Topic: Persona 5 Strikers

@TheFrenchiestFry
We have absolutely no release date for SMT 3 or 5 in the west. While 3 is already out in Japan I’d assume it won’t be too much longer but 5 may be pushed back to the end of the year. SMT3 is on two platforms (possibly PC) so I don’t see a danger there.

I’m not really keen on this idea of you must buy any old crap if you want good crap. Even if it takes massive sales of the any old crap to get good crap then it just means the good crap was never likely to begin with.

@TheFrenchiestFry
SMT5 may not even be a good game?! Sometimes games don’t sell well because they just aren’t good. Saying go support SMT or we won’t gat any other games is just stupid! They have a game that people are asking about daily so why not just go ahead and bite the bullet? Is 3 doing any better on one or the other in Japan? They are making money regardless of the platform it’s on so what’s the problem? They could announce SMT 3, 5 and P5 this weekend at the concert for switch and everyone would lose their minds! I’d preorder all 3!

Yeah, it's not that hard to go out and buy a PS4/5 if you want to play Persona 5. It just seems bizarre to be porting a spinoff from it to a couple of platforms that never saw the original game, one of which has never had a Persona game at all. It'd make a little more sense if they eventually did though.

In terms of the Atlus legacy catalogue, they've presumably got the same problems as everyone else in that there are a number of very vocal fans who'd much like them to port everything they ever made to a modern platform. However, without any additional mass market interest, it's just not going to be a viable proposition and that's especially going to be the case for the ones where they've not got full ownership.

@timleon The lack of a portable version of P5 is probably the biggest casualty of Sony's abandonment of portable hardware.

Royal would totally have been a portable entry. And we'd likely have gotten a portable version of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim as well.

I get why Sony cut off their portable hardware line and have gone all in again on their home consoles, but it's such a shame to me.

In a better world, we'd have a Vita successor that was competitive with the Switch. And Gravity Rush 2 and 3 would have released on it.

@Ralizah To be honest, as much as I like the Vita for what it is, I think the world is better off to have Sony abandon the dedicated handheld market. It means all the more room for Nintendo in this space. Vita's strength was in Japanese third party titles and - although Switch is still missing some key names - I feel Nintendo is capable of filling this space moving forward. Sony did make a bit of a splash with their first party properties - but unlike Nintendo these often seemed like an afterthought, and generally weren't considered system sellers to the same extent as Nintendo's handheld experiences.

That said, when the technology gets there (i.e. when the trade-off between portability and power becomes so negligible that they might as well), I'd love to see Sony turn their console line into a hybrid. Portability is always a plus in my eyes.

@GameOtaku "SMT V might not even be a good game"

It's being produced by goddamn Kazuyuki Yamai, who directed SMT IV, which is easily a contender for the 3DS' best RPG, and Atlus is one of those rare as hell companies that virtually never disappoint with their flagship releases whether it be Persona, SMT, Etrian or everything in between. They're literally a company I pretty much always preorder stuff from because it's almost assumed it's going to be quality

The only reason it doesn't sell as well compared to Persona is that Atlus just doesn't put the marketing budget into it the way they do for Persona. Catherine didn't sell that well either and it's legit like top 10 Atlus games material and y'all slept on it when it came to Switch because it wasn't Persona either lmao.

They don't have to bite the bullet on anything. Considering what games have materialized as a result of directly asking their consumer base, it's clear the people who actually advocate for Persona games on Switch are in a vast minority, doubly so considering at the moment their games are doing way better numbers on PC and PlayStation anyway. This isn't about "if you want y game, buy x game". This is just legit about supporting the company so maybe they'll get the hint that more than just a drowned out minority of people want a particular game in the first place.

And no, they're not announcing a freaking Persona port at a concert where virtually all the music is going to be from Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne.

@timleon I really want a new PSP from Sony. I know why they haven't gotten around to one but their initial reasons for exiting portables felt so tone deaf on so many levels given how they even handled the Vita throughout its lifespan. It was practically set up to be successful even if it couldn't match 3DS numbers and it still fell woefully short

The thought of playing games on the caliber of God of War PS4, Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us on the go sounds too good to pass up, especially since Uncharted Golden Abyss and Killzone Mercenary felt like such teases

I'm not sure that's true, they may have asked but it doesn't mean they have taken action on it.

