WithPersona 3: Reloadofficially coming next year, fans of Atlus' landmark JRPG series are looking forward to revisiting the past while they continue to wait for the sixth mainline entry. Following the massive success ofPersona 5, players both old and new are expectingPersona 6to evolve its series in unseen ways. It may seem challenging to properly experiment after five outings in the franchise’s signature high school setting, but that formulaic precedent givesPersona 6the perfect opportunity to change a core aspect of its scenario and create the freshest experience yet.
ThePersonaseries has pretty much always been rooted in the stories of adolescents navigating their way through a part of high school while dealing with the usual demonicShin Megami Tenseifare, but that doesn’t mean it has been much of an accurate depiction of that time for most. While thePersonagames may have had a heavy focus on the personal life of the protagonist ever since the third entry, these games have also fed into the “invisible parents” trope. Previous games may have seen their teenage main character living a pseudo-adult lifestyle without the guidance of an actual family, butPersona 6can finally do right by this uncanny detail.
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Persona Has Never Properly Featured a Protagonist’s Parents
MostPersonatitles have featured the parents of the party members and side characters, but never those of the protagonist. Stories of characters like the twisted fathers ofHaru Okumuraand Mitsuru Kirijo have been imperative to each of their games, but the player never gets this level of personal development. Makoto ofPersona 3is legitimately orphaned, while Yu Narukami and Joker both seem to have parents that couldn’t care less about their sons.
Persona 2’s duology gave the closest glimpse into the home lives of its two player characters, but even the parent-centricInnocent Sinleft a lot of details regarding Tatsuya and Maya’s domestic origins ambiguous. The closest thing to a true home dynamic in the series wasPersona 4’s situation withYu Narukami’s detective uncle Dojima, but even that was a rather bleak substitute.
Yu can essentially take on the role of Nanako’s older brother as she becomes a major component of the narrative’s stakes, a level of personal investment highly uncommon in the franchise. The circumstances of Joker’s innocence and criminal status inPersona 5may have been an exciting arc as well, but the emotional nature of the familial struggle withinPersona 4shows the great potential of such a scenario in the future.
Persona 6 can Define Itself Through Bold Choices like a Focus on Family
Protagonists throughoutPersonahave historically helped remedy the serious home issues of their party members and friends, but bringing situations like that to the forefront of the main character’s life could bring an entirely new perspective to the next game. WhileNanako’s and Dojima’s Social Links inPersona 4had the potential to be one of the most emotionally engaging and tragic stories the series has ever seen, the parents, siblings, and beyond ofPersona 6’s protagonist have the opportunity to emerge as some of the deepest new Confidants.
With the series’ signature focus on its romance options, the different permutations of familial approval could increase the value of player choice to its highest point yet. Although a more developed family would provide a new spin on the typical high school scenario seen in the series,Persona 6may also forego the adolescent age completely and take a page out ofPersona 2: Eternal Punishment’s book.
Even if it focuses on an adult cast in the vein ofEternal Punishment, however, conveniently keeping the family of the player out of sight will undoubtedly feel a bit derivative. No matter thescenarioPersona 6finds itself in, a closer look into the real home life of its protagonist has the potential to make it the most emotional experience of the entire series.
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