Revelations: Persona

Revelations: Persona
Also known as: Megami Ibunroku Persona (JP) Developer: Atlus Publisher: Atlus Platform: PlayStation Released in JP: September 20, 1996 Released in US: December 14, 1996 Released in EU: December 3, 2018 (PlayStation Classic) This game has unused music. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden sound test. This game has regional differences.

The very first game in the Persona series, which would later go on to produce more sequels and become a hit in the west.

Debug Menu

Use the following code in city map to display debug menu. Press L1 and R1 to close debug menu.

JP	US
D00B15C4 000C 800A5438 0000 D00B15C4 1004 800A5438 0001 D00B15C4 2004 800A5438 0002 D00B15C4 4004 800A5438 0003 D00B15C4 8004 800A5438 0004	D00B2C8C 000C 800A61C4 0000 D00B2C8C 1004 800A61C4 0001 D00B2C8C 2004 800A61C4 0002 D00B2C8C 4004 800A61C4 0003 D00B2C8C 8004 800A61C4 0004

(Source: Original TCRF research)

MENU INFO

Press L1 + Up to display menu info.

PARA SET

Press L1 + Right to display scene change menu.

SOUND CHECK

Press L1 + Down to display sound check.

Toggle BGM On/Off. and Sound effect test.

MAP EDIT

Press L1 + Left to display map editor.

Unused Music

This urgent-sounding track is absent in Revelations: Persona. Judging from the name "Time Count Event," it was probably meant for a countdown. The closest thing to a countdown is the Snow Queen Quest's time limits. It doesn't seem related to the Time Count from Persona 2...

Regional Differences

To do: a lot more, including graphical differences

Revelations: Persona underwent a big number of changes while it was being localized in the United States. A lot of those changes were disliked by fans, though they were later reverted and kept closer to the source material in the PlayStation Portable remake.

Title

JP	US

Name Entry

JP	US

In the Japanese version, the first name, last name, and nickname can be entered when the protagonist is named. The American version simply allows the player to add their first name when naming the protagonist.

Gameplay

• The overall difficulty of the game was reduced by lowering the enemy encounter rate and increasing the EXP gained from battles. However, while experience gain was increased to an amount proportional to the decreased random battle rate, money drops were left the same, resulting in a potential shortage of cash.
• The Snow Queen Quest was removed by only allowing the player to commit to the SEBEC chapter. The data is still present in the game disk and it's possible to forcibly activate the quest by making use of cheating codes, but the vast majority of the Quest is untranslated and the game's engine cannot render Japanese characters which show as strange symbols.

Loading Screen

The US version added a unique graphic when loading whereas the JP version just stays black.

Characters

Nearly every character has been renamed, with the slight exception of Mark who only goes by his nickname, and several of them had their appearance altered as well.

Name	JP	US
Player		| |
Masao/Mark
Nanjo/Nate
Maki/Mary
Elly/Ellen
Ayase/Alana
Mai/Mae
Aki/Maggie
Setsuko/Nancy

Strangely, Brown/Brad and Reiji/Chris only had their full-body ending portraits changed, despite their graphics being otherwise identical between the two versions,

Name	JP	US
Brown/Brad
Reiji/Chris

Other Changes

• Nearly all references to Japan or Japanese culture were cut, with the unusual exception being the shoe lockers and Shinto Shrines in the game.
• The game's currency Yen was changed to dollars.
• Nearly every character, demon, and persona has had their name changed or altered in some way.

(Source: [1])

Snow Queen Quest Localization

As mentioned above, this alternate route through the game was made inaccessible in international versions and as a result, the vast majority of it remains untranslated. Despite this, there are a few parts of it that have been localized.

Starting the Quest

Starting the SQQ in the Japanese version requires you to do a small sidequest of speaking to a chain of certain NPCs around the school.

With the exception of the first NPC, all NPCs within this chain have had their dialog completely translated despite being made inaccessible normally.

Using GameShark code 301F29CB 00FF will make NPCs use their dialog meant to be used during the small side quest to actually start the SQQ.

Hypnos' Tower Philemon FMV

Despite the cutscene of Philemon giving the Demon Mirror remaining in Japanese, Philemon's other SQQ cutscene at the entrance of the dream world in Hypnos' Tower has been completely translated and dubbed.

Enemies

With the exception of Thanatos' tentacles which remain in Japanese, all of the exclusive encounters within the SQQ have all had their names localized, and of which, only Hypnos and Nemesis kept their exact name. Something to note, Yokouchi/Chunky is only fought in a scripted battle and has their name unable to be seen in either version,

JP	US
Yokouchi-kun	Chunky
Thanatos	Nucleus
Lady Masquerade	Lax
Lady Snow	Snow Lady
Queen Asura	Ashura

(Source: [2])