I love this game so much. I have been paying for this game for 5-7 years and my opinion has never changed. Everything is just so good. I am not going to put a section about side quests because I cover a few side quests in a few sections. I will briefly cover the main parts of the base game. ( maybe I will make a post covering the amazing DLC) SPOILERS AHEAD. I apologize in advance for tangents, grammatical and spelling issues.
TLDR at the bottom
START/TUTORIAL
The way NV starts is a pretty good. It teaches you about the aspects of the game in the small town of Goodsprings. In "Ghost Town Gunfight", the game teaches you about skill checks. To convince Chet to help you pass a barter check, to convince Easy Pete, you pass an explosive check, Trudy requires a speech check, and Doc Mitchell requires a medicine check if you choose to do "Run Goodsprings Run". It also teaches you about the reputation with the two quests I just mentioned. If you help the Powder Gangers, they will like you, at the cost of wiping out Goodsprings, and if you choose to help the town, the Powder Gang hates you, but Goodsprings likes you.
​
MORALITY
Morality is not black and white in NV for the most part. For example, in the quest "The White Wash", you are asked to investigate the case of NCR Corporal White, a soldier who went missing. You face a dilemma at the end when you find out that a Follower Of The Apocalypse is taking water from the NCR to give to the people of Westside who really need it. He tells you that he killed White to hide the secret about the water, and he feels bad about it. So you have to choose what you think is the best option, do you (A) tell the NCR that their water is being stolen so they can use it, or (B) do you keep the secret at the cost of some NCR working peoples livelihoods? There is no clear good or clear bad, it's all grey. Of course there are some obviously evil people in NV like the Fiends, especially Cook-Cook. But there is a lot, and I mean a LOT of grey.
​
MINOR FACTIONS
The minor factions are really great in NV. You obviously have the Brotherhood of Steel, the tech hoarders themselves. But there are also other small factions, like the Followers of The Apocalypse. They are a group of scientists and doctors whose purpose is to help people (I believe they debuted in the original Fallout. Can't remember if it was the first or second one.) You also have the Great Khans, a group of nomads who are modeled after the Mongolians. They raid, take chems, sell chems, and kill anyone who gets in their way. But as I said earlier, the morality is not black and white. The Khans hate the NCR because of the Bitter Springs Massacre, an incident in which the NCR slaughtered Khan women, elders, and children. There is also the Boomers. The Boomers are a group of former vault dwellers who stay at Nellis Airforce base and shoot at any outsiders. This is because they do not trust them, but you can help them to prove that outsiders are not as bad as they think. The last minor factions I will cover are the Families of the Strip. The Omertas are an old school mafia inspired group that run the Gomorrah casino. They have shady business that ranges from abusing the prostitutes to killing everyone in the Strip for Caesar's Legion. The White Gloves are a society of people who see themselves as above everyone else in class. They run the Ultra Luxe casino. But there are a handful in the society who want to bring back their old tribal tradition of cannibalism. The Chairmen run the Tops casino and they are the "coolest" family. They use old school slang and are the most laid back family.
​
Companions
The companions are great. Although I want to cover every single detail about every companion, I will limit myself to brief explanations on my 2 favorite companions (I love the other but do not have the time to cover them) and why I like them.
I will cover Arcade Gannon first. I love Arcade so much as a character. He is a Follower of The Apocolypse and he has an interesting origin and great writing. He has an intense hatred for Caesar's Legion. You trigger his personal quest by siding with anyone but the Legion (and maybe House. I have never tried siding with House while Arcade was in my company). He pulls you aside at certain places and, depending on how you reply, makes him like, or dislike you more. When you reach max affinity, he pulls you aside and reveals his story. He was born in the Enclave and he wants you to reunite the remnants that he knows to fight against the Legion at Hoover Dam. You can tell Arcade to stay in Freeside as a doctor to help people in the aftermath of the battle or you can tell him to fight with the remnants. If you tell him to stay in Freeside, he will give you his fathers Enclave tesla armor. If you tell him to fight, he will wear the armor at the battle for the dam. You will be rewarded with power armor training and remnants power armor. This will affect (effect?) his fate in the ending slides.
The other companion I will cover is Boone. He is former NCR First Recon sniper who participated in the Bitter Springs Massacre that I mentioned earlier. You meet him in Novac and he asks you to find the person who sold his wife into slavery. You can either find who did it or you can make him kill a random person of your choice. By doing things he like and asking him about his past, Boone will open up about the Massacre and you can take him to Bitter Springs. After killing Many Legion bois, you can tell Boone to let go of the past and he will finally move on, or you can tell him to become vengeful and more aggressive. This will affect(effect?) his fate in the ending slides.
​
MAIN QUEST LINE SUMMARY
To keep this very short, the main plot is to decide who should win the second battle for the Hoover Dam. Your choices are the NCR, Caesar's Legion, Mr. House, an independent Vegas with the help of Yes Man.
​
THE NCR
The New California Republic is a, well, a republic whose goal is to recreate the government of the old world, like the U.S government. It is a bureaucracy and has the positives and negatives of one. The characters in the NCR are diverse and very well written. Like how Colonel Hsu is a sensible and calm man who can resolve violent situations, as seen in the "Kings Gambit" quest where if you go to Hsu, he offers Freeside extra food and water to stop the violence. But in the same quest, you can tell Colonel Moore about the Freeside situation. Moore is a no nonsense lady who will not hesitate to fight violence with violence, which is what happens if you tell her about the Freeside situation. She sends a squad of soldiers and you to the Kings school to give the King an ultimatum. In conclusion, the NCR is an army that wishes to use the governing methods of old world America. But they also have the flaws of that system, like corruption.
​
CAESAR'S LEGION
Caesar's Legion is more than a faux Roman Empire. Caesar is a man who is educated on the old world, on old world government and was even an NCR citizen and Follower of The Apocolypse. Caesar thinks that the best way to lead is through dictator control. He tells you this when you ask him about President Aaron Kimball. He says that democracy slows down progress. He actually has an amount of respect for Kimball. The Legion is made up of 86 tribes that Caesar has conquered. These tribals are stripped of their identity and are indoctrinated into essentially worshipping Caesar as a living deity, as Arcade Gannon said. The legion does not believe in modern medicine. They only use "natural" sources of healing like powder. Which is not great when (plot twist) you find out about Caesar's brain tumor. Lets talk about how women are used in the Legion. Woman are used as slaves and mates for the men. When tribes are conquered, the women are forced into slavery, while the boys and young men are made into Legion soldiers. The Legion see's women as less than men. The men are trained to fear their leaders rather than their enemies, because if they fail, they are killed, like what Caesar attempted to do to Joshua Graham when the Legion lost the First Battle for Hoover Dam. The Legate Lanius, who probably has the best voice in the game, is a figure of fear. He kills anyone that gets in his way and has been a full member of the Legion since he was a child. Caesar says that Lanius has no care for the men of the legion. In conclusion, the Legion is a slaver group that is led by an educated warlord who has interesting philosophies.
​
MR. HOUSE
Robert Edwin House is the founder of RobCo, the company responsible for many of creations in Fallout including the Pip Boy. He predicted the Great War and prepared to survive it, through weird means. The platinum Chip was running late for delivery while the Great War started, so House did not get it. House is very interesting. He is very smart, yet makes very risky gambles, like trusting you (a stranger) in not destroying his secret army of robots. He single handedly saved Vegas from the war and built it up again. He wants you to help him fulfill his wishes for the future. He thinks he deserves the Dam because of what he can do for Vegas. His plan is to remove the Legion and lower the influence of the NCR in the Mojave so that he can bring back the glory of pre war Las Vegas. As another redditor said on the fallout subreddit, House seems to be the only one with long term plans for the future, whether they are good or bad is your opinion. In conclusion, Mr. House is an ambitious man with ambitious plans for Vegas and the Mojave. He is very confident in himself and his ability to predict the outcome of situations.
​
​
YES MAN/ INDEPENDANCE
This is going to be the shortest description. Benny had help reprogramming a securitron to help with anything, most notably taking over Vegas. You choose what factions you like and which ones you do not like and you kick both the Legion and the NCR out of the Mojave wasteland to establish independence.
FREEDOM AND DETAIL
This game is a game where you have complete freedom. You don't like Caesar, go ahead and kill him. There's no quest to do it, but you can still do it. You can kill anyone you want and you can make many decisions that impact the world. If you allow the NCR train to blow up, or if you do it yourself with the Legion, people will talk about it. I made a post showing Legate Lanius's reaction to you confronting him while wearing Legion faction armor. Obsidian has done such an amazing job putting so much detail in this game. Another example of detail is wiping out Camp Forlorn Hope. The NCR will talk about that if you do it then talk to the troopers. There are more examples of this that you will see during your own gameplay.
​
THE WORLD
​
The games world is so good. The world is great, especially from a 2010 game. The locations are great. The unmarked spots like the Sarsaparilla sign where the Lonesome Drifter is are pretty cool. The spot where you find a dead person with remnants power armor is a pleasant surprise if you just find while exploring. I also feel very immersed in the world when I'm just walking around and see a legion patrolling or NCR patrolling.
SOURCES
https://www.reddit.com/Fallout/comments/3izps8/lets_talk_about_why_mr_house_is_the_best_option/
https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Caesar
https://www.reddit.com/falloutnewvegas/comments/klc6ff/in_my_near_57_years_of_playing_this_game_this_is/
A few Oxhorn videos
​
TLDR: I love Fallout: New Vegas.

