Game Informer has written an interesting article concerning Atlus USA’s involvement with the Persona series from the very beginning up to today.
Game Informer’s feature detailing Atlus USA’s history with Persona localization, debuting in the 245th issue of its magazine, describes how Atlus USA took a risk by choosing to localize the original Persona and how it lead to the series becoming a defining one for their company.
It also mentions how, at first, Atlus USA tried to eliminate Japanese references in their games for fear of alienating a western audience. They then learned to keep these references intact as they gained experience, and only alter references that would be lost on a western audience.