At this year's gamescom, a hands-on demo of Persona 4 Revival—the game Atlus fans have been waiting for most—was made available. Just as Persona 3 Reload did before it, the game has been rebuilt entirely from scratch through a full remake.

Persona 4 on PS2 and Persona 4 Golden on PS Vita were massive hits that not only drove console sales but also laid the groundwork for the Persona series' long-term popularity. Naturally, that immense interest and love carry straight over to Revival.

While remakes are often seen as safe bets for success, recreating a game that was so deeply loved in the past only increases the pressure. The developers must satisfy sky-high expectations while ensuring the fun meets modern standards for new titles.

As a result, the development team working on this new title is going through a busy and arduous production process. We met Producer Kazuhisa Wada, who leads the project, and Art Director Akane Kabayashi, who handles the visuals, in Germany. We spoke with them to learn about the current development process and where Persona 4 Revival is heading.

Q. This was the first hands-on demo for Persona 4 Revival, and playing it was impressive. What aspects did you focus on most for this demo?

Producer Wada: I'd say immersion and empathy? Compared to the original game, I think those aspects have definitely been enhanced significantly. I hope players can feel that when they play.

Director Kabayashi: Overall, the story itself hasn't changed dramatically, but the biggest changes are on the visual front. That includes the UI, and we also put a lot of effort into the event scenes. In particular, I think what people love most about this game is the feeling of the characters all getting along so well. So we added much more variety to their facial expressions and paid close attention to camera work. We put a lot of painstaking effort into making every single event scene worth watching, so I really hope players pay attention to those.

Producer Wada: In particular, scenes where they confront their Shadows have a lot more highlight moments for each character.

Director Kabayashi: That's right. The characters' faces were tweaked slightly, and because we remade all the models and even the minor NPC characters from scratch, there's definitely a major power-up overall.

Q. During development, was there anything the team decided 'must never be changed'?

Producer Wada: We believed the main spine of the story must never be changed. The original story was so highly acclaimed that if we altered it, it would no longer be Persona 4. We had a firm rule that the central narrative pillar would remain untouched.

Director Kabayashi: I'd say the core design philosophy—specifically, the overall impression when actually playing the game. Within the team, we chose 'warmth' and 'nostalgia' as our key words, and we constantly discussed keeping the design aligned with those.

Q. Persona 3 Reload was a remake made in Unreal Engine. Did that development experience help in creating this game?

Producer Wada: When making Persona 3 Reload, it was our first time using Unreal Engine, so there was so much we didn't know. We had to build our development pipeline from scratch while learning Unreal Engine. In contrast, for Persona 4 Revival, we were able to approach development with a proven track record of completing a project in Unreal Engine, allowing us to leverage the engine's capabilities much better.

In particular, aspects like the nostalgic atmosphere of the environments and how impressions shift depending on the weather heavily reflect the experience we built up.

Q. The beautiful screens leveraging visual style—such as the UI and various option menus—were very impressive once again. Were there any areas during development that were particularly difficult or required heavy investment?

Director Kabayashi: Creating the 'Camp Menu' (the main in-game menu) was quite difficult.

It was truly tough in every sense. After all, it's the face of the game's interface. Applying the models in the standard way resulted in something that made us feel, 'This isn't going to work,' so we repeatedly remade and reviewed it. By watching the results closely, we brought it up to its current level of quality, receiving help and advice from many people along the way. It was hard work, but I feel it has finally settled into a great place.

Q. We heard that event staging is significantly improved compared to before and that voice lines were newly re-recorded. Which part did the team focus on most?

Producer Wada: Definitely the scenes confronting the Shadows—in other words, the cutscenes. The staff poured tremendous energy into working on them.

Director Kabayashi: To the point where some internally said, 'This might be too over-the-top.' The staff in charge put immense care into fine-tuning those details.

