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Persona Q2 Won't Have English Voice Work, Will Have Subtitles With Japanese VAs

Shikata ga nai.

35 Comments

The upcoming spin-off RPG starring an ensemble of Persona characters, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, was recently confirmed to come to North America and Europe later this year. It's the Nintendo 3DS exclusive that gives the casts adorable chibi designs and brings them together in an alternate, sinister movie-themed dimension for a wild ride. But despite Persona 3, 4, 5, and all other spin-off games having an English voice cast, Persona Q2 will not.

Atlus USA confirmed to us and other outlets that the game will only feature the Japanese voice track with English subtitles. This may come as a disappointment to some fans, especially since the localized versions of Persona 3 and Persona 4 had English voice work exclusively and didn't offer the opportunity to enjoy the Japanese voice overs. It's not entirely surprising, however. Considering the deep cast of characters spanning three other games and the fact that the 3DS is at the end of its life cycle, bringing in the necessary number of voice actors may not have been cost-effective for Atlus, unfortunately.

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Now Playing: Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth - Opening Cinematic Animation

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Along with the announcement of the North American/European release date, Atlus also showed off the collector's edition called the "Showtime" Premium Edition. It includes a plushy of good boy Koromaru, a deck of cards with character designs, an art book, a four-button set with each protagonist, and an exclusive box along with the game.

Persona Q2 launched in Japan on November 29, 2018 and will make its way to the West on June 4, 2019 for Nintendo 3DS. Prior to the announcement, I was confident enough in the game getting localized that I declared it my most anticipated game of 2019.

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lordroberts774

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They didn't spend the money, because every 3DS release in 2018 was a flop as they all bombed in sales. At this point developers lose money on 3DS so they've all abandoned it.

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Shin_Gallon

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If only all the games in the series were so lucky...

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Thanatos2k

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Lazy and cheap, come on Sega.

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dkidfrmdbx

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Edited By dkidfrmdbx

Wouldn't matter to me. I always skim/skip a lot of the dialogue in the SMT games anyway. Its too drawn out. And I never play my 3DS with sound on anyway so it wouldn't really affect me(i play during my daily commute and listen to music or youtube videos during the ride). I understand why this would upset some people though, but the 3DS is almost dead. I understand why Atlus doesn't want to invest the money or time for the English voice acting. Im sure the game will be great either way.

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Tidus1012

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Fine, english voices in japanese games sounds out of place, especially when pronouncing honorifics, names and places.

3 • 
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DJPLACE

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i'll be keeping me money...

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SupaMasterGamer

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Is there any gameplay footage of this game? I can only see this trailer everywhere...

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mrdinghat

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That's pretty lazy/cheap of Atlus to be honest. Oh well, wasn't buying it anyway.

3 • 
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sarevokmb

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Kind of disappointing, because I love the voice actors for 4 and 5, but I'll take it if it means we get the localization this soon, rather than waiting 6+ months to record it all again.

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solid_snake1461

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Look like Atlus is taking a lesson from Sega with the Yakuza games.

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Jaxith

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I won't hold it against them. As long as it's not the start of a negative trend, I can handle it, and Atlus has traditionally been very good with their localizations.

That said, I also won't support this decision. The voice acting is a major part of why I enjoy these games, and without it, I've no reason to buy it. It's a loss for everyone involved, but that's just how it goes with these things.

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Lordcrabfood

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If they can't be bothered to include english VA than I can't be bothered to buy it.

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Shinobi120

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Edited By Shinobi120

@Lordcrabfood: Shows how much of a true fan you really are.

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Thanatos2k

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@Shinobi120: Why, are fans obligated to support bad practices and cheap business policies?

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Shinobi120

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Edited By Shinobi120

@Thanatos2k: I'm saying, boycotting a Japanese made game such as this just because of no English VA's, is stupid beyond belief.

Games like this could be very great for all we know & he could very well be missing out on it. Hell, localizing games as well as having more VA's cost a ton of money, so not exactly a "bad practice" or "cheap business policy", especially when Atlus is a very small company. And this isn't exactly the first Japanese game that this has happened to.

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Thanatos2k

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@Shinobi120: Sega is not a very small company.

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Yomigaeru

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@Shinobi120: Please don't fall into the trap of using the "No True Scotsman" fallacy.

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Lordcrabfood

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@Shinobi120: shows how much I wont compromise on what I spend my money on.

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redhedjack

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@Lordcrabfood: Could just play it on mute.

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Jaxith

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@redhedjack: Don't you think that might be a compromise in it's own way? It's the same problem as before.

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sakaiXx

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@Lordcrabfood: agreed

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SuperKlyph

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Edited By SuperKlyph

How much dialogue can there be on a 3DS game?

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sarevokmb

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@superklyph: A LOT. These games are really dialogue heavy, just like the regular Persona games. The first hour or more of the original game was pretty much all dialogue and there are constant cutscenes between and during dungeons.

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gamingdevil800

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Bit disappointing considering the English voice actors from 3, 4 and 5 are all really good. Might buy a 3DS but on the fence...

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lostn

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@gamingdevil800: 3 and 4 yes. 5, I don't think so.

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rawkstar007

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Edited By rawkstar007

Persona 5 was one of the extremely rare cases where the English voice actors were superior to their Japanese counterparts. Only other example I could think of is DBZ but that was only because the Japanese voice acting was so awful.

Very disappointed in this decision, let alone puzzled with the other one to bring the game to the 3DS rather than the Switch.

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sakaiXx

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@rawkstar007: FFXII english cast is about a billion times better. Amazing localizations too

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gamingdevil800

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@rawkstar007: Dragon Quest XI had a really good English VA.

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sakaiXx

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@gamingdevil800: only because there is none in japanese!

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Shinobi120

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@sakaixx: They will definitely have them soon for the Switch version.

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sakaiXx

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What the fuk. In one I understand since many cast of Persona 3,4,5 is quite in demand but its a let down anyways. Will miss Ace Defective english quotes.

I am really disapointed but I will still pick up as fan.

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skye6206

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Edited By skye6206

The Nintendo DS? Atlus, you are killing me!

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redhedjack

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@skye6206: 3DS

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