Megami Tensei
"Persona" is the largest and most popular spin-off from the "Megami Tensei" series. The first entry in the series, "Megami Ibunroku Persona" (originally released overseas as ""), was released in 1996 in Japan and North America. The first "Persona 2" title, "", was released in 1999 in Japan. The second game, "", was released in 2000 in Japan and North America. "Persona 3" was released in 2006 in Japan, 2007 in North America, and 2008 in Europe. Its sequel, "Persona 4", was released in 2008 in Japan and North America, and in 2009 in Europe. A sixth entry in the series, "Persona 5", was released in Japan on September 15, 2016, and was released in North America and Europe on April 4, 2017, to critical acclaims. In addition to the main "Persona" games are spin-offs, so far focused on "Persona 3" and "4": the canon spin-off "", two fighting games "Persona 4 Arena" and its sequel "Arena Ultimax" as well as the crossover fighting game "", and rhythm game "". While "Persona 3" and "4" used the "Shin Megami Tensei" moniker, it was dropped for the "Persona 4 Arena" duology and "Persona 4 Golden" as it would have made the titles too long to be practical.
Persona 4
According to the game director Katsura Hashino, while "ideas [had been] thrown around earlier", development on "Persona 4" in Japan did not begin until after the release of "Persona 3". The development team consisted of the team from "Persona 3" and new hires which included fans of "Persona 3". Atlus intended to improve both the gameplay and story elements of "Persona 3" for the new game, to ensure it was not seen as a "retread" of its predecessor. Hashino said that "to accomplish that, we tried to give the players of Persona 4 a definite goal and a sense of purpose that would keep motivating them as they played through the game. The murder mystery plot was our way of doing that." The plot of "Persona 4" was "greatly inspired", according to Hashino, by mystery novelists such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and Seishi Yokomizo. "Persona 4" was officially unveiled in the Japanese gaming magazine "Famitsu" in March 2008. An article in the issue detailed the game's murder mystery premise, rural setting, and new weather forecast system. The game's North American release date was announced at the 2008 Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California. Atlus would not make an add-on disc or epilogue for "Persona 4", as had been done with the "Persona 3 FES". "Persona 4" allowed players full control of characters in battle. This was due to negative comments from players about most of the player team in "Persona 3" being controlled by the game's AI. The amount of data the team ended up incorporating around school life, character relationships and spoke character dialogue was so large that there were fears it would not fit onto a single disc. The anime cutscenes were produced by Studio Hibari.