Shin Megami Tensei is the franchise that began the victorious rise of Atlus to a JRPG juggernaut. Despite starting it all, however, it was the spin-off Persona that wound up taking the primary spotlight, especially in the West where Shin Megami Tensei has not been nearly as popular. It's possible that difference in popularity could change in the near future, though.
Persona 5 saw the series hit new heights in sales and popularity. The direct result is a slew of new titles in the franchise that all have more hype behind them than ever before, whether it be the modern ports of three and four, Persona 3 Reload, or the much-speculated Persona 6. If it was ever in doubt before, it's become abundantly clear in recent years that there is a worldwide market for these types of games, and that gives Atlus a golden opportunity revive Shin Megami Tensei.
A Shin Megami Tensei Resurgence
Shin Megami Tensei 4 is considered one of the best games in the series and simultaneously one of the best games on the Nintendo 3DS. The game sold more than 600k copies, which is great for an entry in a series considered more niche at the time, but it pales in comparison to SMT 5's one million copies sold on Nintendo Switch, and Persona 5's whopping 9 million sold across its various releases. The potential market for one of these games is simply different than it was back in the early 2010s, and it could mean brand-new success for some of these Atlus classics as new and curious fans want to go back through the catalog.
It's not as if Atlus isn't aware of this. Back in 2020, an HD remaster of Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne came to modern systems, plus there were the recent ports of Persona 3 and Persona4 that made most of the mainline entries available to every player. There's a barrier holding back the potential of a modern Shin Megami Tensei 4 remaster, though, and it's the same barrier holding back nearly every DS and 3DS game.
The dual-screen design makes the idea of porting many games from Nintendo's most recent handhelds a real pain. The transfer of a game that took place on two screens to one can even seem impossible in some cases. It's happened before, though, with DS games like The World Ends With You, and Shin Megami Tensei 4 should be a particularly easy game to port to modern systems considering it doesn't use the second screen in any significant way. A bundle that ports both Shin Megami Tensei 4 and its more controversial sequel, Shin Megami Tensei 4: Apocalypse, would be particularly welcome, and there are a number of other Atlus titles from throughout the decades that could be brought into the modern day.
Maybe Streamline The Names
Where Atlus may encounter an issue with bringing its extensive series of Persona-adjacent games to the mainstream is in the naming. In the nicest way possible, the naming system for these games is a complete mess. Looking at the Wikipedia page with a list of Megami Tensei titles, between the multiple spin-offs including Soul Hackers, Last Bible, Devil Summoner, and even more, feels on par in confusion with trying to understand the story of Kingdom Hearts.
This complexity may be the biggest barrier to Atlus bringing these games to the mainstream, because the average player doesn't want to buy a guidebook just to understand why all of these games with similar mechanics and foundations have completely different titles. If Atlus can figure that out, though, there is a world of amazing JRPGs that could be brought to an eager new generation.
Shin Megami Tensei 5 is out now on Nintendo Switch.