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Persona 3, 4 & 5 Director Katsura Hashino said that at the time of Persona 3 Atlus were about to collapse and he was told it would be their last game

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Speaking on J-Wave radio Persona 3, 4 & 5 Director Katsura Hashino said that at the time of Persona 3 Atlus were about to collapse and he was told it would be their last game. He said they had to broaden the series' appeal with P3 otherwise the company would disappear.
He struggled to convince some senior staff & said something like “if we make a game that just makes the intense fans happy, how will it attract new people? the company will disappear.”The old fans staff complained a lot saying “It’s changed” But he replied "what if it dies?"...
So in the end they accepted it.He deeply analyzed and broke down the previous games in terms of the systems, settings, themes, etc. to propose the new game to the senior staff and said “this is what the Persona series will become. It will be ok, forgive me.”
Former Shonen Jump Editor Kazuhiko Torishima, also said the story of the company about to collapse & the next game being their last was the same as the first Final Fantasy game!Source: "TOKYO M.A.A.D SPIN" with Yuji Horii, Hashino san and Torishima san
 
Dislike the morbid themes of this game, but I am happy Atlus is still around and gave me Persona 2: Innocent Sin, Persona 4, and Shin Megami Tensei 3.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Because it isn't a game about suicide.
ok to phrase it better, why have the way you activate your persona be.... a gun to your head???

Not like i disapprove or anything but that's not exactly 'casual friendly' people are gonna see that and think its fucking weird and morbid
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
ok to phrase it better, why have the way you activate your persona be.... a gun to your head???

Not like i disapprove or anything but that's not exactly 'casual friendly' people are gonna see that and think its fucking weird and morbid
because the devs thought it would be a bit cool and edgy and the game has a gothic thing going on. I guess they called it right as P3 brought the series from super niche to into the mainstream for JRPGs and Japanese made games. It gave the game a bit of spotlight for having weird concepts like that and despite being the 3rd entry people gave it a chance and it saved them.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
But also a bit offputting. Why would they make a game about suicide when they're trying to branch out??
The game’s theme is around loss and death, each character have and will experience loss.

why have the way you activate your persona be.... a gun to your head???
It mostly symbolize character have to face death, which at end of the game they literary have to fight one.
 
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poodaddy

Gold Member
I appreciate Persona. Despite not caring for the games personally, my wife loves them, and their extreme success allows for SMT's continued existence.
 

YukiOnna

Member
ok to phrase it better, why have the way you activate your persona be.... a gun to your head???

Not like i disapprove or anything but that's not exactly 'casual friendly' people are gonna see that and think its fucking weird and morbid
Because it's cool and it represents the tagline of the game: Memento Mori/Remember you will die.

No different from P4's Card crush, or P5's mask rip.
 

Dream-Knife

Banned
You should also try Shin Megami Tensei 4 and Final/Apocalypse. Great SMT games.
Honestly the best overall games Atlus has made.

Strange Journey has better story, and SMT5 has the best combat now, but 4/4 final are just the complete package of gameplay and story.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
ok to phrase it better, why have the way you activate your persona be.... a gun to your head???

Not like i disapprove or anything but that's not exactly 'casual friendly' people are gonna see that and think its fucking weird and morbid
Because most likely the devs didn’t know how guns are seen in the US. Japan is an incredibly safe country with very little firearms (which is why Yakuza mostly fight with fists, baseball bats, etc.). Remember this was 20 years ago, I doubt a single dev was outside of Japan.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
Well, from what I’ve read about the first two Persona games, they weren’t exactly the kind of stuff that has broad appeal and is expected to be a smash hit.
 
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