Persona 4 Arena and its DLC removed from PSN in Europe

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It seems like Persona 4 Arena and Europe just don’t go well together. Atlus usually doesn’t publish it’s own games in Europe, so their games are often released far later there than in other countries. But Persona 4 Arena in particular had a problem with this, as it was also one of the few region locked games on PS3. So Europeans couldn’t import it and had to wait for it to be released in May 2013, nine months after Americans could get their hands on it.

Publisher Zen United brought it over back then, but now the downloadable version along with all of the DLC has been taken off PSN. While no response was given for this, a Facebook post from late last month tells us that Atlus is now handling the game in Europe. Which suggests that Zen United no longer has the publishing rights to the game. This is just speculation though, of course. This article will be updated when an official response will be given.

Atlus has discounted all Persona PSP titles to $4.99

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Altus has now dropped the price of the following PSP Persona ports: Persona, Persona 2: Innocent Sin and arguably the best deal in the bunch Persona 3 Portable. The titles will now only cost you $4.99 and are playable on both the PSP and the Playstation Vita.

Persona 3: Portable is as enhanced remake of the PS2 Persona 3 game but with added content. The player can now play the game as a female, which alters the game including characters you meet and social links (which are important in this title). In my opinion, Persona 3 Portable is the best version of Persona 3 and its only $5, totally worth it.

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga gets a PSN release today

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Atlus is releasing another PS2 classic on PSN today, this time Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga. The game will cost a mere $9.99.

On the back of the box:
“Enter the world of the Junkyard, where rival tribes fight an endless war vying for supremacy and the right to ascend to Nirvana. Changed forever by mystrious light, Serph and his comrades now have the power to change into powerful demons… But with that power comes a price – an insatiable hunger to devour their enemies.”

Digital Devil Saga joins PSN along with the past Atlus titles that got released: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Soulless Army, Growlanser: Heritage of War and  Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES. So if you are  a SEGA fan that has never played a Atlus title, I suggest you start with Persona 3 FES. It is a really good game and totally worth the $9.99 asking price.

Persona 4: the Golden Animation announced

While Persona 4 has already had an animated series, it wasn’t exactly of high quality. Particularly the quality of the animation. So for those who weren’t pleased with it, Atlus has announced that there will be a new anime based on the Vita version: Persona 4 Golden. It’s being produced by A-1 Pictures, who are perhaps best known for Sword Art Online.

This re-doing of the animation will mostly cover the same story, though the Golden version did add a new character called Marie who will be in the new anime. If this is a good thing or not depends on who you ask, as the fanbase seems to be kinda split on if she’s a good character or not. The real important question is though: will this anime be able to do a better job covering the Kings Game? It will start airing in Japan this July.

Atlus set for another Persona announcement on May 2nd

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Right after the SEGA buyout was confirmed, Atlus went ahead and confirmed that they where working on four Persona titles. Seems that isn’t enough, since we will be getting another announcement come May 2nd.

Atlus will be having a live Persona-related stream on NicoNico on May 2nd, 11:30pm JST. What is this stream about? They will have guests, preview material for the upcoming Persona 3: Midsummer Knight’s Dream movie, and this teased announcement.

The last event was when Atlus announced those upcoming Persona games. What do they have in store this time? Another movie? More games? I guess we will find out soon.

Yuzo Koshiro will compose music for Persona Q

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Yuzo Koshiro has worked on music for a lot of games, but SEGA fans will always know him for his amazing work on the Streets of Rage series. In my opinion, this is what made Yuzo Koshiro a legend. Want more music from him? Don’t worry, it has been revealed that he will be composing tracks for the upcoming Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth.

Also announced to be working on the game is Yuji Himukai who is being brought aboard to design some monsters along with Shin Nagasawa. All three (including Yuzo Koshiro) worked on Etrian Odyssey (and Persona Q is basically Etrian Odyssey with Personas…).

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax to get story based DLC and RPG style arena mode

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According to Japanese store, Rakuten, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax will have story-based DLC and also feature a role-playing type game elements. The story based DLC will be exclusive to those that purchase the game in Japan on August 28th. What’s in the DLC? That, as of right now, remains a mystery.

A new mode titled ‘Golden Arena Mode’ will include character progress system with elements that fans of RPG-type games will be familiar with. Players in the Golden Arena Mode will be able to fight and level up to earn extra experience points and learn new abilities throughout the stages. How many skills can you unlock? According to the site, over 150 different skills.

Hit the jump to see three new trailers that have been released for this game.

Launch trailer of Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure shows FMV goodness

Atlus released a launch trailer for Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure a couple of days ago. originally known as Project Fedora on Kickstarter, this Atlus-published FMV/first person adventure from Big Finish Games will be released on April 22nd for PC and Mac. It’s the first game in the Tex Murphy series since 1998 and the first FMV game to be presented in 2k resolution. Of course, as with all launch trailers, this one may have some spoilers.

