"Super Smash Bros." creator Masahiro Sakurai gushed about "Persona 5" in his developer column in the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu Magazine.
He said (as translated by Source Gaming) that "Persona 5" is "full of strong points," but he believes that the graphical user interface (GUI) is the standout.
Sakurai said that the GUI of "Persona 5" is "magnificent" and is sure to "win by a mile" if it were to go head to head with other games in terms of the user interface.
He also sang praises on every aspect of the game, from the character illustrations to the game systems, monster designs, environment, story, and dialogue.
"The design makes heavy use of character portraits and 3D models, and their gorgeous yet speedy movements create a stylish composition that's fun to watch," Sakurai said of the "Persona 5" GUI.
"By taking an active role in the game's presentation, I think that Persona 5's UI draws a line distinguishing itself from the UIs of typical games up until now. Honestly, it's to an extent that once you get used to this, the average game's UI will look out of date," he went on to say.
From the looks of it, "Persona 5" will be gorgeous from the get-go with the menus themselves already set to make an impression.
Meanwhile, "Persona 5" being a big hit in Japan has developer Atlus believing that the game will replicate its success in the West.
In an interview with MCV, Atlus head Naoto Hiraoka talked about their big hopes for the game in its Western launch, which appear to root from the fact that the game was the fastest selling title for Atlus in Japan and "obliterated" all their expectations for it.
Hiraoka said that "Persona 5" is poised to become the "representative title of Atlus" in the West. The focus is currently on localization, and the Atlus boss promises they will set the "gold standard" for these.
The release of "Persona 5" in the West was moved from Feb. 14, 2017 to Apr. 4, 2017. According to Persona Central, the delay was born out of the massive success of the Japan release, which ultimately pushed Atlus to further improve the localization of the game.
In fact, "Persona 5" has become the biggest localization project that the developer has ever tackled. With this, Hiraoka believes that "Persona 5" will be on its way to becoming an essential JRPG title.
