I've Played 200+ Hours Of Persona 4, Here's 10 Things I Want From The Rumored Remake

Rumors have been circulating that Persona 4 may be getting a remake soon similar to Persona 3 Reload. As someone who has sunk several days' worth of play time into Persona 4 Golden, I would be thrilled to see a new version of my favorite Persona game with some of the updates the series has made since its initial release. As much as I love the original, there are definitely some aspects that feel dated and could use a revamp. To be clear, there is still no official word on whether a Persona 4 remake is in the works. However, there continue to be more clues about a potential remake, which hopefully gets announced at Atlus' Xbox Games Showcase appearance on June 8. I already know what I'd most like to see from the remake if the rumors are true. 10 A Persona 4 Remake Should Use Persona 3 Reload's Visual Style Persona 3 Reload Preserves Persona's Style While Improving The Visuals Persona 3 Reload did a great job both updating Persona's visual style while also retaining the series' style. While I don't think we were ever in danger of getting a photo-realistic Persona game, updating the graphics can sometimes have the unintended consequence of losing what makes a series special. For example, while I think Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth does an excellent job with its cast of characters, some of the NPCs can feel a little stock and generic. My hope is that a Persona 4 remake would stick with the style established by Persona 3 Reload. Related Persona5: The Phantom X Sets Global Release Date, Ending China Exclusivity Free-to-play Persona 5 spin-off The Phantom X is finally getting a global release date, ending its exclusivity to China and launching worldwide. Atlus already has updated models for the Persona 4 crew from Persona 4: Dancing All Night. These would likely get touched up or redesigned a bit for the new game, but this could be a good place to look to get an idea of what a new version of the Investigation Team could look like. Of course, visuals are just part of the process of updating Persona 4, and most of the changes I'd like to see are mechanical. 9 Persona 4 Needs Its Own Baton Pass Baton Pass Mechanics Help Move Combat Along Persona 5 introduced the Baton Pass mechanic, which allows you to pass one character's turn to another. You can only do this after knocking an enemy down with a critical hit or by hitting their weakness. By strategically targeting weaknesses, it's possible to string together Baton Passes in a satisfying sequence that ends with every enemy defeated or knocked down, opening up the chance for an All-Out Attack. Persona 3 Reload also adopted this mechanic, renaming it Shift, and removing some of the bonuses from Persona 5 Royal that you could add to Baton Passes. A Persona 4 remake should adopt this mechanic to help keep the pace of combat up. It would also feel like a step backwards for the series if a new Persona 4 game didn't include one of the best combat innovations from Persona 5. Not having it could risk making the combat feel slow and dated. 8 The Persona 4 Remake Needs To Minimize Grinding The Original Persona 4 Required A Lot Of Grinding To Level Up One thing I dread when going back to replay Persona 4 Golden is knowing I'm going to have to farm golden hands to level up. Grinding doesn't really make the game any harder, it just adds to the amount of time you have to spend wandering around dungeons looking for rare enemies. A Persona 4 remake should focus on having more exciting ways for players to gain levels. Persona 3 Reload has a really great solution to this with its Monad doors. These areas had difficult optional enemies to fight, and if you defeated all of them, you wouldn't really have to grind. The game also made it easier to find rare enemies that offer a lot of XP by putting them on the mini map. Either or both of these solutions could help keep a Persona 4 remake from having to include too much grinding. Metaphor: ReFantazio Allows Players To Defeat Weak Enemies Without Entering Turn-Based Mode Although not a Persona game, Atlus' fantasy RPG, Metaphor: ReFantazio, comes close enough that it wouldn't be too hard to imagine a Persona 4 remake taking some inspiration from it. One thing it should absolutely seal is Metaphor's way of handling weaker enemies. Instead of having to enter turn-based combat, you're able to defeat low-level enemies in Metaphor: ReFantazio while still in exploration mode by attacking them in real time. Not having to enter a turn-based combat sequence just to do a fight you already know you're going to win saves a lot of time and frustration. Related Persona5: The Phantom X - Release Date, Platforms, Changes, & Character Details After only being available in a few regions, Persona5: The Phantom X is now getting a full release that will be available this summer. This mechanic would also be really nice for revisiting dungeons in a Persona 4 remake. In Persona 4 Golden, after you finish a dungeon, a new optional boss will spawn at the end of it in place of the old boss. While these are worth battling for XP and some solid item drops, it can be annoying to have to trek back through the dungeon. It would be a lot less tedious if you could take out enemies quickly using the mechanic from Metaphor: ReFantazio, instead of always having to enter turn-based combat. 6 Persona 4's Remake Should Reunite The Original Voice Cast Some Persona 4 Spinoffs Replaced Voice Actors Due To Scheduling Part of what makes Persona 4 Golden my favorite game in the series is the chemistry between the main cast. More than any other Persona game, these characters feel like a cohesive group of friends. While we see some individual characters like Fuuka and Yukari in other games forming one-on-one connections, Persona 4 easily has the best whole-group dynamic. This is in no small part due to the stellar voice cast and how well they all bounce off each other. If we get a Persona 4 remake that needs new lines recorded, I would hope the original cast could return. This could potentially be a big ask, because many of the voice actors in Persona 4 are busy people. Yuri Lowenthal will have to record for Marvel's Spider-Man 3. I'm not sure if Troy Baker has already wrapped on the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle DLC, and Laura Bailey is a regular cast member in Critical Role. In the past, both Baker and Bailey have been replaced in Persona 4 projects due to scheduling conflicts with other projects. Still, if the original cast were still available, it would be great to get them all back for the remake. 