Highlights

  • Persona 6 needs to acknowledge the world-altering events of Persona 5, including the impact on culture and Japan's political landscape.
  • The characters in Persona 6 will likely have heard of the famous Phantom Thieves, as their actions made international news and they have an in-world fanbase.
  • Persona 6 could reference Persona 5 through television programs or have characters mention the Phantom Thieves, but a simple cameo may not be enough to show the importance of P5's events in the franchise's world.

Persona 6 is one of the most hotly anticipated JRPGs right now. Little has been said about the game, but the massive popularity of Persona 5 combined with the series' excellent back catalog and a wide array of spin-offs has created a huge amount of hype for it already. Persona 6 will have to follow up on one of the games that has defined the JRPG genre in modern years. The enormity of P5's influence is hard to overstate, and P6 has big shoes to fill. Even in the game's world, continuing past the events of Persona 5 will present new challenges for the long-running franchise.

Persona 5 Tactica is the latest spin-off of P5 and is set not long after the events of the main game and tells the story of Toshiro and Erina. Toshiro is a politician looking to claim the seat of Japan's Prime Minister after the events of Persona 5. Much of the narrative centers around his personal trauma and journey to becoming a more just person. This journey of struggling to better oneself is a quintessential Persona story, but unavoidably, P5T is also a political drama on a national scale. The premise of P5T's story only works because of the news-worthy political scandal the Phantom Thieves uncovered in Persona 5.

Haru and Shinya in front of the Persona 5 Royal logo from the game's intro
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The Events of Persona 5 Rocked Its World

Persona 5 Royal Shido Boss

The world-altering events of Persona 5's story are too big to ignore. P5T's Toshiro is one example of this. The Phantom Thieves made international news, and their actions influenced the results of an election for the highest seat in Japan's government. As a spin-off, it makes sense that P5T would touch on the impact of these events, but their importance and impact will be unavoidable in future mainline entries as well. Games in the Persona franchise often reference one another with character cameos and other similar events, but Persona 5 may require more from its successors. The Phantom Thieves are famous around the world and have developed an in-world fanbase. The universe of Persona will unavoidably be impacted by that going forward.

The world-altering events of Persona 5 's story are too big to ignore.

Unless Persona 6's setting is in the past, it is extremely likely that its characters will at least have heard of the Phantom Thieves. This is a stark contrast from previous Persona titles. The events of P3 and P4 are only known about by the people in their immediate proximity. Characters like Rise Kujikawa manage to achieve some degree of fame, but this is separate from their heroic actions in each game. Persona 5 could have believably ignored previous entries, but Persona 6 doesn't have the same luxury. Even if the game is set a number of years in the future, it needs to acknowledge the Phantom Thieves impact on culture and Japan's political landscape.

How Should Persona 6 Reference P5?

Persona 5 characters anime standing together looking towards but beyond camera

One obvious way that Persona 6 could reference its predecessor is through its television programs. This is how P5 references characters from previous entries, and news programs were one of the game's more prevalent narrative devices. An ongoing news story in Persona 6 could reference how many years it has been since Masayoshi Shido's political scandal and discuss its impact on the nation's political events. Another way P5's events could be referenced is by having a character mention the Phantom Thieves or visit the website they used to take requests and poll their fans.

Persona 6 Must Acknowledge The Phantom Thieves' Impact

Regardless of how it does it, P6 needs to acknowledge the impact of P5's story. Persona 6's release window may be roughly a decade after that of its predecessor, but the Phantom Thieves are still fresh in fans' minds, and the political scandal they find themselves embroiled in is too big to ignore, even if the game is set years afterward. Given that Atlus has a penchant for referencing previous entries in each new title for the franchise, it seems obvious that P5 will get a head nod in its successor, but a simple cameo may not be enough to show the importance of P5's events in the greater world of the franchise.