This week’s Famitsu revealed an unexpected entry in the Persona series: a fighting game by the name of Persona 4: The Ultimate Mayonaka Arena. Additional details released tonight reveal both Atlus and Arc System Works are working together closely to develop the game as a joint project, rather than Atlus simply hand it off.
According to Arc’s Toshimichi Mori, Atlus came to Arc System Works and asked them if they’d like to work on the title. The team was in shock; many of the studio’s developers are fans of the Persona series. Atlus wanted to make it a joint project, so Arc is working closely with the Persona creator to make it right.
Mori revealed a few game modes to the magazine. They are:
- Arcade Mode: battle against CPU and follow the story.
- Story Mode: a deeper version of Arcade Mode’s story, exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.
- Score Attack Mode: battle against CPU for the highest score.
- VS. Mode: player versus CPU or player versus player.
- Online Battle: battle against players online ‘throughout the world.’
Each character will have their own original stories. Characters from both Persona 3 and Persona 4 will be included. Confirmed so far are: Main/Izanagi, Chie/Tomoe, Yosuke/Jiraiya, and Aigis/Athena. The game is set two months after the events of Persona 4, where the characters appear on a fighting program called “P-1 Grand Prix.”
Persona 4: The Ultimate Mayonaka Arena will launch for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in summer 2012 in Japan.
Thanks, Andriasang.