Persona 4 Revival finally has the chance to fix its terrible dungeon design

Summer Game Fest's reveals may have been pretty tepid across the board for me, but there was one game that got me out of my seat: Persona 4 Revival. Atlus is giving it the Persona 3 Reload treatment, giving Inaba and its inhabitants a full 3D-HD facelift.

If it's anything like Persona 3 Reload, it'll also be getting some modernisation in the form of system overhauls, new dialogue, and a stunning updated soundtrack to compliment it all. And hopefully, all of that means Persona 4 Revival will rework one of the weakest points of the original game: those goddamn abysmal dungeons.

Backside of the TV

OK, so I will admit I didn't necessarily mind Persona 4 Golden's dungeons when I played through the game on my Vita for the first time. That's probably because slogging through those was better than rawdogging the 90-minute commute to college every morning, but also because in a Persona 5-less world I didn't necessarily know any better.

But subsequent playthroughs—and the existence of a sequel with much better dungeon design—really start to show the cracks of Persona 4's world inside the television. Procedurally generated corridors that can stretch out for a real long time with the occasional four-way path? For 10 entire goddamn floors until I can fight the boss? Ooh, colour me… well, a little bored.

It's a shame, because aesthetically each dungeon sports some fantastic vibes that really speak to each character's internal struggles. Rise's dungeon is a manifestation of her sexualisation as an idol and her struggles between the real her and her celebrity persona, while Kanji's dungeon (rather haphazardly) attempts to explore the push-and-pull he has with his sexuality and hobbies perceived to be 'feminine', which he masks with toxic masculinity.

Unfortunately, that gets a bit lost after seeing the same tiled wallpaper for the seventh chunk in a row. There are also no save points and no fun little puzzles to break up the pace, ultimately leaving Yu and the crew filling in gaps on a map before moving onto the next floor. It's a constant race to the boss, one which isn't filled with many interesting interruptions. Or any interruptions, really.

We've seen that Atlus is willing to do some overhauls to its dungeon system with Persona 3 Reload. It gave Tatarus a far less insufferable renovation, removing the fatigue system that was a big turn-off for newer players (myself included) as well as sprinkling in more item and enemy variety. It's still randomly generated, but it largely makes sense for what is essentially one big dungeon that covers the entire game.

That's where I think Persona 4 Revival should veer off from Reload's changes. Each of its dungeons are the perfect vessel to go full Persona 5 style. Palaces that serve as grand setpieces for each character, handcrafted to get real into the weeds of their insecurities and internal conflict.

Futaba's tomb palace in Persona 5 is the perfect example of this. While most of the game is spent delving into the minds of criminals and unsavoury sorts, it diverges from that formula when the Phantom Thieves delve into Futaba's manifested trauma: a giant pyramid created out of her depression and anxiety, and the belief that her home would ultimately be her tomb as she was too scared to leave.

It's easily the most Persona 4 the game gets with its dungeons, which convinces me even further that a more handcrafted palace design would be the perfect fit. A fully fleshed out Marukyu's Striptease or Steamy Bathhouse are already perfect candidates, and I'd love to see what Atlus could do with some of the more unorthodox dungeons like Void Quest—which plays out like a retro videogame—or turning Heaven, my favourite dungeon, into a gorgeous modern creation.

Whatever direction Atlus decides to take with Persona 4 Revival's dungeons, I at least hope it adds in a goddamn save point or two. Please, I only survived Golden thanks to the fact I could suspend my Vita and pick back up where I left off. Don't make me do the entirety of Revival on my Steam Deck for the same privilege.