So, just Persona references or...

[Null Winter]

Yeah, yeah, it's an Atlus game, so there's bound to be some in-house overlap. But based on a lot of evidence, I think this was straight up meant to be an official Persona title at some point in development before being announced as its own thing; they might have been scared of having a spin-off (this) of a spin-off (Persona) of a spin-off (SMT) or didn't want to risk tarnishing the safe market name with some of the departures this takes (different time era, tournament setting, lack of re-used demon/god/spirit 3D assets, etc.).

---

There's the obvious Carl Jung concepts being used as a gameplay mechanic; Archetypes were another concept he espoused, and they've replaced Personas with the same functions. A mysterious voice accompanies awakenings and a dude in a sealed off dimensional room oversees your Archetype/Persona development, because why break too far away from old stand-bys?

Several of the characters are referred to with Tarot titles, especially in their Bond rank-up text.

The game's development timeline fits with filling in after Persona 5 and its extended edition.

Strohl comes across as having once been the intended main protagonist; white hair, a yellow coat and color theme, 2-handed swords as his default weapon, helpful demeanor, devising many of the group's working plans, etc. means he's basically Yu all over again. He speaks a lot more than your other companions (adjusting for him being your first permanent party member) and he often acts as the mouthpiece for the main character's exact same beliefs when the team couldn't bother to pay the MC's VA to say anything. He even does his own Social Li- er, Bond almost entirely unassisted by the MC; you're basically just showing up to witness him do generic main character things, suggesting it was written in more as a placeholder for the Bond system.

The game's world effectively takes place on top of the ruins of Persona's version of Japan.

You have the usual quirky Persona party members of a straightforward best friend you get right after moving in to a new area, an elegant and serious lady with a single weird quirk they never stop bringing up as a gag until it eclipses anything else about her character, a tiny non-humanoid who ends up being deadlier than most of the cast, a world-famous diva complaining about only being a living mask for the public who is clearly the fetish fuel of someone on the dev team, socially awkward lady who can't hide her MC crush, etc.

---

And all that's just from casually playing halfway through. I have my suspicions about where the plot is going, and they're looking like the standard Persona endgame.

[alex010300]

Well the Devil Summoner does summon Personas so...........

[Tiasmoon]

No, this game was always planned to be its own thing. They made a new studio for this.

[Null Winter]

Originally posted by Tiasmoon:

No, this game was always planned to be its own thing. They made a new studio for this.

And that new studio made old things; glad to see they took some risks, though.

[Grmacon]

Persona has always been "real" world JRG. This is just a spin off of a spin off.

[ez game ez life]

The game was planned from the start as a standalone title, independent of Persona.

But why reinvent the wheel?

The Persona series is extremely popular and, in my opinion, does a lot of things right.

I would also buy Persona 6 day one if almost nothing changed compared to its predecessor.

And I would like it.

[Pencillus Sedatus]

Originally posted by Null Winter:

Yeah, yeah, it's an Atlus game, so there's bound to be some in-house overlap. But based on a lot of evidence, I think this was straight up meant to be an official Persona title at some point in development before being announced as its own thing; they might have been scared of having a spin-off (this) of a spin-off (Persona) of a spin-off (SMT) or didn't want to risk tarnishing the safe market name with some of the departures this takes (different time era, tournament setting, lack of re-used demon/god/spirit 3D assets, etc.).

---

There's the obvious Carl Jung concepts being used as a gameplay mechanic; Archetypes were another concept he espoused, and they've replaced Personas with the same functions. A mysterious voice accompanies awakenings and a dude in a sealed off dimensional room oversees your Archetype/Persona development, because why break too far away from old stand-bys?

Several of the characters are referred to with Tarot titles, especially in their Bond rank-up text.

The game's development timeline fits with filling in after Persona 5 and its extended edition.

Strohl comes across as having once been the intended main protagonist; white hair, a yellow coat and color theme, 2-handed swords as his default weapon, helpful demeanor, devising many of the group's working plans, etc. means he's basically Yu all over again. He speaks a lot more than your other companions (adjusting for him being your first permanent party member) and he often acts as the mouthpiece for the main character's exact same beliefs when the team couldn't bother to pay the MC's VA to say anything. He even does his own Social Li- er, Bond almost entirely unassisted by the MC; you're basically just showing up to witness him do generic main character things, suggesting it was written in more as a placeholder for the Bond system.

The game's world effectively takes place on top of the ruins of Persona's version of Japan.

You have the usual quirky Persona party members of a straightforward best friend you get right after moving in to a new area, an elegant and serious lady with a single weird quirk they never stop bringing up as a gag until it eclipses anything else about her character, a tiny non-humanoid who ends up being deadlier than most of the cast, a world-famous diva complaining about only being a living mask for the public who is clearly the fetish fuel of someone on the dev team, socially awkward lady who can't hide her MC crush, etc.

---

And all that's just from casually playing halfway through. I have my suspicions about where the plot is going, and they're looking like the standard Persona endgame.

I saw a video where he talked about this is secretly a spiritual successor of Etrian Odyssey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThxwE501FV8

[archonsod]

Originally posted by Null Winter:

I think this was straight up meant to be an official Persona title at some point in development before being announced as its own thing

No

The clue is in the name 'Fantazio'. It's a fantasia of all of Atlus' titles. Pay attention and you'll note references to all of the Persona games, SMT, Catherine, Etrian Odyssey et al. You even get a swordboard ...

[keep.it.professional]

Originally posted by Null Winter:

an elegant and serious lady with a single weird quirk they never stop bringing up as a gag until it eclipses anything else about her character

lol

[Baphled]

There's some references to a lot of their games. Persona, Devil Summoner, Soul Hacker all make an appearance as archetypes.
The main plot also reflects the typical SMT setting, where there's team chaos vs team order. The guide is present, which mostly rings of Persona although SMT has much looser versions of this.

It feels like they're picking up on the good aspects of their games and building it into a new direction. SMT and Persona had strong elements of creature collecting, whether through negotiation or fusion; and this game doesn't have anything similar.

[Griever]

I’ve watched like 10 hours of persona 5 gameplay and it seems identical to persona but in a different setting (medieval fantasy). Everything is the same. Combat system, personas are archetypes, social links, etc.

I like it precisely because it tells a political story and isn’t the angsty high school setting. It’s more final fantasy type setting. Very kino.

What it lacks compared to persona is the high school banter and cool vibe though. Which is the only negative. There are no “flirting with the girls” and other such highschool moment there.

[REhorror]

Every "main" Atlus games have connection to MegaTen.