Persona 4 Golden on PC is actually a SEGA release, not an Atlus one. The timing of Atlus' survey and Catherine's release on Switch suggest it was already in the works regardless of survey results and I'm pretty sure Tokyo Mirage Session and Strikers never popped up on that list. So nothing on Switch has come about from Atlus asking the fans.

Nah, Persona has a life of it's own which often excels Atlus' own expectations for the series rather than they are pushing it harder than their other games. When Persona 5 was released in the UK in went straight into the UK charts as no 1, the next week it completely left the top 40 as literally all physical copies in the country were completely sold out as they underestimated it's popularity.

@TheFrenchiestFry
Contra Rouge Corps was also directed by the same guy over Contra Hard Corps and we saw how well that turned out. It can still potentially be a stinker. I hope not but it is still a possibility. Speaking of marketing P5 switch has advertised the game over several games but has yet to get a port (joker in smash, costumes in TMS, music in Catherine, the sequel). I didn’t see Persona games advertising SMT4 or teasing 3 or 5. In fact P5S makes even less sense to even release on switch in the first place. If you had means to play P5 you’d have no reason to buy the switch port of Strikers when you can get it on the system you already own. Many are one console players only and to suggest they go and buy another console to play one game so they can get enjoyment out of a game that’s multiplat is ridiculous. $60 for a switch port vs $300+$60* is a crap argument.
Had Atlus never given Switch only owners hope that a port is possible we wouldn’t be in this situation!

Persona and SMT may be similar in as much they are both RPGs but beyond that nothing else. Thematically (as I’ve mentioned before) Persona is far more appealing especially with its themes in relation to what’s going on in the world today compared to the grimdark world of SMT. The response on surveys has been overwhelming in favor of ports so why leave money on the table? They can make money on both SMT and Persona both being on Switch.

@jump With Catherine it might not be as much the case but they explicitly mentioned the consumer surveys when talking about why SMT Nocturne started development, and Strikers has actually been teased in past surveys beforehand since they often listed "Action RPG" whenever they inquired about potential genres that fans would like to see the series explore in the future, so it's clear that was also partially thanks to fan demand as well

@GameOtaku Konami is Konami. Metal Gear Survive was also made in collaboration with some of the ex-Metal Gear devs left over post-Kojima Productions and was likewise using a gameplay style that just didn't fit its series whatsoever in addition to being a drag of a game. Apples to oranges

And no Atlus did not give Switch owners hope a port was possible. A communications manager from a translation branch at Atlus basically insinuated that maybe in the far flung future if you begged and pleaded hard enough there's a 1% chance Atlus Japan will slightly care about the fact their American social media accounts are bombarded with some dumb hashtag and some desperate people who for one reason or another either can't or refuse to buy anything with "PlayStation" in the name

While the whole "Persona has more appeal" thing is true the similarities never stopped at them just being RPGs. Persona basically shares all its gameplay mechanics outside the social sim elements with SMT. It's not even that much more grounded as you think just because it's presented under the guise of a slice of life story. Firing a gun-like object into your head to summon a Persona, a secret robotic Nazi batallion led by a presumed to be dead Hitler, alternate realities, a boy with Death literally inside his body, a rural town where foggy weather is preceded by a sudden abduction of an individual prior to murder and a literal final boss fight where the protagonist ends the fight by shooting a bullet into GOD is every bit as surreal and abstract as anything in SMT. It only doesn't look that way because they use the social sim element to mask all that stuff under a more realistic setting when it really isn't, especially since both SMT and Persona share thematic traits despite the latter's focus on psychology and the former's on religion

Also I'd love to see where you're getting this "overwhelming favorable" response to Switch ports from. If that's the case why are these games selling so badly on Switch with the exception of surprise, surprise, an SMT game that isn't a Persona game

Regardless of those pesky American hash tags and whatnot I don't think blaming fans for being upset that there's no Persona 5 on Switch is correct since Ninty knew including Joker in Smash would set expectations of a Persona port even if it wasn't announced. Maybe the fans should be less annoyed with Atlus and more annoyed at Nintendo instead but fans going "Where's Persona on Switch?" seems like a reasonable enough thing to ask.

