Persona is one of the best JRPG franchises to have ever graced PlayStation consoles. While the series was originally born in the shadow of Shin Megami Tensei, it eventually managed to surpass its parent franchise and reach an audience far larger than that of most other JRPG properties.
Atlus, the developer behind Persona, has frequently promoted the recent installments in the franchise. After having immense success with the Persona 5 subseries of games, the company recently decided to make a Persona 3 remake, as well as a remake of Persona 4. Persona 3 Reload was released to widespread critical acclaim back in 2024, while Persona 4 Revival is currently still in development.
As great as it is that Persona is popular these days, the first three entries in the series haven’t gotten nearly enough love from either Atlus or its fans, perhaps due to their outdated nature. Revelations: Persona and the Persona 2 duology (Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment) are both quite different from the games that came after them. Not only do they lack the calendar system from Persona 3 onward, they also aren’t nearly as stylish as their successors.
Persona 1 and 2 Are Trapped on Outdated Hardware
To this day, the early Persona games are still stuck on the platforms that they were originally released on. All three of these titles were launched exclusively on the PS1; they were then remade from the ground up for the PSP. Neither the original PS1 ports, nor the PSP remakes, have ever been brought over to modern platforms, despite demand from fans. This may change soon, however.
Persona series producer Kazuhisa Wada recently told GamerBraves in an interview that he would personally love to make remakes of Persona 1 and 2. Wada said that, although he couldn’t say for sure that Atlus would make such titles, he added that “it’s something that we should definitely do.”
It’s interesting that Wada went so far as to say that remakes of Persona 1 and 2 “should” happen, but it brings up a question that many have asked in the Persona community: should these games even be remade in the first place? The answer to that is a bit more complicated than one might think.
The Early Persona Games Were Very Different From Their Successors
As stated before, Persona 1 and 2 are pretty old video games. All three of the installments were released across a 4-year timespan, between 1996 and 2000. Even though these games still definitely have some charm to them, most modern Persona fans may not be willing to put up with their quirks.
Persona 1 and 2 were more like dungeon crawlers compared to recent Persona games. They were partially played from a first-person perspective, and many of their gameplay elements, such as their high combat encounter rates, were taken directly from previous Shin Megami Tensei titles. The early Persona games did still feature high school students as their protagonists, but they placed a decidedly smaller emphasis on school life compared to their successors.
Another thing that’s worth noting about Revelations: Persona in particular is that the original English localization of the game is really bizarre. Much like many other JRPGs of its era, the translation team behind Persona 1’s PS1 port decided to strip the game entirely of its Japanese nature. The ethnicities of many characters were completely altered compared to the original Japanese script, and so were the names of many characters and locations.
The PSP Remakes of Persona 1 and 2 Had Some Notable Flaws
The Persona 1 PSP remake did come with an improved English localization, but the remake itself included some changes that people weren’t that fond of, such as a completely redone soundtrack.
The PSP remakes of Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (the latter of which was never released outside of Japan) had similar issues that people complained about. Many argued that the Persona 2 PSP ports significantly watered down the combat systems of the original games, to the point that they were way too easy. Likewise, the autobattle command system was removed from the PSP versions, making combat in these remakes both slow and boring.
So, if the PSP remakes of the games have some flaws and the original versions are too outdated for modern audiences, then wouldn’t it make sense to just remake the titles? Well, yes, but some people think doing so would rob Persona 1 and 2 of their unique attributes.
Remakes of Persona 1 and 2 Could Lose the Charm of the Original Games
If there’s one criticism that’s been most prevalent about the recent Persona 3 and 4 remakes, it’s that they look too much like Persona 5. Indeed, despite the fact that the new versions of these games look graphically stunning, they are homogeneous to an extent; the vibes and the color palettes of the original titles have kind of been altered to match Persona 5 more directly.
It makes sense why Atlus would want to use Persona 5 as the model for all future Persona games, given that it is the most successful installment in the franchise so far. That said, a lot of Persona fans definitely wouldn’t be happy if Persona 1 and 2 were Persona 5-ified.
In my opinion, the best course that Atlus could possibly take is making both remakes and remasters of the early Persona games. The company has already made remakes and remasters of Persona 3 and 4, so why can’t it do the same with Persona 1 and 2? A remaster compilation of Revelations: Persona and the Persona 2 duology (based on the original PS1 versions, with the bonus content from the PSP ports included), coupled with Persona 5-style remakes of these three titles, would be enough to satisfy just about every Persona fan out there.
