Atlus might be busy finishing up Persona 4 Revival and preparing for the highly anticipated Persona 6. However, it seems the P-Studio development team could announce another remake sooner or later. Alleged leaked footage of a Persona 1 remake has surfaced online, showing the original game’s cast and locations. This time, unsurprisingly, it’s fully reimagined with 3D graphics and a stylish interface not unlike newer entries.
Leaked footage of the Persona 1 remake opens with a splash screen in Japanese that reads, “Game System Introduction: Field – Otherworldly Hospital Exploration.” It then shows the Protagonist exploring a desolate hospital hallway, with desks and debris scattered around the fully 3D environment. He’s shown wielding a katana in the same pose as Yu Narukami does in Persona 4 games.
Masao ‘Mark’ Inaba’s portrait appears on the left side of the screen, like party members communicate in newer Persona games. He nervously asks, “What… is this. Hey, is anyone here?!” Another St. Hermelin student, Kei Nanjo, responds, warning him to be more careful. In this version, Mark appears to retain his original Japanese design rather than the altered Western version.
An enemy suddenly appears, prompting the Protagonist to start combat with a preemptive strike. The battle interface sports the flashy presentation associated with the last three Persona games. Although the fonts feel more graffiti-like, with squiggly, mystical-feeling typography effects. Debug text is also visible in the upper-left corner, while the combat seemingly uses the Press Turn system. Rather interestingly, however, Persona 2 protagonist Tatsuya Suou’s HD character model appears as a placeholder for the Protagonist during the battle instead.
Afterward, the footage switches to an unfinished, storyboard-like cutscene taking place outside the Yin&Yan convenience store. Mark and the protagonist casually eat cup noodles beside a pixelated, bloodied zombie corpse, with Mark asking for a bite. Several bystanders immediately run away terrified, despite Mark’s attempts to explain the situation. Meanwhile, their friends, Hidehiko Uesugi and Yuka Ayase, are rowdily browsing magazines inside the store. Standing nearby, Eriko ‘Elly’ Kirishima seemingly reports the zombie incident over the phone. Mark then calls the Protagonist as ‘Pierce’ or ‘Boy with Earring’ — a nickname used in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment — to get ready to clean up some mess.
Of course, so far the 360p-only Persona 1 remake footage’s authenticity remains unverified. After all, with the help of AI these days, you cannot rule out any elaborate fakes. On the other hand, though, many Japanese tech and gaming companies, including Capcom and Bandai Namco, have recently suffered cyberattacks. Unauthorized access to highly confidential development footage could be possible as well.
Still, if this is all real, then we might finally be getting a Persona 1 remake 17 years after the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona PSP remaster was released. And with the Persona 2 protagonist character model existing, well, let’s hope Atlus is laying the groundwork for another long-awaited remake.
