Atlus makes generally great games, but at this point, the company is largely known for a few specific franchises- they’re known most of all for Persona and Shin Megami Tensei, but they also work on Etrian Odyssey and Trauma Team. Every now and then, they will also put out a brilliant one off product like Radiant Historia, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, or Catherine.
So it’s incredibly exciting to see that some of the best talent at the company will now be working on something completely new. Atlus opened a new teaser website for a new JRPG, a fantasy game that will be coming to us courtesy of Katsura Hashino, best known as the director of Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5.
“The Atlus RPG was born 25 years ago. At the time, stories in the so-called “fantasy” worlds were mainstream. The “Persona” series released as a spinoff of “Shin Megami Tensei” was launched as a “counter” to such a natural world view,” Hashino explains in a post on the website about the new game. “Both series have been developed with concepts that have always been in opposition to their times until now, including the latest games. So what could be the image of a new RPG tackled by Atlus now in addition to continuing those series?
“I think that it is to challenge the “normality” of the genre which has been consumed for decades. That challenge is about to begin right now. The moment of birth from zero. We would be pleased if you could stand-by us at the moment we launch our challenge from zero.”
Which actually seems to excite me a lot- it seems like Atlus are set to challenge genre conventions, which would be great. Again, the team is incredibly talented, but they have largely stuck to the same formula with Persona and Shin Megami Tensei over the last decade or so. I can’t wait to see them try something new.
The announcement for the game will happen on a livestream on Nico Nico that will happen on December 23rd at 8 PM Japan time. Meanwhile, you can check out a piece of concept art for the game that was shared above. You can also join us in our wait for Persona 5, which is currently slated exclusively for the PS3 and PS4 on April 5 2017 in North America and Europe.
[Famitsu, translation via DualShockers]
