Persona 2: Innocent Sin

Did You Know?

• The writer Tadashi Satomi felt the story needed an alternate viewpoint, forming the basis for Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.
• A mobile version of Innocent Sin was created by Atlus and Bbmf in 2007, carrying over the Persona and Rumor systems.

Gameplay

Persona 2: Innocent Sin is a role-playing game in which the player controls a party of up to five high school students exploring Sumaru City from an adjustable angled overhead perspective. The city is navigated via an overworld map, and dungeons are explored with the aid of an Auto-Map that automatically marks new areas as the main character moves. In safe areas without demon encounters, party members can be conversed with. A central gameplay element is the Rumor system: when the party hears a rumor from an NPC, they can spread it through the Kuzunoha detective agency, causing the rumor to become real and affect the environment—such as creating new shops or making weapons and accessories appear. Battles include both story-triggered and random encounters; during each turn, the party is assigned commands and executes them, then can adjust strategy for the next turn. Characters fight with melee attacks, items, and spells cast via their Personas, each of which has elemental strengths and weaknesses and can be ranked up through use. Fusion Spells occur when two or more party members use a specific sequence of spells, summoning multiple Personas for a powerful attack. The party can be manually controlled or set to Auto-battle.

Synopsis

Innocent Sin takes place in 1999 in Sumaru City, a Japanese seaside city with a population over 1.28 million. Most protagonists attend either Seven Sisters High School, a prestigious school, or the less-prestigious Kasugayama High. Popular rumors around the city begin to come true, sometimes with dire consequences. The party can summon Personas, defined in the instruction manual as 'another side of [the protagonists]', granted by a being from the collective unconscious who acts as a spiritual guide. A key story element is the Oracle of Maia, a prophecy foretelling events leading to the world's end during a planetary conjunction called the Grand Cross. The protagonist is Tatsuya Suou, a popular but isolated senior at Seven Sisters. He joins Lisa Silverman, a Caucasian second-year at Seven Sisters; Eikichi Mishina, a delinquent leader at Kasugayama High; adult reporter Maya Amano; and photographer Yukino Mayuzumi. They are later joined by Jun Kurosu, Tatsuya's childhood best friend. Other important characters include the Masked Circle, a group influencing rumors, and Nyarlathotep, an antagonist from the collective unconscious.

Development

Development of Innocent Sin began after the release and success of Persona, with most of the original staff returning, including producer Kouji Okada, designer Kazuma Kaneko, and writer Tadashi Satomi. The game changed to an overhead view from the first Persona's mixture of overhead and first-person navigation, and improved elements criticized in Persona, such as load times and save point frequency. The banner title Megami Ibunroku was dropped to separate the Persona series from the Megami Tensei series. The theme remained exploration of the human psyche and characters discovering their true selves, with a central focus on teenage growth and overcoming personal troubles. Another key element was the 'power of Kotodama', the Japanese belief that words influence the physical and spiritual world, manifesting through rumor-spreading. Terms like Persona, Shadows, and Philemon were drawn from Jungian psychology. Nyarlathotep, who appeared as a Persona in the original game, was inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, and other antagonists and enemy creatures also drew from that mythos.

Reception

The original PlayStation release of Persona 2: Innocent Sin sold 274,798 copies in Japan, landing at number 62 on the yearly sales charts. Its PSP remake performed better initially, debuting at number 6 in Japan with 62,721 units sold in its first week, though it fell to 11th place the following week with an additional 10,400 sales. By October 2011, the PSP version had moved 110,000 units in Japan, making it one of Atlus’s top sellers that year. In North America, it reached second place on the PSP sales chart during its debut week. Critics praised the story across both versions. Famitsu found it enjoyable for both newcomers and series veterans, while PSP reviewers noted its narrative remained innovative. RPGFan’s Neal Chandran, reviewing the original, was moved by how characters confronted their pasts and the main threat, even without understanding much dialogue. John McCarroll, also at RPGFan, felt the story was one of the few elements that had not aged. GameSpot’s Peter Bartholow called the original’s story darker, stranger, and more engaging than typical fantasy games. Carolyn Petit, reviewing the PSP version for GameSpot, agreed that despite a slow start, the story and characters grew compelling. IGN’s Vince Ingenito described it as a wonderfully original tale and commended the localization. RPGamer’s Zach Welhouse noted the game uses its vast cosmic setting to amplify the adolescent struggles of its protagonists until they burst with energy.