5 Persona 4 Should Turn Its Partner Attacks Into Showtime Attacks Persona 4 Had Partner Attacks That Would Happen Automatically Both Persona 5 Royal and Persona 3 Reload included special attacks that characters can perform to deal a lot of damage. Persona 5 Royal had Showtime attacks, where two characters would team up for a flashy animation, whereas Persona 3 Reload had Theurgy abilities which were similar, but only individual moves. A Persona 4 remake should have its own version, and the older versions of the game already have the perfect blueprint for it. In Persona 4 Golden, two characters will occasionally team up to perform a follow-up attack. This only happens when you have the right pair of characters in your party, since characters only have one special move with a specific partner. For instance, Kanji and Naoto team up for the "Beauty and the Beast" move. These moves happen automatically, and aren't always that effective. I think a Persona 4 remake would benefit from reworking them to be closer to Showtime attacks, making them hit harder. I'd also like if you could choose when to use them, like Persona 3's Theurgy attacks. 4 A Persona 4 Remake Should Let You Control Your Navigator More Persona 4's Navigator Is Largely Autonomous In each Persona game since Persona 3, the party has included a navigator. This is a character whose Persona isn't suited for battle, and instead supports the other party members by providing buffs, healing, and analysis of enemies. In Persona 4, this role is filled by Rise Kujikawa, who will provide increasingly better support as you level up and also develop her Social Link. Eventually, she is even able to revive the protagonist once per battle, making it less likely that you'll die and lose progress or have to start a battle over. Related Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Combat Has Beaten The Best Turn-Based RPG Thanks To One Simple Change Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s amazing turn-based combat is so good that it manages to dethrone the best game in the genre and come out on top. As helpful as Rise is, it would be nice if you had a bit more control over the support she provides. For example, sometimes you could really use healing, but she'll provide you with an attack bonus instead. Persona 3 Reload ​​​​​​gave you a bit more control over your navigator, Fuuka, allowing you to use her Theurgy when it seemed best for you. I would love to see a Persona 4 remake take this a step further by giving you more control over what type of support your navigator provides. Adopting Persona 3 Reload's scan mechanics would also be helpful. 3 Persona 4's Remake Should Allow You To Explore Tatsumi Port Island Persona 4's Cast Takes A Trip To Persona 3's Location During Persona 4, the Investigation Team goes on a school trip to Tastumi Port Island, the setting of Persona 3. This is one of my favorite parts of the game, not only because you get some fun references to Persona 3, but it's also full of great moments between party members. The club scene is particularly humorous, and it's also the first time the entire team hangs out together, since Naoto starts to have a bigger role at this point in the game. While this part is a lot of fun, it has one major flaw. The school trip in Persona 4 is essentially one long, uninterrupted cutscene where your only input is the occasional dialogue choice. It would be nice if there were some moments where you could explore to help break up this long stretch of dialogue, and Persona 3 Reload may have made this possible. A Persona 4 remake could easily lift the areas for Paulownia Mall or Gekkoukan High and let you explore a bit between these scenes. This could also be a fun chance to reference some of the events of Persona 3 and some other games in the series. 2 Persona 4's Remake Should Include References To Its Spin-Offs Persona 4 Had Several Spin-Off Games After Its Initial Release Before Persona 5 became the new golden child of the franchise, Persona 4 was the game getting multiple spin-offs. Aside from Persona 4: Dancing All Night, we also got Persona 4 Arena, its updated version Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, all of which teamed up the Investigation Team with the party from Persona 3. There was also Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, which brought together the characters from Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5. Related I Think I Know Why Persona 3 Reload Just Got A Demo A Year After The Game's Release Persona 3 Reload now has a new demo over a year after its release. While the timing seems strange, I think I know the reasons behind it. Because all of these spin-off stories came out after the original game, it makes sense that it couldn't do much to reference them or set them up. However, now that they do exist, it would be nice to see little nods to them. Maybe an S.E.E.S. member shows up on TV, or we could actually see Kanami Mashita from Persona 4: Dancing All Night when she comes to town. It shouldn't be anything too intrusive, but a small Easter egg would be nice for long-time fans. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ 1 A Persona 4 Remake Should Revamp Its Dialogue Scenes Persona 4 Scenes Can Be Somewhat Static There are a lot of great moments in Persona 4, like the trip to Tatsumi Port Island, the school camping trip, and the school culture festival. However, the presentation of a lot of these scenes is somewhat flat due to the limitations of the original game. However, Persona 3 Reload proved that Persona games are now capable of having well-animated cutscenes using the game's engine, as well as having anime cutscenes. Adding this style of cutscenes could help enhance some of the best moments from Persona 4 by adding more visual flair to the already good writing. Persona 4 has a lot of dialogue scenes, and I don't think it's necessary to add full cutscenes for each of them. Still, I think some of the scenes that involve more action, like Chie and Yukiko throwing the boys in the river on the camping trip, would benefit from having a updated presentation style. This would help a Persona 4 remake stand out from the original in more ways than just simply having nicer graphics. ​​​​​​​

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