Persona 2 Tsumi (more popularly known as Innocent Sin) was the first of two games originally released for the Playstation. This particular part never saw official stateside circulation because the silly Atlus USA people were "daunted" (this is my best attempt at substituting scathing expletives I'm very much dying to use) by the implied Yaoi undertones and the presence of Nazis and Hitler (they weren't fooling anyone by not giving a specific reason given their miserable track record of letting other Megaten gems slip past)...but wonder of wonders, 2011 seemed to be an uncharacteristic improvement for their part, as the PSP remake somehow got an NA release date for this coming September.
Speaking for myself though, I don't really expect much from them in terms of translation quality, so I'm sticking with the JP version.
9/29/11 EDIT: As usual, Atlus USA does not fail to disappoint. Features from the JP version were removed from the NA release, and worse, they never told anyone until later. Well done, you good-for-nothing freak jobs... well done... *insert sardonic grin here*
Shinigami Banchou's way too pretty for a mask.
A lot of things that old-school PS1 gamers used to love about Tsumi is pretty much intact, save for a few alterations made to accommodate new gamers who can't hack the more taxing aspects. The drab gray menu screens were given a splash of deep crimson and stylized, adding a bit to the atmosphere. Character profiles were all redrawn from the ground up by Soejima, whose current style has become less gritty compared to his original designs back in 1999. Fusion Spells feature a cool static cut-in in the tradition of Persona 3 & 4, which further adds to it's cosmetic improvement.
The party takes a minute to decide if Ratatosk is too cute to live or too cute to die... what do you think?
The battle system borrows some parts from Megami Ibunroku Persona but totally abolishes the automatic planning order aspect of the original. Though it's supposedly a move to make the game more newbie-friendly, it's a bit uncomfortable for veterans like me since it means it's no longer viable to do the one-touch grind that I usually resort to when I'm done negotiating with demons for tarot cards. (I know there's an Auto feature, but it's just not the same)
Tatsuya's popular even with demons... Lisa is liable to explode with pent-up jealousy right about now, so expect some Cantonese expletives to fill the air.
Looks like Shoji Meguro was given a bit of a pay cut despite his still-mad composition skills. Save for the catchy intro, there are no other new ditties to look forward to. You only have the option to toggle between the original music or the redone versions. And I was soo looking forward to a Lotus Juice-infused battle theme too... shame on you Index... er, Atlus... er... eh, whatever.
Looks like an All-Out Attack, Feels like an All-Out Attack, but isn't an All-Out attack. I'm guessing the newer fans will be utterly confused by this, but a cool static cut-in is still cool. ^_^
I kinda wish that this Tsumi remake felt more like... well, a remake. The first PSP Persona actually made me excited to go through the whole thing all over again with all the neat new additions made there. For Tsumi's part, I'm happy to have it in my gaming library, but every time I play it, something just feels missing. I fervently hope that they don't commit the same mistakes with Batsu (if they decide to do it). Otherwise, all the faith I put in Atlus since Megami Tensei will utterly disappear.
No comments:
Post a Comment