One of two outcomes had to happen, and it looks like my gut was right. Atlus has released the original Playstation version of Persona 2 Eternal Punishment on PSN, finally making every Persona game much more possible to collect. Persona 2 Eternal Punishment was released late in the PS1’s lifecycle, and as such became a rather obscure title in the Persona series (and damn expensive as well). It wasn’t until games like Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga, and Persona 3 brought the game into the limelight. Another odd thing about this entry was that it was actually the second game in the Persona 2 duality, probably confusing players when events of the first entry, Innocent Sin, would be recounted somewhat. However given the way things end up by the end of Innocent Sin, you’d probably be able to play the game anyway without too much being spoiled. Regardless, players would finally be able to play P2: IS on the PSP many years later.

Eternal Punishment would get the enhanced port treatment Innocent Sin got last year on the PSP. However many wondered if it was going to get localized considering the status of the PSP in the U.S. and the release of the Vita. Two things were going to happen to this game: it gets localized and released, albeit without the sweet packaging Persona 1 and Innocent Sin got, or the PS1 version got released on PSN, costing considerably less than localizing the PSP version. And it looks like they took option two. No word yet if the PSP version will get localized anyway, but it looks like a done deal and this will be the only way we play the game. Besides, at least the original PS1 game’s localization wasn’t as idiotic as the PS1 version of Persona 1.

God Of War Demo, Persona 2 Headline Tuesday’s PSN Update [Gaming Blend]