The Persona series has recently exploded in popularity thanks to the smash hit that was Persona 5. Following its release, the game has had plenty of spinoff titles that have been keeping the Persona series alive in the minds of fans while Atlus begins work on Persona 6. One thing that might do the franchise some good, however, would be to release Persona 4 or Persona 4 Golden on more platforms than it currently exists on. The predecessor to Persona 5 has a lot of merits, and it seems like Atlus has somewhat forgotten about the title in favor of spinoff titles for P5.

For one reason or another, Persona 4 hasn't quite gotten the same love from Atlus as Persona 5 has. That may be due to P5's break into the mainstream gaming community, but there's no reason why Persona 4 couldn't also do that between mainline releases. The bottom line is that P4 deserves to be played by as many people as possible, and that could easily be done by offering more console ports of the title.

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Growing the Persona Community

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While it seems simple, bringing a game to other consoles isn't as straightforward as it might sound. That said, it would likely be worth Atlus' time to devote some resources into bringing Persona 4 to PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms. It takes one look at the excitement surrounding the remastered Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne that was released on PC, PS4, and Switch earlier this year to see that fans of Atlus are willing to pick up remastered versions of its older titles alongside newer releases like Persona 5 Strikers.

If Persona 4 were to get a port to home consoles, it would likely help the Persona community grow even further. As Persona has gotten extremely popular in the US, making another mainline game available to fans would help spread the word, as it would be recommended to plenty of people who haven't tried the series yet. While similar recommendations are made with each new iteration and spinoff of Persona 5, the fact that outsiders have been hearing about the game and new spinoffs of it for years might make them feel overwhelmed by what to try first. If Atlus rereleased P4, it could wipe the slate clean for newcomers, as they wouldn't feel like they have to deal with the sheer number of Persona 5 spinoff titles in order to find out where the true experience is.

Making Persona 6 the Series' Biggest Launch

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If P4 was released before the announcement and launch of Persona 6, then it could help make the next mainline entry the biggest the series has ever seen. Although the new title already seems to be set up for success with the popularity of Persona 5, there's no telling how big it could be if Persona 4 were to be able to help bring even more fans to the series. Atlus has recently said that the studio is feeling an immense amount of pressure for Persona 6 to succeed.

If Atlus is that aware of its position with its fans, then the game will likely not release until it can meet those high expectations. It makes sense then, that if the studio were to be putting in all that work to release a quality title, that it would want to impress the maximum amount of people when it's finally revealed. P4's potential newfound popularity on modern consoles could contribute to the excitement for the game.

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Banking Off of the Success of Persona 5

Areas Where Persona 6 Could Improve Upon its Predecessors

As exampled by the staggering number of Persona 5 spinoffs, fans can't seem to get enough of the Persona series. Although Persona 4 certainly had its fair share of spinoffs with games like Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Persona 4: Dancing All Night, and Persona 4 Golden, it never reached the same heights as Persona 5 and the games that spun off of it. Now that Persona 5 and more recently Persona 5 Royal are regarded as some of the best JRPGs ever made by the mainstream gaming community, fans are itching to go and give Persona 4 and its spinoffs a try. Unfortunately, they're mostly only available on older hardware or on PC.

Persona 4 Golden Steam Release Proves Popularity

Persona 4 Arena Fighting Game Spinoff

Last year, Persona 4 Golden was released on Steam, and as of July 2021, it has sold over one million copies worldwide. Despite it existing on only one modern platform, the game sold extremely well for a rerelease of a title from 2008. It's been ported to a handful of different PlayStation consoles since its PS2 release, and it seems like it would continue selling well if it were to make it to the PS4 or PS5. It seems unlikely that it would be available on Xbox consoles, but no matter where Atlus were to port it, Persona 4 Golden would likely prove just as popular as it did on Steam. There just seems like there's too much going for P4 to be continuously ignored by Atlus forever. It's clear that the studio is hard at work on Persona 6, but it hasn't had any trouble hiring external studios to work on spinoff titles and releases in the past.

At the end of the day, Persona 4 simply deserves to be played. While it might not have received the tidal wave of praise that Persona 5 Royal got in 2020, P4G was reviewed nearly as well both on PC and on the PlayStation Vita. The stories and characters are so unique, and fans of Persona 5 that haven't been able to access it would likely fall in love with the series all over again. Fans had hopes that P4 might be ported to other consoles following the game's Steam success, but so far, there hasn't been much on that front. Still, it seems like there could be development on P4 ports in the final months of the year, as 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of Persona.

Persona 4 Golden is available on PC, PS2, and PS Vita.

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