Listed! Six Games Atlus Needs to Port to PC
In June Atlus surprised Persona fans by dropping a port of Persona 4: Golden on Steam without warning. The game did surprisingly well and sold 500,000 copies within a month of release. What’s even more surprising is how the Steam port surpassed the PlayStation Vita sales numbers in such a short time. In eight years Persona 4: Golden sold 324,000 units in Japan. To say Atlus underestimated the demand on PC would be an understatement. With such strong numbers there’s no doubt Atlus is interested in porting other games to PC. Hell, with the announcement of an upcoming Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD remaster on Switch, maybe we’ll see older, less accessible games make their way to modern systems.
For now, I compiled a list of some of the games I’d love to see break free of their original homes on older consoles and make their way to PC.
1. Persona 4: Dancing All Night | Original Console: PlayStation Vita | Release Date: 2015
The original Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 was a breakout success for Atlus. It’s not surprising that after two fighting game follow ups and a redone port of the original game that we’d also receive final story follow up in the form of a rhythm game. Persona 4: Dancing All Night was basically a stripped down version of Hatsune Miku Project DIVA with a visual novel story progression style tacked on. I’ve written a lot in the past about my dislike of Dancing All Night. That said, a lot of fans enjoyed the game and it should be easily accessible. It’s already a crime that the only way to play P4: DAN on PS4 is to buy the Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection. A PC port would be perfect because fans would be able to enjoy Persona 4: Dancing All Night without having to drop $50 to $100 on a PS4 bundle, or track down a working PS Vita just to play this game.
Also, did I mention if Dancing All Night is ported to PC that I’ll livestream it on our Twitch channel for your entertainment? So get on that, Atlus!
2. Persona 3 Portable | Original Console: PlayStation Portable | Release Date: 2009
Persona 3 Portable is easily one of the best versions of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3. Players are given the choice between a male and female protagonist. Choosing the female protagonist adds a completely different feel to the game and includes more social links to cultivate. Another big quality of life improvement is the ability to control the entire party in battle. The downside was that the PSP couldn’t handle PS2 graphics, so outside of dungeon crawling the game plays more like a visual novel. I believe such a port would work on PC because Persona 3 is such an excellent game that the compromises made for the PSP version wouldn’t impact the overall enjoyment of a potential port. Maybe Atlus could even sweeten the deal by adding Japanese voices, much like they did with Persona 4: Golden.
3. Persona 2 PSP Dualogy | Original Console: PlayStation Portable| Release Dates: 2011 & 2012
The release of Persona 3 marked a sharp departure from the PS1 Persona games. It was great that fans got to experience the original games a decade ago on PSP. Shin Megami Tensei Persona 2: Innocent Sin was especially curious because it was never released in North America. This PSP port filled a missing gap in the series for western audiences. Ironically, by the time Persona 2: Eternal Punishment arrived on PSP the system was already dead in North America, so Atlus passed on localizing it. A port to PC, ideally as a double-pack, would allow fans to easily experience these stories. Sure, Atlus would have to localize Eternal Punishment, but strong sales could easily make the effort worth it.
4. Trauma Team | Original Console: Nintendo Wii | Release Date: 2010
The Trauma Center series was a fun departure from the usual slate of RPGs Atlus developed. These games are part surgical simulator, part visual novel, and all drama. Trauma Team upped the ante by featuring six playable protagonists each with their own medical fields and storylines. Some areas of the game were more exciting than others. Surgery and forensics were fun while endoscopy was a chore. Sadly, the Trauma Center series ended with Team, but it would be nice to see the last game in the series have a second life on PC. I’m certain the Wii’s motion controls will translate nicely to using a mouse. That and Trauma Team deserves to be remembered for more than an attempted live action TV series adaptation and a completely unrelated live action movie released in 2019.
5. Digital Devil Saga Dualogy | Original Console: PlayStation 2 | Release Date: 2004 & 2005
Digital Devil Saga was a series that didn’t strictly fit into the Shin Megami Tensei or Persona series. The monsters may have been pulled from the same mythology as the greater SMT universe, but their use in the story was very different. DDS eschews the usual formula of summoning demons and instead has the characters transform into monsters during battle. The plot follows a gang known as Embryon in a post-apocalyptic world and draws heavily on Hindu mythology. These games are a nice departure from the high school settings of the Persona series and from the Tokyo setting of mainline Shin Megami Tensei games.It would be great to see Digital Devil Saga have a second life outside the confines of the PS2 or digital PS2 classics on the PS3.
6. Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha Dualogy | Original Console: PlayStation 2 | Release Date: 2006 & 2008
When people refer to Shin Megami Tensei as Poké demons, the PS2 Devil Summoner series comes to mind. Like the mainline SMT titles, demons are present and are used as allies in battle or appear as enemies. Unlike other games where the player must negotiate to recruit demons, here they must be beaten within an inch of their lives then captured in a device. What makes these games stand out is the fact that they’re set in a somewhat historical 1930s Tokyo and are action RPGs. It feels weird not to have turn-based combat, but the action system works quite well. Like the Digital Devil Saga dualogy, these games are also limited to PS2 and PS2 classics via the PS3. With Nocturne being ported to the Switch and featuring Raidou Kuzunoha, a PC port seems perfect.
In making this short list I stuck to games I would like to see ported. However, Atlus has a large and sometimes overlooked library. What games would you like to see have a second life on PC?
About The Author
Angela
Executive Editor | Angela has had an addiction to video games and cartoons since she was young and impressionable. She enjoys writing long articles about these subjects and whatever else catches her eye. Mastodon
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
The ‘SMT Nocturne’ port to PC is excellent. I very much hope that ‘SMT’s Digital Devil Saga 1&2’ are both ported to the PC, as well as ‘SMT’s Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou’ duo of games.
I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for these PC ports. These are games that deserve a wider audience and more accessibility. Especially the Digital Devil Saga and Devil Summoner games.
I definitely enjoyed the Digital Devil Saga when I played it.