The above ESRB listing indicates that Persona 2: Eternal Punishment will finally be re-released in North America, most likely through PSone Classics.

It might not be the enhanced PSP version, but at least they're finally releasing it here instead of doing nothing at all.

Hmm. Not a fan of that game or the original but this is great for those who like them.

Should share Nich's post about it too, there will be a Ps Blog post incoming, shedding a little light as to why the PSP release "couldn't" come over. He'll talk about the name differences too.

Nich:

I wrote a PSBlog article about it that will probably go up in a couple weeks, which touches on why the PSP version couldn't happen--and that's a "couldn't," not a "didn't," which is sadly all I'll ever really be able to say. It didn't have anything to do with fears of low sales.

It'd be a damn shame for this to be anything but the enhanced PSP edition. I'll still play it this way, because it's better than spending $50 on eBay, and portable to boot... but I REFUSE to be happy about it! Hmph.

Nich:

I wrote a PSBlog article about it that will probably go up in a couple weeks, which touches on why the PSP version couldn't happen--and that's a "couldn't," not a "didn't," which is sadly all I'll ever really be able to say. It didn't have anything to do with fears of low sales.

Talk about a bummer. It's good to know that they wanted to, but the fact that we may never know why it couldn't be brought over is a real bitch.

Indeed. It's very confusing that it doesn't have anything to do with a fear of low sales.

I refused to play the psp persona 2 because it had zero voice acting.

I can't wait to read this PS Blog, even if it'll mostly be "So in this version, this guy is named...."

@jz: There was a tiny bit, but clearly not a lot of thought went into it. They pointed a microphone at Troy Baker and yelled "GO!" and that was about it.

This is good news I guess, but the battle system in those games is so fucking awful i'll probably give it a miss.

Apparently the PSP version of EP had some feature to help speed it along, but for those games to be enjoyable today they'd need a complete overhaul in terms of gameplay, story structure and graphics.

It's a shame, the story they tell is great and the characters are probably my favorite in the Persona series or out of any games really. Guess I can always hope that Eikichi turns out to be one of Mitsuru's shadow operatives... but probably not.

Is there something wrong with reading? I mean, it's not like you're trying to decipher Alexander Pope here.

Reading is for chumps. I refuse to read, because one day books are going to gain awareness and take over the world.

Haven't played through EP yet, kinda got stuck, may pick this up for a fresh restart.

Well, hopefully Atlus will realize that us savage Europeans want to play it too one day...Oh who am I kidding.

Hopefully this will also come to Europe, I don't think that PSN usually holds back PSX games between regions too much. Hell with the Vita they just said fuck it release everything, while the US released them in parts. So I'm hopeful that its coming to Europe.

If it doesn't I'll probably still play it, I need to see that story end, even though I've heard this is the weaker of the two games. I guess it will come down to getting US PSN account or emulation, depending on whether conscience or laziness wins out.

@amatureidiot: The fact that Atlus just published their first games in Europe on PSN makes me hopeful that they're at least putting some sort of effort into putting games out here now. Hope is a dangerous thing though.

Considering this is my favorite game, you can imagine how giddy I am.

Nich Maragos stated on NeoGAF that he'll look into it.

Persona 2: EP will be released via PSone Classic this week.

Is this the one that I already have on a PSX disc (and haven't played yet), or is this the one that never came to NA?

Well I have the other Persona 2 (Part 1?) so I'll probably end up with this too

The one that never made it to North America is Innocent Sin and was released for the PSP in 2011. Eternal Punishment was the one that came out in North America for the PS1 and the one that will come out in PSone Classic this week. The PSP remake will only be released in Japan.

@fluxwavez: Oh, they released the other half a while ago, then, huh? I really have to get around to giving Persona a shot... since I already own most of them.

Wait, really? I heard that NA wouldn't get that version on PSN, but not even a physical release?

Yes. I described the situation a bit in my 'future of Persona' thread.

