Smilin Dominator

Persona 30th anniversary @SailToArchipel talk points from Katsura Hashino, Shigernori Soejima and Shoji Meguro: - Persona 3 was made with Atlus on the verge of bankruptcy. - Their backs were against the wall and they were told "This is our last game", "If it doesn't work we might not be able to develop another game" - The starting point was "How to develop Persona to create an Atlus for a new era." - Wanted to make a story that resonated with young people - Soejima wasn't aware of the companies problems so didn't feel any pressure and just wanted to try to create something he has ever done before. - Meguro made the music with a theme of "future pop" - Hashino was not inspired by other games or film. He was inspired by a Japanese book called "Loss of something worth dying for" - Also inspired by a movie slogan he saw that said "Don't live a wasted life, die with passion." - Persona 4 came out only 2 years after Persona 3 - They were not used to games making profit and they wanted to make another game soon. - Inspiration for Persona 4 was "let's make a story about a murder case in the countryside." - 2 years was a normal development cycle back on PS2 - After Persona 4 they wanted to make something weird. So they went straight to work on Catherine. - Start of Persona 5 development was a struggle as Atlus was changing parent company - They wanted to leave the high school theme and make it a game about teenagers backpacking around the world. But they returned to the highschool theme in the end. - Meguro was inspired by Acid Jazz music and Jamiroquai for the Persona 5 soundtrack - Thieves were inspired by Lupin the Third - Didn't design the games to be that long. They just end up that way. - The don't want the younger staff to copy the Persona games that have come before, but to create something that people can enjoy at this current point in time, like a weekly magazine. news.denfaminicogamer.jp/kik…