Atlus wouldn't leave EP stuck in Japan unless there was some unforeseen situation to cause them to do so. The game being on the PSP isn't enough reason, nor is the normal costs for a project like this.
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Persona 2: Eternal Punishment |Import OT| "I'll accept my punishment... but not now."
- Thread starter cj_iwakura
- Start date
Atlus wouldn't leave EP stuck in Japan unless there was some unforeseen situation to cause them to do so. The game being on the PSP isn't enough reason, nor is the normal costs for a project like this.
Hecatonchires Custom
Member
Maya - Tengu (cast Wall of Wind then cancel)
Maya-Isis
Katsuya-Surya
Baofu-Hell
Two casts of Stone Rise and she's down.
Viola of the Abyss
Member
In case anyone missed it, in the XSeed interview thread Schreier said that there's going to be a similar article on Atlus in the next couple of weeks.
When asked if he questioned them about the status of Eternal Punishment he answered:
The usual indeed.... :/
When asked if he questioned them about the status of Eternal Punishment he answered:
The usual indeed.... :/
Given the PSP2's drought of games this summer (and currently) Atlus is crazy for not announcing a localization to get in on that market, esp. after they released P4U/P4G/P4A all in a span of a year.
I still hold hope, but Atlus lately has been really bizarre in treating their fanbase to some SMT titles.
Just take it with you.
Member
Oh man, I hope it's not something stupid like SCEA blocking it because "it doesn't have enough new content" or some other likely claptrap.
Hmm, so this is one of those PSP games you alluded to on that one WAHP. At least there's an indication that opportunity costs/sales weren't the only reasons for Atlus USA to pass on this like a lot of folks have been saying. I figured it would have to be something weird for a mainline Persona title to get skipped over, it really seemed unthinkable until Etrian Odyssey got announced and it was a wrap.
It's a PSP game. Sony hasn't had a real approval process for PSP games for years. PSP games are basically automatically approved. All the restrictions they had during the first couple years have been gone for a long time.
cj_iwakura
Member
Exactly. It's something on Atlus' end. Whether it's Atlus USA's or Atlus JP's, we can only speculate.
Just take it with you.
Member
Oh, well in that case I guess Atlus Japan must have lost the source code again. 
cj_iwakura
Member
Oh, well in that case I guess Atlus Japan must have lost the source code again.
Call it a hunch, but I'd like to think Atlus JP makes these games knowing full well they're likely to be localized, and makes them easier to recode.
Heck, some of the menu options are in English(upper left graphics mostly). Uses the same cartoony IS font as well. Which is why I think the US text looked so uneven.
bishopcruz
Member
Could it be a music thing? Is "change the way you live" still in the game?
cj_iwakura
Member
You mean Change Your Way, and of course it is. And somehow I highly doubt that's why.
Personally, I think it's because EP bombed in Japan, and IS was slammed by reviewers, because they're sheep.
bishopcruz
Member
Yeah the low scores for IS really bothered me. The game is amazing and it feels like P1, which is a much more deeply flawed game got a huge pass compared to IS. I don't get it. I've been evangelizing this game as much as I can, especially during the latest Atlus sales, but all anyone seems to care about is P3 and P4.
It's just such a goddamned shame because EP is far and away the best game in the series.
cj_iwakura
Member
It's easy to sound like an SMT purist and bemoan this, but it really is true. P3 and P4 sell. Classic Persona games don't. The P3/P4 crowd hate those games for the exact same reason I love them, and it couldn't be a sadder thing.
Of course. No way anyone actually thought it was bad. It's perfect.
cj_iwakura
Member
Innocent Sin was lambasted by reviewers in comparison to modern games, for being 'archaic' and 'outdated' and what have you, when other retro games get glowing treatment for similar features.
Getting shitty reviews didn't stop NIS from bringing over the sequels to those awful Neptunia games. People still went out and bought them. So I don't think that was part of it.
And yet, half the people who played it - Here. On GAF - say its inferior to the original.
Think about that.
cj_iwakura
Member
To Persona 1, or to the PS1 version? Either way, I sure never saw anyone say that.
There's a potentially simple answer here, and I hope I'm wrong.
Neptunia 2 was considerably better than the original and not a bad game really.
