Some super preliminary details on Persona 5 appear in this week's Famitsu. Actually, scratch that. The magazine doesn't really have any solid information on the game.

In an interview discussing Persona 4 The Golden and Persona 4 The Ultimate in Mayonaka, producer Katsura Hashino said that preliminary development for Persona 5 (which he referred to as "the next numbered title") is nearly complete. From here, the staff will advance into the actual development process.

The key players are returning for Persona 5. Hashino is director. Shigenori Soejima is character designer, and Shouji Meguro is main composer.

They've solidified the themes they'd like to cover in the game. The staff wants to challenge more new things compared to even Persona 3.

Hashino shared one technical bit about P5. For Catherine, Team Persona made use of a third party engine. They've since completed work on their own engine. With this new internal engine, Hashino believes that converting their ideas into game form will go considerably smooth.

However, he warned that he expects a lengthy wait until release.

[Via Sokuho@Hokanko]