Unless Atlus has plans to expand the Phantom Thieves' story any further, the long wait for the nextPersonagame officially begins next year. WithPersona 5 Royalreleasing this year to record sales and further perfecting an already fantastic adventure, the popularity of the JRPG giant has never been bigger. Pair that withPersona 4 Goldenfinally releasing on PC, after being stranded on the PS Vita for years, SEGA and Atlus plan to dive even further into their back catalog of games. That’s likely the reason whyShin Megami Tensei: Nocturnereceived a remaster prior to the release ofShin Megami Tensei 5as well.
One thing Atlus hasn’t attempted before is a ground-up remake of any of its classic JRPGs, akin to that ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake. Atlus has expressed very mild interest in the idea before, with fan surveys asking if players would be willing to play a “sequel” or “remake” ofPersona 3in the past. It’d certainly be an interesting proposition for P-Studio, especially in the wake ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remakebeing received very well. Considering the newfound popularityPersonagained this year, it almost seems like aPersona 3remake releasing beforePersona 6would make more sense. Rebuilding the game that started it all could appease plenty of new and existingPersonafans.
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The Perfect Way to Extend Persona’s Momentum For Next-Gen
For one thing, it’s important to talk about the momentum thePersonaseries gained this year, thanks to a few huge efforts from the franchise. Earlier this year, the definitive version of the fifth game,Persona 5 Royal, released to record sales numbers and success. The action game spin-off,Persona 5 Scramble, also seemed to surpass sales expectations in Asian consumer markets. Even though the originalPersona 5was also a critically acclaimed release in 2017,RoyalandPersona 5 Scramblesaw even greater success in 2020 thanks to the general boost the video game industry received during the pandemic. Atlus then tested the waters even further this summer.
For the anniversary of its release on PlayStation Vita,Persona 4 Goldenwas ported to PC this June, marking the first time the game was released to any other platform. For Atlus and Sega, it seems,Persona 4 Goldenwas an even more surprising success. Within the first month alone,Persona 4 Golden’s sales on Steam had already reached 500,000 units sold. That’s huge for a legacyPersonatitle, even if it hadn’t release on other platforms previously. Those two combined resulted in numerous news stories about SEGA and Atlus “aggressively” porting previous titles to Steam and/or other platforms. However, those stories didn’t mention anything about remakes of any kind.
Bridging the Gap Between Mainline Persona Games
Much of the desire and subsequent buzz about aPersona 3remake came from a Twitter campaign earlier this year, something Atlus clearly recognized in its surveys. However, even if a simplePersona 3: FESorPersona 3 Portableis comparatively easier to develop, aPersona 3 Remakemakes a lot of sense. ThePersonaseries could be taking a very different direction withPersona 6now that the original series director, Katsura Hashino, has left P-Studio for his own new project. APersona 3remake represent an opportunity from two viewpoints: emphasizing all of the great aspects ofPersona 3that helped form the franchise into what it is today, while also providing an opportunity to experiment with new concepts or ideas to change thePersonadesign framework.
Similar tohowFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeis balancing its legacy with new content, aPersona 3remake could do the same. As something unique to the third entry, aPersona 3remake would certainly help combine all of the releases ofPersona 3(the base game,Persona 3: FES, andPersona 3 Portable) into one definitive experience. Additionally, remaking the game could also bring with it all sorts of quality-of-life changes like controllable party members, fully voiced in-engine cutscenes, alongside improved graphically fidelity and more. Plus, thePersonadevelopment team could potentially usePersona 3’s remake as a jumping off point forPersona 6down the line.
Persona 6 is Far Away, But a Persona 3 Remake Could Come First
Persona 6will be the first time the series is under new creative control, at least from a top-down level. Katsura Hashino did indeed direct the franchise betweenPersona 3andPersona 5, but the existing development team still has many veterans who worked on previous entries. Fans are likely expecting a huge jump in scale and scope betweenPersona 5toPersona 6, consideringPersona 5was originally developed for the PS3 and PS4. Any development onPersona 6, assuming full development beganafter the release ofPersona 5 Royalthis year, would presumably be for next-gen consoles only.
APersona 3remake could help bridge the gap betweenPersona 5and the next mainline sequel. There are likely plenty ofPersonafans, either new or existing, who haven’t played any version ofPersona 3yet. Plus, considering enough fans were able to make #Persona3Remake trending on Twitter, it’s clear there’s a desire for a remake. The third entry in the series did set the foundation forPersona 4andPersona 5to succeed upon, so remakingPersona 3would make a lot of sense at this point.