SweetTeddie
Member
Isn't there already a translation from the PS1 game? How much could it cost to localize this if that was the case...
bishopcruz
Member
Haven't played much of the PSX IS, but my one complaint about the PSP one was that the combat was 100% brainless once you got some combos. Add that to the fact that I think I switched persona an average of 3 times per character for the ENTIRE GAME, and I will say that the gameplay had some issues. I have also heard people say that the PSX one had better combat balance, and encounter rates, though I can't speak to either of those.
cj_iwakura
Member
^IS PS1 is a very easy game, I've beaten the fan translation as well. The only huge difference is that the final boss is the abrupt difficulty spike from hell.
Technically the PSP version is better balanced, since he's a cinch like the rest of the game is.
EP is a much harder game right from the get-go, in both versions. EP PSP is exactly the same, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Doesn't change the fact that the first was genuinely awful and sold like hotcakes.
It would need updating, and there's a brand new scenario, not to mention they'd probably have to redub it with the cast from IS PSP.
In fact, they'd have to. Jin's EP dub was HORRIBLE. (I actually liked their Eikichi more than Troy Baker's though.)
Technically the PSP version is better balanced, since he's a cinch like the rest of the game is.
EP is a much harder game right from the get-go, in both versions. EP PSP is exactly the same, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Doesn't change the fact that the first was genuinely awful and sold like hotcakes.
It would need updating, and there's a brand new scenario, not to mention they'd probably have to redub it with the cast from IS PSP.
In fact, they'd have to. Jin's EP dub was HORRIBLE. (I actually liked their Eikichi more than Troy Baker's though.)
Sometimes bad games sell. It had an above average script but the mechanics were just completely bananas. Glad it sold enough to get the much improved second one, and hoping Victory is even better.
cj_iwakura
Member
Also, here's some sad food for thought:
Persona 2's OT made it to 16 pages.
Persona 4 Golden's is at 200+ and counting.
Persona 1's, incidentally, got to 9.
Persona 2's OT made it to 16 pages.
Persona 4 Golden's is at 200+ and counting.
Persona 1's, incidentally, got to 9.
buddha0991
Member
Asking this, clunky, archaic, yet completely amazing game to be as popular as one of the slickest, most positive word of mouth games rpgs of the last 8 or so years, is asking a little much.....Love P2 but come on man....Also the P4G topic serves as sort of a Persona General at times, heh. I wish the official Persona general got more hits.
The thing here is that there's a difference between "classic" gameplay and "outdated" gameplay. IS's is the latter. I geninuely stoped playing because I couldn't stomach the gameplay, for example. Funny thing is, I managed to get farther in the PSX original than the psp version. That encounter rate, seriously...
What IS needed was a total remake of the game mechanics (battle system, encounters with enemies, the method in which you get your personas, etc, and maybe graphics, but this one is optional) while keeping everything else the same. If Atlus had done that, the game wouldn't have bombed the way it did imho.
cj_iwakura
Member
There's no way they would've had the budget for that, and it would've pretty much killed the game's appeal for people who started with the early games.
Classic Persona is classic Persona, I can't fathom P2 with P3/4's mechanics.
buddha0991
Member
I can fathom it if its just the Battle system...maybe fix the tarot system up somewhat....It really is a slippery slope honestly.
Being on PSP is one thing. The general word of mouth on the game being "inferior to the PS1 original" is another.
And it's funny, because of all the niche RPG franchises out there, Persona games not only tend to review well, but very highly. They're critical darlings. Hashino directed or not.
And it's funny, because of all the niche RPG franchises out there, Persona games not only tend to review well, but very highly. They're critical darlings. Hashino directed or not.
cj_iwakura
Member
It really wasn't, and I sure never noticed that 'word of mouth'.
IS changed the final boss fight to be easier. That's about it.
They changed up the interface, and it might not be as apparent because it didn't need it like Persona 1 did(boy was that a massive improvement), but there's nothing it lacks that the PS1 version has.
As for EP, it's an absolutely flawless update, and it's one of my favorite games ever, so I should know.
Re: tarot- like most older systems, it's easy to break wide open. Certain monsters give you ample amounts of cards, and with enough free tarot, you can make pretty much any Persona you want with ease.
bishopcruz
Member
Negotiation to get personas is 100% better than shuffle time. I do prefer the P1 way of doing things, with the fusions and all, but honestly it's not hard making personas at all in either of the duology, I don't understand that one at all.
