Some wouldn't like to admit it, but it's not often that a Japanese role-playing game has the weight to make waves in the current climate of our industry – at least, not here in the West. But of course, like everything in life, when something good is destined to come along, it all comes at once. After almost a decade of as little information as possible, we're finally getting somewhat regular trailers detailing Final Fantasy XV, and, as we should have probably guessed, Persona 5's gone and taken the Internet by storm with its recent gameplay trailer, providing our first look at what the release will actually entail.
Suddenly, Japanese RPGs are at the forefront of the industry's Western media once again, even leading some to jump the gun and claim that this is the beginning of a new JRPG revolution, despite the fact that the genre has never abandoned us of its own volition – but that's a point for another time. What's strange, though, is how the arrival of Persona 5's footage has forced something of a divide between a few core gamers, as they turn to Square Enix's upcoming creation, and declare that it's been blown out of the water by Atlus' attempt.
To understand where this thought process is coming from, we need to quickly take a look back at Final Fantasy's lineage. Travelling back to the PSone era, a company that was then called Squaresoft was at the top of its game. Final Fantasy VII had introduced an entirely new generation to RPGs, while Final Fantasy VIII and IX managed to capture the hearts and minds of many players, despite the fact that they never quite saw the same level of success. Even on the PlayStation 2, Final Fantasy X proved to be yet another hit, but it was with Final Fantasy XII that a noticeable rift had appeared within the fanbase, and subsequently, the series' first foray into HD with Final Fantasy XIII proved to be easily the most divisive main instalment in the franchise's history.
Within what was seen by some as a terrible time for the Japanese console development scene, the series' thirteenth iteration marked a low point in fans' faith, and the franchise that so many had grown up with had been dealt a rather crushing blow. A property with such a long legacy of success isn't very easy to kill off, however, but any momentary lapse is usually enough for something else to try and fill the gap.
By this point, Persona 3 and Persona 4 on the PS2 had garnered universal critical acclaim, and it was becoming increasingly clear that Shin Megami Tensei's relatively unheard of sub-series was really starting to go places. A set of titles that felt unique and self-assured, Persona was beginning to fill a gap for a lot of Western Final Fantasy fans that felt disheartened with Square Enix's more recent creations.
That's not to say that the publisher isn't doing right, though. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is a brilliantly made MMO, and from what we've seen, Final Fantasy XV looks like it could be rather bloody good. For a series that has never truly rested on its laurels and is always looking to try something new, Noctis' journey appears to be another step in a different direction once again, but then, why does a tale involving four guys in a car suddenly seem so mundane after witnessing Persona 5's flourish of unspeakable style?
That's precisely the question that's currently sweeping the minds of many an armchair analyst. Persona 5's trailer was superb – so superb, in fact, that it makes you think about where the genre is actually heading. It seems so confident in its own identity that it's hard to place any doubt in the thought that it might end up anything less than stellar, while Final Fantasy XV's prolonged – and clearly quite troubled – development immediately instils a sense of caution. We suppose that it's testament to how important the build-up to a title's launch is, but still, that doesn't stop The Phantom's romp from looking and sounding amazing.
Of course, we're only typing all of this because we want to feast on your delicious opinions – this is a talking point, after all. It also goes without saying that for all we know right now, both of these games could turn out to be rubbish, and although we highly doubt that will be the case, it's worth remembering now – before anyone inevitably brings it up – that this is all based upon footage of titles that none of us have even played.
So, has Persona 5's perfect trailer put a dampener on your excitement for Final Fantasy XV? With the two releases likely a long while off yet, we don't see why you can't be eager to get your hands on both, but that's unfortunately not how the internet works. Choose a side, vote in our poll, and then shout at us in the comments section below.
Has Persona 5's trailer made you less excited about Final Fantasy XV? (66 votes)
- Yes, it looks much more interesting
- Hmm, I'm excited for both
- No, Final Fantasy XV still has my undying attention
- Bleh, I'm not interested in either of them
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Comments 31
Final Fantasy XV needed no outside help to dull my excitement for it :/
Hmm, I'm not a JRPG guy in the slightest, but I'm really excited for both. Wouldn't it be great if both of these came out and were critical and commercial smashes?
Not knowing whether Final Fantasy XV is launching within the decade versus Persona 5's straightforward "2015" is taking care of that.
But then again Final Fantasy XV has a demo in March and Persona 5 doesn't... Yet.
The most recent Final Fantasy are a joke in comparison to Persona, I wish FF make it's way back to the good games of the series, but for now I just can see P5 on PS, on the other hand Wii U Xenoblade is very promising.
No
I had no excitement for what those sellouts will be releasing, Persona > Final Fantasy any day.
I'm excited for both. Even though FFXV has been in development for 9 years, it's still going to have some sort of interest, partially because it's been in development for so long. Duke Nukem still had interest when Forever finally touched down, underwhelming game aside.
So yeah, I'm still excited for FFXV. Persona 5, in my opinion has a sense of style that Final Fantasy doesn't have, so it's kinda hard for me to write off either one when they're both different beasts.
The new trailer to Persona 5 was one of the most impressive things i have seen in gaming. Completely blew my expectations out of the water. Japanese devs are out in full force and are showing the rest of the world how it is done like it is the late 90's again!
