Regional Differences

This is a sub-page of Revelations: Persona.

To do:
A lot more to cover, including graphical differences.

Revelations: Persona underwent many changes for its English localization. Many of these changes were disliked by fans, and they were later reverted in the PlayStation Portable remake, which stays true to its source material.

General Changes#

Nearly all references to Japan or Japanese culture were cut, with the odd exception of shoe lockers and Shinto shrines.
The game's currency was changed from yen to dollars. The developers simply changed the ¥ symbol into $ and removed the last two digits from all item prices and money drops.
Nearly every character, demon, and persona was renamed.

(Source: 1)

Gameplay#

The overall difficulty of the game was reduced by lowering the enemy encounter rate and increasing the EXP gained from battles. However, while experience gain was increased to an amount proportional to the decreased random battle rate, money drops were left the same, resulting in a potential shortage of cash.
The Snow Queen Quest was removed by only allowing the player to commit to the SEBEC Route. The data is still present and it's possible to forcibly activate the quest by using cheat codes, but the vast majority of it is untranslated, displaying as random symbols since the Japanese font is missing in the North American version.

Name Entry#

In the Japanese version, the first name, last name, and nickname can be entered when naming the protagonist. The North American version allows the player to add the first name only.

Japan	North America

Loading Screen#

The North American version added a unique loading screen as opposed to the fade to black in the Japanese version.

Graphics#

Title#

The title screen was completely changed.

The game was originally called Megami Ibunroku Persona: BE YOUR TRUE MIND in Japan. It was renamed to Revelations: Persona in North America.
The copyright text was changed from black to white.
The Atlus logo was made a bit bigger.
The background was changed.

Japan	North America

Characters#

Nearly every character was renamed, with the slight exception of Mark who only goes by his nickname, and several of them had their designs changed as well.

The characters were reverted back to their original designs in all versions of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.

Name	Japan	North America
Main Character		\| \|
Masao "Mark" Inaba/Mark
Kei Nanjo/Nate
Maki Sonomura/Mary
Eriko "Elly" Kirishima/Ellen
Yuka Ayase/Alana
Mai/Mae
Aki/Maggie
Setsuko Sonomura/Nancy
Mark's Mother	Persona1JP_Mark's_Mother.png	Persona1US_Mark's_Mother.png

Strangely, Brown/Brad and Reiji/Chris only had their full-body ending portraits changed, despite their graphics being otherwise identical between the two versions.

Name	Japan	North America
Hidehiko "Brown" Uesugi/Brad
Reiji Kido/Chris

Dungeons#

The Japanese text in St. Hermelin was either redrawn or removed.

Japan	North America

The Peace Diner logo was changed for whatever reason.

Japan	North America

The pharmacy also had its Japanese text redrawn.

Japan	North America

Ditto for the clinic. Some English text was also removed from the rug.

Japan	North America

Ditto for Yin & Yan. Strangely, for how much effort went into redesigning the mall, the red banners and Sennen Mannen-Do signs were left unaltered despite having Japanese text on them.

Japan	North America

Ditto for the hospital. The "Smoking Corner" sign was also changed to say "No Smoking".

Japan	North America

The background in Maki's/Mary's empty room was changed for whatever reason.

Japan	North America

One of the posters and the fire extinguisher in the police station were redrawn. Strangely, the rest of the Japanese text in the police station was left unaltered.

Japan	North America

Menu Icons#

The menu icons for Incenses/Essences and Agastya/Augustus were redrawn to match their localized names.

Japan	North America

Text#

On top of visual changes, many changes were made to the game's script.

References to the Snow Queen were scrubbed from the Performing Arts Club and replaced with...crossdressing?

Japan	Translation	North America
`生徒：部長　学園祭の演目まだ　決まってないんだよな`	`Student: Manager, we still haven't decided what to perform for the school festival, have we?`	`Student: Our Performing Arts club still doesn't know what to do for the Cultural Festival.`
`生徒：昔　伝統のお芝居があったって　聞いたんですけどそれをやらないんですか？確か　雪の…`	`Student: I heard that we had a traditional play back in the day. Why don't we perform that? I think it was called The Snow...`	`Student: The Track Meet is about a month away. And then the Cultural Festival is right after that. So we have to practice a lot.`
`部長：ダメよ！　あれは　禁止！ …演目は　すぐに決めるからもう少し　待っててね`	`Manager: No! That one's forbidden! ...I'll decide what to perform soon. Just wait a little longer.`	`Manager: Oh... Hey, you look pretty cute... Why don't you try dressing up as a woman at the Cultural Festival?`
`南条：「雪の」というと… 「雪の女王」のことか？`	`Nanjo: "The Snow" he said... Was he about to say "The Snow Queen"?`	`Nate: I think the Cultural Festival will be exciting.`
`ゆきの：この学校に　伝統の芝居があったなんて　初耳だね`	`Yukino: This school had a traditional play? It's the first time I'm hearing about it.`	`Yuki: You're liked by a lot of people, aren't you?`
`生徒：９年前のトロフィーがないこの年も　コンクールで優勝したはずなのに　この年のヤツ１つだけ欠けてるひじょーに　気になるねまじで`	`Student: Our school won the concours nine years ago. But the trophy from that year is missing. I wonder where it went...`	`Student: Actually, I wanted to dress up as a girl...`
`生徒：部長　ちょっと　おかしくありませんでした？どうして　あんなに怒るの？`	`Student: Wasn't the manager acting a bit suspicious? Why was she so mad just now?`	`Student: I think it's a great idea! Please think about it, OK?`
`部長：なあに　人部希望なの？違うんだったら　邪魔だから帰ってくれないかな？`	`Manager: What? Are you here to join our club? If not, could you please leave? You're being a nuisance.`	`Manager: Will you do it? I think people will come just to watch you!`

