Games Happy

My first encounter with the Persona sequence was a stroke of pure luck. I found Revelations: Persona in a drug retailer cut price bin whereas procuring with my father within the late ’90s. A tweenaged fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I used to be sufficiently lured in by the bizarre artwork on the field and the promise of demon summoning. At this level in my life, I had by no means heard of Shin Megami Tensei. I struggled with the sport mechanics and design after I sat all the way down to play it, however one thing about it caught with me. It was moody, messy as hell, and in contrast to the rest I’d ever performed coming off the heels of Squaresoft’s Tremendous Nintendo fare.

That serendipitous buy (thanks, Dad!)  led me down a rabbit gap of mythologies, highschool drama, and Jungian psychology. I liked this odd little recreation that I by no means truly completed, because it was the beginning of my Atlus fandom. I used to be stunned practically a decade later when Persona 3 got here out for the PlayStation 2, but it surely left me questioning: how did I miss Persona 2?  Seems, I used to be in good firm. 

Now, on its twenty fifth anniversary, it’s time to speak in regards to the black sheep of the franchise. Not Persona with its grid-based oddities and awkward localization. Actually not the poppy and assured Persona 3, which introduced the sequence to new heights on a world scale, and doubly so for the fashionable blitz of Persona 5. I’m speaking about Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2 – Harmless Sin and Persona 2: Everlasting Punishment – a duology of video games for the unique PlayStation which are seemingly trapped in limbo.

Persona 2: Harmless Sin was first launched for the unique PlayStation in Japan in 1999, and for years it by no means noticed an English launch. Relatively, Western gamers solely bought half the story when its sequel, Persona 2: Everlasting Punishment, arrived stateside in simply over 25 years in the past, in June 2000. Think about watching Again to the Future Half II or The Godfather Half II with out ever seeing the primary one. That is what we within the West have been left to cope with. For English audio system, the total image didn’t come into focus till the PSP remake of Harmless Sin hit in 2011, however then Everlasting Punishment’s PSP remake by no means left Japan.

Even in the present day, getting the total Persona 2 expertise within the West requires enjoying two differing variations, or an annoying dance of emulation, imports, and fan translations in case you are searching for consistency in gameplay. Which is a disgrace, as a result of this pair of video games accommodates among the boldest storytelling Atlus has ever tried.

Harmless Sin tells the story of Tatsuya Suou and a gaggle of highschool college students who uncover that rumors are actually turning into actuality. As weird occasions unfold throughout town of Sumaru, the group confronts their traumas, demons (each literal and figurative), and a masked cult chief with an unsettling connection to their previous. Like the primary Persona, it options turn-based fight the place you work together with monsters, with the power to fuse and create new Personas. Again then, this merely seemed like Satanic Pokémon. Now it is a staple.

Then Everlasting Punishment flips the script. Set in a parallel timeline, it follows investigative journalist Maya Amano (a personality from Harmless Sin) as she items collectively the thriller from one other angle, finally discerning the reality. I like that Everlasting Punishment focuses on a core solid of adults, quite than highschool college students – one thing which you do hear a sure stripe of fan clamor for of their wishes for Persona 6. Individuals are inclined to overlook that Atlus has truly already explored ‘grownup Persona’ earlier than. 

Frankly, these video games are heavy, coping with themes of abuse, repressed reminiscences, societal guilt, and what it means to actually develop up. These video games discover rumors as a type of collective unconscious, the place perception shapes actuality – fairly actually, because the unfold of rumors might affect story occasions and gameplay. Everybody has one thing to say, one thing to lose, and one thing they’re hiding. It’s messy in one of the best ways potential. Too usually, although, these video games are ignored for the likes of Persona 3, 4, and 5.

That’s not completely stunning. Persona 2 lacks the character relationship mechanics and time administration loops that outline later entries. The fight system can really feel tepid on each the PlayStation and PSP variations, and the dungeon design is unspectacular. However beneath the mechanics lies a wealthy intersecting narrative that no different Persona recreation has fairly replicated, leaning extra in the direction of a psychological thriller. The place newer Persona video games have acquired intensive spinoffs and companion content material, Persona 2 deserves higher remedy.

With Persona 3 Reload reintroducing trendy followers to the roots of the trendy iteration of the franchise, and Persona 4 Revival newly introduced, the time has by no means been higher to remake Persona 2. Not a easy port or upscaled re-release, however a full reimagining within the model of Reload and Revival. Similar characters, identical story, however rebuilt with in the present day’s tech capabilities and design sensibilities.

Give Sumaru Metropolis the atmospheric polish it deserves. Whereas we’re at it, let’s easy out the person interface, modernize the encounter system, and add voice appearing to essentially promote these devastating character moments. However please, no must jazzify the soundtrack to retrofit it with the sound design first popularized in Persona 3, and I don’t consider there’s a compelling argument as to why Social Hyperlinks would must be shoehorned in, both. This recreation is totally different – and that is okay. They’re important stepping stones to what Persona is in the present day.

There’s a technology of followers who got here in with Persona 5 and do not know what they’re lacking. If Atlus is critical about celebrating the legacy of this sequence, then Persona 2 must be part of the dialog. It’s not sufficient to maintain throwing Joker into crossovers whereas Tatsuya and Maya fade into additional obscurity. I’m not asking for a Persona 2 dancing or preventing recreation, however only for this duology to lastly escape from the shadows of bifurcated worldwide releases on two separate consoles. 

Remaking Persona 2 is not only about nostalgia. Hell, I’m keen to wager most people studying this have by no means performed it. Relatively, I like to consider it as preserving a pivotal second within the sequence’ historical past. These video games unflinchingly tackled mature themes about trauma, identification, and the shadow aspect of society lengthy earlier than that grew to become stylish. They set the stage for all the things that got here after. 

So, Atlus, in case you’re listening, it’s time. Give us a remake. Let new gamers expertise the haunting mysteries of Sumaru Metropolis. Let long-time followers revisit the duology with contemporary eyes. And possibly, simply possibly, let the rumors start once more.