On Thursday, Atlus announced plans to release The Caligula Effect for digital download on PS Vita in the Americas and Europe on May 2. The turn-based JRPG follows the Go-Home Club, a group of high school students who discover they are actually living in a simulation and must help their fellow students escape back to reality.
In a press release, Atlus offers more detail about the Go-Home Club’s mission: “They've come to realize that the world they’re living in is actually Mobius, a virtual reality construct created and ruled by an omnipotent virtual idol known as μ (pronounced myoo). This ragtag group of students must encounter crazed students known as Digiheads, battle malevolent musicians, confront the almighty μ, and face their deepest inner-traumas before tasting the sweet nectar of freedom.” Check out the trailer for The Caligula Effect below:
The game’s battle system and overall look definitely have a vintage Persona vibe, so it’s not too surprising to find the game was written by Persona series alum Tadashi Satomi (Persona, Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment). The game has a dark tone, delving deep into the psychological conflicts and secrets of both playable characters and NPCs.
And speaking of NPCs, it sounds like you’ll be managing relationships with quite a few of them. Atlus notes, “there are 500+ NPCs to recruit into the party to be used in combat. Each has a preassigned class (such as offense, support, etc...) and have a unique background story that'll slowly be uncovered by completing various quests. Oh, but there's only 4 characters in a party, so choose your teammates wisely!”
The Caligula Effect was released as simply Caligula in Japan back in June 2016. It received a score of 30/40 from Famitsu (thanks, Gematsu). In the Americas and Europe, the game will feature its original Japanese audio with English text. Atlus has not revealed a price for the PS Vita download at this time.
What do you think of The Caligula Effect? Did the intriguing premise of living in a world run by an evil Hatsune Miku type catch your eye, like it did ours? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
