Persona 2: Eternal Punishment Hits PSN Tomorrow

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Persona 2: Eternal Punishment Hits PSN Tomorrow

If you’re a die-hard Persona fan, there’s a good chance you have every game in the series—Persona, Persona 2: Innocent Sin, Persona 3 Portable, and the recent Persona 4 Golden—playable on PS Vita… except one. Persona 2 was split into two games — Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment — the former of which came out on PSP in 2011 and the latter having had no American release.

Persona 2: Eternal PunishmentPersona 2: Eternal Punishment

There’s good news and bad news about that. The bad news is that unusual circumstances have prevented us from localizing Eternal Punishment PSP the way we’d have liked to, but the good news is that you can still find out how the story of Tatsuya Suou, Maya Amano, and the Joker curse ends! Unlike Innocent Sin, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment was localized once before on PlayStation in 2000, and it’s that version of the game that we’re bringing to PSN as a PSOne classic now.

Since Persona 2: Eternal Punishment on PSP was a port of the original, the general graphics and gameplay in this PSOne Classics release are the same as you would have gotten. You’ll still control a party of oddballs brought together by disturbing goings-on in Sumaru City: teen-focused magazine reporter Maya Amano, her unlucky-in-love boxer friend Ulala Serizawa, the upright police detective Katsuya Suou, and a shady Taiwanese fixer known as “Baofu.” Together, the four of them must hunt down the cause of the Joker Curse and unravel the mystery of a strange boy whom Maya could swear she’s seen somewhere before.

Persona 2: Eternal PunishmentPersona 2: Eternal Punishment

Fortunately for them, they have the power of Persona on their side. As in Innocent Sin, you have the option to fight the demons you meet or negotiate with them to earn items, assistance, or their Arcana cards in order to fuse new Personas. Spreading specific rumors through the city can also cause them to come true, which has all sorts of effects on the game.

The one thing that might throw players who got their start on the PSP or Vita is that a few of the names might seem unfamiliar. The original Eternal Punishment was sort of a halfway point in that era’s approach to localization: by that time, we were making a move toward the more faithful translations we’re known for today, but we were also mindful of the established naming conventions American players would be familiar with from “Revelations: Persona.” To help smooth things over for you, here’s a list of mental replacements to make as you go through the PSOne Classics release of Eternal Punishment:

Saeko Smith: You’d know her better as Ms. Saeko, formerly a homeroom teacher at St. Hermelin High and later on a warm, caring educator at Seven Sisters High.

Principal Harding: Principal Hannya, another veteran of St. Hermelin. In Innocent Sin, he was the hated principal of Seven Sisters who used the Joker’s power to make the students love him, even if none of them understood why.
Tammy: Tamaki, who’s actually a nod to the original Shin Megami Tensei series: she was the heroine of SMT If…, and became a devil summoner to rid Karukozaka High of evil. Now, she works for fellow devil summoner Chief Todoroki at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency.

Tad: Tadashi, son of the owner of the Satomi Tadashi drugstore chain.

Mary: Maki Sonomura, the troubled heroine of Persona PSP, is now grown up and running Hiiragi Psychotherapy to help ease the minds of others who are psychologically tormented.

Sky Museum: Known as the Aerospace Museum in Innocent Sin PSP.

Ellen: Elly Kirishima in Persona PSP. She’s one of two guest stars from the original game who can briefly join your party in Eternal Punishment. The unnamed “Boy with Earring” who shows up in her route was the protagonist of that game.

Nate: Kei Nanjo, the other possible guest party member from Persona PSP. He’s the heir to the Nanjo Group megacorporation, which Persona fans with a sharp memory might know as having ties to Mitsuru Kirijo’s own business empire in Persona 3.

Yuki: Yukino Mayuzumi, another character you might know from Persona and Innocent Sin PSP. Once the leader of a girl gang at St. Hermelin, she grew up to be a professional photographer who works alongside Maya at Coolest.

Chris: Reiji Kido, sort of a hidden character in Persona PSP, will make a brief appearance in Elly’s path in Eternal Punishment.

Brad: Hidehiko “Brown” Uesugi’s routine is just as obnoxious as it was in Persona PSP, but now he’s famous for doing it on TV.

Guido: More properly known as Takahisa Kandori in Persona PSP, where he was the mastermind behind the dimensional warp that drew in the city of Mikage-cho. Though he died in the events of Persona PSP, Kandori casts a long shadow, and his influence will be felt in Sumaru City during the course of Eternal Punishment’s story.

Masquerade: Localized in Innocent Sin PSP as the “Masked Circle,” this was an innocuous child’s game that was twisted into something more sinister many years later.

Araya Shrine: Corrected to the Alaya Shrine in both earlier PSP games. “Alaya” is a Buddhist term for the uninfluenced stream of thought before it is transformed by self-knowledge and reflection.

But even if that seems like a lot to keep in your head, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is still an accessible capstone to the story, which provides enough explanation of the callbacks and references that even newcomers can appreciate its twisting, spiraling plot that leads up to a confrontation with the grand shadow of humanity. And hey, if there’s one silver lining to this “consolation prize” version, it’s that now it’ll only run you $9.99 to get the rest of the story!

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72 Comments

  • I wish they could put the game tenchu ​​1 and 2 for its fifteenth anniversary sony hopefully hear my requests

  • I’ve been waiting for this game for years. Since it never came I have long since imported it.

    Oh well.

  • @33 i agree. Persona 4 Golden would be great to play on my HDtv with the ps3.

