Now the remake is official, let's break down exactly what to expect.
It’s time to tune back into the Midnight Channel now that the Persona 4 remake has officially been announced. After 17 years since the original game launched on the PS Vita, a remake is well overdue and, given how long it’s been rumoured, it’s comforting to finally have the game see the light of day. But despite the fact it’s now in the public eye, we haven’t exactly had a lot of information to go off.
You may be thinking to yourself, “isn’t that what Persona 4 Golden is for, though?” to which I’d respond with a hearty “no”. Persona 4 Golden was the key to getting the 2008 game onto Steam, but it still had that classic (for lack of a better word) look to it which definitely put a lot of people off playing it. Persona 4 Revival, on the other hand, is a complete visual overhaul, bringing the game more up to speed with the current look of the Persona series.
Outside of its look though, information about the game—in particular what will change from the original and its remake—is incredibly thin on the ground. We’ve pulled together everything we currently know about Persona 4 Revival, and we’ll continue to update this page as we learn more so you stay in the loop of one of the most anticipated remakes.
When will Persona 4 Revival release?
There is no release window for Persona 4 Revival yet. Despite its teaser trailer drumming up a lot of excitement, we weren’t even met with a “coming soon” at the end. Instead, a “Wishlist now” screen popped up, which definitely suggests that it could be a while before we get our hands on it. In fact, there isn’t even a Steam listing yet.
Persona 4 Revival trailers
The first—and currently only—trailer for Persona 4 Revival was shared at the Xbox Games Showcase, and as exciting as it was to finally get a look at the rumoured game it really doesn’t give a lot away. There’s a shot of a Yasogami classroom, the Inaba Shopping District, the Samegawa Floodplain, and Mysterious Fox’s shrine. But aside from that, we’re not working with a whole lot. With that being said, the game definitely looks the part, and even this visual upgrade is enough to get players excited to jump back in.
What will change in Persona 4 Revival?
It’s challenging to even speculate what might change about the game given how little we’ve seen from it. Until we get a good look at the gameplay, there’s no use pulling apart the trailer to see what’s changed. There’s a good chance that the procedurally generated dungeons from Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden will receive the same treatment as Persona 5, meaning each dungeon becomes fully designed instead. It would also be nice to see save points added to the dungeons too, since the original game didn’t give you the opportunity to take a break without leaving the dungeon entirely, which was definitely one of the downsides of the whole game.
If the remake is anything like Persona 3 Reload, there’s a strong chance that we’ll get some new dialogue between characters and some updated music too. We already know that some of the original voice actors weren’t invited back to work on Revival, and having an entirely new cast definitely makes new dialogue more likely.
Combat will likely be modernised too, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the baton pass system from Persona 5 implemented in some way. Persona 3 Reload had a similar mechanic called Shift, which let you use a different character to take over another’s “one more turn” phase. But, unlike baton pass, the shift mechanic doesn’t give any status buffs. As a result, I wouldn’t be surprised if Revival implemented its own version of Baton Pass, if not just getting the entire mechanic as it functions from P5.
Improved social links would also be a welcome addition to Revival. Ranking up your social links in Persona 4 was pretty challenging given there was no visual indication as to where your relationship stood with someone. If no significant changes are made to this element, having a visible relationship meter that pops up each time you talk to a character would definitely be a worthy change to make. Until we see a little more in-depth gameplay though, we’ll just have to keep hoping for what will change.
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