Persona 5 Royalmade a huge impact on the RPG genre last year, earning itself a nomination for RPG of the year at the Game Awards 2020.Persona 5fans agree thatPersona 5 Royalis much more than an expanded version of the game; it’s a powerfully enhanced and riveting way to experiencePersona 5.It puts far more power into the hands of players, while also presenting a new narrative that grips players until the end. It’d be no surprise, then, if elements ofPersona 5 Royalshine through in laterPersonagames, now that Atlus knows how much fans liked that game.Persona 6in particular is very likely to remember the games that came before it.
It seems highly likely that Atlus will make a long-awaited announcement related toPersona 6this year. Rumors say it’s been in development for some time now, and after allthe hypePersona 5and its successor generated,Persona 6has more eyes on it than ever. Many fans are hoping thatPersona 6will have more similarities toPersona 5andPersona 5 Royalthan differences. While it’s fairly unlikely that Atlus will makePersona6a continuation ofPersona 5 Royal’s story, there’s a lot of valuable things thatPersona 5 Royaldid that could carry over into a totally new game.Warning:Persona 5 Royalspoilers ahead!
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Power to the Protagonist
One thing thatPersona 5 Royalgot a lot of praise for over its predecessor was how much it expanded on the player’s free time. For one thing,Royalopened up a lot of new time slots that weren’t previously available inPersona 5,giving players more time to gain stats,work on Confidant bonds, and so on.Persona 5 Royalalso carried over the first game’s work on making Confidants more impactful than the previous Persona games' Social Links. It introduced some really strong new Confidants and gave the player more ways to interact with and work on their relationships with Confidants.
The Confidant system is very likely tocarry over toPersona 6insteadof Social Links. The diverse buffs and abilities that Confidants offer is much more engaging than the traditional Social Links, and Atlus is surely interested in seeing what else it can do with Confidants. On that note, it wouldn’t be surprising ifPersona 6gives the protagonist a lot more free time to spend in the same way asPersona 5 Royal.Evenings in at Leblanc and extra days added to the schedule gave players a lot more time to achieve all their side goals while still following the plot of the game. Players loved that kind of liberty, so Atlus would be wise to take notes fromPersona 5 Royal.
Bringing Two Worlds Together
Persona 5 Royalalso showed the power of linking the real world and the world of Personas, more than even the originalPersona 5did.Persona 3and4focused heavily on solving supernatural mysteries, butPersona 5pivoted into a very different type of narrative. The Phantom Thieves' exploration of Palaces, as well as Mementos, made it so that everything they did was about making a difference in the real world.Persona 5 Royal’s Palaces showedhow dungeons themed after particular vices, sins, or other human flaws work well for thePersonanarrative, which focuses so much on the importance of a person’s personality and beliefs.
Persona 6might expand onPersona 5’s notion of Palaces with similar dungeons inspired by humanity.Persona 5 Royal’s Third Semester Palace was themed after Sorrow rather than one of the Seven Deadly Sins, showing how all kinds of other human emotions, beliefs, and behaviors could inspire interesting dungeons. Atlus might want to explore this format further, even if it doesn’t just bring Palaces back.Persona 5 Strikers' Jailsshow that Atlus is interested in trying things similar to Palaces, soPersona 6could establish a greater pattern.
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Humanizing Persona’s Narrative
Persona 5didn’t depart from franchise convention in that its ending involved fighting a godlike being and surmounting the odds.Persona 5 Royal,however, has a very different true ending.The battle with Takuto Maruki, a normal human with good but misplaced intentions, was much more impactful emotionally than Yaldabaoth. By the time players got to the fight with Maruki, they had spent the whole ofPersona 5 Royalgetting to know Maruki, his gentle and caring nature, and sympathizing with the ways he’s been trodden on, like so many of Joker’s Confidants. It was very difficult to see one of Joker’s kindest friends become his enemy.
Atlus might have realized that Maruki’s narrativemeans a lot toPersona 5 Royal’s fans. If that’s the case,Persona 6might have a much greater focus on human characters over supernatural forces. Atlus could find more ways to pit Persona users against other Persona users, putting godly power in the hands of normal people with earthy desires. While battles with beings like Yaldabaoth are exciting and climactic, Atlus might find that there’s more emotional resonance to be had in putting humans at the forefront likePersona 5 Royaldid.
Holding Out for Persona 6
Although there’s clearly a lot of ways thatPersona 5andPersona 5 Royalmight be shapingPersona 6,the question on every fan’s lips is when exactly the game is going to release. On the one hand, 2021 might be far too soon for it to release, even though it’s the franchise’s 30th anniversary. Atlus has been working on a lot of games and spinoffs that might have slowedPersona 6down. On the other hand, it’s not hard to imaginethatPersona 6’s development has been underwayfor a really long time. Atlus might have been planning to releasePersona 6for this year’s anniversary all along.
Another question that’s worth answering ishow muchPersona 5 Royalinfluenceis too much. If Atlus isn’t going to commit to a long string of games about the Phantom Thieves, thenPersona 6needs to ensure it doesn’t just feel like a reskin ofPersona 5 Royal.As much as fans enjoyed that game, there’s such a thing as taking too much inspiration.Persona 6needs to introduce new story threads, interesting mechanics, and unique characters while still borrowing the best parts of the games that came before it.
Even the smallest teaser would satisfy thePersonafanbase for a little while. Just knowing thatPersona 6is on the horizon would totally reinvigorate fans and prompt all kinds of new conversation around the game. Ideally,Atlus' eventual reveal of the gamewill give fans a good picture of just how important Atlus thinksPersona 5 Royalis to the franchise. The players certainly think thatRoyalis one of Atlus' finest works, and would be happy to see something similar down the line. Whatever it is that Atlus has planned for this big year, fans will be holding out hope that there’s still echoes ofPersona 5 Royalin it.
Persona 5 Royalis available now on PS4.
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