Atlus has changed a specific line of dialogue in Persona 4 Revival, leading some to wonder if they got their hopes up for the rumored cut Yosuke romance option returning a bit too early.
Persona 4 is one of those games where there's a lot of curiosity about how Atlus would go about remaking it. Despite Persona 5 eclipsing it in popularity, the discourse around Persona 4 has persisted for decades, and one of the big reasons why people are curious about how it will be remade is Yosuke Hanamura. Yosuke takes on the "bro" archetype that Persona 3's Junpei and Persona 5's Ryuji exist in, and is your protagonist's right-hand man throughout the adventure.
But Yosuke is awkward – especially in the English localization. He creeps on the litany of women throughout the game, plays on insecurities of the party members, and most notably, constantly makes homophobic comments – especially towards Kanji. And while from my perspective of growing up in the era, he's almost a perfect representation of a teenage boy in a world where Family Guy, South Park, and any number of sitcoms were appointment viewing, and giving your friends abuse for the love of the game was a common activity, it's led to him being a disliked character for a portion of the fanbase.
One thing that many point to with Yosuke in regards to his homophobia is an apparently cut romance option with the character where he seemingly confesses his love to the protagonist – as if his comments are a manifestation of his own feelings in a society where people as homophobic as Yosuke exist. And with it becoming more common in games – like Fire Emblem, Hades, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 – to offer same-sex romance options, many were wondering if this scene will be restored in the upcoming remake.
Atlus released a deep dive video for Persona 4 Revival revealing that a line – in which Yosuke awkwardly tells the protagonist that "you do seem to be great with your hands," before catching himself and quickly retracting it – has been changed. In Revival, the line is changed to, "Woah, you can cook? Actually, you do strike me as someone who'd be good at that," which is a pretty straight-forward compliment, and not nearly as debatably flirtatious as the original.
Fans have been quick to react, with one user lamenting: "We definitely aren't getting that romance," while another adds, "Only way the scales balance from this is if they add the Yosuke romance."
However, it's been pointed out that the Revival version of the line is actually more accurate to the original Japanese version, which others do celebrate, hoping it'll make Teddie's character a bit more obviously an oblivious kid than he was in the English version, where many just viewed him as a total creep.
