Atlus game creators Katsura Hashino and Shigenori Soejima recently held a panel at the South Korean video game exhibtion G-Star 2025. During the panel, they discussed the stories and art of Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Catherine and Metaphor: ReFantazio.
4Gamer has provided a summary of the talk:
The talk opened with a presentation on the difference between experience and experiential moments in games. Hashino explained that an “experiential moment” is something immediate, while an “experience” is long-lasting. The main theme of the talk revolved around how to turn an experiential moment into an experience, and the design theory on doing so through art and game structure.
They then discussed the initial concept art, evolution of the protagonist designs and the cover art for each game, in order of release.
Persona 3
In Persona 3, released July 2006, the main narrative theme was “death and rebirth.”
This lead to focusing on the concept of death, which plays a major role in tarot cards, and considering how to express that within the structure of a game.
The first concept art that Soejima drew was something that he came up with before knowing too much about the theme, and when he only had superficial concepts to work with.
This planning stage concept art is not only a development tool, but also something that can be shared around to aid in production. It makes it easier for the team to share a vision towards a same direction.
The protagonist was initially designed without much consideration, so he resembled a hot-blooded shonen manga protagonist. As the project progressed and the theme was developed, the image of the protagonist changed completely into becoming a quiet, introspective figure from an open and energetic one.
The cover art expresses the idea of death and rebirth.
Persona 4
In Persona 4, released in July 2008, the narrative theme was defined as “harmony.”
This was a stark contrast to the previous game, which was about death. Through its characters, the game expressed to the younger generation “what is right and wrong, and how to choose and reject information.”
The first sketch Soejima drew for Persona 4 was based on the vague description of being a story about a murder taking place in the countryside.
The protagonist was wearing a school uniform, but his stiff collar gave the impression of an honor student, so the collar was opened to create the impression of a more serious and honest character.
The cover art was to capture the idea of a tense, serious incident occurring during everyday life, in addition to the friendship between the characters.
With Persona 4, more and more players were making comments like “as I get closer to the end of the game, I don’t want to finish it,” and “I don’t want to leave this world.” Hashino commented that perhaps the experience of the players and characters resonated with each other.
Catherine
Catherine, released in February 2011, had a different goal to the previous titles.
The Persona series was considered a school life game for adults, and was accepted more by working adults than by students. This was likely due to the age demographics of Atlus fans at the time.
Therefore Catherine was developed to target this demographic of fans, with adult content, focusing on infidelity and decadence.
The protagonist is a complete departure from the heroic Persona heroes, being more of an ordinary man showing his weak side.
The cover art iss different for the PlayStation and Xbox versions. The goal being to give an opportunity for people who have never played an Atlus game before to pick up the title.
As a result, the developers felt that the game was able to reach a large number of people who had never played Atlus games before.
Persona 5
Persona 5, released in September 2016, had a narrative theme of “hope.” The protagonists have nowhere to turn to in society, and so strive to overcome their own struggles as they transition from youth to adulthood. They are shown different ways of looking at the world, offering a ray of hope to their lives.
Even before this release, Atlus’ titles had reached global success and were being played around the world. P5 was an even bigger hit, drastically increasing the series’ recognition. Hashino states that this is because they were able to “create a catchy experience while also leaving a lasting impression.”
The first concept art that Soejima drew for P5 evoked the images of phantom thieves with the traits of speed and rebellion. To make their thievery feel righteous, he gave the character a grinning, cynical expression, as seen in the rightmost image. This expression then inspired the direction for the development’s future.
In the concept stage, the protagonist was accompanied by a female heroine. From there, he designed a school uniform, and then the phantom thief outfit to give players the feeling of transforming and taking action.
The color red was chosen for the cover art, to reflect the blue used for P3 and the yellow used for P4, and the desire to create something passionate. The protagonists’ glaring eyes emphasize a flashy, powerful presence.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Metapor: ReFantazio was released in October 2024, and builds its narrative around the anxiety that all living things possess, and the idea of having ones heroism and sense of justice judged by the masses.
