Since the international release of the latest mainline game in 2017,Personahas seen significant popularity in the west. What was once a humblespin-off series ofShin Megami Tenseiis now one of the biggest threats toFinal FantasyandTales’JRPG crown, and considering the huge presentational jump between4and5, there are high expectations onPersona 6and how it will improve upon what has come before. Developer Atlus is familiar with surpassing expectations, asPersona 5 Royalimproved the base game in more ways than many expected, but the sixth game will release in a largely different climate to the one thatP5launched in almost six years ago.
Personais a trailblazer, and has given way to plenty of games that have drawn significant inspiration from its design. FromThe Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold SteeltoTokyo Mirage Sessions, it’s clear thatPersonawas and still is influential. However, this meansPersona 6has to reinvent itself once again if it wants to have as big an impact on the JRPG genre as its predecessors. The formula that it coined has been massively overused, as it’s a familiar, tried-and-tested design that has been proven to work;Persona’s innovation may be its undoing.
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Gaming Has Taken Much From Persona
Attending classes, managing daily activities, and battling enemies in a turn-based encounter are essential pillars ofPersona, and while it’s a rigid series of events that has done the franchise well, it’s been replicated by plenty of other companies – and even Atlus' other projects.Fire Emblem: Three Houses,Trails of Cold Steel,Soul Hackers 2,Tokyo Mirage Sessions, and plenty of others have taken cues from Atlus' crowning achievement. Some have evolved it, using a different combat system or offering more side activities that do well to make the game feel somewhat fresh, but others are more overt in their use of pre-established ideas.
In turn, whenPersona 6launches, it runs the substantial risk of having a dampened impact because the landscape it releases in is saturated with games inspired by previous games in the series.Personaisn’t as new in 2023 as it was in 2012 withthe release ofPersona 4 Golden, so it won’t feel anywhere near as unique this time around.Persona 5certainly made a lot of worthwhile gameplay and presentational changes, and it had the means to reach a larger audience on the PlayStation 4. Now, however, the glut of games that are similar toPersonaare forcing the company to make an even more significant change.
Persona Has Needed a Change for a While
Save for a few flourishes,Personahas adopted a standard turn-based approach to combat for years. It’s worked well up to this point, but with the influx of action RPGs and existing franchises moving to a more fluid approach to enemy encountersPersonafeels somewhat outdated as a result. The games that are inspired byPersonasuffer from the same problem, so should the Atlus-developed series veer off and alter thecombat formula withPersona 6it would instantly feel unique, distancing itself from the games that look up toPersona.
Imitation is the best form of flattery, but it can also have a negative impact when the pioneering series looks to release its newest product. A market full of imitators in the JRPG space makesPersona, no matter its quality, feel unspectacular because there are plenty of other games that do the same thing.Personahas increasingly felt like a dinosaurbecause of its commitment to turn-based combat, so the sixth game could be the best opportunity to make critical changes, not just for the betterment of the series itself but also for those who needPersonato be the trailblazer it has been for years.
Persona 6is in development.
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