Highlights
- Persona 5 Royal's Confidant system has both good and bad aspects, exemplified by Haru and Shinya's limited availability.
- Haru and Shinya are introduced late in the game, giving players less time to build their Confidant relationships.
- Persona 6 should allow for earlier access to late-game Confidants to make the experience less stressful and more rewarding.
Haru and Shinya both represent a way that Persona 5 Royal's Confidant system could be used to influence Persona 6. Both Confidants were certainly useful to build, with some impressive benefits that one can find from the system. At the same time, they ended up inadvertently pointing out a significant flaw in the system. Both the good and bad aspects of Persona 5 Royal's Confidants are on display with these two, and they deserve to be examined in fuller detail. That way, it can be assured that Persona 6's Confidant system will be the best one yet.
Compared to past games, Persona 5's Confidant system was a step up from Social Links, at least for one clear reason. Functionally, the process of leveling them up is the same. The link gets established through a specific event, and the player builds that link up by hanging out with the character in question further, preferably with a Persona of the same arcana. The difference is that Persona 5's Confidants granted bonus benefits, giving players further reasons to want to improve them. This alone makes the Confidant system an excellent candidate for Persona 6, but it could still use a bit of fine-tuning in the process.
One Contested Persona 5 Royal Boss Battle May Rear Its Head Again in Persona 6
While Persona 6 is likely to draw inspiration from Persona 5 Royal, it needs to take a new direction with one type of boss that will probably return.
Persona 5 Royal Had an Issue With Certain Confidants' Availability
Haru and Shinya Only Show Up Late in Persona 5 Royal
It can be argued that Haru is Persona 5's most underused party member. She's the last to join, with only the approach to endgame left by that point. Despite her likable personality, she doesn't get much time to show it off. On the other hand, Shinya Oda is not a party member, but a Confidant nonetheless. Like Haru, he's an entertaining presence, but the player doesn't get the chance to meet him until almost as deep into the story as Haru's confidant. This seriously limits their availability, which leads to several problems as the game's plot is fast approaching its climactic peak.
Players Have Little Time to Pursue Late Confidants
Time management crucial in the Persona games, and it's a serious obstacle for Haru's Confidant in Persona 5 Royal, as well as Shinya's. Because they come into the plot so late, players have far less time to complete them. That puts extra pressure on the players to make sure that they have the right Personas on hand and never miss a meeting with them. While this was the case for most of the game, giving players far less time can make the experience more stressful than satisfying. This isn't a new phenomenon either, as this issue has persisted since the introduction of Social Links.
Shinya's lateness is particularly painful, since the gun skills he teaches would have been phenomenal earlier in Persona 5 Royal .
Persona 6 Should Go Easier on Late-Game Confidants
This kind of issue could be remedied by making these Confidants accessible earlier, making it a good way for Persona 6 to change the confidant structure. While it may seem odd to make later story characters into earlier encounters, it could be used as a way to reward players for exploring the world. For example, Haru's family owns the Big Bang Burger chain, so the player could potentially meet her there on certain days to start the Confidant early. It would shake up the formula of Persona pretty heavily, but it could play a big role in making Persona 6's final stretch less frustrating.
Changing up the requirements for late-game Confidants could be a gift for players of the next game. While such a move would require breaking tradition for the Persona games, it would be a change for the better. Letting players access these characters before the story's final chapters would give players more time to appreciate them. Not to mention, the rewards that they bring would be less obscure as well. Hopefully, Haru and Shinya will be among the last Persona confidants to be confined to the late game.