Discovered after Butte AWE in 1992, The Motel is a Place of Power in several ways similar to the Oldest House, used as a gateway across space and dimensions. It doesn't create seamlessly connected thresholds, but rather transports a person across dimensions. Connections to various dimensions seem to be fixed, though the exact place can change. And we have learned in AWE DLC that new connections can be added, as the spiral door appeared in 2019, likely as a part of Alan Wake's failed attempts to contact the FBC and warn them about the Dark Presence. The only known method of getting into the Motel is using the Light Switch Cord. FBC agents also use it to get out of the Motel. Attempts to exit or enter any other way were unsuccessful.
From the current lore, we know that the Motel has fixed connections to the Dark Place (spiral), the Oldest House (black pyramid) and the Quarry/Foundation dimension (Janitor). It connects to other places as well, but we do not have much lore on those. The white pyramid is seen in the Foundation symbol), The Doors symbol is most likely seen in the director's office, the Vanguard symbol is already referenced within collectibles in AWE DLC and is tied to an experimental multiplayer title Remedy is working on. And the final symbol is supposed to be significant for Control 2.
By the way if you're not sure where I'm getting this, here are the names of the symbols as described within the files of the game.
As for the unopened numbered rooms, you have someone being tortured and murdered in room 223 and in another instances someone is laughing in that same room. This suggests that the Motel does indeed connect to other motels, just as Emily Pope speculates, even if perhaps through this one room. Emily also tells us about a person who was found dead inside the Motel, trying to get food from the vending machine. You can actually die in the Motel, it's not just a place inside your mind.
As I've mentioned in other posts, we have absolutely nothing on the Casino door.
Emily suggested that people could be hiding in the Motel during the Hiss crisis, even though you've obviously been there and haven't met anyone. This suggests that the Motel has multiple channels and you could end up travelling into any one of them. This is further supported by the version of the Motel where it's night outside.
We also have collectibles in AWE DLC, suggesting that the FBC isn't the only one using the Motel, as their surveillance has observed unknown people in the motel.
Where exactly is it?
The FBC is still looking for a physical location of the Motel. It's almost certain that the Motel is a real place that's in (or connected to) our world, and it's almost certain that you can actually get to it. The fuel for this speculation is the fact that we've heard people outside the motel. Based on their conversation there's another motel not very far from it.
My theory, in-line with current lore, is that somewhere in USA, there is a pocket dimension which can only be accessed under specific circumstances (like in a car of specific colour with specific contents in the trunk, during a specific time of the day while it's sunny). Due to how it's threshold works, people could travel in and out of the dimension without even being aware of it. It could also be that the Motel is always there, but only appears to people under specific circumstances, just like the Oldest House or Cauldron Lake Cabin. However, that would make the unchanging lighting conditions outside difficult to explain, which is why I like the pocket dimension theory better, as it takes care of that detail.
​
How does it do what it does and what does it actually do?
I always advocated a theory that the Motel was created using the powers of the Dark Place. After AWE DLC, and my speculation about the method of entry which I'm going touch later, I'm almost sure this is supposed to be the case.
First big clue is the sound cue when you complete a ritual. Not only is it awfully similar to the sound cue you get in Alan Wake when you complete a ritual to alter reality, what the narrator says in Alan Wake could easily be the narration for what Jesse does in the motel. And of course, we can't omit that these noises, although a lot more intense, are similar to the the noises made by control points in the Oldest House, which suggests that whatever is happening, it's related to the resonance of the reality.
​
It's right there on the sign. \"Agent must orient and anchor motel to their personal frequencies\"
You have three rooms for rituals to create one passage. When you compare it to Alan Wake's manuscripts, you'll notice that most of the time, there are three things that must happen before an outcome is created and reality is altered. Through the rituals and pulls of the light switch, you are altering the reality of the Motel and sometimes even our own. The way to look at it is that there are two realities - our own, and the one in the work of art. The three rituals align the resonance of our reality to the fictional one and they become one and the same. And the work of art containing the new reality in this case is the painting in the room.
It's important to note that the motel doesn't just transport you around. In fact, on some occasions it returns you to the same spot, but something about the reality has changed - for example a bridge in the firebreak was added.
Debate in the comments also reminded me about the topic of how exactly the mechanism of the motel works, that is, why are the light switch cords placed where they are, and how does the motel know where to transport you. As interesting as this topic is, these are questions that are probably impossible to answer. All we know is that after FBC discovered the first light switch cord and the Motel itself, more cords started appearing across the Oldest House.
In one instance Ahti makes a light switch cord appear for Jesse, which gives a lot of credibility to the assumption that he positioned the cords across the Oldest House, which would further support my theory that he serves as a doorman/gatekeeper in the Oldest House and using new theories to support my old ones is always nice :P At the same time, we can't rule out that Trench could have known how to work with them and use them as a security measure. The Board could also be involved, but they never even mention the Motel or the cord, so there isn't much to go on.
It would also be interesting to know whether the motel somehow knows where you want/need to go, or whether it has to be set up in advance somehow. But this topic is never even touched. The first agents who entered the motel didn't enter with the intention to get to the Oldest House, but they managed find their way there, so there's good enough reason to think the Motel can adjust automatically on the fly based on the desires of those inside. Purely subjectively, I like this narrative better.
And finally, let's talk about the light switch. Whoever created the motel used a light switch as a mode of entry. This switch changes the light and has the power to alter reality on it's own to some extent. This isn't a new concept. Alan Wake has a light switch called The Clicker which is an altered item created via the Dark Place. Aside from being able to destroy the possessed body of Barbara Jagger, it was able to instantly switch between night and day. Thomas Zane has a light switch of his own, which he possibly used to save Samantha Wells from Taken who were attacking her house. The exact function of this switch is not known. So... we have THREE light switches in total. If they all were the result someone's story, it would make for a rather neat consistency. All in all, it's possible to speculate that the Motel is the work of another artist like Wake or Zane.
At the end of the game, when Jesse is transported from her dream, I'm not sure whether that's supposed to be Jesse's own channel of the Motel, just like Alan has the version where it's night, or whether it's a representation of it in her own mind. It's easy to miss but this version of the motel has different posters on the walls and all of them revolve around one constant Jesse and her life.
As a bit of a trivia, an inspiration for the Motel seems to be the TV series Lost Room. It's dated but a really good mystery that could easily be made related to Control, revolving around a place of power and altered items.

Not sure If this post against rules, so I want apologize in any case. 

About DLCs

It's already announced that there'll be upcoming DLCs in early 2021. In the launch trailer, there's secret massage that I personally couldn't noticed even in x0.25.
It's stated in the massage that;

"(..)we’ll first be kicking off our free DLC program in early 2021. Just like with The Witcher 3, expect an assortment of free DLC packs to begin hitting Night City, dropping a bunch of cool stuff that’ll inject even more life into the world of the dark future.” 

Well, we all might guess they were not expecting that kind of a comedown at launch, so you rightfully wonder did they change their plan about upcoming DLCs or postponed them. It seems like they don't know it, either.
As It mentioned in the meeting report, money is not an actual problem for CDPR, despite market valuse loss. Pre-Orders have already covered up the development and marketing costs, so they're saying they'll not hesitate fixing the game, and making additional content, believe It or not. It's up to you.
When one of the investors asked about upcoming DLCs and online content, Adam Kiciński stated that;

– to be honest, it’s too early to judge. At the moment please let us handle the situation (..) We’re now focused on improving Cyberpunk. We’ll discuss this early next year. 

So, we may expect delays for the DLCs they've not announced, yet.

Why We Might Be Going to Space

I've read an article about what upcoming DLCs can be about. In Night City, there's a launch site, with a rocket in it, you may have already seen. That rocket is actually active, and It's going to space time to time. u/mirah1337 posted this, so you can see yourself. Rocket launches everytime around 9PM, I don't think time is related to something.
In the article posted by Kirk Mckeand, stated that;

(..) If you keep going, you get that warning message and the game turns you right back around. So, where are these shuttles going? 

"Turn back. Nothin' out there for you... Just yet."
There three possible places that might be route for those launches. Luna (Moon), colonised by ESA back in 90s, there're two cities, Tycho and Copernicus with more than 20.000 population. Third one is Crystal Palace, a hand-made holiday destination with dozens of hotels and casinos, mostly for the rich people.
Ending spoilers
>! In 'The Sun' ending, you're going to space, to Crystal Palace, for probably one last job. This launch site might be only related to this ending. This would make It such a wasted oppurtunity.!<
I've also listened the radio just before writing this. In the radio, Mr.Jack ... talked about why investment robots keep investing in Orbital Air.(WIKI.)

In Cyberpunk 2077 Wiki, Orbital Air's type described as "Cargo and passenger transport to Earth orbit, and maintenance of commercial orbital facilities." 

In the in-game radio, Jack also guessed the reason for investment robots keep investing in Orbital Air, might be "our future might be there, so robots might be foresee it."
From time to time, video-game companies might give players some hints about upcoming features, just like CDPR did with the secret message in the launch trailer. The reason behind that can be keeping the hype up, and giving player to talk about more.
We'll see it If It's real or not, in early 2021.
TL;DR
DLCs might be postponed, CDPR don't know it, yet. They're focusing on fixing the game right now and they'll talk about it in early 2021.
One DLC might be about going to space, because there's rocket launcher in Night City.

