Summary
Persona 6is one of the most hotly anticipated JRPGs right now. Little has been said about the game, but the massive popularity ofPersona 5combined with the series' excellent back catalog and a wide array of spin-offs has created a huge amount of hype for it already.Persona 6will have to follow up on one of the games that has defined the JRPG genre in modern years. The enormity ofP5’s influence is hard to overstate, andP6has big shoes to fill. Even in the game’s world, continuing past the events ofPersona 5will present new challenges for the long-running franchise.
Persona 5 Tacticais the latest spin-off ofP5and is set not long after the events of the main game and tells the story ofToshiro and Erina. Toshiro is a politician looking to claim the seat of Japan’s Prime Minister after the events ofPersona 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 quintessentialPersonastory, but unavoidably,P5Tis also a political drama on a national scale. The premise ofP5T’s story only works because of the news-worthy political scandal the Phantom Thieves uncovered inPersona 5.
The Events of Persona 5 Rocked Its World
The world-altering events ofPersona 5’s storyare 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 thatP5Twould touch on the impact of these events, but their importance and impact will be unavoidable in future mainline entries as well. Games in thePersonafranchise often reference one another with character cameos and other similar events, butPersona 5may require more from its successors. The Phantom Thieves are famous around the world and have developed an in-world fanbase. The universe ofPersonawill unavoidably be impacted by that going forward.
The world-altering events ofPersona 5’s story are too big to ignore.
UnlessPersona 6’s settingis 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 previousPersonatitles. The events ofP3andP4are 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 5could have believably ignored previous entries, butPersona 6doesn’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?
One obvious way thatPersona 6could reference its predecessor is through its television programs. This is howP5references characters from previous entries, and news programs were one of the game’s more prevalent narrative devices. An ongoing news story inPersona 6could reference how many years it has been since Masayoshi Shido’s political scandal and discuss its impact on the nation’s political events. Another wayP5’s events could be referenced is by having a character mentionthe Phantom Thievesor 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,P6needs to acknowledge the impact ofP5’s story.Persona 6’s release windowmay 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 thatP5will get a head nod in its successor, but a simple cameo may not be enough to show the importance ofP5’s events in the greater world of the franchise.
