Highlights

  • Persona 5 introduced two types of dungeons - Palaces and Mementos - which offer players a diverse and engaging experience.
  • Handcrafted Palaces provide narrative depth and insights into the bosses' characters, while the randomized Mementos keeps grinding fresh and offers plenty of side quests.
  • Persona 6 should build upon both dungeon varieties, with more diverse themes, additional content, and increased randomization to make each type of dungeon more exciting to explore.

Persona 5 was a genre-defining JRPG. With well over 100 hours of content for players to enjoy, the game was a culmination of all the things that Atlus had been building on in the franchise's previous two entries. P5 features upgrades to systems across the board as well as a huge roster of social links, but one of its most notable offerings is its dungeons. The game features two types of dungeons: Palaces and Mementos. This approach allowed Atlus to pack the game with engaging content and give players of Persona 5 greater freedom over what to do with their time.

Persona 3 and Persona 4 feature randomized dungeons. This makes re-exploring and grinding in them more engaging, since there are always new floor plans to navigate and chests to open. Going through each one repeatedly never grows predictable, and Shuffle Time brings randomization into combat and loot as well. The random nature of older titles in the series never makes them truly chaotic, but it keeps the experience fresh. Persona 5 took this approach, minus Shuffle Time, and turned it into Mementos, which exists alongside handcrafted, premade Palaces. The inclusion of both Palaces and Mementos allows for P5 to offer players a truly diverse experience.

Haru and Shinya in front of the Persona 5 Royal logo from the game's intro
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Persona 5's Dungeons Provide the Perfect Template For Its Sequel

Persona 6 should make sure to feature both randomized and scripted dungeons, just as Persona 5 does. Handcrafted dungeons are great for the purpose of building a narrative. Persona 5's Palaces are created from the twisted desires of each of the game's major bosses. Palaces transform each boss' motivations into thematically rich spaces that provide insight into their character. Atlus could not have expressed each boss through space so effectively with the fully randomized dungeons of previous games. The flip side to this, however, is that each Palace is static, remaining the same each time it is entered.

Grinding the same Palace time and time again becomes repetitive, but thankfully, Persona 5 has Mementos as well. Mementos changes every time the player returns to it and is much more engaging to grind in as a result. It is also the venue for many of the game's side quests, meaning there is plenty to do there, even though the player is seldom required to visit. Persona 5 Royal added Jose as a Mementos merchant, offering players even more incentive to explore Mementos' endlessly transforming floors. The inclusion of Mementos and Palaces side by side lets Persona 5 have handcrafted set pieces for its story without taking away the joy of grinding in varied environments. Persona 6 would be remiss not to include and build upon both dungeon varieties.

How Could Persona 6's Dungeons Build on P5's Foundations?

Persona 5 Madarame Palace

P6 could build on its predecessor's two types of dungeons to make each more engaging. Mementos had different sections, but the appearance of each one was very similar. The hypothetical randomized dungeon in the next game could feature more diverse themes to cycle through, with more creativity behind each one. Persona 6's equivalent to Mementos could potentially have puzzles or other additional content added to them outside of combat to keep the experience fresh as well. Randomization could also play a greater role in all of Persona 6's dungeons. Certain sections in the game's version of Palaces could be randomized upon each entry or in a new game plus mode. Letting these two distinct design approaches influence one another could make each type of dungeon more exciting to explore.

Persona 6's Dungeons Must Be Ambitious

Persona 6 would be remiss not to include both of the dungeon types featured in P5. Randomized dungeons are better for players to grind in, while handcrafted ones are better for storytelling. Persona 5 showed that offering both varieties was good for pacing and made the game more engaging. Now, its successor must build on those foundations to make each type of dungeon even more exciting to explore. Persona 6's rumored release window is still a ways off, but Atlus will be providing fans with Persona 3 Reload early next month and Metaphor: ReFantazio later this year.