Persona 4 Revival Interview: Learning from the past to deliver the best and most complete version of the game

There are stories in video games that we might consider ahead of their time. Others, perhaps, may come too late. But when it comes to gameplay mechanics, gameplay itself can become timeless. Just ask the platforming in Super Mario, the turn-based combat in Dragon Quest, or those early first-person shooters like Wolfenstein or DOOM, which had to pave the way for the industry to continue evolving and developing. I like to think that those models, which have remained more or less stable over the years, will continue to form the foundation for video games to keep entertaining us for decades to come. But when a style of gameplay evolves, or when a specific instalment 'rediscovers' a concept - as when Mario or Final Fantasy made the leap to three dimensions - that foundation doesn't change, but it does raise the bar a notch higher. I believe that in the case of Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, that major leap forward came with Persona 5 Royal, when they combined all their experience, player feedback and a healthy dose of courage to take a chance on a product that ultimately became one of the leading standard-bearers of the modern JRPG.

Using that same structure, Atlus didn't want to let its other stories in the series go to waste, stories that had been held back by the technical limitations of the time. However, adapting them was no easy task either, and giving Persona 3 the 'Royal treatment' - as I like to call it - in Persona 3 Reload also involved a learning process within Persona Studio itself. Not all the decisions made back then were the right ones, but they are now ready to deliver the modern and definitive version of the franchise's other major modern instalment, Persona 4 Revival - a complete remake of Persona 4 Golden - which is set to launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series on 17 February. During Gamescom, we had the chance to try out a demo of the game, and also to speak to two of the key figures behind its production: the series' producer himself, Kazuhisa Wada, and the art director for this instalment, Akane Kabayashi. I had the chance to ask about the development process, production decisions and also about the aspects of the game they're most proud of. You can read the full interview below.

Gamereactor: The announcement of Persona 4 Revival didn't come as much of a surprise after seeing the success of Persona 3 Reload. What was the main motivation for creating a full remake of Persona 4 rather than, for example, a remastered or definitive version of Persona 4 Golden?

Kazuhisa Wada: "Persona 4 Golden is quite an old title, so the game mechanics are a bit dated too. Especially when compared to something like Persona 5 Royal or Persona 3 Reload, I think it's a game that can be a bit difficult to play for players who are used to more modern mechanics.

"So I wanted more players to have the chance to play Persona 4, because it's a fantastic game. That's why we decided to remake Persona 4 as a revival, rather than simply remastering Persona 4 Golden.

"We wanted people to have the chance to play Persona 4 because it's a wonderful game. So, rather than remastering Persona 4 Golden, we wanted to create a complete remake and treat it in the same way as our other titles, so that people could experience a modern version of Persona 4."

Gamereactor: One of the community's main concerns was what content would be included in the remake. With Persona 3 Portable, Persona 3 Reload, and now Persona 4 Revival, why did you decide to integrate Marie and the third-term content directly into the base game?

Kazuhisa Wada: "Well, I wanted to include more content if I could, ever since the days of Persona 3 Reload. But at the time, it was the first time we'd remade such a large title, so I thought we had no choice but to simply focus on remaking the main part of Persona 3.

"So we decided to release 'Episode Aigis' later as a large-scale DLC.

"As for Persona 4 Revival, the production environment was already well established thanks to Persona 3 Reload. In the past we had to do things bit by bit, but this time we were able to do it whilst being much better prepared.

"Furthermore, Marie's story isn't something that's been added separately. It's integrated into the original main story, so it's more like... it was content that really couldn't be cut out. It's going to be quite substantial, but the team and I decided from the outset that we wanted to include the content from Persona 4 Golden and make it part of Revival.

"So, in the case of Persona 3 Reload, it was the first time we'd done a full-scale remake of this magnitude. There were lots of things we were still figuring out as we went along. We were thinking about what we could do, what we were prepared to tackle, and what we could work on.

"And we decided that what we needed to do was really focus on remaking the original Persona 3, and then focus on creating additional content such as Episode Aigis and so on.

"But with Persona 4 Revival, by the time we started working on it, we'd already established the whole system for making a remake. We'd figured out how things worked and had sorted out many of the problems involved in developing a remake whilst working on P3R.

"So we were able to start Persona 4 from a much better position."

That's why we decided: right, now that we know what we're doing and we're ready for it, let's make the complete Persona 4 Golden package.

"And, for example, there's Marie too. She was such an important part of the story right from the start of Persona 4 Golden that it was really difficult not to include her from the outset and add her later, whereas with Aigis it was a bit simpler.

"So we said: right, this is going to be a lot of work, but we simply have to sit down and do it."

Gamereactor: Let's talk about the improvements in terms of gameplay. You've also introduced the Baton Pass mechanic here, but how does this affect the overall balance and the difficulty of the dungeons in the TV World (Midnight Channel)?

Kazuhisa Wada: "Yes. Originally, the difficulty of the battle system was set from the outset.

"However, due to the incorporation of new, more powerful mechanics, such as Prime Time, we realised there was a risk that the player could become too strong and that the game would end up being too easy, even compared to Reload.

"We wanted to make a game that wasn't just more powerful, but was also fun to play. So we carried out a lot of testing and put a great deal of effort into level design.

"That's why, for Persona 4 Revival, we've rebuilt the combat system from scratch, including the dungeons, the enemies and their difficulty levels. We knew that by adding features such as <em>Prime Time and Baton Pass, the tendency would be for the game to become easier as we gave the player powerful tools.

"But we didn't want that to happen.

"So we made sure to balance the dungeons and combat so that, even though you have all these powerful tools at your disposal, the balance remains at that optimal point. We want players to continue to have an experience similar to the one they had in the original game."</em>

Gamereactor: [I'm now addressing the art director of Persona 4 Revival, Akane Kabayashi] My final question is about the art style. The music and voice acting are fundamental to the identity of Persona 4. Bearing in mind that Persona 4 Revival unifies the franchise's aesthetic, what are you most proud of in this instalment?

Akane Kabayashi: "Gosh, just one thing? (Laughs). There isn't just one thing, but several:

"One of the things I like most about this game is that you can play right through to the end and see all the skills, statuses, effects and everything else. I'd really like people to be able to see them all, from start to finish. We've put a lot of work into the graphics and improved them. I don't work directly on the events, but the current team is working incredibly hard on all of them, and I think that's one of the most enjoyable parts.

"As art director, I'd say one of the things I've worked on the most has been the user interface. I've had a hand in practically every nook and cranny and every little detail of those different menus: the statuses, the skills, the items and everything else. We made sure that everything really felt like a high-quality title. We put a huge amount of effort into it and I hope people enjoy it.

"Even things like: 'Oh, we want to tweak the pose a little' or 'We want to change the angle' - things like that.

"Beyond the user interface, we've also put a great deal of effort into the dungeons and the outdoor maps to ensure they truly convey the feel of rural Japan in the early 2000s, during Japan's Heisei era. It was great fun to revisit that nostalgic era and then try our very best to capture that feeling using modern development tools.

"Finally, there are the character portraits, the ones that appear in the corner of the screen. We've added loads and loads and loads of expressions. There are more than in any other Persona game to date. We have lots of different small portraits. I think we have over 30 expressions for the game's main characters.

"And really, even for those who only appear in very brief scenes, or who appear just once or twice, we've created new portraits for them. So we hope everyone is looking forward to seeing them and will enjoy all the work we've put into them."

We would like to thank Kazuhisa Wada and Akane Kabayashi for their time and sincerity in granting us this interview.