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Atlus Dir./Prod. Kazuhisa Wada tells fans to look forward to future persona news. PCentral says Atlus 5 year plan from 2018 was disrupted by COVID

nsilvias

nsilvias

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,701
Wada quote from concert flyer:

It is also with great sadness that we must bring an end to the everlasting momentum of Persona's 25th anniversary. With the "Persona Super Live P-Sound Wish 2022: Crossing Journeys" live concert, we would like to conclude it. There are so many things I would like to tell you, but I deeply apologise for not being able to do so on this occasion. I would like to share them with you at the right time, so please look forward to more information about the Persona series in the future.
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Also
At the end of 2021, Wada implied that various changes had been going on behind the scenes into 2022 as the team worked on various projects all at once, but stated remaining optimistic would be important.
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Source: https://personacentral.com/psw2022-wada-message/

Wada during 2018
For me, 2019 is a very important year. We've been making progress on the various products underway up to now, improving our environment and making preliminary arrangements, and finally it will be time to execute on these plans. Depending on the developments of 2019, the next 5 years will change. It will be a year of victory or defeat.
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Source: https://personacentral.com/famitsu-...asy-and-shin-megami-tensei-v-updates-in-2019/

Also an extensive timeline of the concerts production and how it was disrupted by covid and planned

Source: https://personacentral.com/psw2022-producer-diary/
 
SketchDog

SketchDog

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Nov 25, 2021
2,661
Toronto
Yeah it sounds like something happened here and the anniversary announcement plans went off the rails. People who have information on it were talking about this in the main anniversary thread. Sounds like they have a remake or remakes in the works and then of course P6.
 
Ekid

Ekid

Member
Dec 21, 2017
1,638
Atlus as a whole is having a rough time these days:

-SMT V felt like it was wrapped up in a rush despite being in dev for 5+ years
-Soul hacker 2 was a hd game made with a 3ds game budget
-Etrian Odyssey has disappeared since 2018
-Re Fantasy since 2017

They have been surfing on Persona 5 success for what feel like an eternity now.
 
Mediking

Mediking

Final Fantasy Best Boy (Grip)
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Oct 25, 2017
21,909
St. Louis City, Missouri aka Persona 3's Dorm
Ekid said:
Atlus as a whole is having a rough time these days:

-SMT V felt like it was wrapped up in a rush despite being in dev for 5+ years
-Soul hacker 2 was a hd game made with a 3ds game budget
-Etrian Odyssey has disappeared since 2018
-Re Fantasy since 2017

They have been surfing on Persona 5 success for what feel like an eternity now.
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I personally disagree but I am kinda biased… SMTV is a good game. Persona 5 Strikers was fun. Re Fantasy has prolly being pushed by Sony to be a PS5 game now (my own personal theory). And they're prolly figuring out how to do modern EO on Switch. I haven't played Soul Hackers 2 yet but I heard good things about it.

They were prolly really shocked by how big a hit P5 was but they know it's time to move on. Most diehard Atlus and Persona fans I know are tired of seeing Joker all the time. But I will buy Royal on Switch as a send off lol And don't get me wrong. Atlus has their issues and problems for sure
 
Helix

Helix

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Jun 8, 2019
23,729
Clearly the pandemic fucked it all up for them, Re:Fantasy has been known to enter the climax of development twice now and still we have no idea when its even scheduled. I still believe that the lead time for their next projects be it P6, the Next Etrian or Re:Fantasy will be a short one tho.
 
Kyrios

Kyrios

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,600
I think it's safe to say most plans got eff'd by Covid for basically everyone.
 
PimentaGui

PimentaGui

Member
Jul 29, 2021
511
Eventually persona 6 will be announced that's for sure now i worry about Project Re Fantasy

For a game that was announced in 2016 i just want some sign that it's still alive
 
Soriku

Soriku

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,890
Unless they pull another Megaten game out their ass we are going to need to see their next major game (P6, ReFantasy, etc) sometime soon now that SMTV and Soul Hackers 2 have been out.
 
mas8705

mas8705

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,497
I can understand that it might not be a good idea to make any big announcements if they aren't ready yet. That and it does seem like some people look at the games we've been getting as of late and act as though we didn't just have a pandemic that caused a lot of development issues.

That said, the big issue we seem to face here is how after a whole year of "Persona Build Up," it was... done. Meanwhile, I can't help but ponder what exactly will be next since we probably won't hear much else at least until maybe next summer if we are being generous, but even then that might be wishful thinking.

