Atlus regularly includes access to buyer’s surveys in their releases. Previous ones have included interesting questions for consumers, such as seeing the interest for expanded genres in the Persona 5 survey.
The recently released remastered version of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax also includes a buyer’s survey, pointing to Atlus’ continued interest in pursuing the fighting game genre with the Persona series.
The Sega Asia survey for the game can be found here. Question 24 is of particular interest.
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1. Age
2. Gender
3. Level of Education
4. Place of Residence
5. Which consoles do you currently own?
6. Among the consoles you own, which do you use the most?
7. From the ones below, please select all of your favorite game genres.
8. How many new games have you purchased in the last year?
9. For the games below, please select the ones you have purchased.
A list of modern Atlus games, mostly centered around Persona, however with other recent entries in other series such as Shin Megami Tensei V, Catherine: Full Body and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.
10. From the games below, please select the ones you have purchased.
A list of 15 modern fighting games, such as Tekken 7, Street Fighter V, and King of Fighters XV.
11. Which is your most fequented games media among the ones below?
Over 30 options of possible outlets.
12. Which media do you sometimes frequent among the ones below?
13. Please select the version of the game you purchased.
- PS4 physical version.
- Nintendo Switch physical version.
- PS4 digital version.
- Nintendo Switch digital version.
- Steam digital version.
14. When did you purchase the game?
- Pre-order before release.
- One the day of release (no pre-order).
- Within a week of release.
- One week or more after release.
15. How did you learn about this game?
Several options, from friends, gaming magazines, manga, and official company websites.
16. Which of the following outlets is your first venue to learn about this game?
17. Which of the following outlets is your main reason for buying this game?
18. What are the reasons you bought this game?
Several different options, from great visuals, to great characters, to “because I like the ‘Persona’ series.”
19. Among the options from the previous question, what is the key factor that determined your purchase of this game?
20. Please rate each element out of 5.
The ratings are “Satisfactory” to “Dissatisfactory.” For the following elements:
- Story / Worldview
- Visuals
- Characters
- Audio
- Game systems
- Operability
- Degree of difficulty
- Amount of content
- Price
- Localization
21. Overall, how satisfied are you with the game (out of 10)?
22. For information about games, which website of these do you frequent the most?
Several options, including streaming website, magazines, Sega and PlayStation official websites and social media.
23. Of the ones selected, which of these is the most important for you?
24. If there is a sequel to Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, would you want to buy it?
- I would definitely buy it.
- I would probably buy it.
- Uncertain.
- I would probably not buy it.
- I would not buy it.
25. Write additional comments concerning this game.
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Additionally, @regularpanties on Twitter has posted the Japanese version of the survey, which includes a couple of different questions:
12. Would you like another title in the fighting action genre like this one to be released in the Persona series in the future?
- Strong desire
- Conditional desire
- Not very desired
13. (If you chose “conditional desire”) What conditions would those be? (50 words or less)
14. Do you value stories in the fighting action genre?
- I want a profound story.
- I want a light story.
- I’d rather a focus on the characters than the story.
Relatedly, “Persona 5 fighting game” has been regularly listed in the potential spin-off genres Atlus wanted to gauge consumer interest in, from the company’s annual surveys. Atlus has stated that these surveys have helped inform their releases, such as with the revival of Soul Hackers 2 or the release of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster.
This line of questioning is similar to a question Atlus had asked in the 2016 annual survey, which is when the development of Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight had actually begun:
Q18: Because you have played Persona 4: Dancing All Night [an answer chosen previously], choose one that applies from the following.
Two possible answers: “A: It was good more as a story-oriented game,” and “B: It was good more as a rhythm game.” One option among 4 must be chosen, relating to whether you think P4D was closer to A or B.
As previously mentioned, “P5U.JP”—potentially related to a “Persona 5 fighting game”—is also an outstanding Persona 5 related domain that Atlus has continued renewing year after year.