While we still know little about Persona 6, some former leads on the series have given us an idea of where it should go, discussing the soul of the series at large during a recent roundtable discussion.
Appearing at games culture and arts festival The Tenth Mosaic, Persona 3, 4, and 5 director Katsura Hashino, character designer Shigenori Soejima, and composer Shoji Meguro reflect on what makes a Persona game a Persona game.
While you might think of high school drama with a touch of the supernatural, Hashino, as per Automaton, would say “chaos,” as he makes an effort not to be too selective about what he leans on to depict adolescence.
Adding to this, Soejima says that “changing to reflect the times” is another important part of the beloved JRPG series, particularly in its settings and storylines. That’s because it’s important to avoid stagnation, and ultimately, Atlus wants each Persona game to resonate with contemporary audiences, which it partly achieves by drawing on modern society and culture. And then, you know, slappin’ some Persona on it.
As for what an RPG should be in the modern era, Hashino says it’s important to make an impact to stand out from the wide array of media we have available today.
Developers need to ensure the experience doesn’t “end up being something fleeting” that could easily be replaced by watching TV. Rather, it’s important for fans to have “something to draw on as they go on to live their lives.”
Hashino rounds things off by saying his team has yet to fully realize the vision, though is inspired to pursue just that in future works. Of course, this won’t be in Persona 6. As has been reported previously, Hashino is now heading up a different team within Atlus, most recently releasing Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Still, the tenets of Persona he offers give us at least some insight into what the next installment could look like. Whether or not the current Persona team abides by those tenets, however, remains to be seen. All in good time.