The game can be pre-ordered on Steam or DRM-free on GOG.com for $17.99, after it’s release the price will be $19.99.

Atlus publishing a failed Kickstarter game called Citizens of Earth

While there are many Kickstarter success stories like Broken Age or Shovel Knight, not all potentially good games make it through. Citizens of Earth by Eden Industries is one of these games, as it failed to meet it’s $100.000 funding goal. It seems like the people at Atlus think that this game has potential though, as they announced today that they’ll be publishing the game for PC, PS4, Vita, Wii U and 3DS.

The game itself is a comedic RPG inspired by Earthbound, in which you play as the vice president of the world and recruit ordinary people into your party. You can find a lot more details about it along with gameplay and a demo on the original Kickstarter page. Citizens of Earth will be released on the already mentioned platforms later this year in the US and Europe.

Persona 4 hits the Playstation 3 on April 8th

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Last time we talked about Devil Summoner getting a re-release via PS3’s PS2 Classics brand and now people will be able to download Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 as well.

The game is set to come out on April 8th and cost a mere $9.99 through PSN  in North and South America. This will allow SEGA gamers who haven’t experinced the classic Atlus game to dive right in.

I suggest all gamers give this game a go, it has some memorable characters, writing and story.

Atlus debuts new logo and website to match

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One of the things many Atlus fans feared during the SEGA-Sammy buyout, was that SEGA would kill off the Atlus name and rebrand their titles under the SEGA logo. Seems that is not what will be happening, now Atlus is its own company, separate from Index Corps. To celebrate, we have a new logo (above). Forgot what the old logo looked like? Here it is.

Here is the new Atlus website and here is the new Index Holdings (who also got a new logo).

So, new logo or old? Tell us in the comments!

Persona Q influenced by Etrian Odyssey’s dungeon mapping and combat

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When Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth was announced, it seemed like it would take aspects of the Atlus’ Nintendo DS long running dungeon crawler Etrian Odyssey and according to this week’s Famitsu, I was partly right. They have now said that the game will feature a map-making feature similar to the one featured in Etrian Odyssey games. This map feature will allow users to draw the layout of the dungeon on the 3DS touch screen and help you find your way around.

That isn’t all though, the game will also contain ‘F.O.E.’ monsters and give you a choice if it you are better off running or allow you to ‘try’ and take down the monster. If you do decide to take do F.O.E. monsters, you might just get a special reward.

So Persona Q is Etrian Odyssey with a Persona storyline and characters from Persona 3 & 4. Persona Q is set to come out in America this fall.

All Four Upcoming Persona Games Confirmed For US Release

Remember that time an onslaught of Persona game announcements was posted on the front page? Well, all four of those announced games have been confirmed for an US release. The first two of those will be Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth for 3DS and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax for PS3 and Xbox 360, both of which will be released this Fall. Americans will have to wait a bit longer for Persona 5 (for PS3) and Persona 4: Dancing All Night (for Vita) though, as both of those games won’t be released in the US until 2015.

Sadly for European Persona fans, Atlus hasn’t announced anything regarding a release in Europe. Of course, this could change with Atlus now being a SEGA company, but we’ll have to wait and see if that will be the case. English trailers for Persona Q, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and Persona 4: Dancing All Night can be found below after the jump.

Atlus teases Persona Q: Shadow Of The Labyrinth Special Edition package

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Atlus is really good at delivering when it comes to special edition version of their games, usually being priced just right for what you get. This time around they are teasing a package for the Japanese market that will include:

  • Persona Q for the 3DS
  • Special B5 size tapestry drawn by Persona Q anime staff
  • A3 size clear poster (secret design till it goes on sale)
  • five visual clear files
  • Persona Q mug (motif style of the Velvet Room)
  • Graphig (aka paper craft) version of Rei

Persona Q hits the 3DS in Japan on June 6th. If you want to order the special edition version, you can here. Is everyone excited for the first ‘Persona‘ game under SEGA?

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SEGA to divide Index Corporation into two companies on April 1st

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Gematsu is reporting that SEGA will be dividing the recently acquired Index Corporation into two companies: Atlus and Index. The division, which will go into effect on April 1st, will also see Index’s Western subsidiary change its name to Atlus U.S.A., Inc. SEGA Sammy’s reasoning for the division is to “maximize the creation of synergies within SEGA Sammy, as well as within each industry of the SEGA Group”.

Atlus will be heading game planning and development with 121 employees, and current SEGA managing director and Index company director Yukio Sugino will be acting as Atlus’ new representative. Meanwhile, Index will handle content and solutions business with 166 employees, the current Index representative director and executive vice president Yasuhiko Hamada will be acting as Index’s representative.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this new division in 2014 and beyond, most intriguing is the mention of creating synergies between Index and Atlus and SEGA’s operations. Could we see Index taking on SEGA IPs, or vice versa?