Even though nothing has been announced forPersona 6,there’s no doubt that it’s coming. In just the past couple of days, Atlus has heavily teased that there will be a big announcement in September of this year, which just happens to mark the 25th Anniversary of thePersonaseries. Is there a better time to announce the next mainline title? Probably not. While there’s certainly a chance thatPersona 6won’t be revealed, at this point it would be shocking if it wasn’t.
There has been a lot of speculation aboutPersona 6,ranging from the release date to the characters. There’s also a discussion aboutwhatPersona 6would need to do to surpassPersona 5.Everyone is eager to get a glimpse of what’s coming in the first next-gen, mainlinePersonagame, but it’s important that both Atlus andPersonafans take a step back fromPersona 5and look atPersona 6as its own project.Persona 6doesn’t have to be “better” or “worse,” it just has to stand out in its own unique way.
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Persona 6 News Could Be Coming Soon
Persona 6has been a hot topic among fans for a long time, but now it seems like the wait might finally be coming to an end. Atlus recently launched a special website commemoratingPersona’s 25th Anniversary and teased a lot of great content in the year to come. Specifically,Atlus has teased a mind-boggling seven new projectson the website.
It’s not confirmed whether or not all of these individual projects will be announced at once during a big celebratory event, or if news will come out through the next year, but Atlus did confirm that itscelebration ofPersona’s25th year will begin in Septemberand last until Fall 2022. The way the website is formatted, it almost looks like the first teased project will be shown in September of this year, with the 7th project announced in Fall 2022. If that’s true, this year is about to get crazy forPersonafans.
ThePersonaseries has sold more than 15 million units worldwideas of 2021, so the hype for these announcements is real. There are a lot of things that could be announced, such as a new anime series or collaboration — all seven projects don’t have to be video games.
That said, ifPersona 6isn’t somewhere in that lineup, it’ll be a massive missed opportunity and leave a lot of fans disappointed. It’s hard to imaginePersona 6not being announced sometime during the big, year-long celebration, so it might be coming a lot sooner than fans think. Atlus recently confirmed thatPersona 6is in developmentthrough a job posting, which isn’t a surprise, but it is exciting to have it official.
There’s A Lot of Pressure on Persona 6 Because of Persona 5’s Success
Since its original release,Persona 5has become the most popularPersonagameto date. It’s brought countless new fans into the franchise and is widely considered one of the best JRPGs of all time. The stylish art style, music, and loveable characters have made it nothing short of iconic. Simply put,Persona 6has a lot to live up to.
Atlus is most definitely feeling that pressure, especially considering that it has always made it a priority to surpass the previous game.Persona 5kicked off what many consider to be a JRPG renaissance, andPersona 6has the chance to be genre-defining. LikePersona 5,Persona 6will probably have a long series of spin-offs in various mediums; if the base game isn’t solid, it’ll be a rough few years.
Persona 5’sPhantom Thieves have been in the spotlight since 2016, and it’s almost time for a new group to take over. Change is a good thing, and there’s only so much more that can be done withPersona 5,but the Phantom Thieves' successors have quite big shoes to fill. The comparisons will be unavoidable, and fans will definitely go intoPersona 6wondering if it could possibly live up to the expectations set byPersona 5.
Every franchise wants new entries to improve upon the previous ones, and that’s not a bad standard to have. However, to truly live up toPersona 5, Persona 6needs to have an opportunity to stand out on its own merits, and not just asPersona 5’sinevitable successor.Persona 6will be more of a sibling toPersona 5than a sequel, just like all the previousPersonagames,so it needs to be evaluated as its own title as much as possible.
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Persona 6 Should Be Unique as a Next-Gen JRPG
It’s true thatPersona 5gives the next installment in the series a lot to live up to, and it’s also true that there will undoubtedly be some fans disappointed inPersona 6.It’s impossible to please everyone, and fans have a lot of very different imaginings of what the game should be. Instead of trying to force a story that one-upsPersona 5, Persona 6should embrace the opportunity it has to stand out.
Persona 6will be the first next-genPersonatitle, and that’s a big deal. Next-gen hardware opens up a ton of new gameplay and narrative possibilities thatPersona 6should fully explore and take advantage of.Persona 6is also being developed by a different core team, with most of the previous team members working onProject Re Fantasyas Studio Zero.
That might make some fans nervous, but the new core team has an amazing opportunity to bring fresh ideas to thePersonafranchise. Many of the classic elements are likely to stay the same, but too much of a good thing can end up being a bad thing. Take thePokemonfranchise, for example; the classic formula is solid, but fans are eager to see new ideas which is whyPokemon Legends: Arceuswas such an exciting announcement.
Altogether, it could be a huge turning point for the series andPersona 6might have some significant differencesthat set it apart from the rest of the series. It will be compared toPersona 5no matter what, and that can create a lot of pressure. But if Atlus letsPersona 6develop naturally and independently instead of constantly comparing it toPersona 5,the game will probably be better for it.
Persona 5is available now on PS3 and PS4.
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