A compilation of things which are interesting but don't have nearly enough lore to make for separate posts. I'll make another part at some point in time because there's more, but I'm still trying to catch some clues on those. These are things on which I've given up and won't be looking for more references. If anyone has any more relevant info, please let me know :)
The Casino Door
I figured I would start with this. Whenever traversing the Oceanview Motel, it's really easy to forget that the name is actually "Oceanview Motel and Casino". We see activity outside the motel (travellers looking to stay the night), we see activity in the closed numbered rooms (bloody trail and screams, later a woman laughing), we have some information or connection on every single door with a symbol on it, we know they all lead to different dimensions, and we also have some lore on 4 of them. But the Casino door remains not only a mystery, it's a mystery with no lore attached. And frankly, I'm inclined to believe the Casino door will never open.
​
Underhill's reaction to Darling's Departure
After you finish the main game, you're free to roam the Oldest house, and all of the characters will have some new Dialogue, that includes Raya Underhill. Aside from having a small fit about Pope becoming the head of research, she also has an odd reaction after Jesse tells her about Darling. What makes the scene really sad is that in AWE DLC we've learned in this collectible that Underhill and Darling had a relationship.
​
Green
In the Foundation, we find a rather strange letter. Some speculated that this very special and very rejected Threshold Kids episode is related, especially since it's found only a few leaps away.
And of course, the letter itself is written by Peggy's husband, and Peggy reported what was happening to him on American Overnight Episode 367. Peggy and her Husband are from Biloxy, Mississippi, and the Radio host mentions that what she's describing sounds exactly like another incident from Decatur, Georgia. Even though both of these apparently led to an actual action from the FBC, there are no records about either of them, at least none that i can find. Which is a bit strange if you think about it - that's a lot of info about a recurring AWE and an Altered Item which don't have any actual Research & Records entries. I suspect this is meant to be related to Chester Bless and his organisation, but I don't see a solid connection.
​
The Astral Plane threshold
Although the FBC dismissed it as a dead letter, someone describes what appears to be recurring involuntary visits to the white Astral Plane.
It doesn't appear that this person has made an astral dive, like the FBC does. It appears that there's a connection to the Astral Plane attached to a specific location in our world, an actual ongoing threshold. Which might serve as food for speculations and conspiracy theories about the Board's interests in our world, and the next crisis Jesse will have to face. Of course, that's assuming that what's described in the letter is actually true.
​
Dylan wasn't kidding about the musical
When describing one of his dreams, which turned out to be a bit of prophecy as it predicted Jesse's office assistant part of the game, Dylan mentions that the dream shifted and turned into a musical. Then he creates an extremely awkward and cringey scene where he's singing the song he remembers from the dream. While it's easy to consider it mere nonsense without context, I'll have you know that Sam Lake mentioned all the way back in 2016 that his dream is to make a videogame that's also a musical. Clearly, that dream is still well and alive ;)
Disclaimer: I have no idea whether Sam Lake was joking or not.
​
First tangible information about the third game
Remedy said they're already working on another game from this universe, and from the statement it seemed that it's a game that is neither Control nor Alan Wake. According to a collectible called "Keystone report" an entire town's population has disappeared and a strange symbol featuring "two overlapping circles, with a dot in the shared space" has been seen on a number of different buildings.
This same symbol appears on a door in Oceanview Motel. The word associated with the symbol in Control game files is "Vanguard". If you're not aware, Vanguard is the codename for a project Remedy has already been working on for more than a year now and thanks to AWE DLC, we already have the first mystery attached to it.
We have so much that could be a focus of the future games, but this right here is a very specific intentional connection to a game, development of which has been announced. The interesting, and for some perhaps controversial bit of information, Vanguard is supposed to be an experimental multiplayer title.
What also needs clarification, this isn't the "smaller project within the same franchise" which Remedy mentioned. So they're in fact working on three separate projects from this universe.
​
Maybe we've only gotten a peak behind the poster, Control 2 could be much weirder
Two separate collectibles, this one and this one, mention something called "The Tennyson Report". And then the report itself is found in a secret location. Which should actually be enough to make us believe that this report is a big deal, but Remedy further added to the significance of this collectible with the DLCs.
Not only did they show us in the Foundation collectibles how the FBC used to rely on some much different methods in the past, but more importantly they also left us a cheeky clue in the AWE DLC.
Langston reveals in his neverending monologue he named his cat Alfred after his favourite poet. Well, what do you know, Tennyson was the poet quoted in the report and his first name was Alfred. It was Langston who wrote the Tennyson report!
Jesse trusts Langston enough to offer him position of the head of an entire sector. So it's not far fetched to imagine she'll leave him to pursue research which is not entirely scientific in nature. As weird as Control can get, it has been mostly grounded in science, something we're somewhat familiar with. The Hiss, Polaris, The Oldest House, other realities, everything tied to concepts from science fiction. The next game could be straight up arcane.

Chiliad Mystery Megathread 2020
Welcome to the Chiliad Mystery! It’s hard to really explain what the Chiliad Mystery is, so I will let you figure that out by reading my attempted abridged summary of it.
Full Unorganized Original Megathread
Version 2.
Version 3
This is now the 4th edition. I swear reddit archives posts quicker than they used to.
Please comment with your favorite theories, leads, videos, whatever
Diamond Casino (July, 2019)

• Rockstar released a secret peyote hunt for about a month
  
• You can buy Chiliad Mystery art for your Casino Penthouse along with some other items that were pretty on-the-nose.
  
• They even hid a UFO on a slot machine
  
• In a crossover from Red Dead Redemption 2, Madam Nazar shows up as an arcade fortune teller with mysterious responses.
  

Arena Wars (December, 2018)

• STILL UNSOLVED! More* hidden symbols were added. They appear in three of the SciFi Arena Wars maps.
  
• If you have completed the Gunrunning Alien Egg Mission*, getting wasted at your nightclub can possibly lead to waking up on Mt. Chiliad in your underwear, with a tattoo and a UFO flying off into the distance.
  

After Hours (July, 2018)

• Getting wasted at your nightclub might lead to you waking up at the Epsilon HQ with a new shirt.
  
• Your online character will receive the Epsilon robes and medallion after tipping the nightclub bathroom attendant $577.
  

The Doomsday Heist (December, 2017)

• STILL UNSOLVED! Hidden symbols in Avon/Cliffford's lab under Chiliad.
  
• Rockstar caves and adds the jet pack to the game. (for a few million dollars of course)
  
• There are also a few new murals to check out.
  

Smugglers' Run (August, 2017)

• A new podcast by Ron on Blaine County Radio mentions a Jetpack.
  
• A new back tattoo option is a treasure map, with Bigfoot, spiders, and sea beasts.
  

Gunrunning (June, 2017)

• A secret bunker supply mission was added with an out-of-this-world surprise. To unlock this mission, you must have completed 600 resupplies for your bunker. After that, as long as you start your resupply between 21:00 and 23:00, you have a certain probability of getting this special mission.
  
• You can now buy a rocket bike that is strangely similar to a jetpack.
  
• Ned Luke and Shawn Fonteno continue to troll on social media.
  

Import/Export (December, 2016)

• A new UFO was added, and it still hasn’t been used.
  
• We get a glimpse of an alien invasion in one of the paint options for the garage in the CEO offices.
  
• A super meta Easter Egg was found by a user.
  

Bikers (October, 2016)

• SOS Morse Code was heard on the Rebel Radio tower.
  
• Sewer Gator sounds were located.
  

Further Adventures in Finance and Felony (June, 2016)

• Special Cargo missions became available, including special items like ornate eggs and sasquatch skins.

Freemode Events (September, 2015)

• Jetpack Hash in new scripts
  
• The “Black Cellphone” or EMPDROP/EMPEROR phone number was found, which turns your phone black/grey and creates a small explosion above the character’s head.
  
• A golden peyote was discovered in the game files, but nobody knew what it would do. Nobody could even find the damn thing. But sure enough, a week after it was noticed, it was found by rkRusty, and it turned him into Bigfoot. His replication instructions included how to find the golden peyote every Tuesday morning; what he didn’t know, was there are actually 7 golden peyotes plants, one for each day of the week (but they all turn you into the same version of Bigfoot). rkRusty noticed Rockstar updated the peyote scripts and left a note referring to him personally: “He was wrong to start his hunt on Tuesday.” Although, in hindsight it is a simple solution, at the time nobody bothered to experiment with taking the peyote plants every day of the week. 6 months later, the_stoned_ape decided he needed to restart the investigation, which led to NIC779 eating the golden peyote plants from Monday-Sunday, and finding the dead hunter. A few days later, Mozmachine noticed the Bigfoot had a growl, and when used, something growled back. This furry game of Marco Polo kept going around in circles until a few dedicated hunters dug through the files to figure out the outcome. The growls were actually coming from Teen Wolf, and if you beat him in a scrapyard showdown, you unlock him in Director Mode.
  

How to complete the Sasquatch – Beast Hunt

PC Release (April, 2015)

• New camo/skin option for the Sniper Rifle features a UFO over Chiliad.
  
• In the Lowriders Update, Lamar showed us his love for eggs.
  

Next Gen Release (November, 2014)

• 27 peyote plants were added, including the hidden Golden Peyote.
  
• The satellite dishes in the desert started giving off a very alien glow.
  
• The infamous “Picket Fence” trailer.
  

Beach Bums (November, 2013)

• In the first content update for GTA Online, Rockstar added the Paradise van; the underwater UFO, and Bigfoot were hidden in the background of two of the paintjobs.

GTAV Release (September, 2013)

• There is a cryptic mural at the top of Mt. Chiliad.
  
• 4 flying saucers are found. One sunken off the coast, one hovering over the hippy camp in Sandy Shores, an advanced one floating over the military base, and one above Chiliad that seems like a hologram.
  
• There is an underwater hatch with an old friend inside. He taps you a very familiar message – if you can translate morse code.
  
• The ghost of Jolene Cranley-Evans haunts Mt. Gordo. You can see and hear her from the campsite at the foot of the mountain, or you can climb up and get a closer look.
  
• The Infinite 8 Killer, a serial killer with an obsession with the number 8, allegedly murdered 8 people and dumped their bodies in the ocean North of Paleto Bay.
  
• You can see an alien trapped under the ice in North Yankton. You can only go visit him during the mission Bury the Hatchet.
  
• A drawing in the sand was found near the hippy camp in Sandy Shores, seemingly pointing towards the UFO on Mt. Chiliad.
  
• Someone put their face on Mt. Chiliad, and it was not Jesse Pinkman
  

There is much more in the original megathread,
PLEASE HELP ME ADD TO THIS LIST BY COMMENTING WITH YOUR FAVORITE MYSTERY

Diamond Casino Guide:
So you decided that you wanna rob a casino, great! The Diamond Casino Heist is one of the best ways to earn money, but you're wondering, how do I get started? Well, you're in luck! This guide is going to teach you the ways to get the best out of the Diamond Casino Heist!
Step 1: Arcade
Alright to get started, you’re going to have to own an arcade. Now, it may seem better to go for the arcades on the top of the map to save yourself some cash, however, this will make all the preps much harder, as most of them take place in LS or Sandy Shores.
The best arcade locations are 8-bit ($2,530,000, located in Vinewood) and Videogeddon ($1,875,000, La Mesa). When buying your arcade, none of the upgrades are necessary, as most of them are cosmetic. You’ll have to complete a quick arcade setup mission to access the basement where the diamond casino heist planning board is located.
Step 1.5: Arcade Income
While this isn’t related to the diamond casino heist, I thought I would put this in there. The arcade generates income based on how many games you have, going up to 5k per in-game day (48 min). The game doesn't matter, so you can just buy the cheapest one (Monkey’s Paradise, $90,000) and fill up your arcade with it.
Step 2: Scope out casino
After you’ve finished watching Lester scribble a big mess over the whiteboard, you’ll be able to start the casino heist. Normally, you’ll have to pay a setup cost of 25k, but since it’s your first time doing it, it’ll be free. After you’ve confirmed that you want to start the casino heist, you’ll need to finish the scope out mission. For the scope out mission, you’ll need to take a variety of pictures for Lester in order to unlock entrances for the heist. A full guide is linked here but I’ll sum up the most important ones.