Dumb question: Should I play Eternal Punishment or Innocent Sin first? I am an hour or so into Innocent Sin, but I would prefer to start at the beginning of the story.

Innocent Sin and then Eternal Punishment. It's the chronological order of the games' release as well as narrative. No question about it.

@jewunit:they are both seperate , one of the 2 has a slightly more complicated link attack system if i recall but my memory is foggy about that , but you might notice a drop in complexity going from one to the other .. but both stories are completely "seperate" despite sharing a character or 2 , they are basicly alternate universes . but i enjoyed innocent sin more because it feels darker in tone , or maybe i just love me some tatsuya and the whole emo punk band link ability in the demon conversations.

As for why this cant be straight translated and released is because of hitler right ? They used to say the possible homosexual relationship was a factor for it being considered too mature for western audiences , but clearly its the swastikas and super hitler at the endgame that needs to be "altered" isnt it ? its a crying shame cuz it really defines the insanity of the plot so well when that whole thing happens.

Speaking of which , i never got around to playing the psp version of persona 1 , but i alway wanted to check out the official english version of the snow queen subquest , did they end up editing sections of that? (particulary the room with a bunch of students being disembowled in various ways) and is it as challenging and "fun" as it has always been heralded to be?

Eternal Punishment is the direct sequel to Innocent Sin. It takes place directly after Innocent Sin's ending, so I wouldn't recommend playing EP before IS.

And Hitler appears in Innocent Sin, which was brought to North America in 2011.

@fluxwavez: ah i was mistaken but it looks like were both right ...i remembered reading this somewhere but according to wikipedia "Although this game picks up a few months after its predecessor, it is set in a parallel world where the events of the Innocent Sin did not happen." but yeah .. innocent sin is my pwersonal fav so i always would reccomend that first anyway .. i like maya but she was better in innocent sin rather than as a main character.

but yeah .. im suprised they actually let "that guy" through , mabye i need to play it again , but i dread my completionist attitude making me spend hours collecting and fuising personas again .. and those damn random chance unique enemys.. arrgh

@fluxwavez: @envane: Thanks for the answers, guys. I will go about my business in Innocent Sin then.

Nope, pretty sure you're wrong. If it takes place a few months later, even if it's a "parallel world", I assume that this parallel world exists as a direct result of the first game.

Indeed. It's a bit more complicated than "parallel world," and the events of EP are a direct continuation of the events of IS, so anyone who wants to play Eternal Punishment really should play Innocent Sin first if they have the option.

The PlayStation Blog post about tomorrow's release and translation details between P1 and P2 is up.

"Unusual circumstances" is not the explanation I was led to believe we were getting. Nich pls.

@ckeats said:

I wasn't expecting a full explanation, but I was expecting a bit more than that. I guess all we'll ever know is that it wasn't because of a fear of low sales, which I guess should lead us to believe it was because of technical reasons.

That didn't really explain why the PSP version couldn't be brought over, though it was nice to see the different names in the translation.

While it's a bummer that we're not getting that shinier version, I'm still going to pick this up. $10 isn't that bad of a price and I really want to see how the story ends.

I'm not sure how much sense that makes. Doesn't Eternal Punishment run on the same engine Innocent Sin does, just with a few modifications?

@video_game_king said:

Technical reasons in terms of the Japanese localization programmers moving on to other projects and not being able to work on a North American localization of EP PSP, especially given its low sales in Japan.

@fluxwavez:

So it's pretty much a Shin Monshou no Nazo situation (IE it would've been pretty easy to localize this game since a very similar game was localized just before it, but they just chose not to do so)?

@video_game_king said:

That's just what people are guessing with the lack of information we have, but it's likely.

Disappointed the PSP version with the extra Tatsuya scenario isn't coming over but I'm glad it's getting a PSN release so people can complete the story.

That's cool, still waiting for them to possibly do a persona 4 release.

For anyone who was waiting for Vita compatibility, the game can now be transferred to the Vita via the PS3:

It's pretty cool to have the whole series (minus the fighting game) available on the Vita.