Summary
Evidence from an earlyPersona 5build indicates that Atlus originally planned to incorporate cameos of characters fromPersona 4. The originalPersona 5had a troubled developmentand was delayed multiple times before its eventual release in 2016. As a result of its development troubles, there were some things left on the cutting room floor.
A beta build ofPersona 5was leaked online earlier this week, with the build dated to December 2015. This beta included interesting details, such as early versions of cutscenes and songs fromPersona 5’s soundtrack, like “Rivers in the Desert” and “Last Surprise”.Persona 5modders have been digging through this beta and posting their findings online, with one discovery being characters fromPersona 4who were likely going to make cameos in the game.
Twitter user REALMadMax1960 found that there was a fully modeled version of a grown up Nanako Dojima in thePersona 5beta files. Nanako is a character who was the protagonist’s cousin and wasPersona 4’s Justice social link. The pre-teen Nanako is dressed in a thick jacket and still has the pigtails she wore as a kid. She apparently has animations assigned to her that originally belonged tothe female protagonist ofPersona 3 Portable, wielding a racket.
The cameos don’t stop at just Nanako Dojima, as another modder on Twitter, pinksweets8, discovered a model for an older version ofthePersona 4protagonist, Yu Narukami. Narukami’s model is styled afterPersona 4’s more limited, almost chibi-like design, but his proportions resemble how characters look inPersona 5. Yu’s model is incomplete, as he was only modeled up to his underwear, and no other clothing. The contrast between Yu and Nanako’s models has gotten fans speculating at how these cameos would have worked.
One of these theories was based on an early idea inPersona 5’s development, where the Phantom Thieves were partaking in a globe-trotting adventure and could have possibly visited Inaba in the process. Another theory raised was that since Yu was originally from the city, and he had animations that were assigned toPersona 5’s baseball mini-game, Yu and Nanako could have made a cameo there.
WhilePersona 5didn’t feature fully fledged appearances from characters like Yu or other members of the Investigation Team, the game still featured some easy-to-miss non-physical cameos. These include an interview with Yukari Takeba fromPersona 3that can be heard on Leblanc’s TV, or Rise Kujikawa being featured on a poster. Regardless, some fans lamented that an older Nanako wasn’t included in the final release, despite how complete her model looked.
Persona 5
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