system, meaning button input prompts are flying all over the screen (so there’s actually a fair bit to keep track of), and you have up to six different button presses, as well as analog stick ‘scratching,’ to potentially keep track of and time. Actually just hitting each note is not difficult- the game is very forgiving in that regard, meaning the only way you really miss a note is by not pressing its corresponding button at all.

The true challenge in Persona 4: Dancing All Night comes from trying to score perfectly timed hits; not only are these necessary to achieve full combos, but on later tracks, notes are thrown at you in such quick succession that not hitting a note perfectly will mess up your timing and cause you to miss several of the following ones. The challenge is only made greater when several of the more sophisticated notes, which require you to press multiple buttons at once, or to press and hold buttons, are thrown into the mix.

It’s extremely addictive, too- I’ve stayed up so many nights now, trying to score a Full Combo on some song that I like, or maybe achieve the King Crazy rank (the highest you can attain), or, on higher difficulties, simply trying to actually clear the song before being thrown off the stage mid way (yes, that can happen, and when you are dancing with Nanako to the Junes theme, her disappointment and guilt at letting her ‘big bro’ down with her dance is heart rending). The actual rhythm game mechanics of Dancing All Night are great, and can easily pull even someone who isn’t necessarily too into these kinds of games in.

If you can actually pull your eyes away from the frantic rhythm action, you will also find that Persona 4: Dancing All Night is a beautiful game. The high resolution models for all Persona 4 characters are great, and the colorful artstyle of the game really suits them. This is also accompanied, naturally, by a great soundtrack- Persona 4: Dancing All Night takes some very obvious, and other unlikely, songs and musical pieces from Persona 4 and related media, and turns them into dance numbers, with remixes that are largely top notch.

"I really want to spill effusive and wax eloquent about the soundtrack here, especially since what we get is so amazing, but the issue is, there is not a whole lot of it."

I really want to spill effusive and wax eloquent about the soundtrack here, especially since what we get is so amazing, but the issue is, there is not a whole lot of it- there are 25 tracks available to you here that you can unlock simply by playing through the Free Dance Mode (another two are gated behind the Story Mode, meaning you do need to complete the Story Mode entirely if you want the full track list), but even at 27 tracks, there is simply not enough on offer here, especially considering the richness of the source material. Major popular tracks from Persona 4 and associated media are entirely missing, including some obvious picks, and a lot of the tracklist is comprised of just repeats (there are at least four different songs that have more than one version).

A lot of this is going to be addressed with DLC, free or paid, and indeed, there will be a fair bit of DLC available to you on the first day itself to download, including music from the Persona 4 anime, but that does not address the issue of a lacking tracklist in the base game itself. This is a pretty major issue, especially since this is a rhythm game, and also because this leads to a paucity of content in the Free Dance mode, meaning sooner or later, you will find yourself having to tackle the Story Mode, and the Story Mode is simply atrocious.

It’s a pity about these issues, too- as I said before, Persona 4: Dancing All Night as a concept is simply too perfect, and the opportunity to see Chie or Kanji rocking it to my favorite tunes from the games (in costumes that I get to pick for them, no less!) is appealing to me. The problem is just that there is not enough here, and a lot of what we get is simply terrible. Maybe if the story mode wasn’t so awful, the short tracklist wouldn’t be as much of an issue (though it would always be a missed opportunity), or maybe if the tracklist wasn’t so short and lacking, it would have been easier to digest the awful story mode- it’s a chicken and egg situation. Be that as it may, what we have here is a game that gets its mechanics wonderfully right, but almost everything else around it wrong. I don’t like the fact that I get such a short tracklist, and that so much of what I do get is repeats. I don’t like the terrible writing in the Story Mode. I don’t like the fact that I will have to buy more DLC to have enough content to continue playing this game.

I may keep playing Persona 4: Dancing All Night, but there is a shocking lot of it, really, that I really do not like.

This game was reviewed on PS Vita.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night is ridiculous in all the best possible ways- it is a rhythm game spin off of the popular Persona game series, which is known for its great music. That would all be well and good, but the insanity comes from the realization that the characters of Persona 4 all star in Dancing All Night in a story that is considered to be canon, and is the official capper for the Persona 4 saga.

Wow.

With the western release of the game coming up pretty soon (it launches just over a month from today), Atlus USA is speeding up our media drip for the game. To that end, we have not one, not two, but three new trailers of the game to share with you. One of them showcases Persona’s resident everyman, Yosuke Hanamura. The second one stars the second best Persona character, Kanji Tatsumi. And of course, we have a trailer for everybody’s favorite Persona girl, Chie Satonaka, as well.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night will launch exclusively on the PS Vita on September 29.

