With the official confirmation that Persona 6 is in development at Atlus, many gamers are likely itching to replay previous games in the series. However, Atlus has not made it easy to revisit the first three games of the franchise, in particular. As of writing, the best ways to play those three titles are through the PSVita and PS3 stores. A jailbroken PS3 will be able to play all five entries in the series, but players should not be forced to do that to their system just to have a convenient way to play old games. After seeing the success of the recently released Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, Atlus should consider doing a "Legendary Edition" of its own with the first three Persona titles.
Remastering these older games in the Persona series would be the perfect appetizer for those waiting on the next game, as well as a great entry point for potential new fans. The fact that each game has its own independent story also means that a player can start with the newest game and work backward. This is a great boon that similar re-releases like Mass Effect: Legendary Edition and Halo: The Master Chief Collection did not have, as players would be stuck with older graphics and mechanics before working their way up. In short, a Persona Trilogy would both bring in a new audience and generate the most amount of hype for the upcoming Persona 6, which could still be years away. With how long each game in the series takes to complete, this would give Atlus plenty of time to perfect Persona 6.
The Season of Remasters
By and large, most remasters of video games are warranted and improve upon any number of aspects of the original such as availability and gameplay. Some others can be seen as unnecessary in both of those regards, such as some of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim releases. The first three Persona games easily fall into the former category, though, as they are difficult to find and could use some touched-up gameplay and graphics. While Persona is no stranger to re-releases with some added content, such as Persona 5 Royal and Persona 4 Golden, Atlus seems to have forgotten about the older titles.
Even if Atlus doesn't make any significant changes to the gameplay, slaps a new coat of paint on, and releases the remasters for Playstation and PC, it would still be a worthwhile endeavor for the company. Bioware's Mass Effect: Legendary Edition made a lot of gameplay and graphical changes to Mass Effect 1 and very few to the second and third games, yet it was still a very successful release. Due to Persona's turn-based combat, most gamers would likely be willing to accept minimal changes and a simple HD port. There simply needs to be a feasible way to play these games again.
Old Games, New Audience
It's no question that Persona 5 has been Atlus' biggest release yet, with each game focused on the Phantom Thieves growing the fanbase. Atlus seems to want to keep Persona only on PlayStation, though, which once again means that the single place to play Persona 5 Royal is on PS4 and PS5. It's worth noting that the original Persona 5sequel, Persona 5 Strikers, was released on Playstation, Nintendo Switch, and PC. This leads to an odd phenomenon where Switch players can play a sequel to a game that isn't available on Switch. Furthermore, the presence of Persona 5's Joker in Smash Ultimate seems to be showing a willingness for Atlus to bring the Persona series to other genres and platforms.
Now that there is a Persona title on a non-PlayStation console, there has never been a better time for Atlus to remaster its old titles and bring them to PC and Switch, if not Xbox as well. This is the greatest chance Atlus has to grow its already loyal Persona fanbase to new heights and bring in new fans. The Mass Effect: Legendary Edition did this for people whose only experience with the series was Mass Effect: Andromeda, and now the future for the sci-fi RPG is brighter than ever. Similarly, going back to old titles will make players appreciate those newest entries even more.
The Persona Hype Train
With no release date or trailer given for Persona 6, fans likely have at least a year or two to wait until release, barring any major surprises. The series is also celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, with Persona 1 releasing on September 20th, 1996. With that date fast approaching, Atlus would be remiss to not mark this date in some way. It could be a trailer, gameplay, or even a song for Persona 6, but on a date that's celebrating how the series began, it would be much more fitting for a remaster announcement of some kind. Even just a remake for the first game (as it is the one turning 25) would do wonders for the voracious community. However, a Mass Effect: Legendary Edition style remaster of the first three games would obviously be even better.
Such a remaster would be seen as a good look for Atlus, as celebrating the big 25th anniversary will surely be important to some fans. This is especially true when considering that all Nintendo did for Metroid's 35th anniversary was send out a tweet. Granted, that series is getting a new game in a few short months, but Nintendo missed the opportunity to take advantage of this anniversary to drum up hype for said release.
Atlus could officially announce Persona 6 as a way of looking to the future while simultaneously acknowledging the past with a remaster of the first three Persona games. This, combined with the fact there is no feasible system to play those older games on, would make a remaster trilogy an easy home run for Atlus; just like how the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition was a home run for Bioware.
Persona 6 is in development at Atlus Studios.