The new Persona 5 mobile spin-off honestly looks great

A brand new Persona 5-related spin-off game is on the way, but it's only launching in China for smartphone users.

As spotted by Persona Central, Atlus and Sega have announced Persona 5: The Phantom X, a new collaboration with developer Perfect World. This is a brand new game exclusively for phones, and right now at least, it's only slated to launch in China.

The original Persona 5 cast will feature in The Phantom X, but there's also a brand new cast of characters making their debut. The protagonist, who goes by the codename Wonder, is in their second year of Kiba Academy when they're awakened to their Persona, not unlike mainline protagonist Ren.

They team up with Cattle, a weird owl-like creature, fellow Kiba Academy student Arai Suwa, and a new Velvet Room assistant called Merope. Persona character designer Shigenori Soejima has returned to lead the development of this new cast of characters, so the designs will be a familiar and welcome sight to Persona veterans.

The Phantom X looks to have all the mainstays of Persona 5. There's exploration of Tokyo areas like Shibuya, turn-based combat, the uncovering of sinister Palaces, evil adults in the real world that need to be purged of their evil desires, and downtime with your friends with activities like fishing and eating. 

Honestly, The Phantom X looks really intriguing, which makes its limited Chinese release all the more painful. This is going to be one tough pill to swallow for Persona fans at large if the game doesn't make its way to the West. For now, we'll have to keep hoping Atlus and Sega see enough overseas demand to release The Phantom X elsewhere.

It looks like this is the first of "several" planned Atlus reveals for this year - fans are surely hoping Persona 6 is somewhere on the cards.