I think the random encounter rate is a bit high in IS, but that is pretty standard for a bunch of retro RPGs, and when you turn off battle animations combat is over in a second. Honestly dungeon crawling in any of the original three games is more fulfilling than the horrible random dungeons in P3/4, and at least P3 felt like you were in an actual constantly changing location, P4's dungeons SUCKED.
ANd all of that is made up for by the amazing story. When I look at all the remakes that have been released over the last 5 years or so, it just seems odd to me that P2 stands out as worse combat than any of them, hell I love the DQ games and their combat is archaic as fuck, but they don't get reamed for it.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
The one time they value gameplay ahead of narrative and...
cj_iwakura
Member
That's a better illustration of what I meant to say. With games like DQ, it's a selling point. Somehow with Persona 2, it's a major flaw.
Which is what I did, but that still doesn't make it any less terrible.
Wonder if it has to do with going from 3/4 back to 2. I can see how that would make someone call it a flaw.
cj_iwakura
Member
Well you can spend a few extra minutes to get a Persona with a very specific skill set that you decide through cards, or spend a few extra hours in the Velvet Room fusing and refusing until the right skills show up...
(Don't get me wrong, I love that system, but it's an SMT throwback more than anything.)
buddha0991
Member
I think that the psp version makes already too easy battles, easy to the point of almost never being threatened with death, combined with the higher encounter rate, makes for a most odd re balance.
I'm not saying implement S.Links or the like, and graphics can stay the same way in what it concerns me. Is Rebalanced encounter rate or a little bit better battle system too much to ask? Oh, and way too many spell types also; they could have slashed half the spell types without killing the game since a lot of them are redundant. Seriously, Garu and Zan in the same game? the classic Persona games are the only ones in the entire Meta-series where they do this.
Hecatonchires Custom
Member
Wait what? Garu is wind and Zan is almighty.
There are plenty of useless spells in 3 and 4 and at least in 2, most fusions allow you to use ANY spell of an element and it's power depends on power of said spell, so they are never truly useless, unlike shit like Old One or the Break spells.
I don't see how the battle system in 2 is outdated especially every single Persona game boils down to selecting commands and watching them unfold. Yeah 1 uses positioning and requires a bit more managing and 2 uses an order based turn system but can someone explain to me why a turn based system like Dragon Quest isn't called outdated while early Persona's is?
TurnipFritters
Member
They're saying that P1 and P2 both have Garu and Zan (as different elements) when every other MegaTen game has only either had Garu or Zan to complete the elemental quad.
robotzombie
Member
So is this one like Innocent Sin in that its so painfully easy it barely registers as an actual video game to the point of not even being really fun unless you care a great, great deal about the story?
Hecatonchires Custom
Member
I don't see how this can even be considered a complaint since every Persona does things a bit differently from the rest, like P4 being the only game that didn't split Physical into Sword/Shot/Bash. It's not THAT big of a deal.
No, it's actually harder.
TurnipFritters
Member
I think you can definitely make the case that P1 has too many damage types, especially when they're largely irrelevant and indistinguishable (ie, you have one for every type of weapon, but physical abilities might as well just be broken down into "Guns" and "Not Guns").
What bothers me about EP location is that they recently ported 2 PSP games that sold like shit (sorry Growlanser fans, nothing against you), but they didn't port EP that would sell more for sure and also would definitely cost less since they have, what, 90% of the game already translated?
Also, this thread makes me depressed.
The funny thing is that P1 didn't suffer the same treatment.
Also, this thread makes me depressed.
The funny thing is that P1 didn't suffer the same treatment.
graywolf323
Member
I'm still holding out hope that it will get released in America
happy to see this thread already at 2 pages in less than a week
happy to see this thread already at 2 pages in less than a week
Hecatonchires Custom
Member
Fire, Ice, Wind, Electric, Nuclear, Earth, Holy, Dark, Gravity, Blast. You have 3 more spell types than 3 or 4 and that's too much? If anything it gives you a lot more options and allows a wider diversity of Personae.
*localization
TurnipFritters
Member
P1 has sixteen magic damage types (four damage types in four categories) and then and fourteen weapon damage types. This is too many damage types, especially when resistances are generally against the broader categories rather then the individual damage types (ie, strong versus Elemental or weak to Guns), making most of the abilities redundant.