Quick post to say OMFG CRAIG AND I CARE. Not that we've played any of the games outside of FES, but the important thing is WE PLAN TO. And the (unfortunate) inclusion of a PSP in our household makes this possible.

~Shadowednavi

Oh hush, love. That PSP is trying to friend you and you just can't muster the heart to click "Add Friend" on it. It's now offering you games you want. P3P, Trish. It's waiting for you whenever you want to say "yes."

Speaking of which, YES! @ P2. Now the circle is complete.

I love the fact that the psp is region free but the UK could really still do with a release of P3P over here. We also had Persona 1 released over psn (which I need to get around to playing) but an actual umd release would have been nice too. Did America get a UMD release of P1?

Also psp needs Persona 4 Portable x_x

Problem with PSP in the UK is that a lot of places were scared by Sony's lawsuit waaaay back when against a major importer, Lik Sang, and many still won't import. In fact, as late as last year, I haven't found anyone who does.

Not just the matter of importing, but why companies don't just license the games for actual release here. Seriously, America's been lucky enough to get loads of rpgs brought over to them like the Ys series, yet none of them turn up here.

Wouldn't be as bad if they were available for digital distribution off PSN but they're not, either.

I'll also take the time to mention how utterly terrible our PSN store is. Seriously, where's all the good classic PS1 games that America's store's got up, like the Resident Evil series and Grandia?

Yeah, we're pretty screwed sadly.

The only real explination I can think of would be marketspace, and traditionally RPGs in Europe were very much a PC affair, so our consoles didn't get much until Final Fantasy VII. Although the SNES and Mega Drive do have some good JRPGs on them.

Still, this is utterly pointless in an age of downloadable games, once they're out in the US they're in English, so why not just release them!

At least Nintendo's been good...ish, getting Ogre Battle and Super MArio RPG for the first times.

Atlus has revealed the new OP (embedded to protect the innocent from sinful, spoilery youtube comments):

Hm, colorful. To contrast...

The Original OP:

Fortunately, the original will be included as well for those who prefer it (relegated to second OP status no doubt, just like P3P).

Did America get a UMD release of P1?

Also psp needs Persona 4 Portable x_x

Yeah, like a year ago. I was actually looking into buying it a few days ago.

I agree with the Persona 4 on PSP too. I havn't bought it on PS2 so I think I might wait and see.

From what I've read Persona 2 looks and sounds very cool. I've only played P3 so I'm really interested in playing the games before it.

Official Persona 2: Tsumi website

After a 1 month delay from the original release date, Persona 2 Innocent Sin will finally see the light of day on April 14th. I thought I'd bump up this thread and post whatever new info about the game is out there, for those wondering what's up. First things first, check out the official site if you haven't already to view the trailers (including two not already posted in this thread) and listen to the calming Seven Sisters High School track from the game (original PS1 version= 1, Arranged version = 2) and look up other media.

Also several bits of info have come to light. One of the bigger additions is the inclusion of new game mode "Climax Theater" which allows you to take on in-game quests and user-generated quests from other players over wireless communication and download codes (the details of which have not been revealed thus far). Interestingly enough, some of the quests evoke settings and characters from previous Shin Megami Tensei games, including the first Persona and Shin Megami Tensei: ...if (a Super Famicom SMT spin-off, I believe).

4Gamer has just recently uploaded a 10 minute overview of Persona 2 PSP in action, view it here.

Story

Persona 2 takes place in the port city of Sumaru. You start the game as Tatsuya Suou, a 3rd year high school student at Seven Sisters High School in the year 1999. There's a rumor going around that states that you can make any wish come true by calling a mysterious number on your cellphone. By initiating the charm, Tatsuya and his friends find themselves the target of Master Joker. And, slowly, Sumaru City is warped by the power of rumours becoming reality. What is "the Masquerade"? Why are they trying to steal "Ideal Energy"? And who is "Philemon" and why has he bestowed unto you the power of Persona?

