One of the first Shin Megami Tensei titles to make it outside of Japan was Revelations: Persona. This was fantastic since it really uncorked the deluge that allowed us to get some of the really fantastic SMT titles like Digital Devil Saga, Nocturne and Persona 3. However when looking at the really horrible localization that was done with the game, including an entire quest line that was cut to save time, it becomes a little hard to go back to this title.
Now the upcoming remake on the PSP, simply titled Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, seems ready to change all of this for the better. In our time with the title it's fair to say that many of the problems that seriously gimped the previous release of this game have been addressed in some form or other with many disappearing almost entirely. One thing that has not changed is that this title is ridiculously hard, almost soul crushingly so, but what would a Shin Megami Tensei title be without a little bit of player abuse.
To start with the entire localization of the game has been overhauled. The story is much more coherent and understandable thanks to a lot of attention to the translation. All of the demons now use their proper names, the game takes place in Japan instead of pretending to be America and all of the kids are actually Japanese this time around. Perhaps the most exciting thing is the addition of the missing quest from the previous Western release, the Snow Queen quest. This is a huge deal for fans of the title since this quest allowed a branching off of the story that had some real impact on the way the game played out.
Perhaps the most noticeable thing is that the game has been sped up to help the players' sanity. The load times have been shortened a fair bit while the combat animations, such as summoning Persona, have very little lag to them as compared to the original. The addition of a run button as well as overhauled map that allows you to move around the city with ease, much like in Nocturne, the entire game is a much smoother experience.
While not totally overhauled the graphics have been nicely touched up, giving it a feel on par with Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. A nice little addition is the inclusion of anime cutscenes and some voice work to help highlight big events in the game. And before you ask the game is still going to slip into first person whenever you go inside of a building.
Having fixed many of the bigger issues with the game, including the absolutely broken money system from the original, Persona looks to really give gamers old and new a reason to pick it up. Forget trying to buy the original on auction websites for well over sixty dollars when you can get a superior version of it on the PSP. Everything about this title seems to indicate that it will bring it's A game to the table this fall.