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.

Given that Persona is the far more popular series, and that Persona Q2 is technically a Persona game, let’s approach it from that angle. Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is a first person dungeon crawler. You go deep into massive, labyrinthine dungeons, which are unlike anything you find in the mainline Persona games. These dungeons can be vicious, and the smallest thing can mean the difference between failure and success- your party composition, your squad formation, how many items you are carrying, your meticulousness with the mapping of the dungeon.

Let’s talk about that mapping first, since it’s the primary difference Persona Q2 has with the other games in the series (except, of course, the first Persona Q). Rather than the map automatically populating itself and filling itself out as you go along, Persona Q2 tasks you with mapping the dungeon as you explore it, from its paths and walls, to obstacles, or treasure, or safe spots, and more. Your map is your best friend as you venture deep into the game’s dungeons (which are presented with the movie motif in this game), so how well you maintain it can be all-important.

This can sound tiresome and tedious, and at first, it can be. However, there is a rhythm to map-making, not to mention the satisfaction of completely plotting out every area you venture into, that becomes considerably addictive over time; if, however, the cartographic requirements of the game fail to grab you, then there is an option for you to enable what is essentially an auto-mapping function (though you still have to fill in some details yourself).

"The pitch is reasonably simple- take the dungeon crawling and map making gameplay of Etrian Odyssey, and mix it with the strong stories and character moments and imagery of Persona. But there’s a lot more to these games than that, and they end up being quite unusual, even for fans of both, Etrian Odyssey and Persona."

Other differences- your parties are now comprised of five characters, not four. This may seem like a lot, but you have the complete playable casts of Persona 3, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4, and Persona 5 to draw from, so it’s really not. Even though there is a lot of overlap between characters – for instance, Kanji, Akihiko, and Ryuji all fill similar niches – it can still be hard trying to settle on a squad you want to take into a dungeon with you. This choice becomes especially more nuanced because each character can equip a secondary Persona, which can greatly influence what moves and skills they have access to. Just selecting your characters is never the end of it, because a character can at times fill two very different niches based on the secondary Persona they have equipped.

Just selecting your team isn’t enough, though, because where you place them in your lineup also matters. So, for instance, a character that is put on the frontlines can attack anyone in the enemy lineup, but they will also bear the brunt of the damage. Characters in the back are better shielded against damage, but they are also limited in terms of who they can attack. You need to be familiar with your character’s build, how well they deal damage, as well as how much they can take abuse, before you decide where to place them. Just wantonly and randomly slotting them in wherever is a recipe for disaster.

This leads to an element of RPG party management Persona otherwise lacks. It’s immensely fun and satisfying to build out each character, and then to create a squad with them. Squad building itself becomes an art form, and those who truly come to grips with the game’s many systems will find themselves well prepared for most things it throws their way.

That said, Persona Q2 does make it hard to experiment much. Inactive party members get no EXP, and grinding in this game can be difficult. This makes you want to stick with your favorites- because the penalty for experimenting is being subjected to more battles.

"Battles can be hard. They feel a bit unfairly adjusted, because it seems like anything other than weakness exploitation will simply result in these fights dragging on for what seems to be an interminable amount of time."

Let’s talk about the actual battle system- unlike in the mainline games, exploiting a weakness doesn’t give you a second turn, it just puts you in a powered up state for your next turn. Getting all your characters boosted like this enables an “All Out Attack”, those memorable pile ons that have become signature to the Persona series by now.

These battles can be hard. They feel a bit unfairly adjusted, because it seems like anything other than weakness exploitation will simply result in these fights dragging on for what seems to be an interminable amount of time. Matters are made worse by the fact that, much like Etrian Odyssey, Persona Q2 also places an emphasis on your inventory management. You can only take so many healing items with you into a dungeon, so you have to be on top of your game with when and how you use them, or you could find yourself in deep trouble, with no items to bail you out.

