Atlus has been having a surprisingly good run with its niche titles in recent years. The last game it published, Demon’s Souls developed by From Software, was an expected critical success, but a also a surprise commercial hit, sellling out within a few weeks of its debut, something that rarely happens for a Japanese game in the west.
However, what Atlus is best known for is their flagship Shin Megami Tensei series, more, popularly known as SMT, and in this regard, last year’s Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 was their last big console RPG hit. Although technically a “side series” of the actual SMT franchise, the Persona series has been making waves with its unique take on JRPG mechanics in a contemporary Japanese setting. Now it looks like there might be more on the way.
Japanese game culture website Andriasang reports that Atlus staff are at work on another project. Katsura Hashino, the producer of Persona 4, explained that his team was split into two at the completion of Persona 4, with one half working on the portable version of Persona 3, while the other half went to work on a still unnamed, original project. He has recently announced that as this unnamed project nears completion, both teams will reunite to work on a larger project. The question then becomes will this new game be a Persona 5 game, which is arguably Atlus most successful series to date, or a proper Shin Megami Tensei 4 sequel, since Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne? The previous game debuted on shelves in 2003, making it a seven year absence for a true sequel to the original series.
I thought Strange Journey was the next entry in the flagship SMT franchise?