ThePersonaseries has recently exploded in popularity thanks to the smash hit that wasPersona 5. Following its release, the game has had plenty of spinoff titles that have been keeping thePersonaseries alive in the minds of fanswhile Atlus begins work onPersona 6. One thing that might do the franchise some good, however, would be to releasePersona 4orPersona 4 Goldenon more platforms than it currently exists on. The predecessor toPersona 5has a lot of merits, and it seems like Atlus has somewhat forgotten about the title in favor of spinoff titles forP5.
For one reason or another,Persona 4hasn’t quite gotten the same love from Atlus asPersona 5has. That may be due toP5’s break into the mainstream gaming community, but there’s no reason whyPersona 4couldn’t also do that between mainline releases. The bottom line is thatP4deserves to be played by as many people as possible, and that could easily be done by offering more console ports of the title.
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Growing the Persona Community
While it seems simple, bringing a game to other consoles isn’t as straightforward as it might sound. That said, it would likely be worth Atlus' time to devote some resources into bringingPersona 4to PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms. It takes one look at the excitement surroundingthe remasteredShin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturnethat was released on PC, PS4, and Switch earlier this year to see that fans of Atlus are willing to pick up remastered versions of its older titles alongside newer releases likePersona 5 Strikers.
IfPersona 4were to get a port to home consoles, it would likely help thePersonacommunity grow even further. AsPersonahas gotten extremely popular in the US, making another mainline game available to fans would help spread the word, as it would be recommended to plenty of people who haven’t tried the series yet. While similar recommendations are made witheach new iteration and spinoff ofPersona 5, the fact that outsiders have been hearing about the game and new spinoffs of it for years might make them feel overwhelmed by what to try first. If Atlus rereleasedP4, it could wipe the slate clean for newcomers, as they wouldn’t feel like they have to deal with the sheer number ofPersona 5spinoff titles in order to find out where the true experience is.
Making Persona 6 the Series' Biggest Launch
IfP4was released beforethe announcement and launch ofPersona 6, then it could help make the next mainline entry the biggest the series has ever seen. Although the new title already seems to be set up for success with the popularity ofPersona 5, there’s no telling how big it could be ifPersona 4were to be able to help bring even more fans to the series. Atlus has recently said that the studio is feeling an immense amount of pressure forPersona 6to succeed.
If Atlus is that aware of its position with its fans, then the game will likely not release until it can meet those high expectations. It makes sense then, that if the studio were to be putting in all that work to release a quality title, that it would want to impress the maximum amount of people when it’s finally revealed.P4’s potential newfound popularityon modern consoles could contribute to the excitement for the game.
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Banking Off of the Success of Persona 5
As exampled by the staggering number ofPersona 5spinoffs, fans can’t seem to get enough of thePersonaseries. AlthoughPersona 4certainly had its fair share of spinoffs withgames likePersona 4 Arena,Persona 4 Arena Ultimax,Persona 4: Dancing All Night, andPersona 4 Golden, it never reached the same heights asPersona 5and the games that spun off of it. Now thatPersona 5and more recentlyPersona 5 Royalare regarded as some of the best JRPGs ever made by the mainstream gaming community, fans are itching to go and givePersona 4and its spinoffs a try. Unfortunately, they’re mostly only available on older hardware or on PC.
Persona 4 Golden Steam Release Proves Popularity
Last year,Persona 4 Goldenwas released on Steam, and as of July 2021, it has sold over one million copies worldwide. Despite it existing on only one modern platform, the game sold extremely well for a rerelease of a title from 2008. It’s been ported to a handful of different PlayStation consoles since its PS2 release, and it seems like it would continue selling well if it were to make it to the PS4 or PS5. It seems unlikely that it would be available on Xbox consoles, but no matter where Atlus were to port it,Persona 4 Goldenwould likely prove just as popular as it did on Steam. There just seems like there’s too much going forP4to be continuously ignored by Atlus forever. It’s clear that the studio is hard at work onPersona 6, but it hasn’t had any trouble hiring external studios to work on spinoff titles and releases in the past.
At the end of the day,Persona 4simply deserves to be played. While it might not have received the tidal wave of praise thatPersona 5 Royalgot in 2020,P4Gwas reviewed nearly as well both on PC and on the PlayStation Vita. The stories and characters are so unique, and fans ofPersona 5that haven’t been able to access it would likely fall in love with the series all over again. Fans had hopes thatP4might be ported to other consoles following the game’s Steam success, but so far, there hasn’t been much on that front. Still, it seems like there could be development onP4ports in the final months of the year, as2021 marks the 25th anniversary ofPersona.
Persona 4 Goldenis available on PC, PS2, and PS Vita.
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