Chapter 2.5 : Case Study 2
In this post, I will talk on the second case :
Persona, also known as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, is a series of role-playing video games developed and primarily published by Atlus. The series is a spin-off from Atlus' Megami Tensei franchise, and was originally based on the high school setting of Shin Megami Tensei If.... The first entry in the series, Revelations: Persona,
was released in 1996. There have since been nine further console titles
(five main entries and four spin-off titles), with the latest, Persona 5,
being released in 2016 in Japan. The series takes its title from beings
summoned by characters in battle, manifesting from their personality.
You play as a high school student, who's life is normal and turns upside down when demons starts to invade the real world. Chosen by an powerful being, you can summon other beings to battle the demons. When I stumbled upon this game series, what really attracted my attention was the beings that you summoned in the games, which turns out to be deities from myths or legends across the world. Atlus has a interesting way of presenting these beings, as their designs differs from the original ones but maintained some of the main features to show their identities.
In an interview between author Ed Moore and Atlus Japan's Eiji Ishida and Kazuma Kaneko about the Shin Megami Tensei series of games, one of the question was on how they research and design a demon's appearance and imagery and collaborate with other developers to bring the demons to life. They responded by saying they start by researching their profiles in legends and folklores. Gods and demons that appear in myths greatly reflect the environment, culture and customs of the area they originate from. They then give the demons new form, sometimes in accordance with their traditional image, and in other times giving them a modern interpretation.
You can check the interviews here :
http://gematsu.com/2015/03/japanese-persona-magazine-interviews-atlus-staff-persona-5-dancing-all-night/2
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/interviews/8280-Interview-Behind-the-Scenes-of-Shin-Megami-Tensei
As mentioned before, the defining aspect of the series is the Personas, manifestations of a person's psyche. Many Personas used up to Persona 3 are inspired by Graeco-Roman mythology. In Persona 4 they are based on Japanese deities; Persona 5 uses characters inspired by popular fictional and historical outlaws.
These are the few comparisons (from Persona 5) of the original design of the characters (Left) and the beings Atlus design based on them (Right) :
Seeing that beings from different myths and legends across the world designed and played in the game, I was curious as to why any of the Malaysian folklore was not chosen to partake in this series. It was then I found there was actually one, well not from the Malaysian folklore, but from the Islamic traditional lore that we all know :Toyol. The character was given a different name, called Ghoul, and has a darker background story as it was representing the Death section of the beings.
After looking at this, I was really more inspired and motivated in putting Malaysian folklore into the game. To see Hang Tuah being summoned and fight demons or summoning Sang Kancil, Mahsuri any other mythical beings from the Malaysian folklore into the Persona series is a dream. If given chance, I would love to propose the idea to them and design characters based on the folklore provided with the background stories. This will surely let their audiences know more about Malaysia, as to how they promote other country's legends as well.
CASE STUDY 2 : Persona Series by Atlus
You play as a high school student, who's life is normal and turns upside down when demons starts to invade the real world. Chosen by an powerful being, you can summon other beings to battle the demons. When I stumbled upon this game series, what really attracted my attention was the beings that you summoned in the games, which turns out to be deities from myths or legends across the world. Atlus has a interesting way of presenting these beings, as their designs differs from the original ones but maintained some of the main features to show their identities.
In an interview between author Ed Moore and Atlus Japan's Eiji Ishida and Kazuma Kaneko about the Shin Megami Tensei series of games, one of the question was on how they research and design a demon's appearance and imagery and collaborate with other developers to bring the demons to life. They responded by saying they start by researching their profiles in legends and folklores. Gods and demons that appear in myths greatly reflect the environment, culture and customs of the area they originate from. They then give the demons new form, sometimes in accordance with their traditional image, and in other times giving them a modern interpretation.
You can check the interviews here :
http://gematsu.com/2015/03/japanese-persona-magazine-interviews-atlus-staff-persona-5-dancing-all-night/2
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/interviews/8280-Interview-Behind-the-Scenes-of-Shin-Megami-Tensei
As mentioned before, the defining aspect of the series is the Personas, manifestations of a person's psyche. Many Personas used up to Persona 3 are inspired by Graeco-Roman mythology. In Persona 4 they are based on Japanese deities; Persona 5 uses characters inspired by popular fictional and historical outlaws.
These are the few comparisons (from Persona 5) of the original design of the characters (Left) and the beings Atlus design based on them (Right) :
 |
| Arsene Lupin's Original Design (Left) and his Persona counterpart (Right) |
 |
| Robin Hood's Original Design (Left) and his Persona counterpart (Right) |
 |
| Zorro's Original Design (Left) and his Persona counterpart (Right) |
Seeing that beings from different myths and legends across the world designed and played in the game, I was curious as to why any of the Malaysian folklore was not chosen to partake in this series. It was then I found there was actually one, well not from the Malaysian folklore, but from the Islamic traditional lore that we all know :Toyol. The character was given a different name, called Ghoul, and has a darker background story as it was representing the Death section of the beings.
After looking at this, I was really more inspired and motivated in putting Malaysian folklore into the game. To see Hang Tuah being summoned and fight demons or summoning Sang Kancil, Mahsuri any other mythical beings from the Malaysian folklore into the Persona series is a dream. If given chance, I would love to propose the idea to them and design characters based on the folklore provided with the background stories. This will surely let their audiences know more about Malaysia, as to how they promote other country's legends as well.
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