Persona PSP Announced by Atlus

Kris Erickson • Jan 16, 2009 • Comments (0)

Atlus has announced plans to bring one of its beloved RPG series to the PSP this spring. The first installment in the Persona franchise will arrive on the PSP in Japan on April 30, 2009. Atlus has said that the handheld game will include additional characters and storylines to explore on top of the original Playstation 1 adventure. Persona first appeared on the PS1 in 1996. It featured a 3D dungeon navigation system similar to Etrian Odyssey and a ¾ overhead view for tactical battles. The story centers around a group of highschool students who possess weapons imbued with mythical beings called personae.

The game is quite unique in that battles in Persona need not always be about fighting. Instead, the player has the option to "Contact" the enemies they encounter in an attempt to communicate with them. Each playable character has a set of different contact commands, which will affect the selected enemy in one of four ways: Joy, Anger, Fear or Interest. Sometimes a chat window will open up and the player will have to select the appropriate response. By making an enemy interested three or four times in a row, the player can obtain that creature’s spell card, which can then be used to summon new Personae.

Persona featured a rich tactical fighting system. Battles take place on a tactical map in the third person view. Each party member is confined to a space on a grid, which dictates the range of their attacks and where they can move during their turn. Ranged weapons can travel over many 'squares' to hit an enemy, while melee attacks are confined to one square. Enemy demons are positioned in front and rear lines on the grid; When the front line is defeated, the rear line advances to take their place.

The Persona series was popular enough to warrant a Western localization and 3 sequels to the original game. Right now there is no word on whether Atlus will bring the PSP port to North America, but we consider it a likely possibility.