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‘Persona 5’ Delayed To Include Dual Audio Feature, New Release Date Is April 4

By Asma M
Published on: 14:46 PST, Nov 20, 2016

If your Valentine’s Day 2017 plans involved curling up with Persona 5, you’ll need to make other plans. Atlus has confirmed Persona 5 is being delayed until April 4, 2017, in the Americas and Europe. The additional time is giving the publisher time to add in a dual audio feature that will allow fans to choose between the Japanese or English language options.

Persona 5 has already been released in Japan on September 15, selling over 300,000 copies on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 in just the first week. Since its debut, both fans and critics have given the game mostly positive reviews. The successful Japanese release has only seemed to add fuel to interest in the game, with pre-orders in the U.S. reaching more than 62,000 just on PS4 as of the end of October. To put that number into perspective, Persona 5 is nestled between Dishonored 2, which had only about 4,000 more pre-orders during the same time period on the same platform, and Final Fantasy XV for Xbox One according to VGChartz.

As an Atlus PR manager explains on the official PlayStation Blog, the high expectations for the western release of Persona 5 have contributed to the decision to include a dual audio option designed to appease the entire fan base.

“People have been asking for this since P5 was announced, and through herculean effort from just about every division of Atlus, we managed to arrange this. This was something we especially wanted to do for the Atlus Faithful, the ones who still appreciate our English dubs and respect all the effort we put into localizing. You all are the reason we get to do the jobs we do, so we’ve been fighting for this for a long while, and we are glad we can make this happen for all of those who support us and love our games.”

The Japanese voice over option is coming to Persona 5, as additional downloadable content in the Western release, but fans can rest assured the DLC is planned to be made available for free on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.

Those looking forward to the English language version can get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the English dubbing process in a series of video interviews with the Persona 5 English voice cast, which includes Cassandra Morris as Morgana and Xander Mobus as the protagonist. The remaining Phantom Thieves have been cast as follows in the English version:

  • Erika Harlacher is the voice of Ann Takamaki
  • Erica Lindbeck is the voice of Futaba Sakura
  • Robbie Daymond is the voice of Goro Akechi
  • Xanthe Huynh is the voice of Haru Okumura
  • Cherami Leigh is the voice of Makoto Niijima
  • Max Mittelman is the voice of Ryuji Sakamoto
  • Matt Mercer is the voice of Yusuke Kitagawa

Fans who have pre-ordered the Persona 5 “Take Your Heart” Premium Edition, and may be feeling particularly heartbroken over the release date change, may find some additional comfort in the newly released artwork for several items included in the collector’s edition. The soundtrack cover art has been updated from the previous placeholder image to reveal a design featuring twins, Caroline and Justine, who are described as “wardens of the Velvet Room.” The artbook cover has also been updated with an image of the protagonist taking off his mask, and the Steelbook game case features a black-and-white-on-red group image of the Phantom Thieves. All of the updated art can be seen in the image above, as tweeted by Atlus.

What do you think about the Persona 5 delay? Do you think the dual audio option is worth the wait, and which language option do you prefer? Sound off in the comments section below.

[Featured Image by Atlus U.S.A.]

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