• Staff Lobby: This entrance is arguably the best entrance for the Silent and Sneaky approach. It gives you easy access to the control room where you can get the daily vault easily. It is also the best exit for most approaches as not many guards patrol it. The staff lobby should be around the back of the casino and should look like a white door behind some yellow bollards.
• Security Tunnel: By scoping out this entrance, it gives you the ability to enter the casino as a Gruppe Sechs team for the Big Con. This entrance is the best if not one of the best approaches to the casino heist. The disguise will allow you to go straight to the vault undetected and back up, however, you will be detected when going back out of the casino on the casino access floor, so I would suggest getting some exit disguises to make your escape easier. The security tunnel should look like a big metal garage door with a security camera watching over it under the racetrack.
• Sewers: The sewers allow you to burrow down right into the vault access floor giving you easy access as you are right next to the vault mantrap. The sewer exit, however, is only available in the aggressive approach.
• Roof Terrace: At first glance, the roof terrace may seem like a horrible entrance/exit, however as it turns out, the roof terrace is actually a contender for one of the best aggressive exits. By taking the roof terrace, you can shoot down the guards at the racetrack while they're not being able to shoot back and then parachute down.

You’ll only need to do this mission once, and it will be completed for all future casino heists.
Step 3: Vault Contents
The vault contents mission is pretty easy. You’ll be given the rough location of a Duggan security guard, once you find him, you can either hack him, which can take some time but you won’t get the cops on you if you do it right, or you can kill him and grab the phone, which will save you some time but you’ll need to lose the cops before you can enter the casino.
After you’ve entered the casino, you’ll need to bring out the sightseer app on your phone to find a wifi signal. After you’ve located the wifi signal, you’ll need to figure out the vault contents. Beware that you only have a limited time to do this (2 min).
Since it’s probably your first time, I would recommend that you go through every camera to scope out each POI. The target will be cash since it’s your first time, which has a payout of 2.1 mil on normal. The first time will always be cash (payout of $2,115,000 on normal), but if it’s not your first time, the targets can be either cash, artwork (payout of $2,350,000 on normal) or gold (payout of $2,585,000 on normal).
There is a 4th target, which is diamonds (payout of $3,257,100 on normal) however this vault content is only available for special occasions and has been removed from the vault contents.
If you do the heist on hard by doing the same approach after you’ve done another one, the payout will be 10% larger. If you’ve completed all 3 approaches to the heist, you can cancel the heist which can be helpful if you’ve got a bad target. Link to this is here.
Step 4: Selecting your approach
Once you’ve finished the vault contents mission, you’ll be able to select your approach.
There are 3 approaches to the diamond casino heist. Silent and Sneaky, The Big Con and Aggressive.
For beginners, I would recommend alternating between Big Con and Aggressive, because those are the easiest ones. For Big Con, choose the Gruppe Sechs disguise for the easiest entry. Aggressive is good for newer players however it does end up in a lot of money loss. After you’ve got the gist of it, alternate to doing Silent and Sneaky in place of aggressive for a bigger payout.
Step 5: Selecting your support crew
After you’ve selected your approach, you’ll need to select your support crew before you can do any of the prep missions.
Selecting your support crew is very simple. You’ll need a gunman to source guns, a driver to source cars, and a hacker to delay the nerve agent inside the vault.
Selecting your support crew depends on the approach and target in the vault. For Big Con, SnS, any target EXCEPT for art, you’ll want the worst gunman (Karl Abolaji, take his Micro SMG on big con, heavy revolver on aggressive and on SnS the choice is up to you), the worst driver (Karim Denz, take his sentinel classic) and the best hacker available to you, for most people, this will be Paige Harris (unlocked when the Terrorbyte is purchased, gives 3:25 in the vault when undetected and 2:23 detected).
For aggressive, you’ll still want to have the worst driver and best hacker, however, the gunman is up to you since you’ll be using guns a lot. I normally go with Charlie Reed (unlocked when purchasing a hangar), he takes a 7% cut (2% more than Karl) and gives you an assault SMG, however, you can get by with Karl, as every gunman gives you an SMG to go along with another weapon, which is still a perfectly fine weapon.
For Big Con, SnS and the target is Art, if you and your heist partner can both hack very well, you can get by with Yohan Blair (takes a 5% cut and gives you 2:51 in the vault if you are undetected and 2:01 if you are).
Step 5.5: Secret heist crew members
There are 2 hidden heist crew members that can’t be unlocked by purchasing a business like most heist crew members. There 2 are Patrick McReary and Avi Schwartzman. Patrick McReary is a gunman who takes an 8% cut and gives the choice a Combat MG or an Assault Shotgun in aggressive. Avi Schwartzman is a hacker that takes a 10% cut and gives 3:30 undetected in the vault and gives 2:22 if you are detected. To unlock Patrick, he spawns as a random event around the map. He spawns in a police car that you will need to hijack. A guide is linked here. To unlock Avi, you’ll need to destroy 50 signal jammers that are located around the map. A guide is linked here.
Step 6: Prep Missions
Now that you’ve selected your support crew, you’ll be presented with a plethora of prep missions. Some mandatory and some optional. To complete these missions, I suggest that you use a Kuruma, Buzzard, or Oppressor Mk2 to make your life easier. In some prep missions, you will not be able to call Lester, so be prepared. All of the missions can be done solo but it makes it easier if you have a friend with you to help you out.
Now onto the optional prep missions. Optional prep missions, are, as the name suggests, optional. The optional prep you should do depends on the approach. If you own a penthouse and have completed all of the missions, you will gain access to the security intel mission. It’s very easy to complete and you will only need to do it once. A nice trick is that the gauntlet actually spawns when you start the mission, not when the cutscene is triggered, so you can just shoot the driver and take the gauntlet. A guide will be linked below.
Let’s start with Silent and Sneaky. For Silent and Sneaky, the optional prep missions depend on your skill level. If you’re an experienced player, you don’t need to do much, only level 2 security passes. Power drills you can do if you think you have enough time. However, if you are a very new player, I’d recommend that you do patrol routes, Duggan shipments (you only need to destroy 3 to get rid of their bulletproof helmets), level 2 security passes, emp device and infiltration suits and power drills if you think you have enough time. If you do all these, the heist should be a breeze.
Going onto the Big Con, if you’re doing Gruppe Sechs, you don't need to do much. You only need to go through one door if you exit out the staff door, so you can decide if you want to do level 2 security passes or not. Patrol routes do make things easier, however are not necessary. Again, only do power drills if you think you have enough time. Make sure you do exit disguises. Noose and firefighter are exactly the same, so do firefighters since it has an easier mission.
For aggressive, again, patrol routes make it easier but are never necessary. Make sure to do Duggan shipments. You can solo it, but it will be much easier with another person. If you don’t get them all you can just close the game and you’ll be able to do the mission again. Reinforced armor allows you to take more damage, so I would recommend it even if it makes you slower. Be sure to also do boring machine as it allows you to enter through the sewers. Make sure to also do level 2 security passes unless you really like hacking doors.
Step 7: Finding people to play with
Now that you’ve completed all your required prep missions, you need some people to play with. If you don’t have any friends to play with, I recommend checking out HeistTeams or the GTAO Discord LFG Channels to find people to play with. Make sure to have good communication between your teammates otherwise the heist will be in chaos.
Step 8: Completing the heist
Now that you’ve got a solid heist crew waiting to grab all of that sweet loot out of the casino’s vault, you’ll be able to start the heist. If you're doing aggressive, the plan is pretty simple, shoot your way in, grab the loot, then shoot your way out. The easiest entry for aggressive is sewers, and the easiest exit is the eastern roof terrace. If you exit through the staff lobby, you’ll get shot a ton when going over the racetrack, however, if you exit through the roof terrace, you can shoot the guys behind the stones on the racetrack then safely parachute down.
For The Big Con, I’m going to assume you’re doing the Gruppe Sechs approach. By doing the Gruppe Sechs approach, you can pretty much waltz into the vault and back out of it, just be careful that this has some limitations. When going back up the stairwell/elevator to the casino access floor, the guards will have checked the vault and know it’s been robbed, so you disguise ain't gonna work anymore. I strongly suggest getting exit disguises, as they will greatly help your escape. The easiest exit for this is the staff lobby.
For SnS, I’m not really going to go into too much detail here because there’s a full video linked below. What I will talk about is when to use the emp (If you did the prep mission). I recommend emp’ing when you’re at the vault access floor, allowing you to waltz into the mantrap, or when you're coming back up to the casino access floor and are in the mantrap. Be warned that if you decide to get the daily vault when you trigger the emp, the emp’s timer will run out before you can get to your exit, so plan ahead. The easiest entrance for this is the staff lobby and the easiest exit is also the staff lobby.
Tips and tricks to complete the heist

• If you are disguised, do not bump into any of the guards. They will detect you and start shooting.
• In the control room, there is a button that you can press to open the door to the daily vault. One person has to hold the button while the other goes in and grabs the cash. This can be done with any approach.
• Running and jumping is faster than just running normally, use this to your advantage while inside the vault.
• Running in first person is actually faster than 3rd, so use this to your advantage when trying to knock out guards.
• Don’t bother trying to escape the cops by hiding in an alley or something, either take your car into the sewers down by the LS river or take the heli that usually spawns on top of the police station. The sewers will result in you losing less money, however will be much slower. I will link both of these methods below in the useful media section.
• Normally when exiting the casino from the staff lobby without any disguise, you’ll need to knock out a guard to the left of the swat fan to your right, before hugging the race track wall and then dropping down. I have found that sometimes if you run, the guard will hear you and detect you, causing you to get shot at. To prevent this, walk up to him making sure you stay out of his FOV then knock him out.
• You walk much faster in the casino if you are in first person, making the vault contents mission much easier.
• In prep missions, you can change any accessory (glasses, hat, ect.) to lose 1 star which is useful on missions where you can’t call Lester to remove your wanted level.
• On some missions, you can lose the cops by entering your Terrorbyte/MOC/Avenger.
• On some missions, you can lose the cops if you accept Lester’s apartment heist invite. This only works if you have a heist active.
• In the hacking device mission where you have to infiltrate the FIB building, you walk a lot faster if you aim down sights on any gun, however, if you go into any agent’s LOS you will get detected instantly, so be careful when using this trick.
• You can upgrade your getaway vehicles in the arcade by getting in them and pressing the button shown on the prompt that appears on the top left.

