04.09.2024
First off, saying Persona 6 sounds weird and unreal.
Second, There's been a bit of a trend on Twitter where Megami Tensei fans are sharing their ideas for Persona 6. I don't usually like to engage with these sort of things, but Persona 6 is something I've thought about for years on end, and I've had a certain image in my mind when imagining the thing.
I'd like to share some pipedream ideas of mine within this post. This might end up being something I get into during ep2. My one sticking point is that I strongly believe, based on the last few years of ATLUS' game announcements, if Persona 6 is announced, it will be during June during what used to be E3 season. I don't anticipate the Persona 5 video coming out until July, so talking about these wishlist ideas after Persona 6 potentially gets a trailer would be pointless. Therefore, I'm going to talk about them here. I don't believe any of these ideas are asking too much, and the ones that get a bit more specific with my ideas aren't that serious. I'm not going to be upset if ATLUS doesn't go for them, because ATLUS probably has something better planned out. So let's talk about Persona 6.
I love Persona 5, obviously, but it's probably a good time to move away from the urban setting. My idea is this: Persona 3 had a pretty urban setting, and Persona 4 contrasted nicely with it by having a pretty rural setting that everyone loved. So Persona 5 having a really urban setting, Persona 6 should have a really rural setting to contrast with that game. Have you ever watched Non Non Biyori or read Higurashi? Both of them have these really cool village settings where practically the entire population knows everyone, where there are schools with less than 20 students across different grades. I don't know how common these villages are in Japan, but it would be an interesting modern day setting that hasn't been tackled in the Megami Tensei series, and it could be pretty comfy as well.
Maybe my "hot take", but I think both the developers and community focus too much on romance, when it's such a small part of the game. Plus, with the weird choices ATLUS has made (forced harems, making infidelity a joke, the age gap stuff), romance has just made the series a little more yucky to me. Persona is honestly at its best during the earlier and middle parts of social links, or when hanging out with people you cannot date, and I'd love if Persona could be more of a friendship simulator, where not every female in the game is a dating option. idk if it makes sense, but honestly it would just be nice to see ATLUS do something different.
Obviously.
This is my response to the "set Persona in college" thing.
The past two Persona games have featured high schoolers and an animal companion. It's cool, but I do miss the diversity of Eternal Punishment's party, where there was a young adult fresh out of high school, and the rest of the party were adults with their own lives and careers. I think the school setting is important to Persona's identity, so having the protagonist be a high schooler is a good thing they should keep doing, but I'd love to see some adult party members, or maybe they could try something like an elementary school aged party member again. As long as ATLUS doesn't make it weird (highly unlikely), I think it would be cool to see a party of kids and adults with their own lives and interests and issues outside of the conflict of the game. Not to mention a lot of Persona's best social links are the non-weird adult social links, like Iwai or Mutatsu.
Persona 4 tried, and then Persona 5 didn't even try at all. My idea is that Mementos requests are cool and good, and randomized dungeons like Mementos are stale. Why not put those requests within the old dungeons and give the party members a reason to explore and re-explore them? They could even hide these requests behind secret parts of the dungeon that can't be unlocked until later in the game. Look, Persona 5's dungeons were too cool to just disappear after they were completed.
These are the weird ideas that ATLUS might not go for. Basically anything else I wish for is practically guaranteed. Persona 5 and Royal had so many cool sidequests and minigames, and playing the relatively straightforward Persona 3 Reload reminded me how much I need them in P6. I don't know how to end this post. I guess if anything, I hope people aren't too annoying about their wishlists. I've seen this time and time again where people have these specific expectations and are disappointed when developers don't go for them. Persona 6 is going to be good, and even if every Persona game has huge, obvious flaws, I trust ATLUS with the series way more than I trust myself, so fuck my wishlist if ATLUS doesn't go for these ideas. They probably have something cooler in mind.
hc