For those who don't know...

I thought it would be prudent, for completion's sake, to explain exactly what the background of  Persona is. Persona has three core focuses - school, friends and Persona.  Each will be dealt with below:

• School

Each one of the five main Persona games features a school as a prominent location. In Persona 3 and Persona 4, it became even more important, with tests, school festivals, school clubs, and student council having rather large bearings on the plot. That mold will be followed by Persona Zero, as well.  The characters have just entered high school, and a great number of events will be linked to that fact. So many things happen in high school, you have to decide what you want to be when you grow up, you could wind up falling in love, sharing a first kiss, find your talents, make friends, stay sane... High school is a roller coaster, and that is something that I definitely aim to portray in Persona Zero.

• Friends

Friendship is something else that plays a crucial role in the Persona series. Going through school, going through hardships, finding who you are, saving the world... They are all done with your friends by your side. Just like in Persona 3 and Persona 4, the Protagonist will form Social Links with other characters.

Social Links are a strong bond, be it family, friendship, love, or anything inbetween. Each Social Link represents one of the Major Arcana, and grants more power to Persona of that corresponding Arcanum as the bond grows stronger. Once the bond becomes unbreakable, the ability to summon the Ultimate Persona of that specific Arcanum. Over the course of the Social Link's growth, you get to know the other person on a spiritual level, and help them overcome whatever problems their Arcanum represents. By the links end, a mutual Agape, that is, unconditional love, is present.

• Persona

Ah, Persona. Put bluntly, to anyone that doesn't already know, a Persona is the physical manifestation of your personality.

The world of Persona follows Jungian lore, specifically the idea of a 'collective unconscious', known in Persona as the 'Sea of the Soul'. The manifestation of mankind's self-destructive urges, Nyarlathotep, is involved in a bet of sorts, with the manifestation of mankind's creative curves, Philemon. Will mankind achieve enlightenment, or will they destroy themselves first?

Nyarlathotep cheats, repeatedly, and lets loose manifestations of mankind's base instincts, their id, known as 'Shadows' - and that's exactly what they are, in the Jungian sense. There are two main types of Shadows. Manifestations of humanities animalistic urges, as said above, and, manifestations of a specific individual's inner turmoil. These are known as 'Shadow Selves', and if each character represents an Arcanum, then their Shadow is the same Arcanum in reverse. But they are still part of us. They may be our negative thoughts and emotions given form and voice, but they are still part of us. Ordinarily, a Shadow Self will reveal the innermost feelings and thoughts of it's other half, and if the other half rejects what they say, they go berserk and transform into a monster, in an attempt to kill their other half. If they have the courage to accept and acknowledge the Shadow's words as true, if not the whole truth, the Shadow Self will recombine with their other half, transforming into a Persona, that can be called upon at will from that moment on. Personae can be awakened in other ways, but I'll talk about that another time. If a Shadow is the id, then once it is dominated by the ego, it becomes the psyche, a Persona. In-game, they are referred to as 'the facade used to overcome life's hardships'.

When it comes to evoking a Persona, there are multiple ways it can be achieved, and they vary wildly depending on the circumstances. 

In Persona, and Persona 2, due to outside influences on the world bt outside forces, Personae could be summoned by concentration alone.

In Persona 3, things were different, and a higher degree of mental stress/trauma was required, resulting in the use of modified guns, known as  Evokers to 'mime suicide', by pointing the gun at their head, and firing.

In Persona 4, concentration was all that was needed once again, with their determination taking the form of a spectral tarot card bearing the character's Arcanum, which is then shattered to call forth their Persons. But only in the TV World. The characters in Persona 4 could enter television sets via the screen, to the world in the backside of the TV, which aided in their Persona abilities. It is later revealed in Persona 4 Arena, that Evokers are still required to summon Personas in the real world, and that the TV World is part of the Sea of the Soul, domain of Philemon.

In Persona Zero, the COMP will play a crucial role in allowing the characters to summon their Persona, from both in the Real World, and within the realm of Shadows. Using a modified media tray, Persona cards are inserted, which will call forth the corresponding Persona once the correct command is used.

Each Persona belongs to one of the twenty-two Major Arcana, and, most people only get to use one, fixed to whatever Arcanum represents them. Once a resolution has been taken up within one's heart, the Persona will undergo an evolution, to better represent the individual to whom the Persona belongs.

The protagonists of Persona 3 and Persona 4 have a unique ability known as the 'Wild Card' - a unique ability that allows them to call upon the powers of a potentially unlimited number of Persona. The protagonist of Persona Zero will share this ability as well.

