If there’s one game company who isn’t afraid of breaking new grounds with a game, Atlus is definitely one of them. Not being content with Persona and the Shin Megami Tensei series — even after they’ve made many spinoffs to the franchises — Atlus recently announced a brand new IP made by a brand new studio.
The game is currently labeled as Project Re Fantasy, which will be an RPG in a fantasy medieval setting. Studio Zero is Atlus’ new production studio, led by Persona series’ Director/ Producer Katsura Hashino, tasked with developing the game.
As the project is still new, not a lot of detail can be dug up, though we know who the key players in the Studio Zero team are. Aside from Katsura Hashino, the line-up is strengthened by artist Shigenori Soejima and composer Shoji Meguro. All of them are key players in the Persona franchise, so we can likely expect a heavy Persona-like feel in this game.
Apparently, Atlus will host a livestream over at Nico Nico Douga on December 23rd 08:00 PM JST to share more about the game.
Atlus’ Director Naota Hiraoka and Katsura Hirano recently had an interview with the Famitsu magazine, where they shared a little bit more info on the game. Unfortunately, they have yet to specify details about it, such as the platform(s) that they’re planning to release the game on.
Hiraoka said that the reason behind the new IP is that Atlus wanted the Persona series’ staff to be more active, without having to be restricted within the Persona series. He also said that both Meguro and Soejima will continue to participate centrally in the Persona series.
Hashino said that the reason they chose medieval fantasy is because Atlus has always put an importance in making games contrary to the orthodox way of doing things. When fantasy was the norm, they made series set in the modern setting. Now that modern settings are popular, they’re going back to older fantasy.
The studio also always had the idea of challenging the orthodox genre with something that only Atlus and its characteristics can do. Project Re Fantasy is the result of that idea.
Hashino also said that the cover illustration isn’t necessarily the protagonist’s illustration.
We’ll keep you informed with more details as they emerge. Stay tuned!