Despite being redrawn to match Mark's skin tone, Mark's mother was rewritten to be his mother's friend instead.

Japan	Translation	North America
`マークの母：マーくん！`	`Mark's Mother: Ma-kun!`	`Woman: Oh, Mark!`
`マーク：ゲッ！！オ　オフクロ！`	`Mark: Gah! I-It's my mom!`	`Mark:...Huh? Oh, it's my mom's friend!`

The student in room 2-4 who sets off the Snow Queen Quest by telling the player about Tsutomu/Kain had her dialogue rewritten to remove any mention of him.

Interestingly, the new dialogue instead points the player toward the hole in the wall, which is where the player sets off the standard SEBEC Route.

Japan

Translation

North America

生徒：悪魔君がね　街がおかしく
なったのは　エルミン伝わる
呪いが　原因だっていうの
こんな時まで　バカ言っててさ
ある意味　尊敬するよね

Student: Devil Boy says the town
got messed up because of a curse
passed on from St. Hermelin.
He's still saying dumb stuff
even at a time like this.
It's admirable in a way.

Student:  T.J. went to the
hole in the wall.

She said that she's going to
help plug it up.

Elly's/Ellen's description of Nyarlathotep/Massacre was rewritten to make the Lovecraft connection less apparent.

Japan

Translation

North America

エリー：神取のＰｅｒｓｏｎａ…
顔の無い神…　這い寄る混沌…
無数の異名を持つ　異形の邪神…
邪心の象徴　というわけですわね

Elly: Kandori's persona...
The Faceless God... The Crawling Chaos...
A strange, evil god with many names...
It's a symbol of evil.

Ellen:  Have you ever seen
anything like Guido's Persona?

A God-like creature
surounded by darkness that
can be called by many names.

A Persona that can take on
many evil forms...It's a
symbol of all evils!

Aki/Maggie insulting Mark by calling him a monkey was changed to her calling him a loser. Good call.

Japan	Translation	North America
`あき：だまれ子ザル！サルーサルサルサル！`	`Aki: Shut up, you little monkey! Monkey! Monkey! Monkey! Monkey!`	`Maggie: Shut up, you loser! Loser! Loser! Loser!`

Yog-Sothoth Jr.'s/Yoga Jr.'s Lovecraftian chanting was replaced with simple growling.

Japan

Translation

North America

悪魔：いあ！　しゅぶにぐらぁと
いあ！　よぐそとーす！
あいあいあいあいあああああ！

Demon: Ia! Shub-Niggurath!
Ia! Yog-Sothoth!
A ia ia ia iaaaaa!

Yoga Jr.: Grrr......

The magic chant used by Maki/Mary and her alter egos was changed.

In the Japanese version, it's "Nomoraka Tanomama", a reverse spelling of "mama no takaramono" (mommy's treasure).

In the North American version, it's simply "Abra Kadabra".

Japan	Translation	North America
`麻希：ノモラカ・タノママ…`	`Maki: Nomoraka Tanomama...`	`Mary: Abra Kadabra!`

When loading a save, the player is given some words of encouragement from the Agastya Tree/Augustus Tree.

In the Japanese version, all save points say the same thing, but in North American version, every save point has been given a unique quote.

Japan	Translation	North America
`アガスティアの木：若者よ… くれぐれも　気を付けて行くがよい`	`Agastya Tree: Young ones... Be careful on your journey.`	`Augustus Tree: Don't yield to the power of demons.`
N/A	N/A	`Live long, and prosper!`
N/A	N/A	`Buh Bye!`
N/A	N/A	`Take it easy!`
N/A	N/A	`Later!`
N/A	N/A	`Go now and good luck!`
N/A	N/A	`C-YA!!`
N/A	N/A	`Vaya con dios!`
N/A	N/A	`Hasta la vista!`
N/A	N/A	`Y'all come back now ya hear!`
N/A	N/A	`Cheers!`
N/A	N/A	`Stay cool!`
N/A	N/A	`Yeah! Go mess it up!`
N/A	N/A	`Be Gone!`
N/A	N/A	`Sayonara!`
N/A	N/A	`Have a nice day!`

Snow Queen Quest Localization#

As mentioned above, this alternate route through was made inaccessible in the North American version, resulting in the vast majority of it being untranslated, save for a few parts.