Characters

Tatsuya Suou

Intitial Persona: Vulcanus

* Age: 18
* Height: 181cm
* Weight: 68kg
* Blood Type: B
* Date of Birth: 7/27
* Zodiac Sign: Leo
* Weapon: Two-Handed Sword
* Arcana: Sun

The primary (and mostly silent) protagonist of Persona 2 Innocent Sin. In his final year at Seven Sisters High, Tatsuya is at the crossroads of his life. A young man torn between the care-free life he desires and one bound by duty and tradition, he continues to attend school even though he always skips class... much to the detriment of his older brother Katsuya and his teacher Ms. Saeko. He's often seen carrying and fiddling with a peculiar flip-top lighter wherever he goes, even though he doesn't smoke.

One day, he hears about the Joker Charm rumour. It's said that if one were to dial their own cellphone number, he or she can have any one wish granted by the mysterious Joker-sama. It is this rumour that threatens to destroy Tatsuya and all of Sumaru in a vortex of prophetic doom.

Lisa "Ginko" Silverman

Initial Persona: Eros

* Age: 17
* Height: 165cm
* Weight: 50kg
* Blood Type: A
* Date of Birth: 05/04
* Zodiac Sign: Taurus
* Weapon: Fists
* Arcana: Lovers

Lisa Silverman is a 2nd year student at Seven Sisters High. Having lived in Japan all her life, she's only ever known how to speak native Japanese (with a bit of Cantonese mixed in), even though everyone insists she must be familiar with English because of her Caucasian features. Despite that, as a perceived foreigner she's very popular at school. Lisa harbors a crush on Tatsuya, and tries to get his attention at every opportunity. She's a huge Bruce Lee fan and an aspiring martial artist. Soon after their first meeting, Eikichi bestows upon her the nickname "Ginko" which she greatly objects to (Gin = Silver, -ko = common female suffix... so basically, an insult).

Eikichi "MICHEL" Mishina

Initial Persona: Rhadamanthys

* Age: 16
* Height: 185cm
* Weight: 62kg
* Blood Type: O
* Date of Birth: 11/15
* Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
* Weapon: Machine Gun Guitar Case
* Arcana: Death

Known at the boys-only "delinquent" school Kasugayami High as "Captain Death", Eikichi (or Michel, as he prefers to be known) rules the school yard as the resident bad-ass and is even (in)famous at Seven Sisters. Part of it has to do with his narcissist attitude and style of dress, the other has to do with an unusual power he believes (mistakenly) only he can wield; one that augments his ability to fight. He seeks to protect the weak from bullies, something that earns him both contempt and admiration from fellow students.

He normally hangs out at a dilapidated prison near school grounds and is the lead singer of his own band called Gas Chamber. His father owns a sushi shop at the local mall and is oblivious to his son's behavior when away from his ever-judging gaze. One day Eikichi, seeking a new member for his band, decides to find one among the resident tough guys of rival school Seven Sisters, and extends an invitation to Tatsuya Suou...

Maya Amano

Initial Persona: Maia

* Age: 23
* Height: 168cm
* Weight: 48kg
* Blood Type: O
* Date of Birth: 7/04
* Zodiac Sign: Cancer
* Weapon: Dual Hand Guns
* Arcana: Moon

Working at Kismet Publishing, Maya Amano is a writer for the teen magazine Coolest. Charged with investigating the Joker Charm rumour, she and her partner Yukino decide to visit the place where the rumour is said to have started: Seven Sisters High School. While canvassing the student body for info, she runs into Tatsuya, Lisa and Eikichi. They join together to put an end to Joker-sama and the devastation he causes. Although she and the other three don't realize it, they are all intricately linked together by the threads of fate that govern their past, present and future.

Maya is a source of unbridled optimism whenever the group is downcast. Invoking her special catchphrase "Let's think positive!" (or in Maya's bad Engrish, "LET'S POSITIVE THINKING!"), she keeps the troops from falling into despair as they're forced to confront the horrors that await them. She carries a stuffed toy bunny she calls Mr. Rabbit, a gift from her late father. She has an intrinsic fear of fire, the source of which she is not aware of.

