Persona 5 first released in 2016, which means the last time we saw something truly new out of the series was nearly a decade ago. Well, kind of – we’ve also had two Persona rhythm games (Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight), Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, Persona 5 Strikers, Persona 5 Tactica, Persona 5 Royal, and Persona 3 Reload. But in terms of mainline games, it’s been a while.
Many expected the next game we’d see from Atlus after Metaphor: ReFantazio would be Persona 6, but it seems like we’ll be seeing a Persona 4 remake before that.
Does Persona 4 Even Need A Remake?
Persona 4 Golden_The 5 Best And 5 Worst Atlus Games According To Metacritic
For context, Persona 4 came out in 2008 for the PlayStation 2. Persona 4 Golden, an enhanced version of the game, was released for the PlayStation Vita in 2012 and later ported to every modern console under the sun alongside Persona 3 Portable.
You could easily argue that Persona 4 doesn’t need a remake. Sure, it launched nearly two decades ago, and Golden still has 2010s-era graphical fidelity, but it holds up pretty well. A remake would certainly interest people like me, who haven’t played it before and are used to Persona 5 Royal’s improved graphics and more experimental gameplay mechanics, but it’s not a necessity. I’m not sure anybody who plays Persona is really in it for graphics.
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Shin Megami Tensei could accomplish so much more with older characters.
The fact is that remakes and remasters pay the bills. We might be tired of seeing them, but they’re easy money and a surefire way to get new players interested in an old game. Atlus isn’t as guilty of this as, say, Naughty Dog, which remasters games incessantly and unnecessarily, but it does still do this, albeit generally for older games.
Whether Persona 4 needs a remake isn’t really the right question – it’s whether we should be seeing one before we see something new.
Persona 6 Should Have Been The Priority
Remakes make money, but so would a new Persona, and it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a proper one. It seems like a sure thing that there is a Persona game in the works, with an insider even pegging its release date to 2026.
If this turns out to be true, there will have been ten years between Persona 5 and 6, so I can understand why fans are so sour about it. Many hardcore fans have already played all these titles, even multiple times through their enhanced editions and repeat playthroughs to see everything they have to offer. How long can they be expected to wait between games, fed only remakes and remasters?
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This is exactly why I’m holding out on Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Here lies another problem: Atlus is happy to create better versions of its existing games and sell them to players for more money. These better versions do have a lot of added content, to be fair – they often add characters, additional plot, even more gameplay mechanics. But why launch an enhanced version of a game so soon after its original and make it obsolete? These could be free updates, but the company chooses to charge full-price for it.
Which brings me back to the point, which is that Atlus is likely releasing a Persona 4 remake before Persona 6 because it’ll be more profitable to do so. In a perfect world, things wouldn’t be this way, but here we are, getting another reminder that even if a studio makes incredible games, it’s still gonna grab at your wallet whenever it can.
Persona 4 is an RPG from Atlus that follows the fortunes of a group of students as they become the Investigation Team, seeking to bring the perpetrator of a series of murders in the town of Inaba to justice.