Persona 4 Revival's new character isn't a Social Link after all, Atlus clarifies, but something else entirely: "We apologize for the confusion"

Atlus has cleared up some miscommunication that there will be a new social link in Persona 4 Revival, with the character set to be a "Location Episode Character."

Last week, Atlus dropped a bombshell surprise on the Persona fanbase. During the Persona 4 Revival broadcast it was revealed that a fan-favorite character from Persona 4: The Animation, Aika Nakamura, is a new Social Link. Aika is the daughter of the owner of Aiya Restaurant, where the 'Rainy Day Mega Beef Bowl Challenge' takes place.

However, in Persona 4 Golden she's only mentioned by the owner rather than appearing, so it was a big shock that not only is she being added to its remake, but would be a new Social Link. Not only that, but after Persona series producer Kazuhisa Wada said it was too much work to add Yosuke's seemingly cut romance option, some saw an entirely new Social Link as antithetical to that comment.

Atlus has since clarified that Aika's status as a Social Link was actually an error. The Atlus West account posts on Twitter saying, "We want to correct one key detail from the English language version of the Persona Broadcast that listed Aika Nakamura as a new Social Link. Aika is indeed a Location Episode Character and not a Social Link." The post adds, "we apologize for the confusion."

Location Episodes seem to be Persona 4 Revival's fake Social Link equivalent. These were added in Persona 3 Reload as Linked Episodes, allowing the male party members – who didn't have them in the original game – to have their own pseudo-Social Link scenes. Thankfully, the Linked Episodes gave new Personas, so presumably the Location Episodes could too.

Aika is currently the only character confirmed to have a Location Episode for the time being, but I hope Funky Student is one of them.

Persona 4 Revival lead said Atlus wanted "a whole new cast," but one actor is reprising his role from the OG JRPG anyway: "True!"