Atlus’ dancing/rhythm game spin off for its popular Persona 4, Persona 4: Dancing All Night, will be launching exclusively on the PlayStation Vita in north America on September 29, much like had been rumoured back when the game’s release was officially confirmed for western territories.

That’s right, September 29 is when you can pick up your Vita and jam with your favourite Persona 4 character to some of the great music and tunes that are a trademark of the Persona games. To celebrate the occasion of the announcement of the release date, Atlus have released an additional two trailers- these ones starring the inimitable Teddie, as well as newcomer Kanami Mashita. Yes, unfortunately, we still don’t have a trailer starring our favorite, Chie. That’s okay, I am sure she will get one soon enough.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more timely news and coverage of Persona 4: Dancing All Night, which will launch exclusively on the PS Vita.

The latest Media Create sales charts are out, and the Nintendo 3DS continues its unshakable stint at the top, having outsold every other system on the market, including rival and competitor handheld PS Vita. It was bolstered, no doubt, by two new high profile releases this week- Yokai Watch Busters and Great Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. That, plus sustained performance from last week’s Fire Emblem Fates continued to keep it going.

On the consoles end, the PlayStation 4 remains the highest selling in the region, its nearly 16,000 units sold handily beating the Wii U, which nonetheless continues to post consistent numbers thanks to the unexpected success of Splatoon. The Xbox One, as always, brings the rear, with less than 200 units sold.

The full charts follow:

SOFTWARE

01./00. [3DS] Yo-Kai Watch Busters: Red Cat Team / White Dog Squad <ACT> (Level 5) {2015.07.11} (¥4.968) – 693.538 / NEW
02./00. [3DS] Great Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Naruhodou Ryuunosuke no Bouken # <ADV> (Capcom) {2015.07.09} (¥6.264) – 135.690 / NEW
03./00. [PSV] Taiko no Tatsujin: V Version <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2015.07.09} (¥6.145) – 46.101 / NEW
04./01. [3DS] Fire Emblem Fates: Black Kingdom / White Kingdom <SLG> (Nintendo) {2015.06.25} (¥5.076) – 29.682 / 345.253 (-46%)
05./03. [WIU] Splatoon <ACT> (Nintendo) {2015.05.28} (¥6.156) – 26.136 / 408.312 (-23%)
06./02. [3DS] Rhythm Heaven: The Best+ <ACT> (Nintendo) {2015.06.11} (¥5.076) – 24.650 / 325.844 (-28%)
07./00. [3DS] Super Run For Money Tousouchuu Atsumare! Saikyou no Tousou Monotachi <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2015.07.09} (¥5.119) – 13.571 / NEW
08./05. [PSV] Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition <ADV> (Sony Computer Entertainment) {2015.03.19} (¥2.592) – 10.898 / 243.428 (-9%)
09./06. [WIU] Mario Kart 8 # <RCE> (Nintendo) {2014.05.29} (¥6.156) – 6.708 / 1.060.442 (-14%)
10./07. [3DS] Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden <FTG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2015.06.11} (¥6.145) – 4.642 / 110.087 (-30%)
11./10. [3DS] Pokemon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2014.11.21} (¥4.937) – 4.608 / 2.657.661 (-2%)
12./04. [PSV] Persona 4: Dancing All Night # <ACT> (Atlus) {2015.06.25} (¥7.538) – 4.449 / 111.513 (-66%)
13./11. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf # <ETC> (Nintendo) {2012.11.08} (¥4.800) – 4.232 / 3.996.960 (-1%)
14./14. [3DS] Style Savvy 3: Kira Kira Code <ETC> (Nintendo) {2015.04.16} (¥5.076) – 2.891 / 164.436 (-8%)
15./12. [PS4] The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt <RPG> (Spike Chunsoft) {2015.05.21} (¥8.856) – 2.847 / 128.414 (-19%)
16./09. [PS4] Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition <ACT> (Capcom) {2015.06.18} (¥4.849) – 2.772 / 50.017 (-44%)
17./08. [3DS] Return to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale <RPG> (Marvelous) {2015.06.18} (¥6.458) – 2.757 / 63.524 (-45%)
18./13. [3DS] Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS <FTG> (Nintendo) {2014.09.13} (¥5.616) – 2.746 / 2.256.326 (-17%)
19./18. [WIU] Super Smash Bros. for Wii U # <FTG> (Nintendo) {2014.12.06} (¥7.776) – 2.218 / 653.783 (-13%)
20./16. [3DS] Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition <RPG> (GungHo Online Entertainment) {2015.04.29} (¥4.320) – 1.901 / 274.678 (-30%)

HARDWARE

Nintendo 3DS: 28,703 (27,236)
PlayStation 4: 15,779 (18,171)
PlayStation Vita: 14,245 (14,808)
Wii U: 10,780 (12,781)
PlayStation 3: 2,979 (3,102)
Xbox One: 149 (235)