Latest news with #Persona
The Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
New Release of The Persona5 Series, The Phantom X Confirms Southeast Asia Release Date. Pre-registration Is Now Open
TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Media OutReach Newswire - 29 May 2025 - Following successful launches in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau SARs, Taiwan region, and South Korea in April 2024, Persona5: The Phantom X finally announced the Southeast Asia release date. The highly anticipated title will be available on mobile devices and PC on July 3, 2025, bringing more of the series' stylish turn-based combat and an entirely new cast of Phantom Thieves. Developed through a collaboration between Atlus' P-Studio and Chinese developer Black Wing Games, Persona5: The Phantom X is a mobile-optimised title that transports players back to the world of Persona5, allowing players to control Wonder, a second-year high school student at Kokatsu Academy, whose mundane life takes a dramatic turn after encountering a mysterious owl-like creature named Lufel. As Wonder unravels the truth behind a society losing its desire, players will form a new team of Phantom Thieves and embark on a mission to restore this vital human essence. Promotional Video: As a live-service title, Persona5: The Phantom X promises an ever-evolving adventure. The game features familiar gameplay pillars from the mainline series—including turn-based combat, dungeon crawling, time management, and social bonding—while introducing new systems unique to this entry. Players can take on part-time jobs, join after-school clubs, strengthen their Personas, and develop social stats, all within a vibrant, original narrative. Notably, fan-favourite Persona characters, such as Joker, Ann Takamaki, and Ryuji Sakamoto, will make special appearances via exclusive in-game contracts. New additions to the series include the Velvet Trials, a PvE-focused challenge mode, an expanded Mementos to explore, mini-games, and the ability to form or join Guilds, offering players new avenues for cooperative and competitive play. Since its regional debut, Persona5: The Phantom X has received acclaim for its engaging story and dynamic new cast, qualities fans have praised as being remarkably in line with the high standards of the original Persona5. This strong reception is no surprise, as the development team includes veteran creators such as the General Producer Kazuhisa Wada, Composer Ryota Kozuka and Character Design Shigenori Soejima. Pre-registration is now open via the iOS App Store and Google Play, with exclusive milestone-based rewards to be distributed at launch through in-game mail. Current reward tiers include: • 50,000 pre-registrations: Free contract draws ×10 • 100,000 pre-registrations: Free weapon draws ×5 • 200,000 pre-registrations: Free Outfit for Protagonist (More milestone rewards to be revealed soon.) The official website of Persona5: The Phantom X has also launched, offering more information and resources for eager fans. The game launches in Southeast Asia on July 3, 2025 for mobile and PC. For more updates and community engagement, follow our official channels.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Things You Need to Know Before Playing Metaphor: ReFantazio in Xbox Game Pass 2025
Metaphor ReFantazio is one of the most anticipated RPGs of 2025, coming soon on Xbox Game Pass, right at launch. Atlus, the popular studio behind the Persona series, developed the game. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now This game takes players into a rich fantasy world filled with political intrigue and strategic battles. As one of the most anticipated games of the year, it offers a new experience to both new and long-term RPG fans. This article highlights the important things to keep in mind before playing Metaphor ReFantazio on Xbox Game Pass. What you should know before playing Metaphor ReFantazio on Xbox Game Pass AVOID WASTING TIME! Know 22 Essential Tips Before Starting Metaphor Refantazio - Beginner Guide Metaphor ReFantazio introduced some fresh ideas that may feel new, especially if you are playing the game through Xbox Game Pass. Here are some essential tips for you to help get started smoothly. 1. The archetype system is central to gameplay. Rather than being locked to a single role, Metaphor ReFantazio lets you switch between 'Archetypes,' each of which has specific abilities and roles in a fight. Players can flexibly unlock and switch between multiple archetypes, and you can adapt your strategy depending on the situation. Experimenting with different archetype combinations is the reward for overcoming strategic challenges. 2. Prepare for strategic combat. Battles are turn-based but include real-time elements like positioning and timing special movements. Maintaining a good synergy with your team and planning moves carefully is important for success. Get ready to adjust your tactics as enemies evolve throughout the night. 