Persona 4 Arena Gameplay Media Blowout

Atlus let loose four brand new gameplay trailers for their upcoming sprite-based fighting game for the Xbox 360 and PS3, Persona 4 Arena. The series takes a drastic turn from its school-based RPG roots and moves into the fighting game territory, with hyper-special turbo moves and anime-style fighting mechanics.

Persona originally gained popularity during the PSX era when it was known as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona. The RPG was too difficult for me to navigate (I've never been a in a school where hallways felt like a maze-garden) but the concepts were original enough to spawn several sequels, spin-offs and even an MMO.

Persona 4 Arena throws out all the supernatural elements and instead focuses on various characters from the original Persona 4 in top-notch fighting game form. Check out a brief walkthrough for four of the playable characters below.

The fighting seems closer to BlazBlue than Street Fighter or King of Fighters. I'm not sure if the fighting gets more in depth than what we've seen (technical counters, air-juggles, air-counters, counter-throws, etc.,) but on the outset it looks like a generally approachable 2D-based, HD fighting game to help fill the void for those of you who skipped on Street Fighter X Tekken, have grown bored with Skull Girls or are awaiting the launch of Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

You can look for Persona 4 Arena to launch for the Xbox 360 and PS3 on August 7th or visit the Official Website to learn more about the game.