Yukino Mayuzumi

Initial Persona: Vesta

* Age: 20
* Height: 170cm
* Weight: 52kg
* Blood Type: A
* Zodiac Sign: Aries
* Weapon: Razorblades
* Arcana: Empress

Yukino is a returning character from Megami Ibunroku: Persona (or just Persona as we refer to it now). Having graduated from St. Hermelin High School after the famous "incident" in Mikage, she travels to Sumaru City to pursue her career as a premiere photographer. She becomes friends with Maya Amano and work together at Kismet Publishing, often joining Maya on her assignments. She mentors under Senior Photographer Fujii Shunsoke in order to hone her skills.

In her high school days she was a known tomboy delinquent who reformed herself with the help of Ms. Saeko. Possessing a cool mind and a fierce determination, she was a key figure in solving the Mikage crisis using the power of Persona. In the present time, her power lays dormant until the day she and Maya visit Seven Sisters High School in pursuit of the truth behind the Joker Charm...

Jun Kurosu

Initial Persona: Hermes

* Age: 17
* Height: 169cm
* Weight: 51kg
* Blood Type: AB
* Zodiac Sign: Aquarius
* Weapon: Roses
* Arcana: Fortune

The mysterious Jun is a shy boy who goes to Kasugayami High after transferring from Seven Sisters for unknown reasons. His home life is anything but pleasant, and he seems to have some unknown connection to Tatsuya and his party.

Who is he, and what is he hiding?

The Joker

Joker-sama, or Master Joker, is the enigmatic character behind the Joker Charm and a source of torment for Tatsuya and his party. Joker seeks to obtain Ideal Energy, and uses the Charm to obtain them from unsuspecting victims. Joker-sama blames Tatsuya, Lisa and Eikichi for something that occurred in the past, and sends demons to impede their progress.

Battle System

Combat in Persona 2 is a bit of a different beast that what some people may be accustomed to. For the most part, battle revolves around auto-battle and heavy usage of one's Persona's. At the start of battle, you're given the option of instructing your party how they will fight:

-Battle: Begin combat. On auto-battle, combat continues until either you win, you lose or you press a button to stop auto-battle. Turn order is decided by the agility stat. Fortunately you can always see what the turn order is for the next few turns by looking at the right side of the screen.
-Strategy: give your party specific orders, manipulate the turn order, view learned Fusion spell list, and switch the battle mode between Auto and Manual.
-Contact: a holdover from the first Persona, Contact enables you to open negotiations with the demons you fight.
-Analyze: your basic Bestiary. Highly useful for sussing out a demon's weak point.
-Config: standard configuration menu.
-Retreat: "Grab your asses and RUN!"

Battle always defaults to melee attacks for all characters. In order to employ Persona and other tactics, you have to go into Strategy and give your team orders:

-Attack: standard melee combat
-Persona: summon your equipped Persona
-Items: use an item in battle
-Persona Change: switch equipped Personas. Each party member can carry multiple Personas at one time.
-Persona Data: view your active and inactive Personas' status info.
-Defend: take a turn to protect yourself. Very useful in certain situations.

Like Persona 1, Contact involves speaking with demons and raising or lowering 4 different traits in order to achieve a certain outcome. Maxing either one or multiple traits will end the Contact phase:

-Anger: You'll be seeing this one a lot. Say the wrong thing, and the demon will get pissy. Raising it to max will end Contact and the demon will attack.
-Fear: Can cause the demon to flee in terror or seize up in battle.
-Interest: Denoted by the yellow exclamation point, maxing Interest causes the demon to hand you Tarot cards of its chosen Arcana, which you can use to summon Persona later in the Velvet Room.
-Joy: The first time you max Joy, the demon will ask if you want to start a contract with it. If you say yes and later max Joy again in a different battle with the same type of demon, it will remember you have a contract together and ask you if you want anything. You can choose to ask for money, items or Free Tarot cards, which can be turned into any other kind of Tarot card later in the Velvet room. Sometimes, you can even ask the demons to spread exclusive demon rumours that can have a profound or debilitating effect in dungeons and in battle.

It's possible to max two different emotional traits at the same time, which can lead to some interesting outcomes. But mostly, Interest and Joy are the ones you'll most be trying to bring about. It should be noted however, that successful negotiation will end the battle right then and there and you won't gain any experience or money from demons that go undefeated (besides those that are gifted to you).

