Image courtesy of Atlus
Persona 5 Royal, an enhanced version of the sprawling teenage life with supernatural powers simulator, will arrive outside of Japan on March 31. Atlus formerly revealed the US released date in a trailer this morning:This updated take on Persona 5 includes a new character, the ability to gift items to both men and women, an enhanced cell phone conversation system, more story, and more. It’s unclear if Royal will be able to address the criticisms leveled at the game’s ugly mishandling of queer characters, or if Atlus will allow people to stream the game without enormous and burdensome restrictions. The Japanese version was released in October.There are fewer franchises outside of Final Fantasy with a fanbase as loyal and passionate as Persona. It’s also one of the rare high-profile RPG series that’s remained a platform exclusive, sticking alongside PlayStation hardware since its debut in 1996. The appearance of Joker as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate got folks thinking a game like Persona 5 might be eventually ported to Switch, but so far, there’s no indication of that.Follow Patrick on Twitter. His email is patrick.klepek@vice.com, and available privately on Signal (224-707-1561).