Useful media

• Practice casino fingerprint hacking
• Easiest way to complete Silent and Sneaky
• Casino Heist Big Con Gruppe Sechs
• Casino Heist Aggressive Sewer Entrance
• How to make the most money out of the Diamond Casino Heist
• Casino Heist Sewer Escape
• Casino Heist Heli Escape
• Security Intel

​
Diamond Casino Heist FAQ
Welcome to the Diamond Casino Heist FAQ! This thread is going to go through all of the new changes and content added to the Casino Heist DLC. The information in this thread is up to date as of 28/7/2020.
Release Date
Announced on December 5th and released on December 12th, 2019, the Diamond Casino Heist is the latest DLC to come to GTA Online as of July 25th, 2020. This DLC adds a bunch of new content, including new vehicles, properties, vehicles, and a brand new heist!
New Content
Vehicles:
Maxwell Asbo (SSASA): $306,000 - $408,000
Karin Everon (SSASA): $1,106,250 - $1,475,000
Lampadati Komoda (Legendary): $1,275,000 - $1,700,000
Vapid Retinue Mk II (SSASA): $1,215,000 - $1,615,000
Ubermacht Rebla GTS (Legendary): $1,175,000
Maxwell Vagrant (SSASA): $1,660,500 - $2,214,600
Grotti Furia (Legendary): $2,055,000 - $2,740,000
RUNE Zhaba (Warstock): $1,800,000 - $2,400,000
Karin Sultan Classic (SSASA): $1,288,500 - $1,718,000
Nagasaki Outlaw (SSASA): $951,000 - $1,268,000
Declasse Drift Yosemite (SSASA): $981,000 - $1,308,000
Dinka Sugoi (SSASA): $918,000 - $1,224,000
Dinka Blista Kanjo (SSASA): $435,000 - $580,000
Nagasaki Strider (Legendary): $502,000 - $670,000
Dewbauchee JB 700W (Warstock): $1,470,000
Overflod Imorgon (Legendary): $2,165,500
Albany V-STR (Legendary): $1,285,000
Progen PR4 (Legendary): $3,515,000
Ocelot R88 (Legendary): $3,115,000
Nagasaki Blazer Lifeguard (Warstock): $62,000
Brute Boxville (Warstock): $298,500 - $398,000
Declasse Bugstars Burrito (Warstock): $450,000 - $598,000
MTL Fire Truck (Warstock): $2,471,250 - $3,295,000
Declasse Lifeguard (Warstock): $865,000
Brute Stockade (Warstock): $1,680,000 - $2,240,000
Weapons
Ceramic Pistol (Ammunation): $20,000
Navy Revolver (Unlocked after finishing the Los Santos Slasher treasure hunt): Free
Properties
The release of the Diamond Casino Heist DLC introduces a new property: arcades. Arcades are a passive business that allows you to host the diamond casino heist. The maximum daily income of the arcade is $5,000.
They are purchasable from Mmazebankforclosures at 6 different locations. The cheapest is at $1,235,000 (Pixel Pete’s, Paleto Bay) and the most expensive being at $2,530,000 (8-bit, Vinewood Hills).
Customization options on offer are 2 arcade styles, $290,000 - $470,000, 8 mural options, $50,500 - $107,500, 8 floor options, $78,000 - $165,000, 8 neon art styles, $107,500 - $320,000, personal quarters, $150,000, high score screens, $295,000 and a garage $215,000. 2 extra options are available to purchase from the arcade computer, which are the master control terminal, $1,740,000 and the drone station, $1,460,000. A variety of arcade games are also available to purchase, ranging from $90,000 to $420,000.
Credits
u/Pepperooney_ for adding a bunch of info on the tips and tricks section
u/what_it_dooo for suggesting the roof terrace and the hacking device trick