Persona usage is similar to Persona 1, where Personas need to be ranked up through constant use in order for them to gain new spells and stat gains. Also like Persona 1, Persona users can equip more than one Persona at one time. New personae can be called forth in the Velvet Room, where Igor will create for you a Persona in exchange for a set number of Tarot cards. There's also the issue of compatibility: every Persona user has an innate Arcana preference and several degrees of compatibility for other Arcanas (Best, Good, Bad, Worst, etc.). It is always best to use a Persona that matches the user's innate preference (Maya's Arcana is Moon, so Moon personae are most compatible with her) as it decreases the amount of times you have to use a Persona in order for it to rank up, decreases the amount of SP spent summoning in battle, and increases chances for beneficial effects like Mutation (more on this later). A bad or worst compatibility rating means the Persona is a bad fit: it'll take longer to rank up, amount of SP needed is higher and Mutation chance is lower than normal. Some Personae are so picky they can't even be equipped by some users... experimentation is key.

Fusion Spells are unique special attacks that employ two or more personae working in tandem. These are very powerful and can be quite useful, the only drawback being you need to carefully align the character's turns accordingly in order to make it work. For instance, one spell requires a combination of Water -> Earth -> Fire, in that order (without enemies taking turns in-between), to perform the powerful fire spell Tower Inferno. The spell is non-specific (though sometimes they can be quite specific) and any level of Aqua, Magna and Agi will work. The result can be devastating to a demon weak to fire.

Originally, Innocent Sin kept a log of all learned fusion spells... however it was up to you to put 'em together. In Eternal Punishment, Atlus provided the same log but this time gave it the ability to automatically rearrange your character's turn order and their attacks in order to achieve the selected fusion spell. It stands to reason that this feature will be incorporated into the Innocent Sin remake.

During battle, using your Persona normally will count towards its rank up. However, in Persona 2 Eternal Punishment Atlus introduced the Mutation system. Since Atlus has stated that elements from EP's battle system will be incorporated into IS (which originally lacked Mutation), I'm going to go ahead and cover that too.

When using a fusion attack, there's a chance after battle that one of the Personae used in the attack will "mutate" and gain a random bonus:

1) it'll immediately rank up 2 levels
2) it'll gain a permanent stat boost in a random category
3) it'll learn a unique spell it would otherwise never learn on its own
4) it'll gain the "modification" ability

A Persona with the "modification" ability can be taken to Igor, whereas he can morph the Persona into either a custom Persona or one of the unique Personae that belong to the minor Arcana classes: Sword, Cup, Pentacle and Rod. These Persona are actually much stronger than an equal level Persona from a Major Arcana, and can't be summoned any other way. They also tend to be much more compatible with multiple Persona users.

Finally, there's the Fool class Persona. In Persona 2, Fool is the hardest Tarot card to come across. It's possible to play through the whole game and never come across one: this is due to the difficulty in winning them through Demon Contact (which is practically random). You only need 6 Fool cards (I think) to summon the most powerful Fool Persona in the game, whereas most high leveled Personas require over 200 tarot cards... they're that rare.

Most crucial question however, has that been announced for localisation yet?

Atlus USA only ever announces localization after the Japanese version hits retail... and then usually not until a week or two after if they're in a hurry.

And this game is totally a lock. Persona is their most well-received series ever over here. They'd be foolish not to.

you're much younger than me hukos, i gratuated on the dark year of 2001..... omg i'm so old

The Rumor System

In Sumaru City, rumors are reality. Due to some unseen force, the regular gossip that occurs within a population has gained the uncanny ability to manifest and become real when spread to enough people who believe it. At first, it goes unnoticed. But now someone has used this supernatural power for their own ends. Already, Seven Sisters High School is caught in the grip of multiple anomalies. Statues that move all on their own, the curse of the school emblem, the Joker Charm, the ghost of the school's clock tower... something must be done before the rumors spread into the general populace.