  • Are you able play it on the vita? Sad to see that we won’t get the PSP remake but it’s still good we’re getting this game.

  • Thanks for the crystal clear explanation… I wasn’t going to buy title because I owned the psp game and I thought they were the same game! I will be buying this today! Also any chance of bringing more of the Shin Megami Tensei spinoffs? Thanks again!

  • Considering how much i love playing Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 Arena on my PS3, i can’t wait to play Shin Megami Tensei : Persona 2.i never heard of the franchise untill Shin Megami Tensei : Persona 3 FES, so i never played the game on PS1,and i never owned a PS2 games (untill Persona 3 FES was rereleased on PSN) cause i couldn’t afford the system,so this is a good thing. Now if they’ll just release Shin Megami Tensei : Persona 4 on PSN I’ll be happy .( and yes I know about Persona 4 Golden on PSP, i can’t afford a PSP though, so i need it on my PS3,or i’ll never be able to play it

  • so will i be able to play this on my ps3?

  • Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love Atlus games.

    Oh and thank you!

  • “If you’re a die-hard Persona fan, there’s a good chance you have every game in the series—Persona, Persona 2: Innocent Sin, Persona 3 Portable, and the recent Persona 4 Golden—playable on PS Vita… except one.”

    Except that it’s only playable on PS3 – it can’t even be downloaded onto a PS3 and sideloaded to a Vita like some PS1 classics. It’s also not even playable on PSP. Is this a glitch that we can expect to be fixed, or is there still going to be a hole in the Vita’s Persona collection?

  • Looks like you can’t download it through the vita. So you might need a PS3 to get it on your vita. Is there a way to transfer PSone Classics to your vita other than using a PS3?

  • @TheSpookWithin

    Crap. They really screwed this up. I was hoping it wouldn’t be like Crash Bandicoot but oh well.

  • Hey I can’t transfer this game to my Vita!!, why is that?, I would prefer to play this on the vita…

  • As others have mentioned, I’m disappointed this isn’t available to play on the Vita. Is it possible that this can be fixed with an update? I’m close to finishing up P4G, and I’d love to start on this one next!

  • Morgan has posted that they are aware of the PSP/Vita compatibility issue and are working on it. Here’s the thread for updates: http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-Vita-Support/Persona-2-Eternal-Punishment-PS-Vita-PSP-Compatability/m-p/39652315/thread-id/5946

  • Unbelieveable. Why even release this without VITA support? What a shock. Just like FFV, there is inexplicably NO VITA SUPPORT for this game. THIS is why your latest handheld is failing miserably. You half-a$$ EVERYTHING. Idiotic…

  • Not to sound ungrateful but it’s bad enough we didn’t get the PSP version with the missing quest and better translation but now turns out this isn’t even playable on Vita? Double Disappointment..

  • Celebrates Vitas one year anniversary, releases another classic game with no vita support. Stay classy Sony…

    So why again do you want us to suggest our friends buy Vitas? So they can experience the same agony we go through as owners of it??

  • I hope that the improvements seen in the PSP version of Eternal Punishment *eventually* get sold to us over on our side of the pond rather than *never*. Persona is arguably their most successful franchise, so this is a shocker to see happen, personally speaking.

  • I’m still interested in why the PSP remake isn’t coming.
    Not much has changed since IS came out and
    unusual circumstances isn’t a good reason.

    It’s like being asked who’re you
    and your response is to grab a shovel
    and start digging a hole.

  • what a lazy bunch of people.

    the PSP version is the ideal version, lots of improvements, loading times, ability to switch old and new songs, voice acting and a brand new storyline written by Tadashi Satomi, which reveals what happened to Tatsuya before he meets with the party mid-way through the game.

    oh let’s not forget some of the stupid decisions you’ve made over the past years.

    i’ll quote lacrimosa00002

    “lets recapitulate some interesting moves from atlus: region lock persona 4 arena, no japanese audio in blu ray persona 4 animation, cut content from persona 2 Innocent Sin (psp), no localization Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (psp). is hard to be an Atlus Faithful with things like this, way to go Atlus”

    also refusing to put dual audio in your games(P4 Arena doesn’t count, thank Arc System Works for that), localizing 3rd party games(Cursed Crusade, Game of Thrones) instead of your own IP, BS excuses like more cost to put dual audio even though it’s actually costs more if your gonna hire new VA for dub.

    i don’t mind dub, but at least give us an option to use the original voices(If NISA can do that, there’s no reason why you can’t)

    Atlus US you really screwed this up.

  • I do wish the article wouldn’t downplay the extent of the improvements and extras that the PSP version has, writing it off as merely a “port”.

  • This is a travesty! I’ve been a long time supporter of ATLUS and I have every Persona game there is, I even have an imported copy of IS for PS1! I was hoping to complete my portable persona collection with EP on PSP, but what do I get instead? NOTHING! just the lame excuse of “unusual circumstances”! This is a total slap in the face and punch in the gut ATLUS, I completely agree with PrinceofXIII on everything, if NISA can do all they do for the fans, why can’t you? What’s more upsetting is there isn’t even any replies to any of our comments! Need a I make a comparison to NISA again? As of this moment, I have decided will no longer support ATLUS releases from this point onward until there is either a EP on PSP release, or a DETAILED explanantion WHY it can’t be localized. This may sound harsh but I have invested A LOT into ATLUS over the years and all I can say now is…For shame ATLUS, for shame… :(

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