The good thing is, there are easy difficulty options (including one that functionally does not let you die), so if the battles get gratingly difficult, or just plain annoying – and trust me, that will happen – you can knock the difficulty down and proceed with the game.

That tedium is frequently an issue with Persona Q2, unfortunately. The battles are difficult, as mentioned, but the dungeons also often can feel poorly designed, which is a shock to me. The original Persona Q has some of the best dungeons in the series, and Persona Q2 has, much like the original game, the developers of Etrian Odyssey collaborating and working on it. These folks know how to design great dungeons- which makes the banality and unnecessary obtuseness of some labyrinths in Q2 that much more frustrating.

In the end, you are playing Persona Q2 not for the gameplay, then, which frequently seems to undermine itself, but rather for a chance to spend some more time with your favorite Persona characters. Getting Yukari, Chie, and Makoto in the same game is absolutely wonderful, as an example- and sure enough, we get some amazing character moments between all the two dozen plus characters in the game, which can be great fun.

"Getting Yukari, Chie, and Makoto in the same game is absolutely wonderful, as an example- and sure enough, we get some amazing character moments between all the two dozen plus characters in the game, which can be great fun."

To be clear, neither the story nor the characterization here is anything on par with the mainline games. The story itself is a distinct step down from the surprisingly poignant Persona Q, and definitely not even on the same level as Persona 3, 4, or 5. It starts out well enough, with a routine Phantom Thief job gone wrong, and the characters then finding themselves confronted with one of their earlier foes, but gradually begins to unravel and lose much of its coherence. The inclusion of Persona 3 and 4 characters feel less earned here than the crossover in Persona Q did, and while the story still tries to examine some heady themes, it doesn’t have the nuance to do them much justice.

The characterization, too, suffers from flanderization, with each character being reduced to a single personality trait or two. In spite of that, however, the writing is just strong enough to compensate for these weaknesses- and the novelty of Yosuke, Ken, and Haru all interacting can win over even the most cynical fans.

I do have a very strong objection here too, however, and that is the complete and utter lack of an English dub. This is a game that is pure fan service, and fans in the west largely know and love these characters for their dubbed voices (the Japanese dub for Persona 3 and 4 was never even made available here). The lack of an English dub in Persona Q2, then, puts a distinct dampener on things. I don’t mind a Japanese dub being present, and am glad for the fans who prefer things that way- but not having an English dub at all creates an initial level of dissonance with these characters that is hard for me to overcome. The Makoto on screen doesn’t sound anything like the Makoto I know, so it’s hard for me to care as much about her. To be fair, and to the best of my judgement, the Japanese voice acting is great, and I do greatly enjoy it. But I absolutely would have preferred an English dub, even if I do recognize the economic realities that precluded that from happening.

The one area where I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever is the game’s presentation. It looks absolutely gorgeous, with an extremely stylish UI, and a chibi art style that it pulls off far better than it has any right to.

But more than anything else, I love and adore the soundtrack. Whether it’s the new tracks (the Persona 5 side battle theme, Invitation to Freedom, is probably among my all time series favorites now), or the remixes of older tunes (A Corner of Memories from Persona 4 gets a stirringly evocative rendition in this game), the soundtrack is top notch, and utterly perfect, and is almost reason enough to buy the game.

For those who need more convincing, do remember there are a lot of caveats- cute character interactions, but no English dub, and often trivialized character development. A whole bunch of deep RPG systems, but poor balancing that makes the whole game tedious, more than anything else. Wonderful presentation, but the game itself is stuck on a 3DS. It’s a game of contradictions, and it feels like far more of a miss than any other Persona RPG has in over a decade. But it’s fulfilling for fans in spite of all of its flaws, and in the end, I think that they are the ones who will care for it more than anyone else.

This game was reviewed on Nintendo 3DS.

The 3DS is definitely coming to the end of its life at last, and it’s finally seen the launch of what is probably going to be its final major release. Atlus’ dungeon crawling crossover RPG, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, launched in Japan last year, and now, it’s out in the west as well.

