'Persona 5' release date, news: Game mechanics, art book cover, and soundtrack list revealed as launch gets delayed

A screenshot from "Persona 5"Atlus

Many Western game fans are looking forward to the release of "Persona 5" on Valentine's Day. However, Atlus, the game developer and publisher, decided to push back the game in April in order to make better its localization. Eventually, more information from the game surface that includes the game mechanics, art book cover, and the full track list included for its Western release.

According to Trusted Reviews, players are just ordinary high school students in Tokyo, Japan. Their chosen characters will get a chance to interact with the other students of the school by making friends and participating in social interactions. They also need to achieve a passing mark in their classes. A part-time job is also required to help in the progress of their characters.

By night, the players' characters will change to their other persona and slip into the mysterious underworld called the Palace and the story-specific dungeons. Here, they will come face-to-face with dark forces and supernatural beings.

The strength of the players will basically rely on the socialization skills that their character gains during the day. There are specific actions that will let players earn buffs during battle. The more interaction and relationship gained by a player, the stronger their persona will become.

Meanwhile, a report from Famitsu revealed the official artwork cover of its included book. The art book contains 512 pages of illustrations from the game. This includes images of the main characters and their personas, the concept art of these characters, drafts and more. Images of the game's box, posters, magazine covers, and other illustrations are included in the report as well.

It also includes comments from Shigenori Soejima, the character designer. The opening animation storyboard and other personal information of its characters that are yet to be divulged can also be seen.

Persona Central also published a list of audio tracks that was used in the game. It remains unknown if this is the same audio CD that is included on the "Take Your Heart" premium edition package of the game that will become available in the U.S.

"Persona 5" will be released in North America and in Europe on April 4, 2017 for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3. Traditional Chinese and Korean versions will also be released sometime in 2017.