Most of Atlus' Persona series has received a remake of sorts, with Persona 3 Reload being the most recent - except for the first two games, although that could change one day.
Speaking in an interview with GameSpot, long-time Persona producer and P-Studio director Kazuhisa Wada reveals that remakes of the JRPG series' original two entries aren't underway right now - but that doesn't mean that they won't ever be. As work on Persona 3 Reload wraps up with the arrival of its game-sized epilogue DLC, Episode Aigis, Wada explains that Persona 1 and 2 remakes have been on his mind despite there being no official plans for them yet.
"It is not on my schedule right now," says the producer. "I would like to do it someday." It's enough to fill me with hope - after all, the Persona 3 remake came almost two decades after its original 2006 release in Japan. That lengthy period between an original and its modern iteration is a large reason why nailing a remake is so challenging. With Persona 3, "the most difficult task was to create a production structure and get the project drafted and approved."
After almost 20 years, Wada says developers "had to find the best way to convey the essence of the content, which was divisive at the time, and how to tune it for the better." Portraying characters that hadn't appeared for so long and "the game's themes in an appealing way" was understandably deserving of a more involved process. The same would likely apply to any Persona 1 or 2 remakes - which could be why they aren't in the works yet.
Persona's remakes and improved re-releases, from Persona 3 Reload to Persona 5 Royal, are more than successful enough to warrant Atlus' return to the series' darker origins. They also introduce new fans to games that they never would've otherwise played - I grew to love Persona thanks to Persona 4 Golden myself, and have played every entry aside from 1 and 2 since. If Wada gets his "someday," though, that could very well change.
While you wait for more remakes from Atlus, check out the best JRPGs to try now.