Producer Wada: Right. In particular, for elements that could easily become overly intense—such as the Shadows or Shadows in a berserk state—we were careful not to make the depiction too graphic. Even using just the original settings carries a substantial impact, after all.

Q. Persona 4 holds a special place within the series. Compared to Persona 3 Reload or future Persona games, where do you see Revival's unique identity?

Director Kabayashi: Despite the various incidents that occur, I'd say it's the sense that the world itself feels peaceful. While I shouldn't make simple comparisons with other titles, that's definitely the impression I get. How should I put it...

Producer Wada: It's the fact that the story unfolds purely through bonds with companions rather than transactional exchanges, right?

Director Kabayashi: Yes, exactly that. That aspect feels almost unique to me, making it a key point that sets it apart from other titles.

Producer Wada: I believe every title in the series has its own distinct flavor and style. If I were to name the most distinct feature of Revival, it's definitely the rural countryside setting. We wanted to carefully preserve that aspect and applied that philosophy throughout development.

Q. As development progressed, were there areas you felt improved significantly? Or parts you continued tuning until the very end?

Director Kabayashi: It improved tremendously. We are still pouring effort into the event scenes, which requires a huge amount of resources. Since work is still actively ongoing, I think that has been the toughest area.

Producer Wada: I'm cautious about speaking on it since I don't personally create or direct the scenes... but in any case, this game has a massive volume of content. How to package and produce that vast amount of content was a major challenge.

Because of the sheer volume, we wanted to elevate the quality of event staging, but as enthusiasm on the floor kept growing, the number of events ended up multiplying. Having made and directed events myself in the past, I knew how hard it would be and tried to rein them in, but the team wouldn't listen, so it became quite a situation (laughs). However, because they pushed to raise the quality until the end, I believe it produced tangible results. That's what matters most.

Q. The character designs have been updated compared to the chibi (SD) characters of the original. What are the biggest changes?

Director Kabayashi: Originally, the characters in the original game had relatively compact body proportions. Of course, this isn't our first time working with realistic proportions since we worked on them in the dancing games (*Persona Dancing series). However, for the dancing games, lengthening the limbs due to the genre's needs sometimes made them look overly muscular, so we couldn't just reuse those assets as-is.

In that sense, Revival features models remade from scratch to achieve optimal body proportions and facial features aligned with modern trends. I'd say that is the biggest change.

Producer Wada: And Yukiko has become much more beautiful than before.

Q. Persona 4 is a beloved title for many. Rebuilding it must have been exciting yet pressuring. What were the most enjoyable and most challenging parts of the process?

Director Kabayashi: The hardest part was dealing with the intangible—making sure not to betray fans' expectations. I work believing 'this is good,' but whether it's truly right isn't known until it's released to the world. Of course, I seek feedback from senior staff and directors beforehand, but even so, you really don't know for sure until the very end.

However, there are moments when I feel confident pushing forward—for me, when an idea strikes, I usually get a strong 'this is it' intuition within about three seconds. In those moments, I feel confident we can deliver a high level of quality.

Producer Wada: The most important and difficult part was faithfully remaking the atmosphere of that era so it resonates with both new fans and longtime lovers of the original.

As for the most enjoyable part, watching fan reactions to promotional releases was a joy as a developer. We first revealed Revival in June of last year with a video showing the protagonist simply running through the town. Even though there was barely any information, everyone welcomed it so warmly that I was truly thrilled.

Q. Any final words for Korean fans waiting for this game?

Producer Wada: I believe the original Persona 4 was a masterpiece to begin with. Those who have played it know, but this remake is further refined so players can enjoy it with even greater depth and comfort. For newcomers in particular, I consider this a must-play title, so I sincerely hope you give it a try.

Director Kabayashi: For those who have played it before, I hope you enjoy reminiscing about past memories while comparing them to what we've newly created. Among first-time players, there are probably many from a generation that has never seen a CRT TV. I'd be grateful if they could enjoy experiencing a past era of Japan, thinking, 'So there was a time like this.'