Although Atlus says thatPersona 6is in development, fans will probably have to wait quite a long time before they hear anything about the game. Atlus is coming off of quite a few big recent projects, likeShin Megami Tensei 5andPersona 5 Strikers,which have may have kept Atlus a little too busy to focus all of its resources on the next bigPersonagame. Still, it’s great to hear thatPersona 6is in the works, and even if Altus won’t discuss it yet, fans can start to draw a picture in their mind based on the franchise’s core traditions, like its variety of silent teenage protagonists.
Persona 6will almost certainly preservethePersonaprotagonist model, putting a high schooler in an unfamiliar environment to encourage social connections and narratives based on the protagonist’s role as the new kid. Beyond that, though,Persona 6ought to borrow one recent means of characterizing the silent protagonist.Persona 5’s Joker notably narrated his own thoughts from a first-person perspective, as opposed to his predecessor inPersona 4,which used second-person narration.Persona 6could depict a very strong silent protagonist partially showing that character’s thoughts in the same way thatPersona 5players directly hear Joker’s thoughts.
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Comparing Persona 4 and 5’s Narration
InPersona 4,the player takes control of a pretty similar character to Joker: a quiet teenage boy transferring to a new high school due to a significant change in his life. Throughout the game,Persona 4lets the player inon the protagonist’s thoughts through a second-person perspective. Game prompts often mention how “you” consider hanging out with a friend, get work done, and so on. In this way,Persona 4aims to put the player directly in theP4protagonist’s shoes. The second-person pronouns in the narration make the player responsible for all of its protagonist’s thoughts and feelings.
Persona 5, in contrast, puts much more agency in Joker’s hands. Instead of having Joker’s thoughts described to them by a disembodied narrator using second-person perspective,Persona 5players hear Joker’s thoughts directly with the help of first-person perspective. Joker uses “I” and “me” in all kinds of quiet moments, like when he’s reflecting on his first meeting with Shido and how he couldn’t stand by in that moment. In that way,Joker’s various life experiencesare directly connected to him as a character, rather than simply connected toPersona 5’s player as they control a silent protagonist.
Persona 4’s style of narration certainly has value, since it emphasizes the player’splace in thePersonaworld, butPersona 5’s style seems like it could be more effective overall. Even though Joker is still largely a silent protagonist, first-person narration helps the player see him as his own character, even as they project their own plans onto Joker and control all of his actions. As a result,Persona 5’s Joker strikes a surprising balance between being his own character and being the player’s self-insert. That’s a compelling middle ground thatPersona 6ought to replicate.
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Building Up the Persona 6 Protagonist
The main character ofPersona 6won’t have an easy time living up to Joker’s legacy, but they’ll do better by learning a thing or two from him. WhilePersona 6’s protagonist shouldn’t copy Joker wholesale, there’s a lot of general principles of his character design that could be borrowed without replicating his personality and story arc wholesale. First-person narration is one of those elements. By letting players hear thePersona 6protagonist’s thoughts directly, Atlus can help fans develop an intimate relationship with that character, much in the same way that conversations with Confidants and Social Links use each characters' feelings, memories, and worries to get the player invested.
Going back toPersona 4’s model of narration is certainly on the table, but it would seem like a step backward forPersonaoverall. While second-person narration has its strengths, it simply doesn’t make the player feel for the player character in the same way that a first-person perspective does.Persona 4’s narration creates a disconnect between the player and their character, emphasizing the protagonist as a blank slate, which can make his relationships withConfidants and Social Linksfeel less compelling. Joker’s emotions and opinions may be subtle, but his ability to express himself to the player gives him a stronger place in the world ofPersona 5,since it’s more clear why other character like him so much.
A first-person perspective inPersona 6certainly doesn’t come without challenges. If the player character’s internal dialogue is too detailed or intense, then they’ll quickly start to feel less like a silent protagonist and more like an independent character, which could get in the way of the traditionalPersonaexperience, which puts the player in control. Atlus will have to strike a balance between the two to achievea quiet protagonist like Joker, if not a truly silent protagonist. Atlus threaded that narrative needle before inPersona 5,though, so there’s a good chance that it can do so again.
Persona 6’s Protagonist is Crucial
It goes without saying thatPersona 6needs a brilliant protagonist if it wants to surpass the success ofPersona 5.Joker’s blend of gentle, empathetic high schooler and intense, flashy vigilante makes him a surprisingly compelling character for a silent protagonist, and the wayPersona 5provides access to his thoughts helps channel both sides of him quite a bit.Persona 6needs to learnfromPersona 5’s unique blend of protagonist character traits, but it also needs to study the way those traits are delivered to the player.
There’s certainly much more thatPersona 6has to do right in order tostand as tall asPersona 5.Hopefully it’ll bring worthy innovations to the table when it comes to combat, dungeon design, Confidant perks, and so on. Still, the protagonist is the core of thePersonaexperience; for decades,Persona’s main protagonists have served as the faces of the franchise, and for good reason.Persona 6needs to nail the subtle details of its protagonist and present them to the player in a compelling way. First-person narration may be the right way to do that.