This game will have so much more intelligence, style, depth and innovative game design than the next FF. This new trailer was the best i have seen since The Last Guardian's E3 debut.
I don't think i have been this excited for a game since Dragon Quest VIII. This could end up being my fave game ever, knocking off FFVII, if it carries on impressing as hard as it has been.
Between persona 5, final fantasy xv, and xenoblade chronicles x on wii u, I need more time in my life...
Not even slightly excited for the new FF after getting burned by their PS3 efforts. Review scores will have to be astronomically high for me to even consider it.
PERSONA ALL THE WAY.
I'm looking forward to both, but I'm looking forward to Persona 5 much more. Of course, that was true even before the trailer.
I'm more excited for Persona 5, but I don't see why that would make me less interested in FFXV. The two games do not have that much in common.
Wait, what's Final Fantasy XV?
I'm stoked for both. However, I'd be very surprised if they both came out in the West in 2015. I'd hazard a guess at P5 in 2015 and FF15 in 2016. Really can't wait to play both though. Genuinely excited after a somewhat disappointing 2014 in gaming.
As Someone whos been following it since 2006 and the Versus XIII days i can say P5 hasnt affected my excitment for 15 in the slightest. People act like there cant be 2 great Rpg series in one console cycle. If Rise of The Tomb Raider was coming to PS4 it wouldnt affect my hype for Uncharted 4. Let them both release and both be great.
@get2sammyb It would be great if both were hits but I think we all know Persona won't sell even half what FFXV does despite looking and most likely being the better game. Final Fantasy is a massive name that people know (and many no longer trust) while Persona has a very vocal but much smaller fanbase.
@3rdEyeMind On the hype train I see. The trailer was stylish but "one of the most impressive things I have seen in gaming"? Have you only played three or four games. The trailer was good but let's not pretend it was the second coming of Christ. It just looked like Catherine meets Persona 4 meets Rhythm Thief. Will undoubtedly be a great game - and is one of the actual few I'm looking forward to this year - but the reaction to this trailer is ridiculously over the top.
@rastamadeus Man not entitled to his own opinions these days eh? You never been excited for a game?? He just echo'd what a lot of people thought. Trailer was very different to expectations and it looks darn fantastic. No need to rip on people for getting excited.
@3rdEyeMind Honestly what you said is pretty much what most were saying about Versus XIII back in the day, especially in 2011 when they showed gameplay, and look where that got us. Still excited for both though.
I'll buy both, don't get me wrong. But I am a die hard Persona fan, so the trailer ignited my hype train.
I'm buying both. But Im still more excited for FFXV. I just hope it's not as commercialized as I think it might be.
I do enjoy me some Jrpg's, but I'm interested in neither FFXV or Persona 5 to be honest. I'll play them at some point though, but they're not my most anticipated Jrpg's
@rastamadeus careful now. You don't wanna rock the boat too much trying to entice heads from clouds regarding that trailer
Persona is clearly a franchise that's on the rise. I'm not saying it's going to be rivalling Call of Duty or anything, but I think this week has made it evident that, if the game's good, it's going to sell pretty well.
I agree that Final Fantasy is still a more popular brand overall, though. I think people are going to be a teensy bit more cautious of that one after the XIII Trilogy, however.
Either way, assuming they're both well received, I think they're going to both do very well for themselves. I don't think there's any negative to read into that, really.
Uh, Final what?
That's like comparing strawberries and mangos, sure they're both fruit but they're wildly different. Final fantasy is the strawberries by the way.
I'm super excited for both!! Persona 4 Golden was amazing, as was P3FES, but I can't say the same for the last three FF games. However, Final Fantasy XV looks like it can turn the series around. Great to be a gamer! Especially a PlayStation gamer.
It's apples to oranges in my book, I'm excited for both of them! Of course, Persona 5 is my absolute most hyped game, but I am also very excited for FF15.. They're both gonna be worthwhile experiences.
I'm looking forward to playing both titles, hopefully this year, but I'm more excited for Persona 5, even before the trailer.
FF15 does look amazing, but for me it's an easier decision to make... By default I'll be picking up Persona 5, as out of the two games that's the one releasing on PS3.
My PS3 & Vita games backlog is too large to consider complicating it further with the purchase of a PS4 (plus the Wii U has some really promising releases this year that will likely take up my time).
While I wait for Persona 5 to release on PS3, I've got Persona 4 Golden, FF VII through X-2 & FF XIII trilogy to keep me busy...
I was never interested in FFXV. Most of the non-MMO FFs since IX have pretty much switched me off to them before I could even play them because of overly annoying characters, but there's just something else I can't quite put my finger on that always seems to make me look away. I'm not saying it's definitely not going to be good, as only time will tell for that, but even with the possibility that P5 may have some forced stealth sections in, I'm still really excited for that more than FFXV.
After hearing about how brilliant Persona 4 was from literally anyone who talked about it, I couldn't wait to get tucked into it.
I played about 10-12 hours and was very disappointed. I'm not sure what I missed but just wasn't finding it very good! I loved the music and the presentation was good but apart from that it was slow and boring to me.
Maybe I needed to give it more time to kick in but I really didn't want to spend any more time trying to force myself to like it when I didn't.
My fav JRPG of recent times isn't even Japanese (Child of Light) so maybe that says something!?
Will this have online/ online ccop?
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