Persona 5 is official at last

Persona 5 is a real thing. After a two-month wait following the commencement of a countdown back in September and even longer antcipation following the release of Persona 4, the sequel was announced this morning (November 24) as part of an Atlus livestream.

P5 will launch in Winter of next year for PlayStation 3. Bear in mind that date applies for Japan, so it could well be 2015 before the game is seen in the West.

You can find the official site here. Watch the game's first teaser trailer below. Not much is given away, but themes of slavery and feelings of emancipation are hinted in it, with the slogan mentioned in the teaser, "You are [a] slave. Want emancipation?"

The core team behind Persona 4 will also be returning. Katsura Hatshino, Shigenori Soejima and Shōji Meguro are all mentioned in the trailer, with Hatshino back in the director's chair.

Persona 5's announcement looked like it wasn't going to happen: most of the Atlus livestream up until the end consisted of mostly Persona 4-related announcements, including Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth for 3DS - a dungeon crawler featuring the casts of Personas 3 and 4 - as well as the console version of Persona 4: Arena 2 on PS3 and Persona 4: Dancing All Night for PlayStation Vita.

Alas, Persona 5 is a thing at long last. And it's a thing the world will welcome with open arms.