As your group continues, it will find that the best way to fight rumors is with more rumors. Fortunately, you'll find another group willing to aid you in spreading beneficial rumors. At the Kuzonoha Detective Office, you'll meet Todoroki Daisuke and his two subordinates: Tamaki Uchida and Satomi Tadashi (both appearing before in Persona 1 as St. Hermelin students, but Tamaki actually hails from SMT: ...if as an accomplished Devil Summoner). All three are aware that something sinister is occurring in Sumaru, and decide to use their resources to spread rumors that will benefit your party.

How it works is simple: in and around Sumaru are various Rumormongers who keep their ear to the ground and hear the latest gossip. Talk to these people, collect their rumors and report your findings to Todoroki. For a small fee, he will agree to help spread your rumor among the populace. The results are immediate: for example, spread a rumor that the local clothing shop is now specializing in battle armor and you'll see that their selection has been altered to include kevlar vests and the like. Or spread the one about the ghost at Kasuyagami High and you'll be able to fight a rare demon there. The rumors can even be altered further: collect several similar rumors about buyable weapons at the Clair De Lune restaurant and Todoroki will ask you which one you wish to spread: average type/average priced weapons, strong type/high priced weapon, or weaker type/cheap priced weapons.

The Music

What's a Persona without incredible tunes to jam to whilst scouring dungeons and battling hellspawns? How about a listen at the various themes and tracks composed for the game? Note, however, that these are all tracks from the PS1 original and not the arrange tracks that will be in the PSP version. But if the sample track at the game's website is anything to go by, I don't think the songs will differ too much.

Ginko's Theme
[flash=560,25]http://www.youtube.com/v/FnnUQsyE4c4?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0[/flash]

Battle
[flash=560,25]http://www.youtube.com/v/9RI1zGBaIuI?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0[/flash]

Maya's Theme
[flash=560,25]http://www.youtube.com/v/0rmiuAOD4UY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0[/flash]

Kazunoha Detective Office
[flash=560,25]http://www.youtube.com/v/4uOI_cv5nrk?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"%20type="application/x-shockwave-flash"%20allowScriptAccess="never"%20width="560"%20height="25"%20>[/flash]

Philemon's Theme
[flash=560,25]http://www.youtube.com/v/rLgBiAsH6zk?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"%20type="application/x-shockwave-flash"%20allowScriptAccess="never"%20width="560"%20height="25"%20>[/flash]

Boss Battle
[flash=560,25]http://www.youtube.com/v/Op3K6NUhtdk?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"%20type="application/x-shockwave-flash"%20allowScriptAccess="never"%20width="560"%20height="25"%20>[/flash]

Main Theme B
[flash=560,25]http://www.youtube.com/v/diAk1XKZD1E?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"%20type="application/x-shockwave-flash"%20allowScriptAccess="never"%20width="560"%20height="25"%20>[/flash]

Satomi Tadashi - Aoba Shop
(my personal favorite of all the Satomi Tadashi themes, of which there are several in this game)
[flash=560,25]http://www.youtube.com/v/wcScLP01To4?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"%20type="application/x-shockwave-flash"%20allowScriptAccess="never"%20width="560"%20height="25"%20>[/flash]

Knights of the Holy Lance
[flash=560,25]http://www.youtube.com/v/O02Q1pEoG0s?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"%20type="application/x-shockwave-flash"%20allowScriptAccess="never"%20width="560"%20height="25"%20>[/flash]

(hm... might have gone overboard again)

Last but not least: a special animated promotional video from back when Innocent Sin was going to be released on the PS1. When Eternal Punishment was localized and released in North America, this was subbed and included on the Extras disc. It mostly focuses on Innocent Sin, but includes some foreshadowing on what was to come in Eternal Punishment. It's rumored (heh) that this short OVA is proof that IS and EP were being developed internally at the same time, and may have been at some point one game that was eventually split in two.

[flash=425,349]http://www.youtube.com/v/m7Gk-onicEc?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"%20type="application/x-shockwave-flash"%20allowScriptAccess="never"%20width="425"%20height="349"%20>[/flash]

Ah, to go back and be able to play this game again for the first time...

June 23rd, 1999

This Week in News: Absolutely no new games releasing today in Japan.

"Is there anything you regret that you wish you could go back and redo?"

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Link - Official NA website

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