Persona has become Atlus’ biggest success story, with the Persona 5 family of games selling over 13 million copies worldwide, with the original release earning critical acclaim with a 93 Metacritic score. But according to the JRPG series’s chief director, Kazuhisa Wada, despite its global rise, Atlus never set out to design the series specifically for overseas audiences. This was revealed in the Famitsu issue No.1953 interview, where Wada reflected on the long road to Persona 5 alongside Bandai Namco’s Tales series producer Yusuke Tomizawa.
Following the uncertain years that eventually led to Persona‘s reinvention, Atlus found itself facing another major challenge. The company had gone through significant corporate upheaval, including the collapse of Atlus under Index Holdings, before later reemerging under Sega. Because of that, even after Persona 3 revitalized the JRPG series, Wada admitted that the development of Persona 5 carried many of the same anxieties. “Now Persona 5 is well received,” Wada said, referring to its mainstream global success. “But before release, everyone was more anxious than confident. […] This was also a make-or-break situation.”
Part of that uncertainty came from the team’s decision to push the series in new directions. One of the most notable changes in Persona 5 was the move toward more realistic 3D characters. According to Wada, the shift was partly driven by the franchise’s growing audience outside of Japan. “Making the characters realistically proportioned was a very high hurdle. Up until then, we had relied on the player’s imagination to fill in some of the gaps, but in terms of expanding worldwide, I think this kind of expression became essential,” he explained.
Interestingly, that doesn’t mean Atlus suddenly started building Persona around overseas tastes. When asked how much global audiences influence the series, Wada emphasized that the series remains fundamentally rooted in modern Japan. “Since Persona is set in modern Japan, we don’t really consider the overseas market that much in mind,” Wada said. He contrasted it with fantasy games like Metaphor: ReFantazio. He heard that making games using fictional settings and terminology requires much greater consideration for cultural localization across different regions.
Still, that doesn’t mean the Persona team — and any Japanese developer — completely ignores comments from international fans. Tomizawa offered Tales of Arise as an example, saying that protagonist Alphen’s ‘edgier’ signature black mask and armor were designed after considering what overseas fans might like for a fantasy setting. “We’ve always received feedback from overseas fans, but I think that has increased significantly now,” added Wada. “Because of that, I feel we’ve gained more opportunities to absorb more opinions and use them as data to reflect them in our works more easily.”
Tomizawa agreed, adding that while neither Tales nor Persona is built specifically around overseas tastes, listening to those voices has become essential for any studio. After all, maintaining the ‘status quo’ risks causing any long-running franchise to gradually lose its steam. “[W]ith the rise of social media, it became much easier to hear directly from overseas fans. In a positive sense, our awareness of overseas audiences became stronger,” he believed.
It seems Atlus has found a balancing act that works extremely well for Persona. Make RPGs that are authentically Japanese and let them speak for themselves. For more gaming news and developer interviews, keep an eye on GameObserver.
