WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS for Persona 5 Royal ahead. Proceed at your own risk.
Highlights
- Persona 6 is highly anticipated and players should expect the unexpected, as Persona 5 introduced a shocking twist with Igor's imposter and nothing is safe.
- The rise of Persona in recent years can be attributed in part to its reliance on certain conventions and consistent gameplay, but the need for radical change is becoming more obvious.
- Igor's reveal in Persona 5 shows that Atlus is willing to take chances and uproot familiar elements, which suggests that Persona 6 could go in any exciting and unpredictable direction.
Compared to other genre giants like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, Persona's rise to widespread recognition has been relatively recent. It began in 1996, but it arguably wasn't until 2012's Persona 4 Golden that the series developed any kind of familiarity and stopping power in the west. Persona 5 and its Royal upgrade truly made it big, meaning all eyes are now firmly fixed on Persona 6, which has yet to be formally announced.
Little is known about the project, so rumors are aplenty. There are expectations of every new entry, but Persona 5 made a big, bold story decision that put those aforementioned predispositions in doubt. Not all is as it seems with Igor, and the shocking revelation that Igor was replaced with an impostor is a big indicator that players should expect the unexpected in Persona 6. Truly, anything can happen.
Persona Often Sticks to Convention
Though the JRPG space isn't as competitive as it used to be in the mid-to-late 1990s, there are plenty of franchises that are vying for players' attention. Final Fantasy is going strong, with Clive's adventure in Valisthea capturing the hearts of new gamers as well as seasoned fans of the franchise, and Octopath Traveler has carved out a niche for itself, too. There are a lot of others, but the rise of Persona in recent years has been the steepest incline, and this is due in no small part to each new game relying on certain conventions. Persona 3 laid a lot of the groundwork that Persona 5 Royal used, meaning it has enjoyed the benefits of consistency.
There's a lot of value in that, as a good repeatable template can keep fans entertained without reinventing the wheel all the time. Tweaking it is essential, but overhauling it entirely is a big risk. Persona wears its conventions and traditions proudly, but with more successful entries, the need for some kind of radical change is more obvious than ever. Persona 5 did something drastic by toying with how much Igor, the most dependable character in the franchise, can be trusted.
Igor's Reveal is an Excuse to Change it Up
In fiction at large, the more predictable something is, the more shocking and exciting it can be when a story uproots consistent elements in an effort to change things up. Igor has been in the Persona series since the beginning in 1996's Revelations: Persona, serving as the cryptic host of the Velvet Room, shepherding the player through their journey. In Persona 5, while he seemingly assumes the same role, albeit with a deeper voice and more unsettling aura than past games, it is later revealed that Yaldabaoth imprisoned Igor for much of the story, intent on causing chaos due to the corruption of humanity.
It's a long con, but ultimately a brilliant decision, as it distorts the fundamental fabric of Persona that players have not only known, but relied on. More critically, the narrative wrinkle shows that Atlus is willing to take chances and play around with the pillars of the franchise. This means that in Persona 6 nothing is safe, and it could really go in any new exciting and unpredictable direction, or be another cookie-cutter experience. The seed of doubt was planted with Igor's inclusion in Persona 5, so for the first time in a long time, Persona could not all be as it seems, which is thrilling for both fans of the IP and the JRPG genre itself.
Persona 6 is in development.