Soejima’s early concept art for Metaphor: ReFantazio was inspired by the enthusiasm of everyone at the launch of the company’s new project, Project ReFantasy, with the goal of creating a fantasy.
Having previously focused on a modern style, the two creators used repeated trial and error to capture the unique style inherent to fantasy.
For example, the protagonist began as a recognizable heroic figure, wearing a red cape and holding a sword, however they ended up returning to their own unique style incorporating more down-to-earth elements such as a stylish coat and giving the character a bag.
The main visual was the first illustration created after the game was completed.
The cover art then featured a figure leading a crowd of supporters, to convey the idea of winning an election campaign, alongside enemies to give an idea of the type of experience that the players will have.
Hashino stated that he intended the game to be his masterpiece, to have players remember the experience as something memorable. As such he was very happy at the worldwide acclaim that the game had received.
Tarot
Hashino then went on to explain that there was a consistent flow throughout his works, showing a slide which arranged tarot cards used as a metaphor for each game.
When Hashino looked back at the titles he had worked on up until this point, he noticed that while there was no intentional connection, they correlated with the order of the tarot.
The 21 Major Arcana cards begin with the ignorant Fool and progress to the Hanged Man, bound by preconceived notions. From there, humans seek harmony, overcome corruption, find hope and receive judgment in order to face death and rebirth.
The way tarot conveys the human condition gives a certain continuity to his titles thus far, leading to the idea that “maybe the titles were developed in line with the path of the tarot.”
Hashino insists that this was never his intention. However, creators need to be aware not only of the goals behind an individual game but also the backbone of their brand in order to carve out their identity.
When working on an individual narrative, being aware of a larger narrative behind it can build further interest. For example, when learning the reasons behind a sports players success, it makes you want to root for them more. Similar to building affection for a game when you learn the stories behind its development.
[Editor’s Note: Following the release of Persona 5, Hashino discussed in an interview with Famitsu how his games follow the tarot. He became conscious of the idea that his games follow this theme with the development of Persona 4.]
This strategy can be done intentionally. However, regardless of the background and personal brand, market success is no guarantee. It does create a compelling enough concept to make one say, “Hey, did you know the themes in the Persona series, when viewed as a whole…” So even if the outcome isn’t certain, planning these elements has value. And even if a project fails, it’s water under the bridge. Unless the failure stems from overdoing it, it’s likely that it would prove to be a worthwhile step in brand development.
JRPG 3.0
The concept of JRPG 3.0 was discussed as a future approach to JRPGs. Hashino explained that, with Metaphor, he has temporarily put an end to the challenge of creating a fantasy, and is now tackling the challenge of creating JRPG 3.0.
JRPG 1.0 is the classic old-school style. JRPG 2.0 is the modern style where everything the quality and responsiveness have improved. Going forward, to reach a new level, he would like to create the next generation of JRPGs by changing the way games are presented and structured from the ground up.
[Editor’s Note: Hashino has previously discussed the concept of JRPG 3.0 in the book “How to Make a JRPG”. In this, he talks about developing a game that adapts JRPGs to more modern sensibilities and being more seamless.]
Closing Comments
Soejima closed by commenting on Korea’s recent global influence through entertainment such as games, movies and K-pop. He believes that art design is a way to showcase one’s own style, and if audiences are interested then it will continue to spread further. Today we live in an age where people around the world can enjoy the same things, which is a wonderful situation for creators. He hopes everyone enjoys rediscovering the things that only they can create.
Hashino states that Korean dramas and movies can leave good aftertastes, but also an unsettling feeling—in a good way—that shakes your values. He was so impressed by them that he came up with the idea of making narrative the theme of this presentation. He ended by saying: “Someday, if you find yourself struggling to make a game, I hope you’ll remember this talk today.”
— 4Gamer