Atlus has been teasing all sorts of announcements for the Persona franchise since the developer mentioned it had seven planned reveals for the series’ 25th anniversary. While the inaugural anniversary reveal of new merchandise and celebratory concerts was a bit disappointing to some, the developer also teased the next major anniversary reveal would be coming in December.
While many were expecting news of a new port or remaster, like Persona 5 Royal on PC/Switch or a Persona 3 Remake/Remaster, Atlus remained largely silent on what the next anniversary reveal would be. Now, that upcoming announcement has finally come to fruition at The Game Awards 2021: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, the 2013 Arc System Works-developed fighting game based on the Investigation Team’s action-packed return to the Shadow World.
Persona 4 Arena quickly became one of the most popular fighting games for its time, and capitalized on the enduring popularity of its JRPG foundation, Persona 4. The Arena Ultimax version was the PS3/Xbox 360 enhanced release and partial sequel to the original game, bringing with it a new sequel story, new characters from Persona 3 and Persona 4, as well as fresh balance updates for the entire expanded roster.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax acts as a spin-off based on the events after Persona 4 Golden; highlighting a new Shadow World inviting the Investigation Team to a combat tournament known as the “P-1 Grand Prix.” This port of Arena Ultimax will include not only the new content from the Ultimax version, but will also include the story from the original 2012 release of Persona 4 Arena as well. Fighters get to play through visual novel-style vignettes for each character, gradually unraveling the expanded story around the mysterious competition in the TV world.
Players on PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch will be able to jump into the new Persona 4 Arena Ultimax port on March 17, 2022. No word on rollback netcode yet for online play, but with Arc System Works’ recent support of older games with rollback, there’s a good chance Persona 4 Arena Ultimax will receive the same treatment.
While it’s not quite the Persona 5 fighting game announcement rumors and reports had been hinting at, this may be Atlus’ way of gauging interest for the potential spin-off treatment extending to the Phantom Thieves as well. That being said, fans of Persona 4’s anime fighter spin-off will likely be excited to hop back into the game again after all this time being stuck on last-gen platforms.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax releases on March 17, 2022, for PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch
