Issue #1964 of Weekly Famitsu magazine released earlier this month featured the 30th anniversary of the Persona series, including a 6-page interview with the creators behind the modern Persona series: composer Shoji Meguro, character designer Shigenori Soejima, director Katsura Hashino and series producer Kazuhisa Wada.
The interview goes over the development and behind-the-scenes of the modern Persona series with Persona 3, Persona 4 and Persona 5.
Persona 3’s Development
- Atlus was at a critical juncture at the time of planning for Persona 3 and the company’s financial situation was not good. The company had support from hardcore fans, but there was a possibility that Atlus would have to shut down their game development division if P3 failed to deliver. This heavily informed the team’s approach to Persona 3 to keep the series going.
- The Social Link system came from the concept of self-discovery and the “face we show others,” and how that “persona” develops into adulthood through exposure to different values. Hashino saw the Persona series as a coming-of-age RPG that depicts that process.
- Soejima’s transition from designing supporting characters in Persona 2 to being the lead character designer in Persona 3 didn’t have any dramatic selection process. He was simply asked, “Want to give it a try?” Soejima decided to go for it and, at the time, wasn’t totally aware of Atlus’ critical situation so he didn’t feel the pressure of being entrusted with the character design. Soejima believes he would feel more pressure to be entrusted with a major role on a project that could determine the company’s fate nowadays.
- As a design director for Persona 3, Wada states that the focus behind a stylish user interface came from a limited budget, with other companies pushing the PlayStation 2’s graphical capabilities at the time, Atlus was forced to evolve in a different direction.
- The concept behind the UI came from interactive websites at the time using Flash. They thought that by using that kind of presentation—even just moving a cursor around to create a sense of engagement—within the game’s UI, it would have a real impact. They observed the designs of corporate websites across various industries and talked about how to convey Persona 3‘s own image. Wada remembers being hopeful that, while it would require a certain design sensibility, they could achieve something without spending too much.
- Once born out of practicality, the UI has become an element the series is known for, and thus Wada describes how the team is facing a new challenge: “What kind of UI should we create to live up to everyone’s expectations as the ‘face’ of the game?” He highlights how they’re still going through a process of trial and error.
- Once the game’s worldview and the scenario’s framework started to take shape, alongside the direction of the UI, Meguro was able to visualize the game’s final form in his mind. That’s how he began his work thinking, “This kind of music would suit it well.” The first track he created for the game was “Changing Seasons,” which he submitted to Hashino and immediately got the go-ahead.
- Meguro and Wada (the one responsible for P3’s end credits) had a lengthy discussion about the scene where “Memory of You” plays, debating how to handle the transition between the event scene and the end credits, the exact timing for the song, whether to include specific cut-ins, etc. There were technical limitations at the time, and in the end they combined the final animation into a single cutscene; Wada believes they were both able to achieve what they wanted.
- Meguro had been struggling with “Memories of You” for a long time because he just couldn’t nail the chorus. So when he finally got it to match his vision, he was very proud, and sent it to Hashino with a comment along the lines of, “I’ve made a great song.”
Persona 4’s Development
- With the release of Persona 3 in July 2006, Persona 3 FES in April 2007, and Persona 4 in July 2008, Hashino states that because P3 was so well-received by players, they were given the green light to make the next game, but weren’t in a position to suddenly increase the development budget or its timeline significantly. Hashino believed that the calendar and Social Link system could be reused in the next game, so he focused on how the story’s theme and overall atmosphere could feel fresh.
- Wada states that because P3’s color scheme had cool tones, they decided to do the exact opposite with warm tones for the next game. Wada proposed yellow, which sparked quite a debate within the company, before the color would eventually become synonymous with P4. Even after the team settled on yellow, there was a lot of trial and error about which shade of yellow the team should use. CRT televisions still being very much in use back then had an effect on that decision since, depending on the yellow used, it would appear washed out and strain eyes.
- During P4’s development, the team actually rented a room somewhere in Tokyo for about three days so the staff involved in the scenario could gather and have intensive discussions. Everyone threw their opinions into the mix, unified their vision, and created a momentum to go ahead and write the plot right then and there. That’s when they decided to go with the direction of a mystery.
- Starting with P4, Soejima muses that when he submitted a design, Hashino would actively show it around to the other development staff asking, “Everyone, what do you think of this design?” Sometimes he’d do that right in front of Soejima, and it’d make him somewhat embarrassed.
- When developing P3, staff in each department actually worked independently, so there wasn’t much cross-departmental exchange of ideas. For P4, with the aim of expanding their userbase even further, Hashino wanted to gather as wide a range of opinions as he could. He’d do the same with music that Meguro submitted when he could. Some of the staff would even listen to Meguro’s music while working on the game.
- Meguro didn’t hesitate when composing the music for P4, with the vision of a suburban setting along with the mystery and occult-themed story.
- Soejima states that his approach to deign hasn’t changed much since then, inserting a bit of his own taste into sketches based on proposals during the very early stages. One thing that has changed, however, is that with the improvement of console specs, the proportions and detail of 3D models are getting closer and closer to the illustrations, so he’s become more conscious of ensuring that his designs are rendered exactly as intended, rather than being stylized.
Persona Spin-Off Development
- The team thought that, after Persona 4, the series had so much potential that it would be a waste to limit solely to the RPG genre. Wada and Soejima would often play fighting games during their lunch breaks and, Hashino watching that, would think, “If you like them so much, why don’t you try making one?” As it turns out, Wada was thinking the same thing. Discussions progressed and they’d say that, if they were serious about this, they’d need to team up with a developer who specializes in the genre.
- Representatives from Arc System Works were subsequently invited to Atlus headquarters to discuss a collaboration and, right then and there, they said, “Let’s do it.” The timing worked out, because ASW had recently wrapped up their previous title, so it was a good time for them to allocate resources to this project. Hashino says it was a stroke of luck.
- After P4U, Wada took on the role as producer of the Persona series, taking on other genres that were uncharted territory at the time. Wada felt that, to keep the series going for the long haul, it was essential to boldly explore new genres, even if it meant drawing inspiration from others.
Persona 5 Development
- With Persona 5, there were significant advancements in graphics and scope, so it took a considerable amount of development time to reach a finished product the team felt was truly ready for release. And because the main party had both their everyday appearances as well as their Phantom Thief outfits, the development process effectively doubled in scope.
- Soejima wanted to give the sense of “Persona” as a series with the straightforward aesthetics, while also making the Phantom Thief outfits dynamic and glamorous, broadening the series’ visual appeal.
- As the game’s direction was taking shape, Meguro thought about what kind of musical style would work best, and it suddenly occurred to him that acid jazz might be a good fit. He proposed it, and the team agreed right away.
- Hashino didn’t personally think that acid jazz had a specific role to play. But he could sense that Meguro had grasped something on his own and wanted to take on the challenge, so Hashino thought it’d be best to let him go with it.
- Hashino mentioned this during G-Star 2025 last year: the planned themes for P3 was “death and rebirth,” for P4 it was “harmony” and for P5 it was “hope.” Following this, the emotional connections, conflicts and growth each resonate within the era the games were released in. For P5, there was a vague sense of anxiety about the future, and a feeling of stagnation in the world, so the project began from a desire to create a story that would provide a sense of catharsis.
- Soejima also wanted to make a game where we could strip away the masks of corrupt adults, leading to that sense of catharsis. He jokes: “It’s not like I had those feeling towards any specific person in real life (laughs).” But with the atmosphere at the time, he just wanted to see that kind of thing set in modern society.