WhenPersona 3first launched in 2007, it was a radical departure from its predecessors. WhileRevelations: PersonaandPersona 2were more typical JRPGs,Persona 3stood out immediately from others in the genre. It ditched the demon negotiation mechanic but added a new feature that would go on to define thePersonaseries forever: Social Links.
The game was part JRPG, part life simulation, and part visual novel. By day, they were maintaining their life as a high school student and forming bonds with NPCs. At night, they were battling Shadows inside the game’s ever-evolving labyrinth dungeon. Social Links functioned as mini-arcs within the story and helped give the cast more depth. This feature has been continued since, thoughit was rebranded as Confidants inPersona 5.
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Many fans considerPersona 5to be a high point of the series. It’s stylish, delves into complicated themes, and is a huge hit commercially. That’s exactly whyPersona 5should be a swan song for the current formula, asPersona 6needs to take risks and make significant changes in order for the series to stay fresh. There are plenty of ways this can be accomplished, and these are just a few ideas.
Graduate the Cast of Persona
EveryPersonagame has always had the same core premise: high school students get caught up in the paranormal. After five mainline titles using this basis (technically six,given thatPersona 2is split into two games), it’s time to graduate from it. A huge appeal ofPersonais that they’re coming-of-age stories, but there’s actually an easy way to move past high school without losing the relatable hook of overcoming growing pains.
Instead of taking place in a high school,Persona 6should shift focus towards university students, preferably first-years. It’s a period of time where everyone is trapped in limbo – not a teenager, but not yet an adult. There’s a ton of thematic potential that can be tapped into with this setup. The characters feeling lost as they enter a new part of life is perfect for mirroring how they suddenly stumble upon another realm of reality, for example. It would allow for more adult relationships to be explored, while managing the pressure of day-to-day life of a university student would havea greater sense of pressure than managing a high school student, too.
Normalize Characters, Offer Queer Romance Options
There’s a ton of inappropriate content in bothPersona 4and5,content the franchise can do without while managing its own identity. Many characters are presented as predatory in both entries, and it’s played for laughs. The female characters are sexualized for fan service, andPersona 5has an entire subplot where it’s discovered one of the protagonist’s teachers is moonlighting as a maid. To ensure her secret, she then agrees to work for him. She becomes a romance option if her Confidant level is progressed enough, andshe’s not the only grown woman inPersona 5who can be romancedby a teenager.
With this in mind,Personaneeds to grow up. This is something any game should avoid and many would be absolutely panned for, and that’s to say nothing of the franchise’s treatment of non-heteronormative characters and fans:queer characters deserve to be represented with respect. After all, fans have been begging for Atlus to incorporate romances with male party members, but it’s gone ignored. This is another thing that has to change.
Romance has become as synonymous withPersonaas Social Links/Confidants, and it’s likely to return. The series handles romances better than most games, as it requires the player to invest a ton of time into building up the friendship with the character first. Personal backstories, motivations, and insecurities are revealed at a slow, natural pace. The relationship evolves in a way that feels organic, and the relationship themselves need to feel the same way. Regardless if the next game stars a male or female protagonist, the player should be able to romance the characters they choose. It’s fine if certain characters can only be romanced by a specific gender, but it would be great ifPersona 6took a cue from western RPGs likeAssassin’s Creed Valhallaand didn’t limit romance options.
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Experiment with Combat
Personagames have excellent turn-based combat, but it would be refreshing to see an attempt at something else.Final Fantasy 15and theFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeare great examples of a turn-based JRPG series switching to action-oriented combat.TheFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeactually melded the two combat systems, which is something thatPersona 6could do as well.
In fact, the series has already done this.The upcomingPersona 5 Scrambleis a crossover with theDynasty Warriorseries, in the vein of theLegend of Zeldaspin-offs,Hyrule Warriors. While its combat is mainly hack-and-slash, using persona skills pauses the action to let the player position the attack. The layer of strategy thatPersonagames require doesn’t have to be lost by switching from turn-based battles.
Rethink Dungeon Design
Dungeons are a very tricky thing for RPGs to handle. On one hand, they have to be long enough to allow them to feel important and need to implement puzzles to engage the player; on the other, they can’t feel like a tedious slog that overstay their welcome.Persona5 tried to do new things with its dungeons in the form of Palaces, with each having a radically different aesthetic and theme, along with a true third-person perspective. Unfortunately, many of the Palaces didn’t quite land this so well, but a good compromise could be found by turning to previous entries.
Persona 3and4had randomly generated dungeons as opposed to the structured layout of5’s. This made adventuring through them exciting, though it also prevented the dungeons from having any true sense of personality. Combining5’s camera perspective and unique dungeon aesthetics with the randomly generated layouts might be the solution. Dungeons wouldn’t be quite as cohesive as Palaces but they’d capture that thrill of traversing through the unknown.Persona 5toys with this in its Mementos dungeon,which is also randomly generated, soPersona 6taking this approach isn’t out of the question.