NOTE: A new "Everything We Know" post is up, containing everything we know! Check it out here!
Disclaimer: I'm trying to cram two months' worth of info in here, so please let me know if there are any important details or links I've left out. Thank you in advance for your time!
---
This post will summarise everything we know so far about Persona 5 Royal. I've been using this as a master thread until now, but with it getting a bit cluttered (and also because some of the theories there have already been dis/ proven) I'm writing this to be a clean slate and starting point for future analyses. This also means that I'll try to be a bit more 'clinical' with the following write-up and keep the theorising to a minimum until the end, unless I feel there's enough evidence to make a strong case for a particular idea. If you want the unabridged run-down of everything, feel free to check out that link!
I'll be dividing this post into four main sections, which will have their own subsections. Let's begin!
---
STORY
Characters
There are at least two new characters being added with Atlus confirming there will be more: Kasumi Yoshizawa and Takuto Maruki:
Kasumi Yoshizawa
Kasumi is a first year at Shujin, meaning she joins at about the same time as Ren. She's a rythmic gymnast who made a name for herself even in middle school, meaning Shujin Academy also has high expectations for her. She is represented by the Faith Arcana, which comes from the oldest known version of the Tarot, the Visconti-Sforza deck. It doesn't match any of the existing Arcana, which is why its in-game graphic has no number. While she acknowledges that the Phantom Thieves are good people, the first thing we learned about her (in the March teaser trailer) was that she disagrees with their methods; she instead thinks people should be responsible for changing themselves in order to truly make a difference. That said, she still works with the Thieves, though Atlus says she does so to reach her own ends.
As a Phantom Thief, she wields a rapier (which Atlus points out is a weapon used for duelling, i.e. fighting foes honourably) and a lever action pistol. Her Persona is Cendrillon, the French version of Cinderella, and uses Bless and Phys Skills - we know for a fact that she can use Heat Wave and Kougaon. While her Persona may be the exact opposite of Arsene in looks and abilities, her Thief outfit was intentionally designed to resemble Joker's, hence the longcoat, gloves and red/ black colour scheme.
As for her Confidant, we know from her trailer that one of her Ranks is set in the Yongen-Jaya batting cages while her Rank 4 ends outside a clothes shop in Kichijoji and unlocks the Chaines Wire ability (named after a gymnastics manouevre and allows long-range Ambushes). While her Confidant appears to cap at Rank 5, the fact that this event ends with "I feel a strong bond of trust from Kasumi" instead of "I have a deep bond of friendship/ I share a special bond with Kasumi" tells us Rank 4 is nowhere near the end. More likely is that the second half of her Confidant will unlock later in the story, e.g. after she ("truly") joins the Thieves, OR that her Arcana will transform for the second half as in P4G. Maybe the reason Rank 6+ have been hidden is because unlocking them is optional and you can only trigger an Arcana transformation through certain actions (and/ or which Arcana she changes to depends on how you treat her)? This incoming change may also be why her card appears damaged, which doesn't occur for anyone else - i.e. it's incomplete until your relationship with her heals/ fills in the gaps. (One suggestion is that the damage indicates her Arcana has been reversed, which in turn implies she represents having faith in the wrong things at the start of the story.)
Personality-wise, she's described as being stoic/ closed-off but is quite open around Ren, even playing around with him in Hawaii. She's also quite cheeky in the Metaverse, winking while performing a Follow-Up attack and having very relaxed poses when in combat, but admits to being nervous around and wanting to impress her senpais (this was also implied by her cosplayer emoting the exact same way at the end of both performances at the Persona Concert). She also has a massive appetite as shown to humourous effect in the Kasumi trailer and despite her gymnastic talent seems have slow reflexes if the batting cages event is any indicator. Her awkward posture with the bat suggests that not only is this her first time at the cages, she has no idea how baseball even works - which raises the question of what else she's been left ignorant of (either because she was too absorbed in her own activities like Makoto, or because she was never given the opportunity to try new things).
In terms of the story, she introduces herself to Ren on May 30th (though the May 9th Morgana Report suggests we'll encounter her at least once beforehand). We know from screenshots that she isn't in Futaba's Palace but IS in the Casino. She also complains about the public turning their back on the Thieves in the reveal trailer, which only happens after Okumura's Palace. I shared my thoughts in more detail here, but I believe Kasumi will get her Persona on September 6th (the day before the Hawaii trip) and make an alliance with the Thieves upon their return from Hawaii.
For a bit more speculative talk: Kasumi can mean "mist" while Yoshizawa is the surname of the inventor of origami folding, which could be a reference to the illusion/ wish-fulfilment theme suggested by the reveal trailer (she wouldn't be the first character to be named after a literary or historic figure). Meanwhile, Ren (Joker's canon name) means "rain," so having another wet weather-based name may be a further thematic link between the two. Also, she says she has fond memories of the aquarium in Kichijoji when you take her there as shown in the May 9th Morgana Report (and as mentioned above, Kichijoji is where her Rank 4 event ends), which implies she lives in or near the city.
Takuto Maruki
Takuto is a part-time counsellor who's hired by the school after the incident with Kamoshida, and is introduced to the students on Monday, May 9th (for context, Kamoshida confesses on May 2nd and exams start on May 11th). He will take some classes such as on the 16th, where he displaces a question you could answer for free Charm points with a lesson on the (most likely emotional) heart. He will have the Consultant Arcana, which is the El Gran Tarot Esoterico version of the Magician (which tells us he'll act as a guide/ close companion to Joker, as Morgana does). His Confidant can be advanced in the After School time slot and is stated to improve negotiation skills. He was designed to counterbalance the "teens good, adults bad" message of the core story though this hasn't stopped anyone from suspecting him to be the new big bad of the game. Of note is that Ryuji and Ann are explicitly called out as benefitting from interacting with him, though we don't know if this is purely because of their baggage with Kamoshida or if they'll continue to grow through him throughout the game.
What we've seen of him suggests he's quite clumsy - he bumps his head against his mic after his introduction - and casual immature. The latter is suggested by his unbuttoned jacket and upturned collar, along with him wearing sandals to school and a seeming fondness of apple juice cartons if his official render is any indication. However, the students are said to like him because he's a good listener and "gives tactful advice," so clearly his skill makes up for his outward appearances. The image on his Tarot card shows figures looking to an elderly sun for guidance, which helps drive home this aspect of himself.
Speculation: His card shows people seeking "him" for aid, but also shows the people above the sun falling or being upset. This could either be part of Persona 5's more cynical interpretation of the Tarot or a hint at some sort of superiority complex (i.e. anyone who considers themselves as above him are wrong/ doomed to fail).
Plot Additions/ Changes
The biggest draw is that there will be a third semester added to the game (i.e. January to April), which means Joker doesn't get arrested in this version of the story. We're also told that the Metaverse will be around "in some way," meaning it isn't destroyed for Christmas.
Stepping back a bit, we know there's a new event on May 30th where Makoto runs an event to clean up Inokashira Park that Ren, Ryuji, Ann, Mishima and Haru attend (this is also where Kasumi introduces herself). There's also a voiced scene at a pancake shop in Kichijoji with Ren, Kasumi and Akechi, which is where the dialogue in the teaser trailer comes from. Morgana Report 2 implied there would be more Akechi scenes too. As far as fluff is concerned, we know Kasumi will be in Hawaii too (however, she's in a tracksuit, which implies she's either dedicated to fitness or is just there for a gymnastics event instead of a school trip).
In terms of the main plot, not only will Kasumi be in the Casino, we know she and Joker will be alone for a segment of it, which implies the getaway sequence (and possibly the prologue) has been rewritten. Of course, for her to even be in the Casino means there's a scene inserted into the main story for her to get her Persona, which we see in her trailer. Said trailer also included a voiced scene of Ren treating her to a meal where she confesses to having "performance troubles," possibly setting up her own Palace/ story arc.
The reveal trailer also suggests there's now a stalker the group has to deal with, with the English dialogue heavily implying it to be Kasumi (i.e. Morgana asks "Isn't she acting suspicious?" while Kasumi is on-screen, though admittedly this could just be trailer misdirection). This trailer also showcases a different version of the "Akechi shoots Ren" cutscene, though since Ren snaps into/ out of a vision it could just be a warped recreation of the original event. However, not only does the trailer spoil his role as the traitor but Akechi looks much more malicious on the boxart too, which implies he/ the story will be much more open about his true intentions. (His character trailer will be very interesting!)
Coming back to the completely new material, we have the ominous threat from the trailer that Kasumi "crushed [a] dream" along with screenshots of a human Morgana and alive Wakaba, with the Ryuji trailer ending with members of the track team - who seem much friendlier with him than in the original game - telling him he's been scouted by a university. This all leads to a popular theory right now that some or all of the third semester is just an illusion that the cast has to break out of.
Onto more definite details however, among the new story content is a shrine visit on January 1st featuring all the Thieves including Kasumi but excluding Akechi. There will also be a new Palace for the end of the game, and eagle-eyes viewers of the reveal trailer spotted Black Mask!Akechi's sleeve in a shot set here, suggesting he'll be returning after his ambiguous demise in the Cruise Ship.
In addition, Joker has the line "Did you know? We can all change ourselves...if we just believe." at the 1:55 mark of the reveal trailer (it's easier to identify him in the Japanese version). He rarely talks more than one sentence at a time in anime cutscenes and the tender tone of his voice in both languages suggest he's trying to soothe someone - which implies a teammate(s) is on the receiving end. What's telling is that he's paraphrasing Morgana's line about cognition post-Yaldabaoth, but given the trailer has Ann and Makoto asking about changing people's cognitions, it's possible this aspect of the Metaverse will be introduced sooner than it was in the original story.
Finally, Atlus has stated that while Kasumi will be around from the beginning of the game, she won't impact the original story too much. That said, the English reveal trailer implies she'll at least have a cameo in the Kamoshida arc as he can be heard warning someone about Ren and Ryuji (and who else would he talk to than a pretty girl who's new to the school?)
---
GAMEPLAY
School Life
The biggest change to the overworld half of the game is the addition of Kichijoji which Atlus has hyped up as being a huge new region to explore with lots to do. You first visit it on June 5th (the day Madarame confesses) with Ryuji as you look for Penguin Sniper, the place where you play darts and billiards (Ryuji is specifically looking for the former in this instance). This isn't an ordinary hangout spot, as you will be able to invite multiple teammates: we've seen Ren invite the full team sans Kasumi and Goro to play darts and also invite just Ann, Ryuji and Yusuke to play billiards (all in the reveal trailer). We don't know if the player invited everyone possible in both instances, if there's a hard limit to the number of invitees to each game, or if there's an option to invite specific members (for example, maybe Kasumi and Goro were left out of the first group to avoid spoilers), nor what the benefits of doing so are.
Kichijoji also has the aforementioned aquarium, which functions as a hangout spot for single Confidants, and an old temple - presumably where the shrine visit takes place. There's a new theme park with a Disney-styled castle too, though it's unclear if this location is new or just a new region of the existing Destinyland.
Speaking of this new locale, the twins can now be taken outside of the Velvet Room (like Elizabeth in P3 FES) and this is one of the places you can take them, Big Bang Burger being another. We don't know if this replaces their Confidant from the base game or if these are part of a separate series of requests (again, as with Elizabeth).
There seem to be some customisation options for Ren's appearance in the overworld this time around, as we've seen him with gold (such as in the scene with Kasumi and Goro) and brown (in the Ryuji trailer) versions of his school bag. For confirmed customisation options we have guns, which can now be modified to increase their individual stats (ammo count, damage, accuracy) OR gain elemental effects/ the ability to inflict technical damage at the cost of ammo capacity and damage. Morgana Report 2 also showed Makoto as able to inflict technical damage with her melee attack, though it's unknown whether you can now mod melee weapons or if it was Makoto's own Skill that let her do so, since she's the Nuke member of the team and Nuke is the only element that can inflict Technical Damage (save Wind getting a bonus against burning enemies). We also don't know if Iwai can mod weapons other than his own, so I'd greatly appreciate anyone fluent in Japanese looking at the footage we have and letting me know! To facilitate this added utility, ammo will now be replenished between fights. Have fun with your new tools, everyone!
The School Life half of the game has also had a QoL mechanic added in the form of the Play Assist system. Not only can you check what actions other players took as before, the game will now list available Confidants and places to boost your Social Stats, let you fast travel to them and can give you recommendations on what to do. The example given by the developers is the game noticing Charm is your lowest Social Stat and advising you to visit the bathhouse (complete with a fast travel prompt).
We have screenshots of Ren having lunch with Kasumi in the school cafeteria on at least two separate occasions. While these could be plot related (Kasumi's made lunch for Joker in the former and is confessing to being uncomfortable around her senpais in the latter), they could also indicate the return of the ability to have lunch with your Shujin-based Confidants, a feature cut from the original game. The dialogue for those were generic unlike the Kasumi examples though - and considering how small this subset is, quite unfair to the other Confidants - so take this with a huge grain of salt.
Thief Life
The Thieves now have grappling hooks (referred to as Wires) for use in traversal and the aforementioned long-range Ambushes, with this new tool deemed important enough to be used with the game's logo both times it appeared in the reveal trailer. The screenshots accompanying the reveal also confirmed the addition of new stronger enemies called Kyouma (devils) in Japanese that appear as early as the Castle. These take the form of Shadows from the current Palace covered in shadows and have the chance to immediately counter any attacks directed at them. However, defeating them causes them to explode and damage surrounding Shadows, which gives an incentive to defeating them first despite the risk. Doing this also unlocks one of the new trophies for P5R, "Let's get flashy".
Another new mechanic is the addition of Ishis, sets of three skull-shaped items hidden in each Palace. Collecting all three combines them into a new accessory; for example, the Castle trio forms the "Chromatic Crystal" which lets the user cast Dia. Incidentally, we know the general locations of two of the Ishis in the Castle: one in the underground prison area and one atop one of the castle towers. The name can mean both "stone" and "willpower," so I'm unsure how the English version will translate this (or if they'll even bother adapting the wordplay).
There are now more Shadows to fight in the Metaverse. Jatayu, a fusion-only Persona in the base game, appears as a new enemy in the Casino (so far we've seen it in the Joker and Kasumi only sections) while Byakhee (who last appeared in Persona 2) and Macabre (who has only been in the mainline SMT games until now and was first seen in Ryuji's trailer) appear in the new Palace(s). Byakhee also doubles as the Shadow Kasumi Awakens in front of, though her ability to land Critical Hits on it makes me wonder if it really is a mini-boss (if anyone can confirm whether or not you can do so and launch AoAs on them, I'd again be very grateful).
The Phantom Thieves have new ways to fight too. Futaba gets an All Out Attack, though we still don't know how to activate it, and the Thieves as a whole now have Unison Attacks as seen in P4G and PQ2. Thankfully, each party member has multiple options for Unison partners like the latter game (the three examples we know of so far being Haru/ Morgana, Ryuji/ Makoto and Ryuji/ Yusuke) and these are unlocked by interactions between the characters in the real world. The Ryuji/ Yusuke example we saw was voice-acted and took place without Ren's presence, so these could be unlocked automatically as the story progresses (though I suspect it's related to how much time each pair spends together at hangouts like Penguin Sniper).
Third Tier Personas are also back from P4G. So far we know of only Ryuji's, William, whose birth is visualised as a fusion between Captain Kidd and Seiten Taisei. The Ryuji trailer showed him alone at home when William was formed, which suggests these new Personas may be locked behind story beats as in Persona 3 (or, if they're unlocked by hanging out with your teammates after reaching Rank 10, after a short delay). That William is a modern reimagining of Ryuji's first Persona implies the other Tier 3s will also be updated versions of one of the owner's prior Personas, though presumably we'll have to wait for subsequent character trailers to confirm or deny this.
Baton Passing has been buffed as well. Not only do buffed characters get a flame aura around them depicting the strength of their boost (red for Level 1, yellow for Level 2), the characters also maintain the boosted status after taking an action. The example we saw had Joker passing to Ryuji who attacked right after, yet retained the red aura on his own turn and could still pass on the Level 2 boost to Morgana. This also confirmed that either Morgana unlocks Baton Pass during the Kamoshida arc OR that you can now Baton Pass to Thieves who don't have the Skill for themselves.
The Velvet Room has seen a change too: at certain points it can go into high alert, during which Persona Fusions require "greater effort". We don't know what this means (either Fusions now get additional EXP boosts or accidents are more likely) or how it occurs, but it may be related to sending Calling Cards, since Palaces also go on high alert when this happens.
Mementos has also been changed. There is now a bright yellow counter on the side of the screen as you traverse the tunnels. We don't know what this is (maybe it counts the number of items picked up?), but the counter is the same colour as the plinths that can be found in new rooms there. Furthermore, at some point streamers appear throughout Mementos. Makoto comments on this so we know this isn't the new default look of the place, but the cutscene we saw has her do this only after Haru and Kasumi - but not Goro - have joined the party (note that this could simply mean the player only visited new!Mementos after recruiting both). Finally, there are now white lines that appear in the corners of the screen when roaming the Metaverse that become kaleidoscopic patterns at certain points (such as in the aforementioned plinth room and this automated segment of Okumura's Palace). However, these patterns are absent from cutscenes and combat encounters.
Smaller tweaks include a new, more jagged text box for Shadows. However, Palace Rulers don't get this effect until after they transform into their boss forms as seen with Kamoshida. Also, a new song - Take Over from the Kasumi and Ryuji trailers - will play during Ambushes while Last Surprise will be used for regular combat encounters.
In terms of QoL changes, Atlus has confirmed that it's now easier to level up. Also, it was recently confirmed that Dream Needle has been changed from a Phys Skill to a Gun Skill, which opens the door for other changes down the line - possibly all of them converting Skills to the Gun "element" since there are only four of those in the original game.
---
OTHER
While we didn't see it in action, Morgana Report 2 confirmed that an event/ cutscene viewer would be added to the game. We also know that there are over 20 new music tracks in Persona 5 Royal, covering both vocal (like the new theme Colors Flying High and the aforementioned Take Over) and instrumental pieces such as the track heard during Takuto's introduction and the end of the teaser trailer.
Atlus has said that the game has been revamped to a greater degree than other releases like P4G, but this means that you will be unable to transfer save data from the original game. However, having a save from the game will unlock a bonus that will "help you early on" (PS3 players can upload a save to the network and get the bonus that way). The changes also extend to the trophy list, which has been almost completely revamped as well. You will be able to access the DLC you already bought for the original P5, but will have to pay a 10 Yen handling fee per item (which equates to ~£0.07 and $0.09).
The game is being developed exclusively for the PS4 and is PS4 Pro enabled, but this also means visual improvements for owners of the original console. For example, character models are more detailed with more intricate body and facial animations - such as how Kasumi's eyes dart left and right while being accosted in Shibuya Square and how her head twitches after missing each ball in the batting cage at the start of her trailer. As seen at other points in that trailer, each character's face can now match the expression of their current sprite art as soon as it appears too.
There's more activity in the background of events too. For example, we can now see cars moving about in the background of cutscenes - such as when Kasumi is accosted - and backdrops of locations while using the train. The cars in the first example seem to be 2D images, but you'd only notice it if you were actively looking at them and it's still impressive stuff regardless!
---
THEORIES (including information from the June 28th update) are provided in this comment due to a lack of space in the main body of this post.
---
Thank you again, everyone! And again, let me know what I can add and improve!
---
UPDATES:

• July 5th: Ann's Trailer Analysis!
• July 9th: Yusuke's Trailer Analysis!
• July 11th: Morgana Report 3 Analysis!
• July 17th: The July 18th Famitsu Article Analysis, Part 1 (on Wordpress) and Part 2!
• July 19th: Makoto's Trailer Analysis!
• July 23rd: Futaba Trailer Analysis!
• July 26th: Haru Trailer and Fiends Gameplay Analysis!
• July 30th: Morgana Trailer Analysis!
• August 2nd: PV 02 Analysis!
• August 2nd: Akechi Trailer Analysis!
• August 2nd: Morgana Report 4 Analysis!
• August 8th: August 8th Famitsu Article Analysis!
• August 15th/ 17th: Japanese Press Release and Western "Release Season" Trailer Analyses!
• August 23rd: Takuto Trailer Analysis!
• August 24th/ September 10th: Game Informer Interview and new Opening Analyses!
• August 30th: Joker's Trailer Analysis!
• August 30th: PV 03 Analysis!
• August 30th: Persona Royal Experience Livestream Demo Analysis!
• September 6th/ 12th: Morgana Report 5 and Famitsu #1606 Analysis!
• September 27th: P5R Prologue Gameplay Analysis!
• October 3rd: Morgana Report 6 Analysis!
• October 8th: New Elements Overview Summary/ Analysis!
• October 10th: October 24th Famitsu Article Mini-Analysis!

