In the last few months, Atlus has been celebrating the 25th anniversary of thePersonafranchise in a few different ways.Personagames have gone on sale, Atlus has offered fans new ways to getPersonamerchandise, anime adaptations of the franchise have become more available, and so on. Many of these celebrations have been a little more modest thanPersonafans hoped, but there’s some sign that Atlus is ramping up to bigger events in 2022. For instance,Persona 4 Arena Ultimaxcoming to PC, Switch, and PS4 this year could mean that there’s a newPersonagame on the way after all.
Atlus has said explicitly that it plans to release a big new game in 2022, and since it’ll be celebrating the franchise’s anniversary until autumn, it wouldn’t be surprising if that big game has to do withPersona.However, there’s also reason to believe that Atlus' mysterious fantasy RPG,known only asProject Re Fantasy,will finally make its debut this year. One has to wonder if that’s a wise move, though. Debuting duringPersona’s anniversary year could raiseProject Re Fantasy’s profile as a new member of the Atlus family, but it could also leaveProject Re FantasyinPersona’s shadow.
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Persona’s Next Big Title
Because it’s possible that Atlus announces a newPersonagame as a part of the anniversary,Project Re Fantasyinherently faces some risk by theoretically releasing in 2022. Even if Atlus merely revealsPersona 6or announcesa new game in thePersona 5suite,Project Re Fantasymight be forced to fight for attention asPersonafans focus on the nextPersonatitle rather than giving the new Atlus IP the attention it deserves. Between morePersonagames getting ported to current consoles and confirmation thatPersona 6is in development, hopes are high that thePersonaanniversary will include a major game.
Even if there isn’t a big newPersonagame releasing in 2022, there’s a case to be made that Atlus should just focus on the anniversary, rather than trying tobalancePersonaandProject Re Fantasyat the same time. AfterPersona 5,the franchise’s audience grew a lot, and so Atlus' anniversary celebration is a valuable opportunity to cater to fans and build anticipation for futurePersonagames. The dawn of a new Atlus IP is such a big deal thatProject Re Fantasymight ultimately feel like a distraction fromPersona’s 25th anniversary more than anything else.
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Project Re Fantasy Can Still Flourish
While it’s possible thatProject Re Fantasycould fail to mesh withPersona’s anniversary, Atlus' work in late 2021 suggests thatProject Re Fantasywould probably be okay.Shin Megami Tensei 5released in November 2021, well into thePersonaanniversary celebration, indicating that Atlus wasn’t afraid to juggle the anniversary and a major game release. Atlus has also been pretty modest in its approach to celebrating the anniversary, focusing onPersonamerchandise and non-game activities over a series of ports and remasters. There’s always a chance, but as of now, the odds of a 2022 release forPersona 6,aPersona 5sequel, or anything similar seem low.
That means thatProject Re Fantasycan probably make a pretty comfortable debut within 2022.Personareaching its 25th birthday is a big deal, but Atlus hasn’t risen to fame on the back ofPersonaalone.Atlus is a successful studioby the merit of many franchises, and so it can afford to celebrate one of its oldest franchises while simultaneously starting a new one. Even ifPersonaandProject Re Fantasyhave almost nothing in common, they can still work together to make 2022 a great year for Atlus.