3. A story driven by politics and choices The story concentrates on a royal election where your decisions shape the league and your reputation. Decisions and dialogue choices have an important impact on reputation, so think about how you want to grow your character. This story explores the themes of trust, identity, and leadership. 4. Make the most of Xbox Game Pass features. Game Pass Ultimate users can get access to cloud gaming, playing through the consoles, PCs, or even mobile devices. Be sure to check for the latest updates and be up-to-date on additional content that may come along with your subscription. Your content progress is saved across devices, so you can pick up wherever you left off. 5. Benefit from Atlus' signature features
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Barry Keoghan Says Working With The Weeknd Will Help Him Portray Ringo Starr in Beatles Biopic (Exclusive)
It's not every day that you get the chance to work with a legendary musician, and when the opportunity arises, you grab it. At least that's what Barry Keoghan, Jenna Ortega and director Trey Edward Shults thought when they were approached about working with The Weeknd (who is credited by his real name, Abel Tesfaye) on his upcoming music-forward film Hurry Up Tomorrow. The film, which hits theaters on May 16, is semi-autobiographical and features music from The Weeknd's latest album, also titled Hurry Up Tomorrow, but it's not exactly a visual album. "I knew this was going to be an experience and a unique movie," Keoghan tells Parade ahead of the movie's release. "I wanted to be part of Abel's vision, and I'm a massive fan of Trey and a massive fan of Jenna. It's a no-brainer when you see that on a page, and I'm up for this sort of challenge of it all." Hurry Up Tomorrow is certainly a singular project. Tesfaye plays a fictional musician who goes by Abel/The Weeknd as his fame drives him into madness, with Ortega playing a mysterious woman he crosses paths with and Keoghan as a calming force on Abel/The Weeknd's management team. It's not a biopic, not a music video, not a drama and not a documentary, but some melding of them all. Tesfaye and Shults cite a bevy of inspiration for the project, including musician-forward projects like Prince's Purple Rain and Pink Floyd's The Wall, as well as traditional films like Raging Bull, Persona and Jacob's Ladder. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 Interestingly enough, Tesfaye dreamt up the idea for Hurry Up Tomorrow, the movie, before putting together his album of the same name. He didn't even write most of the movie's/album's music until after filming had wrapped. "I was in a unique position where I was able to score to picture and write music to picture," he says about the process. "It was maybe two records that were actually complete [before filming], and then the final song, which I had to write the day before I performed it. So those were the only couple songs that were done. After that, I got to write lyrics that bring scenes out, and some scenes that didn't make the film, I got to turn into songs." Writing a song the night before you film an entire scene based around it certainly seems nerve-wracking. "I blacked out that week," Tesfaye says. "Definitely a lot of pressure, but look, writing and performing a song, it's a very vulnerable moment." Related: Tesfaye's decision to create Hurry Up Tomorrow makes a lot more sense after realizing that the Super Bowl Halftime performer is also quite the cinephile. In fact, he hand-selected his collaborators based on their previous work. "Abel wanted to meet," Shults says, beginning the story of how he joined the project. "Huge fan," Tesfaye interrupts. It was Shults' film Waves that inspired him to reach out. "I could tell he was a genuine huge fan, too," Shults remembers of their first meeting. "We basically connected over an idea, and honestly, I was in a little bit of a rut after Waves. I was kind of depressed and not excited about movies, and that's why it's been a minute. Then I started getting inspiration again, but the the first time I got the full light bulb, excited inspiration with writing and a project was this. After our meeting, we ran with that momentum. We met in October, I wrote the outline with Abel in November, there was a draft by December, and we were shooting in February." But Shults wasn't the only member of the team Tesfaye courted. "I was a huge fan of Sacred Deer," Tesfaye says regarding Keoghan's film The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Such a fan that Tesfaye went up to Keoghan at a party and introduced himself well before Hurry Up Tomorrow was in the works. "I always knew you were gonna play [the part] if you would accept the role." For Ortega, who was coming off the success of Wednesday, the atmosphere that Shults and Tesfaye fostered on the Hurry Up Tomorrow set appealed to her. "I was kind