A launch trailer has also been released to commemorate that release. It shows glimpses of characters and their interactions, scenes of the game’s Etrian Odyssey-esque first person dungeon crawling through a couple of areas, as well as combat encounters, including an All-Out Attack that fans of the series will surely appreciate. Take a look below.

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth also launches with a bunch of DLC, as we reported earlier- and when I say a bunch, I mean a frigging bunch. Though its out now in the west, the game – unlike the first Persona Q2 – doesn’t come with an English dub, so you’re just going to have to make do with Japanese audio and English subtitles (unless you know Japanese, of course).

Warhammer: Chaosbane

You can never have enough good action RPGs – except if you’re Blizzard. Case in point, we have Warhammer: Chaosbane from Eko Software coming up. The hack and slash title is set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe as the battle with the Chaos rages on. You can choose from four classes – the Soldier, Dwarf, High Elf and Wood Elf – each with their own unique skills and weapons. Overall, there are 180 powers to utilize; a robust end-game plan that includes Boss Rush, a challenge-filled Relic Mode; and much more. Warhammer: Chaosbane releases on June 4th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Koji Igarashi’s long-awaited spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is nearly here. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night releases on June 18^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC while the Nintendo Switch version arrives on June 25th. In typical Castlevania fashion, players will explore an enormous Castle as Miriam, equipping crystals dropped by enemies as new abilities. You can also discover new weapons and armour along with crafting items to gain an advantage. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night’s 2.5D visual style did face some criticism for the overall fidelity but they’ve since been polished to an extraordinary degree. Hopefully all that development time will have paid off in the final game.

Judgment

Though set in Kamurocho and featuring multiple fighting styles, Judgment is far from your average Yakuza spin-off. The story focuses on private detective Takayuki Yagami who becomes embroiled in a serial murder case. The standard Substories and side quests exist to be experienced but Judgment also offers an investigation system for different crime scenes. If you can’t wait for the newest Yakuza, Judgment should satisfy those cravings for the time being.

Samurai Shodown

An underrated classic brought forward to the new generation, Samurai Shodown is considered a reboot of the franchise. Opting for super-stylized visuals over realism, the weapons fighter also sports new characters like Darli Dagger, Yashamaru Kurama and Wu-Ruixiang. Don’t worry though – classics like Tam Tam, Haohmaru and Shiki also return for another round. Samurai Shodown will be releasing for PS4 and Xbox One on June 25^th. Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch and PC versions haven’t been dated.

The Sinking City

Developed by Frogwares, the studio behind Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments and The Devil’s Daughter, The Sinking City is yet another action adventure mystery dabbling in the Cthulhu mythos. Players control Charles W. Reed, a war vet turned private investigator who arrives in the flood city of Oakmont, Massachusetts. Along with battling (and avoiding) nightmarish creatures, Reed will use his powers of deduction to solve cases. Don’t expect way-points and the like here – you’ll need to gather evidence and protect your sanity to know what’s going on. The Sinking City is out on PC, Xbox One and PS4 on June 27^th.

Super Mario Maker 2

Super Mario Maker 2 is everything that fans could have wanted from a sequel. It boasts a Story mode with 100 levels and NPCs that provide tasks; a boat-load of new tools for creating courses like slopes, new themes, day and night versions, and so on; and Super Mario 3D World as a new game type with its own items and mechanics. Super Mario Maker 2 even sports local and online co-op for players to build courses together. It’s out on June 28^th for Nintendo Switch and already looks incredibly impressive.

