It does not seem like Atlus is done with the Persona series just yet, and all signs suggest that Persona 6 is on the way. Further, this year marks Persona's 25th anniversary, and Atlus has been celebrating by porting some of the best titles in the series to different platforms. This is good news for Xbox and Nintendo Switch players, who will be receiving Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal.
Persona 5 elevated the series, and gamers will be expecting Persona 6 to raise the bar once again. One of the ways it can do this is by switching up the regular Persona formula and setting the game somewhere other than a high school. This would be a radical shift, but it would also open up plenty of new themes and topics for the series to explore. Going this route would not require Persona 6 to drop the slice-of-life elements that have characterized the series, as they can also be implemented into adult lives.
Persona and the Slice of Life Experience
The Persona series stands out thanks to its ability to blend several unique elements to produce games with heavy psychoanalytical themes, compelling narratives, and action-packed gameplay. In each of the games, players take control of a teenager who must solve a mystery while battling against Shadows. Fortunately, players can call on their Persona to aid them. The games draw heavily from Jungian psychology, which describes Shadows as the repressed aspects of the psyche, while Personas are the masks that people wear when confronting society.
The use of psychoanalytical concepts allows for some pretty interesting and complex narrative threads. This is seen, for instance, in Persona 4, which takes players to the fictional Japanese village of Inaba where a series of mysterious deaths take place. As players enter the TV world, attempting to uncover the sinister forces behind the murders, they make friends and help them to overcome their Shadows and find a more authentic way of being. Such instances occur with Kanji, who puts on a bad boy persona to hide his softer side, and Rise, who is more than the celebrity sex symbol she is marketed as.
Although dealing with these psychoanalytical concepts is exciting, much of Persona's gameplay is concerned with everyday activities and the routines of being a high school student. Hence, players have to attend classes, hit the library to study, and even take tests. To make money, players can also take up a part-time job, which sometimes comes with additional perks. This formula has served Persona well for years, as it executes its high school simulator gameplay quite well, and by forcing players to slow down and take things one day at a time, the games can develop characters slowly and meticulously.
Some downsides come with the high school setting, however. Focusing on high school students limits the range of topics the games can deal with, and high school settings can get repetitive after they have been used for so many games. There are plenty of ways for developers to reinvent the way the high school experience is presented, but the best choice may be to abandon the high school setting altogether.
How Persona 6 Could Remix the Persona Series' Usual Formula
After the monumental success of Persona 5, gamers are more than ready for the next entry in the series. Persona 6 has been all but confirmed by Atlus, and studio representatives have revealed that developers are working on "new numbered entries so that fans can continue to enjoy the Persona series." Further details have yet to be revealed about the game, though this has not stopped rumors and theories from flowing. Some theories claim that Persona 6 will be themed around the color green, which could have interesting implications for the game. With Atlus growing more comfortable releasing Persona games on different platforms, Persona 6 could also break tradition by not being a PlayStation exclusive at release.
After being set in high school for so many titles, it may be a good idea for Persona 6 to innovate by taking gamers to a different setting. This would not mean that Persona 6 would have to abandon its slice-of-life aspects, but it would mean that it would have to be implemented in new ways. Many benefits could come from this approach, especially if it means that Persona tests would be a thing of the past, as they can get quite annoying.
The most prudent way to do this would be to shift things from high school to college. This would mean the protagonist and their friends would likely be a little older, and they would have to deal with a new set of problems such as college parties, dormitory life, and picking between different fraternities or sororities. Romantic relationships would also be able to take on a more mature tone, opening up more themes for Persona 6 to explore. However, some downsides of the high school setting would probably remain, including the exams and quizzes.
Persona 6 could also focus on a group of adults at work. Like high school, the workplace comes with its own set of tropes that the game could replicate, and the routine of dealing with work duties before making the best of one's free time could become as addictive as the high school routines of prior Persona games. The franchise is certainly capable of handling the lives of adults, as Persona 2: Eternal Punishment demonstrated.
Persona 5 vastly increased the franchise's popularity, exposing it to a larger-than-ever Western audience. Expectations are high for Persona 6, and it will have to serve its biggest audience yet. Continuing the tradition of setting the game in high school could result in stagnancy, which is never good. By abandoning high school and exploring other settings, Persona 6 can ensure that the series continues to enchant gamers.
Persona 6 is in development.