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A recent Atlus rumor has revived the hopes of fans hoping to see a modern version of the Persona games that undoubtedly have the biggest cult fanbase, Persona 2: Innocent Sin & Eternal Punishment. The 1999 and 2000 games predate many of the modern mainstays of the franchise and thus are an interesting look back into what was, but simultaneously, if there is a Persona 2 remake on the horizon, there are a handful of things that the fans need to see.
3D Visual Update
While it might be interesting to see a 2D-pixel remake of Persona 2 a la the recent Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, the visuals of the latest entries to the main series Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Royal are just too impressive not to want to see Persona 2: Innocent Sin & Eternal Punishment get the same treatment. The original games do have some 3D in the occasional pre-rendered cutscene but they are… let’s just say products of their time.
Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment Bundled
For anyone unaware, Persona 2 isn’t a singular game like the other main-series titles in the series, but rather one story spread across two games titled Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. In the rumor concerning Atlus’ development of this remake, nothing is explicitly mentioned concerning whether just one or both of these games will be getting a remake. Hopefully, the remake will be both games bundled together into one complete experience. The original Persona 2: Eternal Punishment allowed save data from Innocent Sin to be imported in, and if the games were combined in the remake, then the bonuses that came from save data imports before could become a seamless transition from Innocent Sin to Eternal Punishment in this remade experience.
That Modern Persona Flair
One of the best things about Persona 3 Reload is how it took the story and gameplay of one of the franchise’s most classic entries and reimagined it with the beloved visual flair of this latest era. The menus, battle animations, and movement around Tartarus all have that unique style that newer fans would expect after playing Persona 5. It would be great to see a remake of Persona 2 also adapting a similar style while simultaneously taking the original game’s aesthetic into consideration, something Atlus did tremendously on Persona 3 Reload.
No More Random Encounters
Running down hallways past shadow after shadow may not be a perfect system for battle encounters, but at this point in the JRPG zeitgeist, it just feels like random encounters should be out of the question. Some veteran players still cling to the classic system, but many recognize it as the frustrating momentum killer that it was and aren’t particularly torn up about its retirement. With that in mind, while the random encounter rate in Persona 2 isn’t nearly as egregious as Persona 1, the experience could still be well streamlined by adopting something similar to the shadow systems of more modern Persona entries.
Social Links
The original Persona 3 is famously the game that introduced social links to the franchise. While Persona 2 certainly had some optional socializing and romancing available, seeing social links fully implemented in the remake would be greatly appreciated. It would be interesting to see which Persona 2 characters Atlus has in mind to take on the various Arcanas.
