Atlus has stated in no uncertain terms that it wants Persona 6 to surpass Persona 5. That’s a tall order, considering how much Persona 5 has increased the brand’s visibility internationally. If that’s Atlus’ objective for Persona 6, then it may experiment with the Persona brand to make the next game stand out. It’s possible that Persona 6 could change core components of its gameplay, for instance, potentially becoming something more action-oriented like Persona 5 Strikers. However, it’s also very probable that Persona 6 will set itself apart by changing the franchise’s storytelling conventions through new types of playable characters.
The most recent Persona games offer a perfect blueprint for a new Persona protagonist archetype. The Persona franchise is famously focused on high schoolers discovering their true selves and using that power to defeat Shadows. However, both Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5 Strikers introduce new Persona users who are well beyond high school age. In Persona 5 Royal, the Phantom Thieves encountered the loving but misguided Takuto Maruki, while in Persona 5 Strikers, police investigator Zenkichi Hasegawa discovered a Persona of his own and joined the Phantom Thieves in their quest for justice. If these two characters mean anything for the franchise’s future, Persona 6 could feature an adult Persona user in the central cast of playable characters.
Examining Takuto Maruki and Zenkichi Hasegawa
Persona 5 Royal’s Dr. Maruki is technically an antagonist, but he’s totally unlike any other threat that the Phantom Thieves face. While most of the Thieves’ enemies are thoroughly corrupt and selfish people, Maruki is a kind and gentle soul whose quest to make the world a better place flies in the face of the Phantom Thieves’ core beliefs. He’s a much more complicated enemy of the Phantom Thieves because of how much he and the Thieves empathize with each other. Maruki’s alternate perspective on the purpose of his Persona makes Persona 5 Royal a richer experience.
Persona 5 Strikers then introduced Zenkichi Hasegawa, a police investigator who starts out by manipulating the Phantom Thieves to advance his investigation; it doesn’t take long for Zenkichi to get attached to the Thieves. Once the Phantom Thieves’ enemies strike at Zenkichi’s personal life, he awakens to his Persona and joins forces with the Thieves. Zenkichi represents the very rare inclusion of an adult Persona user in a Persona game’s playable cast, which hasn’t happened since Persona 2, and that offers a great storytelling opportunity. Strikers shows a middle-aged man rediscovering his drive and sense of purpose after losing his way in life.
These games didn’t introduce the first adult Persona users; Tohru Adachi famously played a central role in Persona 4 Golden. However, Maruki and Zenkichi set themselves apart by being close friends of Persona 5’s central cast, and sometimes trusted allies. Even if their interests don’t always align, they have pretty positive relationships with the original Phantom Thieves through the end of their respective games. Since Atlus introduced two friendly adult Persona users back to back, it could be testing fans’ response to adult Persona users out of interest in putting more playable adult characters in Persona 6.
Why Persona 6 Would Benefit From Adult Characters
The Persona franchise could get a lot out of introducing some adult characters similar to Maruki and Zenkichi in Persona 6. For one thing, adult characters would go a long way in setting Persona 6’s narrative apart. Persona has really leaned into its identity as a high school RPG, which proves to be a really rich area for storytelling time and time again. However, there are still only so many experiences that high school protagonists can have, simply by limitation of their youth. More adults characters would offer more perspectives on the Persona world.
Persona 6’s central plot and gameplay could make a lot of use of an adult character. A lot of Persona 5 Strikers’ plot builds itself on the back of Zenkichi Hasegawa’s special access to certain people and information related to his job as an investigator for PubSec. Persona 6 could see the protagonist and their team doing a lot more real-life exploration if they have an adult team member who can get them into exclusive areas based on their job or some other expertise. Adding some real-life stealth and investigation segments guided by the wisdom of an adult mentor would really spice up Persona 6.
Progressing through the Confidant story of an adult Persona user would be fascinating. Confidants and Social Links show that adult characters’ stories are worth exploring in-depth in a Persona game too. It’d be great to talk one-on-one with an adult Persona user and get their thoughts on how their newfound supernatural powers reflect on their real-life responsibilities. For example, an adult Persona user might worry about how their activities in the world of Shadows endanger a child that they care for, or their Persona-centric adventures rub up against the character’s career in a negative way. These kinds of narratives just aren’t available to a cast of Persona-wielding high schoolers, meaning they’d really freshen up Persona 6.
Persona 6 Has Endless Possibilities
Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5 Strikers have already laid the groundwork for integrating adult Persona-using protagonists into the core team of the next Persona game. Atlus shouldn’t be afraid to make the leap. Maruki showed how adult characters can offer wholly different perspectives on what a Persona should be used to achieve, while Zenkichi showed that adult characters can get along wonderfully with teenage Persona users in spite of the age difference. Persona 6 would really help the franchise grow if it combines those two character concepts and introduces more adult team members.
One wonders if Persona 6 will go even farther than that. Persona may traditionally focus on being a high school RPG, but Atlus could really shake up the formula by making all of Persona 6’s protagonists adults. It’d allow Atlus to pursue some completely different storylines that could greatly benefit Persona in the long run. A change that drastic seems a little unlikely, but then, Atlus is getting better and better at surprising fans. At the very least, it seems more likely than ever that Persona 6 will have an adult join the protagonist’s team, thanks to how Takuto Maruki and Zenkichi Hasegawa have changed the way Persona users are depicted.
Persona 6 is in development.
