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Persona director leaves the franchise after the success of P5

Zenpai

By Zenpai
in Persona 5

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Zenpai Enthusiast

Zenpai

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This has apparently happened three months ago already, but since no one seemed to know here, might as well be me doing the informing ?

 

Long-time mainline Persona games director Katsura Hashino will be leaving the franchise in the hands of new designers and start his own new project, for now simply titled "Project Re: Fantasy":

 

Quote
(...)I hope that the tale of Persona 5 will leave a lasting impression on everyone who plays it. No matter what kind of project I take on going forward, I love creating RPGs that are both moving and relatable regardless of cultural differences—in fact, I’m most interested in strengthening those aspects right now.
 

Last year, with the milestone of the Persona series’ 20th anniversary, I handed off the series development to my successors and announced the start of my new RPG project that takes place in a fantasy world. Be it a game set in modern day, like the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series, or a game set in a new fantasy world, I aim to create games that provide an invaluable experience of reflecting on oneself through a journey, while roleplaying as characters that players can deeply relate to.

 

These efforts are only made possible thanks to the positive reception we receive from fans—not just in Japan, but worldwide—of the Persona series and Atlus RPGs in general. I appreciate all your support for the newest entry in the Persona series, and I hope that everyone will enjoy the new Atlus RPGs to come.

 

Source: http://personacentral.com/message-director-katsura-hashino-celebrating-western-release-persona-5/

 

Hashino developed Personas 3, 4 and 5 as well as Catherine, among other games.

 

Regarding the other three members of the Persona Holy Trinity, Shouji Meguro (composer) and Shigenori Soejima (character designer), they will apparently move on with Hashino to his new internal studio at Atlus, Studio Zero, but will also still work for the Persona franchise:

 

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Both the series composer Shoji Meguro and the character designer Shigenori Soejima are no longer part of Atlus’ creative second department—or P Studio—but the former is now part of the “Atlus Sound Team” and the latter, the “Atlus Artwork Team.” It is implied their involvement will continue with the Persona series moving forward, however.

 

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While Hashino is focusing entirely on building Studio Zero from the ground up, Soejima and Meguro will maintain their responsibilities to the Persona series. Likewise, P-Studio, the production team in charge of Persona, will continue to operate at full strength to develop new entries to fulfill demand for the series.

 

Source: http://personacentral.com/persona-series-director-katsura-hashino-leaving-future-successors/

 

So apparently, the Persona series will still regain some sense of its former self. Personally, I'm a bit sad to see him leave, he was one of my greatest recent gaming finds, but I do realize creative fatigue is a thing. He probably felt he did all he could have done with the series and just wants to try something new now. I can even see Catherine as just a way to take a break from Persona, having directed Personas 3 and 4 back-to-back. And to be honest, I never really liked stuff to go on forever. And we're still left with one of gaming's greatest trilogies ?

 

Let's see what the future holds for both the mainline Persona games and Project Re: Fantasy. I will personally be sure to check out both of them.

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madbuk Grand Master

madbuk

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15 minutes ago, kuuhaku said:

Maybe Project Re: Fantasy will be like an alternative final fantasy, but a JRPG again since SE don't seem to want those any more.

Kingdom Hearts 3? Final Fantasy XV? World of Final Fantasy? Final Fantasy VII Remake?

Edited by madbuk
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ExHaseo Grand Master

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He's probably just bored. Since P3, they've used essentially the same formula. He probably wants to be able to do other things, than just the same game with slight variations over and over. And really, now that they have an established formula, there's really no reason for him to stay anyway. 

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Satoshi Ookami Grand Master

Satoshi Ookami

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1 hour ago, kuuhaku said:

World of Final Fantasy is the only one you listed that would be a JRPG. Just ask @Satoshi Ookami :awesome:

This guy knows :awesome: 

 

 

This is just my assumption but Atlus probably wants to release new Personas more often and that's something Hashi doesn't want to do.

We have seen how long he worked on P5 and how brilliant it ended up. If he were to be given tougher deadlines, his Personas would still be good but not Hashi-quality.

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ExHaseo Grand Master

ExHaseo

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2 hours ago, kuuhaku said:

Maybe Project Re: Fantasy will be like an alternative final fantasy, but a JRPG again since SE don't seem to want those any more.

You mean, except for WoFF, Bravely Default, Bravely Second, I Am Setsuna, Dragon Quest XI, and Lost Sphear, right?

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Z1MZUM Veteran

Z1MZUM

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This is good news, I mean I love the SMT games though the P series is getting a bit stale. The changes from Persona 1 and 2 made in Persona 3 and 4 are a great move, Persona 5 is a nicer looking game, the dungeons are more interactive but it's essentially a very good persona 3/4.

 

I got bored with it pretty quick.

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Zenpai Enthusiast

Zenpai

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4 hours ago, Z1MZUM said:

This is good news, I mean I love the SMT games though the P series is getting a bit stale. The changes from Persona 1 and 2 made in Persona 3 and 4 are a great move, Persona 5 is a nicer looking game, the dungeons are more interactive but it's essentially a very good persona 3/4.

 

I do see what you mean. While personally Persona is a pretty recent find that I still can't get enough of, as I said, I was never a fan of stuff dragging on forever. Might as well leave while you're on top.

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Satoshi Ookami Grand Master

Satoshi Ookami

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8 hours ago, Z1MZUM said:

This is good news, I mean I love the SMT games though the P series is getting a bit stale. The changes from Persona 1 and 2 made in Persona 3 and 4 are a great move, Persona 5 is a nicer looking game, the dungeons are more interactive but it's essentially a very good persona 3/4.

 

I got bored with it pretty quick.

Don't worry, Persona Karting will change everything :awesome: 

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Remilia Scarlet Veteran

Remilia Scarlet

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On 8/24/2017 at 2:58 AM, Z1MZUM said:

This is good news, I mean I love the SMT games though the P series is getting a bit stale. The changes from Persona 1 and 2 made in Persona 3 and 4 are a great move, Persona 5 is a nicer looking game, the dungeons are more interactive but it's essentially a very good persona 3/4.

 

I got bored with it pretty quick.

 

>says it's a very good game

>gets bored very quickly

 

This is not parsing.

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Z1MZUM Veteran

Z1MZUM

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19 minutes ago, Freelancer Tex said:

 

>says it's a very good game

>gets bored very quickly

 

This is not parsing.

 

Sure, but you wrote it like that, not me.

 

The game is well written, it's very similar to the previous 2 games, I don't see how this is difficult to get.

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