The Umbrella Academymeets Gekkoukan High. WithPersona 3 Reloadlaunching next week,Atlus West’s YouTubereleased an out-of-the-blue live-action commercial with Aidan Gallagher.
Persona 3 Reloadis an RPG/life sim where you take on the role of Makoto Yuki, a recent transfer to Gekkoukan High. He then becomes a member of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (S.E.E.S) and takes on the many levels of Tartarus during the elusive Dark Hour at midnight.
The almost minute-and-a-half-long trailer, titled “Seal Your Fate”, featuresThe Umbrella Academyactor casually taking a stroll through the halls of Gekkoukan High and Tartarus and, of course, monologuing about time. Aidan becomes an in-game character at some points, ending off with slaying a Shadow himself. It’s a weird mix and a pretty odd presentation, but seeing it go mainstream is cool, to say the least.
School Days
To be honest, Aiden doesn’t strike me as protagonist Makoto, but weirdly Tatsuya ofPersona 2fame. I’m not the only one who thinks so, asYouTube commentsrepeat the protagonist’s name due to his long brown hair and demeanor. Maybe when they adaptPersonainto a live-action film, Aidan will take on the role. Though, Atlus would need to acknowledge the originalPersonas to do that, so who knows?
As I mentioned before, the commercial is a bit weird. It’s just Aiden walking in a straight line talking about life. I know that time is linear but maybe the ad shouldn’t have been? Still,as a fan of the franchise, it’s exciting to see it feel a bit more mainstream.
Celebrities in video game ads aren’t new. Just recently,Successionstar Brian Cox talked aboutcomplicated family loreforTekken 8. Last year,The Office‘s Rainn Wilsondid a spin on the classic sitcomforArmored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. While simplistic, I do like that Persona can join those ranks. Perhaps they’ll do this again for other Atlus titles? Maybe Kit Harrington forUnicorn Overlord? Or Timothee Chalamet forMetaphor: ReFantazio? Too much?
Persona 3 Reloadlaunches on February 2 to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Game Pass. If you’re interested, check out ourlatest previewof the game.