Speaking of announcements, I guess I missed the "Project Re Fantasy." Didn't know what it was, and the best I could find was the aforementioned "Reaching Climax" from December of last year. Between all of that and what we could see in the future, I can wait to see what happens. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer until we see something come out. At least the future is looking a touch hopeful if the recent trend of "Get our games on as many platforms as possible" is an indicator.
 
SinnyIndonesian

SinnyIndonesian

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Feb 16, 2022
14,427
PimentaGui said:
Eventually persona 6 will be announced that's for sure now i worry about Project Re Fantasy

For a game that was announced in 2016 i just want some sign that it's still alive
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Bear in mind that when it was announced they had just started building the studio, and intent to recruit staff with the announcement. All they had were an idea and some concept art. Production likely didn't start until 2018 or maybe even 2019.
 
Biske

Biske

Member
Nov 11, 2017
8,255
I dunno, its not like they are strangers to half baked barebones announcements years in advance. They could totally say "Persona 6" with a background of a cubicle with chains on it and have it be on brand, and we would all be excited like always knowing its not coming for god knows how long.
 
Hoa

Hoa

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Jun 6, 2018
4,294
Where the damn Etrian news at tho?! That's what I want! Damn we were spoiled with the 3DS 😂
 
Willin

Willin

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,081
I'm not surprised that COVID threw the timetable into disarray but could you have not just said 'Hey we are working on the next Persona game'.
 
SketchDog

SketchDog

Member
Nov 25, 2021
2,661
Toronto
Willin said:
I'm not surprised that COVID threw the timetable into disarray but could you have not just said 'Hey we are working on the next Persona game'.
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It sounds like there's going to be some surprises rather than just stating the obvious that there's a persona 6 in the works. I'm guessing they have some plan to unveil it on their own terms when it's best for them.
 
Ashes of Dreams

Ashes of Dreams

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May 22, 2020
14,312
Mediking said:
I personally disagree but I am kinda biased… SMTV is a good game. Persona 5 Strikers was fun. Re Fantasy has prolly being pushed by Sony to be a PS5 game now (my own personal theory). And they're prolly figuring out how to do modern EO on Switch. I haven't played Soul Hackers 2 yet but I heard good things about it.

They were prolly really shocked by how big a hit P5 was but they know it's time to move on. Most diehard Atlus and Persona fans I know are tired of seeing Joker all the time. But I will buy Royal on Switch as a send off lol And don't get me wrong. Atlus has their issues and problems for sure
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Both SMT V and Soul Hackers 2 are good games, I had a decent time with both. But they are also very flawed games and it's very easy to identify the problems. SMT V's story is a mess and feels slapdash towards the end and all the major areas kind of feels like pallet swaps of each other visually. Soul Hackers 2 has some of the most barebone and repetitive dungeons I've seen in a JRPG. They are good games in spite of their flaws but both strongly leave me feeling "what happened?"
 
TaleSpun

TaleSpun

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,449
I gotta be honest: Everyone's plan was disrupted.

Like I always want to be super understanding about COVID effecting logistics of basically every kind, but they did a year long anniversary celebration for a video game franchise without a single brand new game announcement. I'm not even asking for a blowout. Not even a trailer, honestly. But not even a hard confirmation? Not a logo? After a year? That's an L you absolutely don't have to take. And like, whatever, I'm not upset even though I guess this post will read that way. I'm just kinda flabbergasted by the whole campaign. Most game publishers waste a few hours of our time every year. That's just the business. Whatever. It's fine, truly. But a whole year? Idk man, Atlus is different lol
 
Lampa

Lampa

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Feb 13, 2018
3,571
TaleSpun said:
I gotta be honest: Everyone's plan was disrupted.

Like I always want to be super understanding about COVID effecting logistics of basically every kind, but they did a year long anniversary celebration for a video game franchise without a single brand new game announcement. I'm not even asking for a blowout. Not even a trailer, honestly. But not even a hard confirmation? Not a logo? After a year? That's an L you absolutely don't have to take. And like, whatever, I'm not upset even though I guess this post will read that way. I'm just kinda flabbergasted by the whole campaign. Most game publishers waste a few hours of our time every year. That's just the business. Whatever. It's fine, truly. But a whole year? Idk man, Atlus is different lol
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It was more like 2 years long, they organized multiple concerts and whatnot during that time. I wonder how they will announce those games in the future, it would be so weird if they just drop a trailer during one of the big console manufacturers presentations.
Ashes of Dreams said:
Both SMT V and Soul Hackers 2 are good games, I had a decent time with both. But they are also very flawed games and it's very easy to identify the problems. SMT V's story is a mess and feels slapdash towards the end and all the major areas kind of feels like pallet swaps of each other visually. Soul Hackers 2 has some of the most barebone and repetitive dungeons I've seen in a JRPG. They are good games in spite of their flaws but both strongly leave me feeling "what happened?"
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I like the Switch, a lot, but SMT V does not work well on it. Not only almost everything looks the same, but the amount of vaseline on the screen makes it hard to identify anything.
 
Lukish

Lukish

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May 30, 2022
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NI
Yeah, something definitely happened. Having last announcement be release date for previously announced game is such a weak move. Ive seen a lo of people unhappy with anniversary as whole and its relatable. Japanese exclusive merch and popups, 2 remasters announced and thats it. Sega delivered remake, 2 new mainline games and shadow dropped Judgment duology in one event. I really hope whatever atlus cooking is great, because theres no fanfare now. Re:fantasy havent had news in years besides yearly new years cards, vanillaware is quiet, persona 6 is likely in works and soul hackers 2 really was disappointing in many qol aspects.
 
TaleSpun

TaleSpun

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Oct 25, 2017
9,449
Lukijs said:
Yeah, something definitely happened. Having last announcement be release date for previously announced game is such a weak move. Ive seen a lo of people unhappy with anniversary as whole and its relatable. Japanese exclusive merch and popups, 2 remasters announced and thats it. Sega delivered remake, 2 new mainline games and shadow dropped Judgment duology in one event. I really hope whatever atlus cooking is great, because theres no fanfare now. Re:fantasy havent had news in years besides yearly new years cards, vanillaware is quiet, persona 6 is likely in works and soul hackers 2 really was disappointing in many qol aspects.
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It's especially weird because multiple anniversaries have delivered this year. SE especially over delivered with KH and FFVII anniversary events. Dragon's Dogma was kinda weird for Capcom, but to their credit they did finally confirm DD2. That's all you have to do. I'm happy to get P3-5 ports, but just literally nothing about the future after two years of buildup is absolutely nuts.
 
Lukish

Lukish

Member
May 30, 2022
474
NI
TaleSpun said:
It's especially weird because multiple anniversaries have delivered this year. SE especially over delivered with KH and FFVII anniversary events. Dragon's Dogma was kinda weird for Capcom, but to their credit they did finally confirm DD2. That's all you have to do. I'm happy to get P3-5 ports, but just literally nothing about the future after two years of buildup is absolutely nuts.
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Ye. Others did pretty well despite the circumstances. Cant wait now for next years concert to hope for P6 reveal and god knows if theres anything else
 
HylianSeven

HylianSeven

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Oct 25, 2017
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This year is the 30th anniversary of Shin Megami Tensei. I hope if they plan something for that, they don't over promise. The usually keep these things reigned in for SMT though.
 
Dr.Osiris

Dr.Osiris

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Oct 14, 2018
892
Looking forward to p4g on switch!

v3_main_visual_1f51451309a7fd7cccfc1d1c2bffe9a0.png
 
Tailzo

Tailzo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,912
Mediking said:
I personally disagree but I am kinda biased… SMTV is a good game. Persona 5 Strikers was fun. Re Fantasy has prolly being pushed by Sony to be a PS5 game now (my own personal theory). And they're prolly figuring out how to do modern EO on Switch. I haven't played Soul Hackers 2 yet but I heard good things about it.

They were prolly really shocked by how big a hit P5 was but they know it's time to move on. Most diehard Atlus and Persona fans I know are tired of seeing Joker all the time. But I will buy Royal on Switch as a send off lol And don't get me wrong. Atlus has their issues and problems for sure
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SH2 was fun, but low budget
 
danm999

danm999

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Oct 29, 2017
17,087
Sydney
Hmm would have thought we'd have heard about Persona 6 by now.

But maybe they wanna avoid the whole Persona 5 thing where they had to push its release back several times year after year
 
Secret Bambino

Secret Bambino

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Mar 21, 2021
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PimentaGui said:
Eventually persona 6 will be announced that's for sure now i worry about Project Re Fantasy

For a game that was announced in 2016 i just want some sign that it's still alive
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SkinnyIndonesian said:
Bear in mind that when it was announced they had just started building the studio, and intent to recruit staff with the announcement. All they had were an idea and some concept art. Production likely didn't start until 2018 or maybe even 2019.
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Also, Studio Zero developed Catherine: Full Body in the meantime, which released in 2019 (Feb in Japan, Oct in Western countries and EU).
 
Chaos2Frozen

Chaos2Frozen

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Nov 3, 2017
28,017
I forgot about the Covid modifier.

Atlus is probably an old fashion as fuck company with absolutely zero means to cope in a covid environment, so Persona 6 is probably even further away than people thought.
 
Symphony

Symphony

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Oct 27, 2017
4,361
Persona 5's announcement was just a logo (not even the final logo) implying a vague theme, there really isn't much reason they couldn't have at least shown that at the end of the concert unless they don't even have an idea of if they're making a mainline Persona game next. I mean look at Bayonetta, Elder Scrolls, Metroid Prime etc. (heck, Etrian Odyssey on Switch, that got a logo and nothing since), simply putting out a logo to say "yeah we're making one, stop asking" is good enough to make fans happy.
 
SinnyIndonesian

SinnyIndonesian

Member
Feb 16, 2022
14,427
Symphony said:
Persona 5's announcement was just a logo (not even the final logo) implying a vague theme, there really isn't much reason they couldn't have at least shown that at the end of the concert unless they don't even have an idea of if they're making a mainline Persona game next. I mean look at Bayonetta, Elder Scrolls, Metroid Prime etc. (heck, Etrian Odyssey on Switch, that got a logo and nothing since), simply putting out a logo to say "yeah we're making one, stop asking" is good enough to make fans happy.
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People still make fun of the early Persona 5 reveals to this day, so maybe they just don't want a repeat of that.
 
Virtua Sanus

Virtua Sanus

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Nov 24, 2017
6,492
I am fine with mainline Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games being once a generation releases personally. I feel like their output is relatively balanced right now and will probably speed up again once they no longer have to port everything. I could see their pace being comparable to Ryu ga Gotoku Studio if they consider the scale of their current games sufficient. People are pretty mixed on Soul Hackers 2 in particular, but I feel like a sequel or some sort of followup would iron out most of its issues and they would have a solid foundation to work with going forward.

Etrian Odyssey going totally MIA is a big loss though. They need to figure out what to do with that and soon.
 
Kromeo

Kromeo

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Oct 27, 2017
17,820
Symphony said:
Persona 5's announcement was just a logo (not even the final logo) implying a vague theme, there really isn't much reason they couldn't have at least shown that at the end of the concert unless they don't even have an idea of if they're making a mainline Persona game next. I mean look at Bayonetta, Elder Scrolls, Metroid Prime etc. (heck, Etrian Odyssey on Switch, that got a logo and nothing since), simply putting out a logo to say "yeah we're making one, stop asking" is good enough to make fans happy.
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I wouldn't say what they've done with Prime 4 has made people happy lol
 
Nahobinbro

Nahobinbro

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Jun 7, 2022
294
What's the deal with Im A Hero Too? People seem to be taking their comments as credible, what's that based on?
 
Symphony

Symphony

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4,361
Kromeo said:
I wouldn't say what they've done with Prime 4 has made people happy lol
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Well, that's down to how they handled things afterwards - total radio silence ever since - but realistically a logo tease and a statement saying it'll be a while before they can show more buys them a couple of years. At the moment we're in a state where they won't even officially announce they are working on a P6, that gives the idea that it could still be 3+ years away (given the length of development nowadays for games).

SkinnyIndonesian said:
People still make fun of the early Persona 5 reveals to this day, so maybe they just don't want a repeat of that.
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I mean it didn't hurt sales, did it? Instead we've just had a full celebration year mocking them for scented candles, it makes it seem like they're milking P5 to death.
 
SinnyIndonesian

SinnyIndonesian

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Feb 16, 2022
14,427
Symphony said:
I mean it didn't hurt sales, did it? Instead we've just had a full celebration year mocking them for scented candles, it makes it seem like they're milking P5 to death.
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Could just be new policy not to announce stuff without proper release dates/windows? With SEGA pushing for multiplatform global launches, I imagine a lot of things are changing internally.
 
Yata

Yata

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Feb 1, 2019
2,959
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I fully believe plans were disrupted and I still think we MUST get a P6 teaser before the year ends, BUT I am puzzled at what exactly they are planning. I agree with most of you all that they could just show a logo and people would be more than happy.
 
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