The protagonist's dance partner will be Aegis.
Cause it would seem fitting.- Confirmed. Aigis, Yukari, and Fuuka are available as a dance partners for "Brand New Days (Yuyoyuppe Remix)."
The game will take place post-Heroic Sacrifice and is actually a Journey to the Center of the Mind for the protagonist.
This will explain why everyone still has their P3 appearances opposed to how they are in P4 Arena. Because this is how the protagonist perceives them and he's the only one who is real in-game other than Elizabeth.- Jossed. It takes place Mid-P3.
The Moon Arcana will come into play somehow.
I notice that this game is titled Dancing Moon Night while Persona 5's dancing spinoff is titled Dancing Star Night. Tarot Motifs are integral to the Persona franchise and it might be interesting to see how illusions and the subconscious might factor into the game.- Considering Shinji was made into the Moon Social Link in Portable's Female Route, and that the protag seems to return from the dead, it might be possible that Shinji will also comes back.
- Or, as stated elsewhere, it's equally possible that Dancing Moon Night is simply set during the events of P3, before the protagonist's Heroic Sacrifice. That wouldn't necessarily prevent Shinji from being involved provided that the game is set between 9/2 and 10/4, though I wouldn't put it past Atlus to give Shinji the Death in the Limelight treatment. At any rate, it's still not clear what exactly the deal is with this game and its story.
The plot will feature a "Groundhog Day" Loop
Listening to the lyrics of the trailer song, they mention how things are back to how they were in the beginning and how things never change. The plot predates the ending of Persona 3 and SEES are currently trapped in time to some extent, unable to move forward. The plot will focus on ending the loop/stasis and returning the flow of time to normal.- Jossed. The game's plot is incidental and takes place while all the characters are still living in the Gekkoukan High School dorms, where Elizabeth summons them in a "dream" to have a party.
Alternatively (relatedly?), the events of Dancing Moon Night will branch off from the delay of the Fall caused by the player's decision to kill Ryoji on New Year's Eve.
Of course, if everyone not named Aigis were to (somehow) able to regain their memories and resume their efforts to try to fend off Nyx (meaning the MC may ascend to the moon to challenge her to the greatest dance battle never known to man), that'd do a number on series continuity, but that's assuming Dancing Moon Night actually ends up being canon like Persona Q was.- Jossed. The game's plot is incidental and takes place while all the characters are still living in the Gekkoukan High School dorms, where Elizabeth summons them in a "dream" to have a party.
Dancing Moon Night will be in keeping with the Persona 3 Themes
This is guessing with broad strokes, mind you. But consider that all the spinoffs that have specifically been titled 'Persona 4' have all resonated with the themes of the Persona 4 game. Thus, the plots have always dealt heavily with similar ideas- relying on bonds of friendship, how one presents oneself to the outside world versus who they really are, characters being confronted with their inner flaws and struggling to accept themselves and endure harsh truths, and so on. In a similar vein, all of the major enemies pulling the strings have come from Japanese mythology (granted, Labrys doesn't fit this profile, but Kagu-tsuchi and Mikuratana-no-Kami certainly do) which is in keeping with the main character's first Persona in the original game and the god-like entity they confront at the end. What's my point? That a Persona 3 spinoff will bear themes that resonate with Persona 3. Assuming there is a plot, I would expect it to involve the weighty matters of the inevitability of death and the struggle to accept that or the need to keep living even when others have passed away. If the idea of the Midnight Stage is revisited I would expect the entity involved to be concerned with things like giving mortals a place to dance happily and never have to think about the sorrow of death or revisit their loved ones and not have to grieve that they are gone. Also, since Dancing All Night decided to focus on a character that was often mentioned in Persona 4 but never showed up (Kanami, specifically) I'd expect something similar here... probably to do with Club Escapade, since that's the only major dance related element in the original game. Finally, the villain should be drawn from Greek mythology, given that Orpheus, Nyx, and Erebus all come from that same well. Dionysus would work well for this purpose, since it is a Greek god associated with music and dance as well as death and resurrection and madness (and in Persona 3 is part of the Moon Arcana) and even relates to the Orpheus myth since it was his worshipers who tore poor Orpheus apart after failing to resurrect his wife. That's my educated guess, anyway.Shinjiro's role
He will not appear in the game until the final, hardest song. There, you will dance until the climax of the song, and the lights will go out and the music will stop... and then Shinjiro says "Let's do this." and becomes your final partner. He is then unlocked for normal play.- Jossed. Shinjiro was announced as DLC instead.
The game takes place post Heroic Sacrifice ...
And plays out with Elizabeth bringing SEES's together on a journey to rescue the protagonist from their seal, as she was revealed to be doing as of Persona 4.- Jossed. The game's plot is incidental and takes place while all the characters are still living in the Gekkoukan High School dorms, where Elizabeth summons them in a "dream" to have a party.
The game is actually Elizabeth's dream.
During Social Events, Elizabeth reveals that she's competing against Caroline/Justine (who summoned the Persona 5 crew) to see whose guest was the best dancer after hearing about the events of P4D from Margaret. However, because this takes place well after the events of Persona 3, Elizabeth created this dream world for herself to both be able to have a dance team and to reunite with the protagonist, even if only for a little while.