@TheFrenchiestFry
https://www.google.com/amp/s/comicbook.com/gaming/amp/news/at...
It showed a pretty high demand for switch ports including P5. The amount of Persona on switch without actually having a port on switch and the PR manager saying there was a chance. The manager is still around and not fired or put on leave so she obviously didn’t speak wrongly.

@GameOtaku Atlus literally just said "we received more replies for this survey than any other survey" without name dropping any specific platform as a result of this Japan-only survey being reported on by Western news outlets like it was a big thing

It just means more people in general answered the questionnaire than they expected or as is usually projected. Not specifically that more people were requesting for a specific thing on that survey. This is vaguer than vague

And again, the communications manager of a TRANSLATION COMPANY. Atlus West doesn't greenlight or factor into anything Atlus Japan does. They're the people who call the shots. West doesn't do anything of note other than make what Japan produces available to English audiences

@TheFrenchiestFry
What part of “seeing the results of a recent survey” is hard to understand? It showed demand for the Switch!

I need to get back into this to finish my compendium (missing just one persona). Don't yet own a copy for my Switch but I think I will double dip and buy a copy sometime within the next couple of weeks, as I wouldn't mind doing a more leisurely playthrough in the future.

@GameOtaku Just read the article you linked, and I can't see anywhere in the article where it states that Atlus's survey showed demand was for the Switch. It mentions a higher response than before, but does not mention anything about the results. Anything else in the article seems to be anecdotal from the author.

I think talking about the survey is kinda missing the point. People shouldn't have to clamor for a Persona 5 port on Switch, and hopefully many of the people who would buy it don't know that they want it yet. Its not the fans' responsibility to drum up interest, it's the publisher's.

I think we can can only infer so much when it comes to other Atlus games as well. Catherine is a fundamentally different game which didn't receive much marketing. Strikers is a spin-off, and although it ranked higher on PC, we don't know exact numbers and there are too many variables to say outright that mainline Persona demand is higher in PC.

Its just a shame generally that Atlus aren't willing to bring their games to a wider audience. Persona 4 Golden was often praised as the reason to get a PSVita...but then just sorta remained there until last year. It would really be a shame if this happened with every SMT and Persona title moving forward.

@timleon Yeah, at the end of the day people just want to see these games do well so with Atlus who seem to handicapped themselves at times just drives the fans nuts. I mean Switch is the sucessor to 3DS and Vita which proved a popular ground for Atlus so it's kinda mental that they took 3 years to release anything on it.

@timleon I agree that fans shouldn't have to clamor at all. To be fair, it did take them about 5 years for them to consistently put out content on the PS4 so for all we know, Atlus could be working on stuff already... at least I am hoping that is the case. Hopefully we get dates for SMT3 and 5 soon, and that hopefully more things follow.

@MS7000
Since the release of the Nintendo Switch just under three years ago, the system has seen a stunning number of video game ports. While ports of older games don't always generate a lot of interest from consumers, the console's portability has resulted in a lot of demand for games on the console. It seems that gamers really like the novelty of being able to play their favorite titles on the go! Publisher Atlus was surprised to discover just how true that fact is upon seeing results from a recent survey.
Copied and pasted from the source.

Atlus: Do you want Persona on Switch?
Us: Yes
Atlus: You answered Yes you want Persona on Switch.
Us: Yes
Atlus: I’m sorry I don’t understand. I’ll ask again in a survey. Do you want Persona on Switch?
Us: YES
Atlus: You answered Yes you want Persona on Switch.
Us: YES
Atlus: I fail to understand we will ask again in the meantime here is a sequel to Persona 5. If you wish to know more information buy the original on a console you don’t own.
Us: Arrrrrrgh!