F1 2019

Another year, another super realistic racing sim from Codemasters based on the Formula One World Championship. F1 2019 is billed as the “most ambitious release in franchise history” and will include all of the teams and drivers from the 2018 Championship (with 2019 Championship being added post-launch). Other than that, the ability to design fictional liveries, partake in the careers of Alain Prost and Ayton Senna, and the same tense racing of previous games will all be available to fans. F1 2019 is out on June 28^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth

A dungeon crawler for the Nintendo 3DS that sees the cast of Persona 3, 4 and 5 crossing over? Why not? Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth will also include some new characters but the story is totally focused on the Phantom Thieves. You can expect further gameplay refinements, the introduction of Special Screenings for the story and some new tracks by composer Atsushi Kitajoh as well. Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth releases on June 4^th worldwide.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

Beenox is back with yet another updated old-school classic, this time remaking Crash Team Racing into Nitro-Fueled for the PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Out on June 21^st, it will include an Adventure Mode with new options like Classic and Nitro-Fueled; tracks, karts and modes from Crash Nitro Kart; and some gorgeous looking visuals. Between this, Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Activision is certainly on a roll with the classics. Now all we need is a PC release date for Nitro-Fueled and we’re all good.

Heavy Rain (PC)

Interestingly, Heavy Rain wasbeing developed for Xbox 360 and PC way back before it went PS3-exclusive. The tale of the Origami Killer is finally due for its PC release though – you can pick it up, via the Epic Games Store, on June 24^th. And while it may not be as refined as Detroit: Become Human, Heavy Rain still offers a very interesting look at what would become the developer’s gameplay direction for the coming years.

There’s been lots of Persona news lately, with Persona 5 getting an extended version, Persona 5: The Royal, as well as the musou-style Persona 5 Scramble. There is a bit more to top it all off, as the worldwide launch of Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth will get a whooping 27 pieces of DLC.

As you can see from the trailer below, the game is a chibi-styled spinoff that features characters from Persona 3, 4, and 5. Like the first title, it was developed by the team behind Etrian Odyssey, and plays in that style. Atlus announced today that 27 pieces of DLC would be released alongside the worldwide release (it was released in Japan in November of last year). The DLC ranges from $0.99-2.99, and includes addition Personas, alternate battle music, accessories that alter gameplay, and various other items. One of the DLCs will be free, and will include an item pack.

• Sub-Persona: Orpheus Picaro – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Messiah Picaro – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Thanatos – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Thanatos Picaro – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Izanagi Picaro – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Magatsu-Izanagi – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: M. Izanagi Picaro – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Kaguya – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Kaguya Picaro – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Ariadne – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Ariadne Picaro – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Tsukiyomi – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Tsukiyomi Picaro – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Asterius – $1.99
• Sub-Persona: Asterius Picaro – $1.99
• Navi: Elizabeth & Theodore) – $2.99
• Navi: Margaret & Nanako) – $2.99
• Navi: Justine & Caroline) – $2.99
• Battle BGM: Persona 3 Set – $2.99
• Battle BGM: Persona 4 Set – $2.99
• Battle BGM: Persona 5 Set – $2.99
• Accessory: Experience Up – $0.99
• Accessory: Money Up – $0.99
• Accessory: Encounter Control – $0.99
• Item: Level Up Set – $0.99
• Item: Gourmet Set – $0.99
• Item: Movie Snack Set – Free

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth will release worldwide June 4 exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS. It will (most likely) serve as the final major release for the system.

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth will be launching exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS this June in the West, and Atlus has shared a brand new trailer to get us all hyped for it. The trailer sets up the basic story premise for the game, and also shows us the game’s massive cast—which includes characters from Persona 3, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4, and Persona 5 coming together—interacting with one another.

Sadly, because Persona Q2 will not be getting an English dub (only subtitles, while the voice work will remain Japanese), we don’t actually get to hear the voices we have come to associate with these characters, such as Troy Baker’s Kanji, Erin Fitzgerald’s Chie, Laura Bailey’s Rise, or Cherami Leigh’s Makoto. Nonetheless, I guess for dedicated fans, just seeing these characters together at last is going to be enough. Especially given how cute these characters look reinterpreted in the chibi art style that the Persona Q games use.

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth launches exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS on June 4.

