Persona 4 will see a re-release three years after its original launch, Famitsu has revealed. This time, it’s coming to PlayStation Vita.
Persona 4: The Golden is an enhanced port for Sony’s new handheld, adding new characters, movie events, animated scenes, and more. It will include 1.5 times the amount of voice-overs seen in the PS2 version. Marie, voiced by Kana Hanazawa, is one of the new characters.
Out in Japan in spring 2012, it will utilize the “communications capabilities” of PlayStation Vita.
Thanks, Sinobi.
The PlayStation Vita version of Persona 4 is "Persona 4 The Golden." So what's so Golden about it?
Famitsu lists the following (as summed up at Sokuho@Hokanko):
- 3G and Wi-Fi support
- New event scenes
- Added Personas
- Added character outfits
- New character Marie, voiced by Kana Hanazawa. She's a "mysterious girl" who appears before the main characters.
- When you're about to die in a dungeon, you can send a message seeking help to other players. It's not specified how this system will work exactly.
- Additional anime movie scenes, with new voices
- 1.5 times the voice of the PS2 original
- New song for the opening movie
- An element that has been highly requested by fans
In an interview with Famitsu, producer Katsura Hashino said that team Persona was originally looking into bringing Persona 4 to PSP. However, they wanted to retain as much as possible from the PS2 version, as opposed to some of the cuts they had to make for Persona 3 Portable. They deemed this impossible on the PSP. This is when they heard about the Vita, and determined that they could make something even better than the PS2 version.
Hashino promised that the Vita version will retain the qualities of the original while also adding many new elements.
