Unless Atlus has plans to expand the Phantom Thieves' story any further, the long wait for the next Persona game officially begins next year. With Persona 5 Royal releasing this year to record sales and further perfecting an already fantastic adventure, the popularity of the JRPG giant has never been bigger. Pair that with Persona 4 Golden finally releasing on PC, after being stranded on the PS Vita for years, SEGA and Atlus plan to dive even further into their back catalog of games. That's likely the reason why Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne received a remaster prior to the release of Shin Megami Tensei 5 as well.
One thing Atlus hasn't attempted before is a ground-up remake of any of its classic JRPGs, akin to that of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Atlus has expressed very mild interest in the idea before, with fan surveys asking if players would be willing to play a "sequel" or "remake" of Persona 3 in the past. It'd certainly be an interesting proposition for P-Studio, especially in the wake of Final Fantasy 7 Remake being received very well. Considering the newfound popularity Persona gained this year, it almost seems like a Persona 3 remake releasing before Persona 6 would make more sense. Rebuilding the game that started it all could appease plenty of new and existing Persona fans.
The Perfect Way to Extend Persona's Momentum For Next-Gen
For one thing, it's important to talk about the momentum the Persona series gained this year, thanks to a few huge efforts from the franchise. Earlier this year, the definitive version of the fifth game, Persona 5 Royal, released to record sales numbers and success. The action game spin-off, Persona 5 Scramble, also seemed to surpass sales expectations in Asian consumer markets. Even though the original Persona 5 was also a critically acclaimed release in 2017, Royal and Persona 5 Scramble saw even greater success in 2020 thanks to the general boost the video game industry received during the pandemic. Atlus then tested the waters even further this summer.
For the anniversary of its release on PlayStation Vita, Persona 4 Golden was ported to PC this June, marking the first time the game was released to any other platform. For Atlus and Sega, it seems, Persona 4 Golden was an even more surprising success. Within the first month alone, Persona 4 Golden's sales on Steam had already reached 500,000 units sold. That's huge for a legacy Persona title, even if it hadn't release on other platforms previously. Those two combined resulted in numerous news stories about SEGA and Atlus "aggressively" porting previous titles to Steam and/or other platforms. However, those stories didn't mention anything about remakes of any kind.
Bridging the Gap Between Mainline Persona Games
Much of the desire and subsequent buzz about a Persona 3 remake came from a Twitter campaign earlier this year, something Atlus clearly recognized in its surveys. However, even if a simple Persona 3: FES or Persona 3 Portable is comparatively easier to develop, a Persona 3 Remake makes a lot of sense. The Persona series could be taking a very different direction with Persona 6 now that the original series director, Katsura Hashino, has left P-Studio for his own new project. A Persona 3 remake represent an opportunity from two viewpoints: emphasizing all of the great aspects of Persona 3 that helped form the franchise into what it is today, while also providing an opportunity to experiment with new concepts or ideas to change the Persona design framework.
Similar to how Final Fantasy 7 Remake is balancing its legacy with new content, a Persona 3 remake could do the same. As something unique to the third entry, a Persona 3 remake would certainly help combine all of the releases of Persona 3 (the base game, Persona 3: FES, and Persona 3 Portable) into one definitive experience. Additionally, remaking the game could also bring with it all sorts of quality-of-life changes like controllable party members, fully voiced in-engine cutscenes, alongside improved graphically fidelity and more. Plus, the Persona development team could potentially use Persona 3's remake as a jumping off point for Persona 6 down the line.
Persona 6 is Far Away, But a Persona 3 Remake Could Come First
Persona 6 will be the first time the series is under new creative control, at least from a top-down level. Katsura Hashino did indeed direct the franchise between Persona 3 and Persona 5, but the existing development team still has many veterans who worked on previous entries. Fans are likely expecting a huge jump in scale and scope between Persona 5 to Persona 6, considering Persona 5 was originally developed for the PS3 and PS4. Any development on Persona 6, assuming full development began after the release of Persona 5 Royal this year, would presumably be for next-gen consoles only.
A Persona 3 remake could help bridge the gap between Persona 5 and the next mainline sequel. There are likely plenty of Persona fans, either new or existing, who haven't played any version of Persona 3 yet. Plus, considering enough fans were able to make #Persona3Remake trending on Twitter, it's clear there's a desire for a remake. The third entry in the series did set the foundation for Persona 4 and Persona 5 to succeed upon, so remaking Persona 3 would make a lot of sense at this point.
Persona 6 is rumored to be in development.