As is usually the case, it seems that the rating for Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth by the Australian rating board was a precursor to an official announcement. Atlus today confirmed that the dungeon crawling crossover RPG, which brings together the complete casts from Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5 (including the oft neglected female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable) in one adventure, will be launching in the west after all.

In general, there should have been no doubt about this, but given that the game is a Nintendo 3DS exclusive, and that 3DS games have been doing poorly in the west, there were some fears about the game making it over. That said, the localization this time will not be as extensive as Persona fans are used to. According to IGN, the game will have full English subtitles, but the voice work is Japanese only. As of right now, this isn’t confirmed, and I hope it isn’t true, since I was looking forward to a full localization, but at the same time, it will be understandable. (UPDATE: IGN has received a confirmation from Atlus that the game does indeed only have Japanese voice performances, accompanied by English subtitles).

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is due to launch in the west on June 4 for Nintendo 3DS. You can check out the announcement trailer below, courtesy of IGN.

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth launched last year for Nintendo 3DS in Japan. The sequel to the original dungeon crawling spin off game, the title promised to be the ultimate crossover for Persona fans, bringing together the casts of Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5, including the female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable, who until now had been roundly ignored by Atlus for their Persona spin-offs.

That said, no western release of the game had been announced or even alluded to, which led to some uncertainty among series fans. While the 3DS is still being actively supported by Nintendo, would Atlus feel it worth it to localize a text and dialog intensive game for a what is now an eight year old system, and would meet with lower sales?

Judging by the rating for the game that has appeared on the Australian Classification Board, it appears so. Persona Q2 has officially been rated in Australia, indicating a release may be nigh. Of note is the fact that the game’s platform is listed as “multiplatform”. At first glance, this may lead to some to hope that the title might launch on at least Nintendo Switch as well; however, Australian ratings almost always mention “multiplatform”, even for exclusive games, so until an official announcement, we shouldn’t read too much into this.

Hopefully the game is officially announced for the west soon now.

While it still hasn’t been announced for a western release yet, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, Atlus’ crossover RPG that brings together the complete casts of Persona 3, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4, and Persona 5, launched in Japan last week. And it ended up coming in second place on the sales charts in the country upon its release, although it was a very noticeable decline from the performance of the original Persona Q—something that could be attributed to declining interest in the 3DS.

This is represented in how many copies it ended up selling through as well. According to Media Create, a firm that reports on video game hardware and software sales in Japan on a weekly basis, Persona Q2 ended up selling through about 65% of its total shipment last week (64.54%, to be specific). This implies that the first shipment was a bit over 100,000 copies in the country, which would be almost half of what Persona Q originally ended up selling in its first week. That, in turn, seems to imply that even retailers didn’t expect the game to sell quite as much as the first game.

Of course, if the game ends up having great legs in the coming weeks, then its first week performance will be relatively moot. Hopefully, a western release will also be announced soon, which can help the game make up for some of the lost sales in Japan.

You may be wondering why a Persona concert being announced is a big deal (I mean, apart from the fact that the series has some baller soundtracks, and hearing them performed live is always going to be a good thing). The reason is simple—Atlus has used the last few Persona series concerts as venues to announce new Persona games.

For instance, Persona 5’s first trailer was unveiled at the Persona concert in February 2015. Persona Q2, Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight were both revealed at a Persona concert in 2017. So, with Atlus having announced a brand new Persona concert for April 2019 via a video which you can see below, there’s reason to suspect a new Persona game—or many new ones—might be announced.

Given that we’ve made our way through the usual Persona spin-offs, it’s anyone’s guess what the new games, if they are announced, might be. It might be more Persona 5 spin-offs, or it could be remakes or re-releases of older games on modern platforms. It could even be Persona 6, though that of course is the least likely.

Hopefully, we’ll find out on April 24 and 25, 2019, which is when the concert is. Meanwhile, if you are looking forward to Persona Q2, make sure to check out the newest character trailer for it.