Start Your Engines or Get Caught in the Lava.
With all this KI stuff on youtube and other places like reddit and twitter, I decided to write out what are my thoughts on this game which to me always looked like the awkward cousin of fighting games. Just because you have something that makes you unique doesn't necessarily mean that you're special or worth anyone's attention. For a video game that can be death, for people not so much. Whenever I hear people talking about KI, the people enjoying it and having fun were doing so because it was different to all the other fighting games out there and that is the most prominent thing said about it. And because of this, among other things, it makes KI really hard to get into, just by having people say that, because it makes you stop and wonder what makes it so different.
As far as getting knowledge of the game out there, having 2013 only on Xbox for a long time certainly didn't help, it wasn't really a fighting game console and it's audience reflected that. Many of it's other games were multiplayer with many other players at once, so why would one of those gamers play a game where you were only interacting with one person at a time? Also, KI dropped off the map and stopped being supported for pretty much a decade. Obviously there's production time but for the player themselves you got that gap. It's not like GuiltyGear where at least there were many, many versions and rehashes of the same game to change it up, there was completely nothing for the player, who was left devoid of any new game as the series was not being supported. Mortal Kombat kept getting consistent releases as well.
That issue aside, there are other reasons why I think that KI needs to be better than it is now for any hope of future success. These I shall lay out and maybe everyone can keep the conversation going because if nobody is talking about what they want from what I'll just call Killer Instinct: Next Decade then how do people know that there is a demand and that there is a waiting and as of yet untapped audience? It's not about creating hype, you can't do that for something that doesn't exist but you can build rapport for the series and the brand. Most people just now assume that there's going to be a new Mortal Kombat every few years, SoulCalibur VI came out of nowhere and created waves among established fans that caused others to stop and take notice, and then showed a whole new generation that weapon based fighters can be fun and that you don't have to take yourself seriously to have depth. And what do both of these series have? Player rapport. But there is something else that both these games have which is a very big problem for KI.
​
Everything I Just Said I Said to Myself.
KI 2013 suffers from a problem of having all the characters look like they were ripped from other IP. There is a lack of a thematic style that they all share. What is a literal dinosaur doing next to a token black boxer or some Conan-like guy fighting robots? It's a MESS. And before anyone says story doesn't matter in fighting games I'm not talking about the story, just the presentation as there's so much thematic representation from different archetype tropes. Too many cooks in the kitchen is another way of putting this because all these themes clash together really badly so it's not clear what was being aimed for stylistically.
Why this might be, and the only thing I can think of are those old arcade games where you play as giant apes or monsters going around getting points for destroying buildings or each other or whatever. The cast and character themes are rooted in the 90's and that can be fine, everyone just needs to look their part and not be so painfully generic in design. Generic wolf man, generic vampire lady, generic icicle man who is an alien but fuck lore we're working off appearances here. Generic evil version of pre existing character, Predator rip off, Sub-Zero rip off, you get the picture here. In fact 2013 is rather dark and washed out, not very vibrant. Was the original game back in 1994 competing with and following the mood of Mortal Kombat? I don't know, but these days there is so much more that can be done then copying trends. Audiences can be bigger that arcades now, you can branch out and be your own trend.
Other fighting games such as Tekken and KoF at least show that you can actually have people look like regular people in fighting games. In 2013 there is uninspired and bland, or nothing like that at all because they are a monster of some sort or robot. What is glowsticks girl doing fighting a generic ogre with it's head cut in half? Who knows. Is Not-Conan going to ride the dinosaur into endless battle against a hoard of spooky scary skeleton pirate things? Who knows. Anyone ever played Punch Quest? Like that. But KI needs to do more to solidify it's own identity because when I was looking at footage it is just a jumble of random tropes and themes put in an arena.
​
Get Your New Kicks.
Then I see RAAM realise that I might be wrong, he looks unique and cool at least while I was watching some footage, as I found myself thinking 'hey, this guy looks awesome. Maybe there is something that brings all this convoluted shit together.' And then I found out that no, he's a guest character. I've never played a Gears of War game, not my thing. On closer inspection his model is obviously better crafted than some of the others that just look cartoony as hell.And to me that's sad because he fits really well and it just turned out that he was never meant to belong in the first place. So it turns out that the best looking characters in KI...aren't even from KI to begin with. To be fair, just focusing on the characters introduced in 2013 that aren't guests or vague reskins we have Aganos, Hisako, Kan-Ra, Mira, Omen, Eagle and Sadira. Barring Mira, Eagle and Sadira the others aren't really anything conceptwise I've seen anywhere else and they have been designed in an interesting fashion that isn't too crazy or too bland and they are all influenced from various sources that feels unique. For the others, RAAM was some middle ground monster between all the weird and disjointed tropes the other characters brought along.
What needs to happen is to get some of that Microsoft talent and reimagine all of the other characters. I'm serious. If they want to go full modern retro arcade that's fine but we're not working with potato mesh anymore. Some of those old designs are throwbacks to their 1994 looks and that's it. Scrap the templates and start over. They don't have to play differently, they just have to look like they can be from Killer Instinct, not some child playing with their box of toys. Obviously all forms of games and media have characters that people label as generic but knowing better shouldn't make me still cringe. Just rebooting the series again will be the best possible thing for everyone involved. SoulCalibur VI did that. Mortal Kombat keeps doing that. And both of those games kept what they were about through reboots.
KI has already been rebooted once before and there's no reason why it shouldn't be rebooted again. The people who are going to play a new KI are already interested, the point is to get new players into the game and what any new player unfamiliar with the franchise will hear when you say that this is the next installment in a game made in 2013 is that they will have to go play the old game to prepare. And saying that you have to go back to a game that will at least be nine if not ten years old by that point isn't going to do anyone any favours. The new player will give up because they will just assume that they missed their chance and are too far behind now to play.
​
Spaghetti Begins With You.
Because the gameplay is one of it's defining aspects, KI:Next Decade will have to treat where its come from with respect. This is by far and away the most important thing Microsoft needs to keep in mind, because the current KI base is so small, that if there's any whiff of those players hating whatever it is they might see right out of the gate all hope is going to evaporate. No one is going to pick that up and the series will finally die. Series vets will say not to bother and everyone else will follow suit. It all comes down to the gameplay but what can change? Because the game has had so few iterations there's very little to be taken from the past that isn't already there. Shadow Bar is basically just meter, so that's simple enough, you use it for EX specials and counters. But then there's this Shadow Counter feature that should probably not be able to block Shadow Specials. Regular Specials, sure, otherwise if you have the upper hand and your opponent wants to make a come back and use a Shadow move they can't.
There's a second bar for Instinct that only does one thing, other fighting games tie a power up mechanic with a bar that can also be used defensively such as later BlazBlue games and SCVI so it would help modern players if the trend could keep going here. For example have the Instinct Bar be used to counter Shadow Specials. Suddenly a player now has two choices that might seem familiar, using some Instinct to avoid death in a clutch or hold onto it to give yourself a power boost when you're raring to go. The original game didn't even have this bar so it's ripe for revaluation and retooling. Because the word Instinct is in the title of the game you would expect the bar baring it's name to be significant. But in 2013 you either have it or you don't. An idea would be having these two opposing meters, a Shadow meter and an Instinct meter, and have the Shadow or the Instinct and you have to choose between one or the other as if they were two opposing forces to tap into. Shadow giving you early power while Instinct works gradually. What else could be done with Instinct? We can't have Ultra Instinct because Dragon Ball Super got there first.
Ultra Combo moves in 2013 are just instant kill moves that go for way too long. It's not even a fucking combo. Who cares if you can cancel out of it to beat down the opponent 'your way', you can't unnugget the chicken, it's already a fucking nugget, they whole thing is just one massive time waste. So much for instantly ending the match. In most fighting games the round is 100% over when someone's lifebar hits 0, although in Tekken and SoulCalibur you can get some extra inputs come out at the end sometimes. Watching old footage, an Ultra Combo seems to have been a long combo that essentially overkilled the opponent and that's fine, that can come back. Just for fucks sake make the Ultra Combo a combo again. “Create Your Own Instant Kill” could have been an interesting concept but in 2013 it was handled poorly. The way that 2013 handles offence, by splitting it into parts with the opening move, the middle and the ender means that it could work under certain circumstances.
​
I Hate Casinos.
A thing I hate is the announcer that sounds off those Ultra Combo wins the way a young boy does at the football: screaming his lungs out with his mouth full of juice and chips, spraying the seats below him or right in their ears. The first time I hear it, I'm perplexed because the end to that ultra was incredibly drawn out and tame. The guy just lands on the floor. I wasn't sure what I was hearing. Was it the character's death cry or what? The more I hear it the more it makes me fucking sick of it. Why would I play a game that makes me fucking sick? Same with the “Combo Breaker” announcer noise. By the time he shuts up, the event of combo breaking was already over several seconds ago. I don't need an announcer chugging along telling me something I already know and is already irrelevant information because the match has moved on already by that point.
The only reason I think that these are in here is to go back to those old arcade feels. I can shut my eyes listening to people play KI and my brain isn't thinking of a fighting game, it's thinking of those giant beast city destroyer arcade games. There's so much audio clutter. It has to go. If not for the reason that the clutter exists, for the fact that the game is nearly impossible to follow because of it. I don't want someone telling me with a head twiddle that I just don't understand KI because god fucking damn right with all this clutter I don't thanks for pointing out the obvious.
If Microsoft are going to green light a fighting game, they need to be assured that it can draw an audience who can understand what is going on during a match OR NO ONE IS GOING TO WATCH. That's not the job of the person on mic, that's not the job of the person who's watching it for the first time, it is the game's job to be clear and understandable so that it can be followed. If KI: Next Decade wants to be arcade then fine but what will an arcade experience even look like by then with a company like Microsoft backing it expecting to make money off of views and clicks? It sure as hell isn't KI 2013 and it's wall of sound. Check out this Omen of Sorrow footage and how clean and clear the indicators are and also notice how for the most part the movement is smooth. Although there are some weird I think Z axis field of view choices to prevent clipping that are pretty jarring here, for what it is worth 2013 does not have this issue.
​
Mirror Mirror.
Killer Instinct 2013 has no missing characters. That's good. But you have to think about new characters and the problem with that is previously, when presented with the design space the people working on the game, it doesn't even matter who, just remade old characters slightly. The problem is that this now creates a precedent for it to happen again. Is Microsoft going to allow the old guard to keep making those decisions and recycle old design space or push for new characters? I have no idea why Shadow Jago, Kilgore and Shin Hisako were not just entirely new characters with their own unique style and themes. Instead it is retreaded design space. I talked about reimagining before and that goes the same for these three too.
Now if we remove the guest characters and clones the roster's looking a little sparse for this day and age for such an old IP at 23 characters. More can be done and with 3D models you get skins which makes me I wonder if any new characters could spin off from a character's skins and changed to not be a clone. Just to make it nice and easy to begin with for whoever ends up working on Killer Instinct: Next Decade to come up with some ideas. Aside from that, with Microsoft's pool of owed and recycled studios and properties, there's sure to be some other interesting characters around. I'll give some examples.
Monkey, from a beautiful game by Ninja Theory that I just wish was better than it ended up being due to it's propensity to give me motion sickness and general lack of flow, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West gave us a rather unique main character and world in a reimagined Journey to the West adventure probably doomed to never get a sequel. If Monkey found himself in KI: Next Decade and people really liked him then there's going to be a demand for more of where he came from. Whether Andy Serkis would come on board for this is something else, however. He has a staff, which could be used for mid and long range attacks, and he could reposition using the Cloud. The game he comes from has platforming. Big ask, but perhaps he could interact directly with the stage to help get around.
An Anubite from Age of Mythology. Because we need something to convince SonicFox to play this shit. Or otherwise known as those zombie dog warriors from The Mummy Returns. There's even a named one who's on fucking fire called Theris who does absolutely nothing to further the plot and only serves as brief main character back story so no one has to worry about him actually doing anything. No he's not Nasus from League of Legends go fuck yourself. Anubites jump about with dual sickles and that's about it, but you could add sand powers and allow players to fish for hits around guards like in Dark Souls. Or otherwise they could pull in star power with Dwayne Johnson as the Scorpion King. There's scorpion men in AoM too by the way, never mind that Imhotep looks like René Dif from Aqua and some disco dancing desert monster is some seriously untapped design space. Just give the man a microphone already.
You in Fable. I mean this. Fable was a fantasy action adventure game with a few other versions and spin offs that tried to expand on what Fable was and move the world forward but I preferred it best when everything was more simple. You were a boy with a story and while the overall story was fairly linear, your choices impacted the world around you and did make you feel that your choice meant something. You have a sword, a bow and some magic. Could easily replace Arbiter's role from 2013 or go nuts with the amount of utility on hand. If you're ever played the original Fable you know that's the case. Tonnes of customisable options for clothing also with minimal creative thinktank effort required. The character is also a mute protagonist for the most part, that cuts down VA costs.
You'll notice that these examples are all from old titles now, but sometimes it's not just about supporting new IPs, but lifting up older ones to give them some spotlight again, to show that they're not forgotten and that people do enjoy those older IPs. So you just know that we're going to get Tartarus from the Halo franchise, Eddie Riggs from Brütal Legend and Shark Hoodie Guy from State of Decay 2 to promote further DLC.
​
This is a Conclusion but Maybe Also a Beginning.
So, in ending, KI needs to change because there's too much wrong with it. The characters need to be more well defined and have every thing brought to a modern level. Everything needs to come together so that someone doesn't mistake Next Decade for Microsoft's doomed attempt to recreate Nintendo's Smash success, with their own bland and forgotten IPs all clumped together and decide not to dig a little bit deeper, because you can go very, very deep indeed. And that doesn't have to be scary to new players even if the waters are dark everyone can help new players keep afloat and their heads above the water until they are ready for those deep dives. Sure playing on the surface is fun but there's a lot to be missed out on if you stay there. There's so much to know about the game and each character and it's going to stay that way.
On top of that there can't be KI 2013.4 or whatever the count is now. The base is good but things need to change. Halo 2 is over, time for Halo 3 as it were. KI: Next Decade will still functionally be KI but it can't stay the same and questions need to be answered, such as what mood KI is going for in it's gameplay, and whether they can present that in a way that doesn't leave anyone behind. Whether it should continue with that 2013 dull look for Next Decade is not for me to decide, after all KI has some dedicated fans, no doubt about it and some people seem to like the way it looks or otherwise not care but in my personal opinion I don't think it should. Unless Microsoft want Mortal Kombat with dinosaurs, and you know what happened to those, right?

After whole casino controversy. Thinking Rockstar Games needed treating there players (that us) with better content and updates in online community,by what doing that! With a new Motor Wars location & features! It been awhile we have last update of motor wars and seen battle royalestill popular (according to twitch & mixer),it still summer maybe could you're think,you're like to have a new motor wars? Taking place in Vespucci with hottest three of tourist attractions Beach,Canals and Puerto Del Sol,surrounding by lovely oceans . Players (us) can drop in battle can shooting and taking a drive or talk on Vespucci bleach or take a visit the Canals. Also though this new bring something new to table like new Motor Wars female size flight suit for the ladies/any gender of player,now 28 amount of players in motor wars change to 32! New color team "Black" (Merryweather Black Ops),if it night time don't worry there some night vision goggles on maps (but there only 5 of them) find them quickly. All brand new weapons added to the map like Heavy Revolver Mk,Double Barrel Shotgun,Bullpup Shotgun,Advanced Rifle,Combat PDW,Sawed-Off Shotgun,Machete,Flare Gun,Gusenberg Sweeper,Heavy Sniper, and Sticky Bombs. With brand new vehicles Land,Sea And Air. Deviant,Frogger,Mesa,Valkyrie,Hexer,seven cycles bikes,Blazer,Barrage,Dinghy,Tropic, and Seashark. So must stuff to Motor Wars VIII you're barley can't wanted happen! Maybe ask Rockstar Games on social media to make Motor Wars VIII,this time taking place at Vespucci. Enjoyed the fun under the sun and the carnage,when you're and team murdered other team to be on top and earn some cash & XP. BADOOM!
Would you're guys & ladies could freaking love for a new Motor Wars! And all new vehicles,weapons and new location to duke it out. A vacation Had to get away