I learned three things from yesterday’s Persona 5 livestream. Firstly, gamers will enthusiastically type “WAIFU” when given any opportunity to do so. Secondly, I’m often at a loss as to what on earth is going on with Japanese mascots. Thirdly, the user interface of the Persona series has always been excellent, but what was shown in the Persona 5 trailer highlighted just how behind the times most other devs are.
There are often games that have functional menus that lack a sense of slickness (Bethesda and BioWare titles being prime examples.) While I’m able to get past them on account of enjoying the content of their game worlds, it’s still not good enough that they can’t seem to improve on UI interaction and animations – something that the latest trailer for Persona 5 shows off with gleeful abandon.
I concede that not everyone enjoys JRPGs or anime art styles, but in fairness that isn’t what Atlus have perfected. It’s the transitions between menus, the way information appears on screen, and the almost visceral way the visuals react to the player’s commands. Seriously, it’s absolutely staggering how seamless it all is.
And the new battle results screen? Hot. Damn.
As I mentioned at the start of the year, I do have issues with the Persona series (the grind and procedurally generated dungeons being the main offenders) but much like with Fallout and Dragon Age titles I can get past the foibles to enjoy what really matters. That said, if yesterday’s trailer is anything to go by, Persona 5 might actually be on the right track to get everything spot on.
Now all we need is a god damn European release date, but I’ve got a feeling we’re going to be waiting quite a while for that to happen. Ugh.