Whilst Nyarlathotep directly intervenes, Philemon is bound by honour not to, but aids the protagonist indirectly through his servants, and the room they inhabit. The Velvet Room. The Velvet Room is a blue room, it is always blue, and always draped in velvet, but from there, it varies. It was a music hall in Persona, and Persona 2, an elevator in Persona 3, and a limousine in Persona 4. In Persona Zero, it will be a train. The moving theme as of late represents the protagonist's journey.

The proprietor of the Belvet Room is Igor, a bizarre, long-nosed man with blood-shot eyes, and inhumanly long limbs. He governs Persona Fusion, the fusion of two or more existing Personae into a stronger one. Nameless and Belladonna perform the ethereal music of the room, Aria of the Soul. Belladonna covers her ears when singing, and Nameless covers his eyes while playing. Igor is frequently accompanied by another attendant, who watches over the Persona Compendium - the book registering any and all Personae that the Wild Card has granted access to.

I THINK that's everything... If not, I'll just post again.

I'll try and post something else tomorrow...

COMP

This is concept art of the COMP. For those that don't know, the COMP is a personal computer in the Shin Megami Tensei series. Loaded with the Demon Summoning Program, it is what allows the protagonists to summon demons.
In Persona Zero, they are common sights in the arm of... Well, most people. They're like smartphones, the latest craze. The protagonists will use modified COMPs, which will have an slot with which to insert their Persona Cards, which will cause the COMP to aid in the summoning process. All of them also have a detachable wire, which loops around the head and connects to a headset, allowing the mission control to keep in contact. attatching to the headset is a pair of prisim spectacles, which prevent the characters from getting disorientated inside the dungeons. The hero's COMP has a dealer attachment, allowing him to store several Persona Cards, and switch between them during battle. His also has a Fusion Spell Program, allowing him to execute Fusion Spells on his own, like the Protagonist of Persona 3.
In colour, they are silver as default, with a highlight colour varying on the taste of the user. The colour of the fibre-optic wire and the lenses of the spectacles match the highlight colour of the COMP.

There is a faint glance at the hero in the above image as well, as the figure modelling the COMP and battle attachment.

Welcome, to the Velvet Room

Salutations, one and all, and welcome to the Persona Zero Deveopment Blog!

Now, I'm sure if you've somehow stumbled onto this blog, you're going to want to know more about what it is for. Well, the title is a dead give away - the purpose of this blog is to chronicle the development of my Persona story project, Persona Zero. Now I assume you're going to want to know what that is, and so, I shall tell you. Be prepared though, I tend to go on a bit, haha.

Persona Zero is a Persona fanfic with a non-indictive name. It is not any sort of prequel to any of the four (soon-to-be five, as of this writing) existing Persona games. It is simply a Persona story, written in the style of the games, with an original story and characters. That's not to say it's detatched from them in any way, I aim to include allusions to each game in the franchise over the course of the story. There are other influences as well, such as sister-series, Devil Survivor, or parent series, Shin Megami Tensei, but by and large, it is a Persona story.
Just like the games, the story will take place over roughly a year, but unlike the games, the protagonist is a transfer student who comes in late, and so the story will take place from June - June, meaning that although (most of) the main characters are first year high-schoolers at the beginning of the story, by it's end, they will have just entered their second year. Like with Persona 4, weather plays a crucial role in the story, but not as overtly as the former's rain and fog; the weather theme for Persona Zero (snow) is considerably subtler. Social Links will also be covered, with the protagonist having twenty-two of them, one representing each Major Arcana. As in the games, though I'm sure that line sounds a bit repetitive by now, each Social Link will grow over ten meetings, and yield the ability to summon an Ultimate Persona representing the respective bond, which, in that respect, is slightly closer to Persona 4 the Animation, than any of the games.
The Velvet Room once more plays a crucial part in the plot, with the room itself being somewhere between Persona/Persona 2 and Persona 3/Persona 4 in design. It keeps the moving theme of the latter pair's elevator/limousine (its a train), as well as the Compendium-keeping attendant (a la Elizabeth, Theodore, and Margaret), but it also restores Belladonna and Nameless from the former pair. Igor will once more be the room's master, while Philemon's presence will be more obvious than Persona 3 and Persona 4.

As to the questions of 'when will it be released' and 'how often will it be updated', the answer is when it is, to both. I can't give an estimate on the release of the first chapter just yet, other than tentatively saying 'soon, hopefully'. I'll also try and keep a quasi-regular release schedule, don't worry.

I... I can't think of any other questions to answer write now. If you have any, comment, and I'll endeavour to answer.
Keep your eyes locked onto this blog, more details and concept art pending.