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

Persona 4 on PS2 and Persona 4 Golden on PS Vita were massive commercial successes that drove hardware sales and laid the groundwork for the long-term popularity of the Persona series. Naturally, that immense interest and affection carry straight over to Revival.

While remakes are often seen as safe commercial bets, taking on a game so deeply loved in the past only increases the pressure. The developers must satisfy sky-high expectations while ensuring the standard for fun meets modern standards for new releases.

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 the development of Persona 4 Revival is heading.

Q. This was Revival's first hands-on demo, 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 care into making every single event scene captivating, so I really hope players take note of that.

Producer Wada: In particular, scenes where they confront Shadows now feature quite a lot of highlights for each character.

Director Kabayashi: That's right. The characters' faces were slightly modified, and since we remade all the models and NPC characters from scratch, I think there's definitely been a major power-up.

Q. During development, was there anything the team decided, "We must absolutely never change this"?

Producer Wada: We felt that the core storyline must never be changed. The original story was praised so highly that changing it would mean it's no longer Persona 4. We made it a rule never to alter the central pillar of the story.

Director Kabayashi: Or the core pillar of design, perhaps? It was the impression players get when actually playing the game. Within the development team, we used "warmth" and "nostalgia" as our key phrases, and we constantly discussed staying faithful to those concepts.

Q. Persona 3 Reload is a remake title developed on Unreal Engine. Did that development experience help in making this game?

Producer Wada: When making Persona 3 Reload, it was our first time using Unreal Engine, so we were surrounded by unknowns. We had to build our development pipeline while learning Unreal Engine from scratch. In contrast, for Persona 4 Revival, we were able to approach it with a proven track record of completing a project in Unreal Engine, which allowed us to leverage the engine's characteristics much better.

In particular, aspects like the nostalgic atmosphere of the backgrounds or the impressions that change with the weather heavily reflect the experience we have accumulated over time.

Q. The UI, various option menus, and beautifully crafted screens were once again very impressive. Were there any areas during development that were particularly difficult or where you invested a lot of effort?

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

Literally, it was really tough. After all, it serves as the face of the game. When we applied models in the standard way, it felt like "this isn't going to work," so we went through a cycle of rebuilding and reviewing it over and over. By monitoring those results, we brought it up to its current quality, receiving help and advice from many people along the way. It was hard work, but I think it has finally settled into place.

Q. In this title, event staging is much better than in previous entries, and I heard the voice lines were re-recorded as well. What would you say is the aspect the team put the most effort into?

Producer Wada: Naturally, it's the scenes where they confront Shadows—the cutscene portions. The team poured a tremendous amount of passion into working on those.

Director Kabayashi: To the point where some internal feedback was that "it might be a bit too much." The staff in charge paid extreme attention to those fine adjustments.

Producer Wada: That's right. In particular, for areas where depiction could easily become overly intense—such as Shadows or Shadows in a berserk state—we were careful not to make the presentation excessively graphic. Even taking the setting straight from the original had a significant impact.

Q. Persona 4 holds a special position within the series. Compared to Persona 3 Reload or future Persona titles, where do you see the distinct identity of Revival?

Director Kabayashi: Even though various incidents occur, I think it's the fact that the world itself feels peaceful. We shouldn't make simple comparisons with other titles, but I definitely get that impression. How should I put it...

Producer Wada: Rather than transaction-like exchanges, the story unfolds purely through the bonds between companions.

Director Kabayashi: Exactly that. That point feels almost unique to me as well, and I believe it's what sets this game apart from other titles.

Producer Wada: I believe each title in the series has its own distinct color and flavor. If I had to pick the most clearly distinct aspect of Revival, it is definitely that it is set in a rural countryside town. We wanted to carefully preserve that aspect, and we applied that principle throughout development.

Q. During development, were there areas that you felt improved significantly? Or areas you kept fine-tuning right up until the end?

Director Kabayashi: It has improved a lot. We are still pouring effort into the event scenes, which naturally requires a high production cost. Since it's still ongoing, I think that has been the most challenging part.

Producer Wada: I am careful with what I say since I'm not in a position to directly create or direct scenes myself, but... either way, this game has a massive volume of content. How to package and shape that vast amount of material was a major challenge.

Because the volume was so large, we also wanted to elevate the quality of event staging. However, as the energy on the floor kept evolving, the number of events multiplied. Having previously created and directed event scenes myself, I knew how grueling it was and tried to reign them in, but the dev team wouldn't listen, so it became quite a situation (laughs). Still, as much as everyone pushed to elevate the quality until the very end, I believe it definitely paid off in the final results. I think that's what matters most.

Q. Compared to the chibi (SD) characters of the original, the character designs have been refreshed. What is the biggest change?

Director Kabayashi: Basically, the original characters had relatively smaller proportions. Of course, since we worked on them in the dancing games (*Persona Dancing series), this isn't the first time they've been scaled up. However, in the case of the dancing games, due to the genre, making the limbs longer sometimes made characters look too muscular, so we couldn't just reuse those models directly.

In that sense, for Revival, the models were remade in their best form to fit modern trends, both in body proportions and facial features. I'd say that is the biggest change.

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

Q. Persona 4 is a game loved by many. While recreating it must be enjoyable, it could also feel burdensome. What were the most enjoyable and most difficult aspects for each of you?

Director Kabayashi: The hardest part was dealing with something intangible—meeting fan expectations without letting them down. While I personally work with the belief that "this is good," whether that was truly right is something you can only know once it's out in the world. Of course, I consult senior staff and directors beforehand, but there are still things you only find out at the very end when it's released.

However, there are moments when I feel confident pushing forward. In my case, when an idea strikes, I get a feeling within about 3 seconds that "this is it." In those moments, I feel confident we can deliver a high level of polish.

Producer Wada: Naturally, the most important yet difficult part was faithfully recreating the atmosphere of that era so that it reaches both new fans and long-time fans effectively.

As for what was enjoyable, as a developer, watching the fan reactions to promotions was truly rewarding. The first time we revealed Revival was in June last year, and at that time, it was just a video showing the protagonist running through the town. Even though there was almost no information, everyone was so thrilled to see it, which made me really happy.

Q. Do you have a message for Korean fans waiting for this game?

Producer Wada: I believe the original Persona 4 was already a masterpiece. Those who have played it before know well, but this version has been further refined so that it can be enjoyed even more deeply and comfortably. For newcomers in particular, I think this title is a must-play, so please do give it a try.

Director Kabayashi: For those who have already played it, I hope you enjoy comparing the new elements we created with your memories of the original. Among first-time players, there are probably many from a generation that has never seen a CRT TV, so I would be grateful if you could enjoy experiencing a bygone era of Japan with a sense of "so there was a time like this."