Persona 4 Revival Preview – Wait, Don’t Change the Channel, I Want to See More

Few series have been more influential over the last couple of decades than Persona. With its stylish visuals, hip soundtracks, and elaborate yet emotionally compelling narratives, it’s not uncommon to see numerous entries hailed as some of the best JRPGs of all time. As Atlus continues its recent remake project, which started with 2024’s Persona 3 Reload, I’m all too eager to see whether Persona 4 Revival will manage to cement itself as the definitive version of Persona 4. 

To come clean right out of the gate, Persona 4 has never been among my favorite entries in the series, but it’s still a game I enjoy quite a bit. I love the small-town setting, the Scooby-Doo-esque Investigation Team, and, of course, the stellar audiovisual presentation. However, I’ve always found the character development and Social Links to be on the weaker side, while the dungeons can feel quite repetitive.

One-More Combat and Difficulty Concerns

The combat-focused preview of Persona 4 Revival that I played at PAX West didn’t provide much insight into how much additional effort has been put into further developing the game’s characters, but I did get to spend roughly 25 minutes running through its first dungeon. I’m happy to report that my initial impressions of the updated combat are primarily positive, though I do have some worries about the overabundance of player-friendly features being added.

To provide further context on the preview, I only had access to a two-person party consisting of Yu and Yosuke, with Teddie on the sidelines providing support. I fought my way through multiple floors of encounters in pursuit of Chie, who impulsively ran ahead of the team while searching for Yukiko. Much of what we’ve grown accustomed to within the series is present here, with enemies appearing visibly throughout the dungeon. Managing to strike the enemy first will grant you the advantage of before them as the fight transitions into turn-based combat. The fan-favorite One-More system, which provides you with an additional turn upon striking an enemy’s weakness, is still present and feels as good as ever. A new addition to Persona 4 in particular is the Baton Pass, which allows you to freely switch to a different party member after hitting a weakness, making it easier to keep the chain going until the combo culminates in an All-Out Attack.

Baton Pass being available right out of the gate, plus Teddie starting with the ability to identify weaknesses, has me a bit worried about the game’s difficulty level. Persona 3 Reload had similar features, and I found it an overall breeze to get through, even on Hard mode. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing for most, I do prefer a bit of tension when playing through Atlus games in particular, as I love pushing their polished combat systems as much as I can. Still, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have an absolute blast with the combat in Revival. It’s fast, responsive, and absolutely jaw-dropping visually.

Voice Acting and Cinematic Presentation

Beyond the updated combat, I also got to experience another aspect of Revival I went in feeling a bit skeptical about: the new voice acting. Like many others, I have a huge soft spot for the voice actors present in the original title, with Yuri Lowenthal and Erin Fitzgerald providing some of my favorite performances. Thankfully, I thought the new voice actors did a remarkable job, and it wasn’t long before I stopped drawing comparisons between the new cast and the original one entirely. For those curious, I found Teddie in particular to be much less grating this time around, which is great because he still talks as much as ever during combat.

The climactic conclusion of the demo sees Chie face her Shadow, and I found the presentation and performances during this sequence incredible and emotionally captivating. They’re leaps and bounds ahead of what previous releases offered. If the entirety of Persona 4 Revival manages to maintain the level of cinematic presentation showcased during these cutscenes, which I’m sure it will, I can easily foresee this remake serving as the definitive version of this highly lauded JRPG.

Persona 4 Revival will release on February 18, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam, with a Nintendo Switch 2 release on May 20, 2027