of unsure what to do," she says about selecting projects after Wednesday. "I swear my career was almost like night and day. It all just opened up. So I was taking meetings, and Trey and Abel are such incredibly kind, warm, just comfortable people to be around, and are such cinephiles and fans of movie themselves. It instantly was apparent to me that this was a team that I wanted to be associated just felt like a very collaborative space, so that's why I joined." Related: While one may think that working with someone as famous as The Weeknd, and someone without much acting experience to boot, could be difficult, Keoghan describes the shoot as "comfy." Ortega echoes that sentiment: "It felt very relaxed in the best way possible." Keoghan also compared working on Hurry Up Tomorrow to working on "student movies where everyone's just there to get it, and everyone's on the same page." Collaborating so closely with Tesfaye also gave Keoghan the opportunity to witness a massive superstar on an intimate level. Keoghan was recently cast to play Ringo Starr of The Beatles in an upcoming biopic, and when asked if he'll be channeling any of his experience with The Weeknd into his Ringo performance, he responded in the affirmative. "Yeah, I know Abel as Abel, and that's sort of a different thing. I can really separate the two. And for me, this movie even puts Abel in a different place that I think I've never seen Abel," says Keoghan of his time with Tesfaye. "It's sort of like we're seeing a new person. I'm always curious and observant, and I take in what I can." Hurry Up Tomorrow premieres in theaters on May 16.
Los Angeles Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘Sirens' review: A dark farce dressed up in pastel Lilly Pulitzer
'Sirens,' premiering Thursday on Netflix, is an odd sort of a series, an interesting mix of hifalutin ideas, family drama and what might be called dark farce. Set over Labor Day weekend on a Cape Cod island peopled by rich folks whose taste runs to pastels and floral prints, it stars Julianne Moore as Michaela, formerly a high-powered attorney who has given that up for marriage to hedge-fund billionaire Peter (Kevin Bacon) and a life dedicated to rescuing birds of prey. The queen of all she surveys, she speaks in moony aphorisms, is posing for Vanity Fair and orchestrating a fundraising gala, among minor entertainments. Meanwhile, in Buffalo, we meet Devon (Meghann Fahy) a working-class hot mess, making her entrance out a police station door, wearing a short black dress, looking the worse for wear. Struggling to care for her father Bruce (Bill Camp), diagnosed with dementia, she goes in search of her sister, Simone (Milly Alcock), who has been working as Michaela's personal assistant. After traveling 17 hours — carting, for reasons of comedy, the giant edible arrangement Simone has sent in lieu of an actual response to her call for help, still wearing her night-in-jail clothes — Devon will discover that her sister has been transformed: She's removed the matching tattoos they got together, had a nose job and presents as something like the Disney version of 'Wonderland's' Alice, minus the curiosity. ('You're dressed like a doily,' says Devon.) Ingmar Bergman fans will note the meant-to-be-noted crib from 'Persona,' underlining Devon's observation that Simone loses herself in other people. Simone, for her part, is delighted that she gets to call Michaela 'Kiki,' 'which is really a special honor,' and faithfully amplifies Michaela's mercurial requests to the staff, personified by Felix Solis' Jose, who hate her. (They maintain a text chain to joke about her.) For all that she's loyal to Michaela, and considers her a best friend, she's been hiding both her working-class roots and the fact that she's been sleeping with Ethan (Glenn Howerton), Peter's also-rich pal and neighbor. Though Michaela worries he might be having an affair, Peter, for his part, comes across as an essentially good guy, for a hedge fund billionaire. He's friendly with the help, who worked for him before his marriage to Michaela — there are a first wife and adult children offstage — can cook for himself and hides away from the pastel people in the mansion's tower, where he strums a guitar and smokes a little pot. But room has been left for surprises. 'Sirens' is the sisters' shared special code for 'SOS,' which seems less practical than, you know, SOS, but ties into the vague Greek mythological references with which the series has been decorated — more suggestive than substantial, I'd say, though it's possible that is my lack of classical education showing. The house Siri system is called Zeus. One episode is titled 'Persephone,' after the goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld; Simone does indeed say to Michaela, 'You are literally a goddess' — she does dress like one, in flimsy, flowing gowns — while Devon thinks that something's gone dead behind Simone's eyes, that she's been zombified: 'You're in a cult.' It was the sirens' sweetly singing, of course, that drew sailors to their deaths in the old tales, and at one point Michaela looks out over the ocean and muses on the boats of whalers crashing bloodily on the rocks. (She is particular about the blood.) There is, in fact, a sailor in the series, Jordan (Trevor Salter), who captains Ethan's yacht and whom Devon picks up in a hotel bar, but he is perhaps the least likely character in the show to crash into anything. And Michaela is attended by a trio of women (Jenn Lyon as Cloe, Erin Neufer as Lisa and Emily Borromeo as Astrid) who, suggesting the title creatures, speak in harmony and act as one, but they are more the embodiment of a notion, a throwaway joke, than active participants in the story. Michael Abels' score features a choir of female voices, opts for something that one might well identify as ancient Greek music even with no notion of what ancient Greek music might have sounded like. The core of the series is the struggle between Devon and Michaela for the soul of Simone, though there are ancillary battles that will help decide the fate of the war. For a viewer, it's natural to side with Devon, who, after locking horns with Michaela, will go undercover at the mansion, dressing according to the house rules while she pokes around. (There is the suggestion of a murder mystery.) However hot a mess she may be, she isn't pretentious; she has energy, boldness and consistency, and whatever she gets wrong, she lives in the world that most of us do. (I am assuming you are not a billionaire with a mansion on a cliff, a birdhouse full of raptors and a large staff to tend to your needs and whims, but if you are — thanks for reading!) That isn't to say that Michaela doesn't have her troubles — indeed, her neediness, which expresses itself as caretaking, resembles Devon's. 'I take care of everything in my orb,' says Michaela, 'big and small, prey and predator.' I hadn't known when I watched 'Sirens' that it was based on a play, the 2011 'Elemeno Pea,' by Molly Smith Metzler, who created the series as well, but I thought it might be. It had the scent of the stage in the way characters — including Bruce and Ray (Josh Segarra), Devon's boss and adulterous occasional hookup — kept piling in, along with its farcical accelerations, its last-act revelations and reversals. At 'only' five episodes, it stays more focused than most limited series, though the tone shifts a bit; some characters come to seem deeper and more complex, which is good on the face of it, but also can feel a bit manufactured. Some bits of business are planted merely to bear practical fruit later. The ending I found half-satisfying, or half-frustrating, from character to character, but there are great, committed performances along the way, and I was far more than halfway entertained.
Engadget
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
May's Game Pass additions include the brilliant Metaphor: ReFantazio and The Division 2
This is a big month for Xbox Game Pass, as there are some real standout titles hitting the service. Upcoming games include the sublime Metaphor ReFantazio , Tales of Kenzera: Zau and The Division 2 , among others. Let's get to the games. You likely heard a whole lot about Metaphor ReFantazio last year. The JRPG was a bona-fide phenomenon, and it actually grabbed a nomination for game of the year. It also easily made our list of the best games of 2024 . It's developed by Atlus and the game improves on the formula behind the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei franchises in nearly every way. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. The characters are great. The dungeons aren't procedurally generated. The world feels alive, with quests and objectives in nearly every nook and cranny. The story is perhaps the biggest reason why the game became such a sensation. It's grounded and feels like it was plucked from today's news, despite being set in a fantasy-laden kingdom. It'll be playable on May 29. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a Metroidvania platformer that wears its heart on its sleeve. The story is extremely emotional and engaging, particularly for this genre. The graphics are lovely and the gameplay is fluid, with plenty of nifty upgrades as you advance. What's not to like? The game arrives on May 22. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Tom Clancy's The Division 2 is something of a hybrid, with plenty of both tactical shooter and RPG mechanics. The game is set in an open world version of Washington DC, which is a pretty cool location. It's online-only, so there's a deep emphasis on multiplayer. It can be played solo, but you have to be connected to the game's servers. It'll be available on May 27. Other forthcoming games include Spray Paint Simulator (May 29) and Stalker 2 (May 22.) The deckbuilding roguelike Monster Train 2 is available right now.
