Know Your Video Game History: Persona

Persona 3’s immense success has convinced Atlus to release it in it’s entirety in America. This means no changes were made to any major elements of the game.  The Persona series however, has not always been treated so kindly during the transition from Japanese to English:

Revelations: Persona (?????????)

Whoever was in charge of the localization of Revelations: Persona was probably a xenophobe. The irony being in the linked Wikipedia article on xenophobia, Japan appears at the top of the list. Certain elements of the story have been altered so the player believes the game takes place in America. This includes changes to the name of towns and cities, and the conversion of Japanese Yen as the games currency, to the American Dollar.
Possibly most controversial, is the altering of all the characters in the game. Not only were their names changed to sound western, but their sprites and any other images were changed to make the characters appear Caucasian, or in some instances African-American:

Here we have Inaba Masao(????) in the Japanese, changed to simply…Mark. Can you spot the differences?

Here are a few more name changes just for fun:

• (????) Takahisa Kandori, the game’s main enemy, and cause of demons being set free on the city. His name was changed to Guido Sardenia. A name that sounds suspiciously Italian. Possibly revealing further racial prejudices by whoever localized the game.
• Sakeo Takami, the beloved teacher of the games main cast, changed to Ms. Smith. A sub quest revolving around her was removed from the American version as well. This sub quest allowed players to pursue a different story path, making the game less linear and more difficult.
• (?????) Kirishima Eriko, as well as several other characters got new hair styles. Mainly, this meant changing hair color from black to blonde or, in the protagonist’s case, red.

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