Starting the Quest#

Watch on YouTube

Starting the quest in the Japanese version requires the player talk to a series of specific NPCs in St. Hermelin.

The dialogue for these NPCs has been fully translated despite being made inaccessible normally.

Using the GameShark code 301F29CB 00FF will make the NPCs use this otherwise unviewable dialogue.

Hypnos' Tower Philemon FMV#

Watch on YouTube

Despite the cutscene of Philemon giving the Demon Mirror remaining in Japanese, Philemon's other SQQ cutscene at the entrance of the dream world in Hypnos' Tower has been completely translated and dubbed.

Enemies#

With the exception of Thanatos' tentacles and eyeball form, which remain in Japanese, all demons exclusive to the SQQ have had their names localized.

Thanatos' race, シニガミ (Death God), seen nowhere else in the game, has also been localized as "GR".

Something to note, Yokouchi-kun/Chunky is only fought in a scripted battle and his name does not display in either version.

Japan	Translation	North America
`アシュラじょおう`	`Queen Ashura`	`Ashura`
`レディスノー`	`Lady Snow`	`SnowLady`
`レディマスカレード`	`Lady Masquerade`	`Lax`
`タナトス`	`Thanatos`	`Nucleus`
`ネメシス`	`Nemesis`	`Nemesis`
`ヒュプノス`	`Hypnos`	`Hypnos`
`よこうちくん`	`Yokouchi-kun`	`Chunky`

(Source: 2)

Personas#

Yukino's/Yuki's ultimate persona, Durga/Dorga, cannot be obtained under normal circumstances in the North American version since it is exclusive to the SQQ.

The same goes for the special conversation between Durga/Dorga and Dhun/Leo.

Japan	Translation	North America
`ドゥルガー：これ、ドゥンよ。もう、この女神を、この背にすることは飽きたのかえ？`	`Durga: Dhun, my dear. Have you tired of carrying this goddess on your back?`	`Dorga: My sweet Leo? Did you get tired of carrying this goddess on your back?`
`ドゥン：ソレ　チガウ… オレサマ　姫様ノ　乗リ物… 魔神トノ戦イ　忘レテナイ`	`Dhun: NO... ME HER MAJESTY'S RIDE... NO FORGET FIGHT WITH DEMON GOD.`	`Leo: Right, your majesty, I am your chariot. Remember how we fought that evil god?`
`ドゥルガー：それは過去の話… 今は、この者に加勢しておるで、再び我の力に、なるがよいぞ。`	`Durga: That is in the past... Now I am assisting this human. Lend me your power once more.`	`Dorga: That was then. Now I'm helping this human. Join me again with your power!`
`ドゥン：アオーン！姫様ノ　役ニ立ツ　嬉シイ！ニンゲン　カード　ウケトレ！`	`Dhun: AWOOO! HAPPY TO HELP HER MAJESTY! HUMAN GET CARD!`	`Leo: Grrrawoo! Happy to be of service! Human, receive the spell card!`
`ドゥン：アオーン！オレサマ　デキルコト　ココマデニンゲン　姫様ヲ　タノムゾ！`	`Dhun: AWOOO! ME DONE ALL ME CAN DO! HUMAN TAKE CARE OF HER MAJESTY!`	`Leo: Awoooo! My duty for her majesty ends here. Take care of her!`

Items#

The following items are exclusive to the SQQ and thus normally unobtainable in the North American version.

Japan	Translation	North America
`チャクラム`	`Chakram`	`SandKnife`
`ジャスティスコイン`	`Justice Coin`	`Justice`
`インフィニティ`	`Infinity`	`Infinity`
`シュピーゲルブレード`	`Spiegel Blade`	`AngelKnife`
`シュピーゲルマスク`	`Spiegel Mask`	`HeavenHood`
`シュピーゲルメイル`	`Spiegel Mail`	`HeavenSuit`
`シュピーゲルシールド`	`Spiegel Shield`	`HeavenHand`
`シュピーゲルバイン`	`Spiegelbeine`	`HolyBoots`
`バッファロービーツ`	`Buffalo Beats`	`DarkTablet`

(Source: 3)

Key Items#

Ditto for the key items exclusive to the SQQ.

Japan	Translation	North America
`スノークイーンマスク`	`Snow Queen Mask`	`SnowMask`
`かがみのわく`	`Mirror Frame`	`Frame`
`かがみのはへん`	`Mirror Shard`	`FramePart`
`アンブロシア`	`Ambrosia`	`Ambrosia`

Skills#

The following skills are used exclusively by bosses in the SQQ, and thus go unseen in the North American version.

Japan	Translation	North America
`あんこくのねむり`	`Dark Slumber`	`DarkSleep`
`リベンジリーク`	`Revenge Leak`	`Revenge`
`アブソルートゼロ`	`Absolute Zero`	`A-Zero`