Summary
A remake of the originalPersonagame is in the works, according to an established Atlus insider. The same source has also teased three other unannounced games from thePersonadeveloper that are yet to be announced, including a mysterious Netflix project.
Atlus insider Midori took to Twitter on February 6 to claim that the Sega-owned studio is currentlyworking on the remakes ofPersona 2andPersona 4. Responding to a question from one of their followers, the leaker said both of those projects currently “exist at Atlus.”
A day later, Midori posted a follow-up that saw them claim the originalPersonagame is also set to be treated to a remake, implying Atlus is currently working on no fewer than three reimaginings of the older entries from the popular series. Elaborating on that point, the insider said that not all of those games will beremade in the style ofPersona 3 Reload. Taking that statement at face value, its likeliest interpretation is that onlyPersona 4will receive theReloadtreatment. For clarity,Persona 1and thePersona 2duology lacked many later series staples, such as time management and social links, making it impossible for them to receiveReload-style remakes without being completely redesigned.
Asked about the status of theShin Megami Tenseiseries, which spawnedPersona, Midori claimed that Atlus is presently working on anSMTgame for Netflix, albeit without clarifying whether the title in question is a rerelease or an original project. The insider also said that a remaster of a PS2-eraSMTentry is in the pipeline. Sony’s sixth-generation console has three (mainline) games that fit that description, but one of them has already received a remaster in 2021 in the form of thecritically acclaimedSMT3 Nocturne HD. That only leavesShin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Sagaand its sequel as potential rerelease candidates. Chronologically, Atlus would plausibly favor remastering the former before the latter.
Midori’s latest tweet also saw them tease a title that is “connected” to the Switch-exclusiveShin Megami Tensei 5. This particular game is the only one from the newly listed bunch that was already mentioned by the insider in the past; shortly beforenarrowing down thePersona 6release window, Midori also leaked the existence of theSMT5project back in September, implying that it’s either a spin-off or a complete edition of the Switch exclusive.
Time will tell whether this unofficial info pans out, but Midori’s track record with Atlus leaks is an encouraging sign for fans hoping to revisit olderSMTandPersonagames in the future. Since Atlus is still a fairly small company by modern game development standards, it is plausible that the majority of its currently rumored projects are still in pre-production and hence won’t be going gold anytime soon, assuming they exist in the first place.
Persona
Persona is an RPG franchise developed and published by Atlus, spun off from its larger Megami Tensei franchise. Originally releasing in 1996 under the name Revelations: Persona, the series typically follows a core group of high school students who have access to Personas, physical manifestations of a person’s psyche and subconscious, to do battle in combat. Newer games in the franchise, starting with Persona 3, have introduced the idea of Social Links, which lets players further strengthen and evolve Personas based on time spent with their owners outside of dungeons.
