Although it hasn’t officially announced anything yet, Atlus seems to be working on a remake of Persona 4, the acclaimed 2008 JRPG for the PS2. Rumors about this new version of the game have been circulating for quite a while now, but speculation about the game’s release has started to heat up in recent days. Back in March, fans discovered that Atlus had registered a domain for a website labeled “p4re.jp,” which sounded strangely similar to the “p3re.jp” domain used by 2024’s Persona 3 Reload. Since Atlus often registers domains for games a few months before their announcements, some are taking this as a sign that a Persona 4 remake reveal is imminent.
As if that domain wasn’t suspicious enough, comments made by Persona 4‘s English voice cast have added even more fuel to the fire about the existence of a Persona 4 remake. Last week, Yuri Lowenthal, the voice actor for Yosuke Hanamura, revealed on Bluesky that he would not be returning to voice his character in the Persona 4 remake, even though he “begged” Atlus for it. Perhaps realizing that he wasn’t supposed to share that information, Lowenthal deleted his post a few hours after posting it. That, however, didn’t stop other actors who worked on the original Persona 4 from making similar statements.
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The Original English Voice Cast of Persona 4 May Not Return at All in Its Rumored Remake
Several English VAs Have Said that They’re Not Going to Reprise their Roles in the Persona 4 Remake
Erin Fitzgerald and Amanda Winn Lee, the English VAs for Chie Satonaka and Yukiko Amagi, respectively, confirmed on social media over the last few days that they, too, were not asked by Atlus to reprise their roles in the Persona 4 remake. Unlike Yuri Lowenthal, however, neither of them deleted their comments. Reacting to this news, a lot of fans expressed their disappointment with the matter, as many believe that they voiced their characters perfectly in the previous Persona games.
Erin Fitzgerald is technically the second English VA for Chie Satonaka. In the original PS2 version of Persona 4, Chie was voiced by Tracey Rooney. Fitzgerald made her debut as the character in Persona 4 Arena.
Although Persona 3 Reload Had a New English Dub, It Recast Some of the OG Voice Actors in New Roles
Unless this is part of an elaborate marketing stunt, it seems that the rumored Persona 4 remake may not continue a trend that was established in Persona 3 Reload: that is, the casting of old English voice actors in new roles. Persona 3 Reload, for those who don’t know, was a remake of 2006’s Persona 3, and it featured a completely new English dub. The lines in the English and Japanese versions of the game were fully rerecorded. However, unlike the Japanese voice cast (which was largely the same as it was in the original game), the English VAs for the main characters in the game were all replaced.
In spite of this change, some of the voice actors who were involved with the original Persona 3 made a return in its remake. This time, however, they were voicing other characters. Grant George, who played Shinjiro Aragaki in Persona 3, for example, came back to play the role of Takeharu Kirijo in Persona 3 Reload. Meanwhile, Yuri Lowenthal, who had initially portrayed Makoto Yuki, made a cameo as the VA for Eiichiro Takeba in Reload. Tara Platt, the voice actor for Elizabeth in the Persona 3 games, is the only person from the original English voice cast who portrayed the same character in Persona 3 Reload.
Persona 4’s English Voice Cast is Too Good to be Thrown Away
It’s important to note that none of the old Persona 4 voice actors have explicitly stated that they won’t be involved with the Persona 4 remake whatsoever. However, at least in Yuri Lowenthal’s case, his use of the phrase “they don’t want me to come back” makes it sound like he’s not returning at all. Since the original English voice cast for Persona 4 is so beloved, it would be great if Atlus gave them some roles to fill in the rumored remake, but the chances of that happening seem more and more unlikely.
Persona 4 Golden
- Released
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December 9, 2008
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ due to Alcohol Reference, Animated Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Engine
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RenderWare