Although Atlus says that Persona 6 is in development, fans will probably have to wait quite a long time before they hear anything about the game. Atlus is coming off of quite a few big recent projects, like Shin Megami Tensei 5 and Persona 5 Strikers, which have may have kept Atlus a little too busy to focus all of its resources on the next big Persona game. Still, it's great to hear that Persona 6 is in the works, and even if Altus won't discuss it yet, fans can start to draw a picture in their mind based on the franchise's core traditions, like its variety of silent teenage protagonists.
Persona 6 will almost certainly preserve the Persona protagonist model, putting a high schooler in an unfamiliar environment to encourage social connections and narratives based on the protagonist's role as the new kid. Beyond that, though, Persona 6 ought to borrow one recent means of characterizing the silent protagonist. Persona 5's Joker notably narrated his own thoughts from a first-person perspective, as opposed to his predecessor in Persona 4, which used second-person narration. Persona 6 could depict a very strong silent protagonist partially showing that character's thoughts in the same way that Persona 5 players directly hear Joker's thoughts.
Comparing Persona 4 and 5's Narration
In Persona 4, the player takes control of a pretty similar character to Joker: a quiet teenage boy transferring to a new high school due to a significant change in his life. Throughout the game, Persona 4 lets the player in on the protagonist's thoughts through a second-person perspective. Game prompts often mention how "you" consider hanging out with a friend, get work done, and so on. In this way, Persona 4 aims to put the player directly in the P4 protagonist's shoes. The second-person pronouns in the narration make the player responsible for all of its protagonist's thoughts and feelings.
Persona 5, in contrast, puts much more agency in Joker's hands. Instead of having Joker's thoughts described to them by a disembodied narrator using second-person perspective, Persona 5 players hear Joker's thoughts directly with the help of first-person perspective. Joker uses "I" and "me" in all kinds of quiet moments, like when he's reflecting on his first meeting with Shido and how he couldn't stand by in that moment. In that way, Joker's various life experiences are directly connected to him as a character, rather than simply connected to Persona 5's player as they control a silent protagonist.
Persona 4's style of narration certainly has value, since it emphasizes the player's place in the Persona world, but Persona 5's style seems like it could be more effective overall. Even though Joker is still largely a silent protagonist, first-person narration helps the player see him as his own character, even as they project their own plans onto Joker and control all of his actions. As a result, Persona 5's Joker strikes a surprising balance between being his own character and being the player's self-insert. That's a compelling middle ground that Persona 6 ought to replicate.
Building Up the Persona 6 Protagonist
The main character of Persona 6 won't have an easy time living up to Joker's legacy, but they'll do better by learning a thing or two from him. While Persona 6's protagonist shouldn't copy Joker wholesale, there's a lot of general principles of his character design that could be borrowed without replicating his personality and story arc wholesale. First-person narration is one of those elements. By letting players hear the Persona 6 protagonist's thoughts directly, Atlus can help fans develop an intimate relationship with that character, much in the same way that conversations with Confidants and Social Links use each characters' feelings, memories, and worries to get the player invested.
Going back to Persona 4's model of narration is certainly on the table, but it would seem like a step backward for Persona overall. While second-person narration has its strengths, it simply doesn't make the player feel for the player character in the same way that a first-person perspective does. Persona 4's narration creates a disconnect between the player and their character, emphasizing the protagonist as a blank slate, which can make his relationships with Confidants and Social Links feel less compelling. Joker's emotions and opinions may be subtle, but his ability to express himself to the player gives him a stronger place in the world of Persona 5, since it's more clear why other character like him so much.
A first-person perspective in Persona 6 certainly doesn't come without challenges. If the player character's internal dialogue is too detailed or intense, then they'll quickly start to feel less like a silent protagonist and more like an independent character, which could get in the way of the traditional Persona experience, which puts the player in control. Atlus will have to strike a balance between the two to achieve a quiet protagonist like Joker, if not a truly silent protagonist. Atlus threaded that narrative needle before in Persona 5, though, so there's a good chance that it can do so again.
Persona 6's Protagonist is Crucial
It goes without saying that Persona 6 needs a brilliant protagonist if it wants to surpass the success of Persona 5. Joker's blend of gentle, empathetic high schooler and intense, flashy vigilante makes him a surprisingly compelling character for a silent protagonist, and the way Persona 5 provides access to his thoughts helps channel both sides of him quite a bit. Persona 6 needs to learn from Persona 5's unique blend of protagonist character traits, but it also needs to study the way those traits are delivered to the player.
There's certainly much more that Persona 6 has to do right in order to stand as tall as Persona 5. Hopefully it'll bring worthy innovations to the table when it comes to combat, dungeon design, Confidant perks, and so on. Still, the protagonist is the core of the Persona experience; for decades, Persona's main protagonists have served as the faces of the franchise, and for good reason. Persona 6 needs to nail the subtle details of its protagonist and present them to the player in a compelling way. First-person narration may be the right way to do that.
Persona 6 is in development.