With the worldwide release of Persona 5 in 2017, the franchise was more successful than ever before. The Shin Megami Tensei spin-off has become more popular than the series from which it emerged, and the stylish, captivating experience of Persona 5 is an important reason why. The final sequel, persona 6has long been anticipated, and fans have been theorizing about where it will go next, but the recent influx of players outside of Japan means it has to take cues from other properties that have evolved to suit the audience they now satisfy .
While the JRPG landscape used to be led by three major franchises, it’s safe to assume there’s now a fourth that sits atop the genre. Stories, Dragon Questand Final Fantasy have so much history, and although they all hail from Japan, they have found a sizable fan base in the west and have continued to evolve and change to appeal to people everywhere. From a shift in combat design to presentation changes, persona 6 should and should try to imitate this. It has become apparent that so many new eyes are on Atlus as it continues to make significant strides in making Persona a globally beloved entity.
Personas Western Expansion
While the first in the Persona series, Revelations: persona, released in North America just a few months after hitting shelves in Japan, the follow-up Persona 2: Innocent Sin was not located due to time and resource constraints. At the time, the property was much more niche compared to other JRPG giants, especially since the original PlayStation was packed with many memorable role-playing games. It was a flooded market, so when? Persona 3 Released on the PlayStation 2, Atlus had plenty of history to learn from, allowing it to produce something more competitive.
Persona 3 is where the franchise, as many know today, really began, with many presentations and gameplay quirks carried over to its successors. The experience was further enhanced with the release of Persona 3 FESand the game became portable when it arrived on the PlayStation Portable, making the Persona series more travel friendly. Persona 4: Golden continues this trend on the thoroughly mishandled PS Vita, and as such Persona eventually managed to amass a small, but significant, following in the West. Because of this, Persona 5 had a foothold in North America, so when the announcement trailer arrived with a beautiful art style, the anticipation started to mount. Persona 5 released to universal critical acclaim, and thus persona 6 has a lot to do.
How Other Franchises Adapted to the West
Like Persona, other JRPG franchises have gained traction outside of their native Japan, which has been a source of so much success for the likes of Final Fantasy and stories. While the latter is known for its action-based combat, the former has used a number of different designs for its skirmishes with enemies. From the Active Time Battles (ATB) so long relied on to the glitzy, fast-paced action of Final Fantasy 15, Square Enix’s crowning JRPG series has shifted significantly to meet the demands of fans worldwide. Final Fantasy 7 Remake strikes the perfect balance between leaning towards the past while looking to the future to create something much more modern and almost universally loved.
It’s clear that Final Fantasy 16 wants to take advantage of the gap that Game of Thrones left, with a war-torn, imaginative setting subject to so much political turmoil. However, this was not always the case, like the original Final Fantasy was much less likely to appeal to a Western audience. Stories of origin has adapted greatly to the West, but mostly by refining the formula and seeking influence from the likes of Bethesda and CD Projekt Red with its open locations and character models. In addition, it is the first in the Bandai Namco-developed franchise to use Unreal Engine, which includes games such as: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Days Gone, and Gears 5 use maximum effect.
How Persona 6 should go global
Persona may be known for its slow, turn-based combat system, but that’s not to say it can’t be refined and slightly adapted to new audiences. Persona 5 Dripping with style, but while the combat retains the same visual flair, the mechanics feel dull by comparison. The franchise needs to implement a method to make it feel more fluid while imitating the frenetic action of the stories games may be a step too far, a small change can go a long way. It’s clear from the road Final Fantasy changed that action-based skirmishing is preferable to a western audience, so Persona need to make adjustments to make sure it doesn’t feel too outdated.
It is also apparent from the design of Final Fantasy 15 and spots of Stories of origin that open levels are welcomed by North American and European fans of the JRPG genre. Giving more space for exploration and discovery keeps the latter more in line with western RPGs like The Witcher and The Elder Scrollsdespite there being a distinct difference in the overall presentation. Persona 5 is far from an open world, and persona 6 shouldn’t be, but allowing more freedom of movement would certainly be a welcome change.
Persona 6 is in the top position to succeed
persona 6 must improve upon its predecessors in a number of ways if the series is to continue its upward trajectory. Persona 5 will be hard to follow, but with outdated combat and frustrating randomly generated dungeon layout in Mementos, it’s not impossible to do so. persona 6 would do well to lean further into western game design, not only to satisfy fans in North America and Europe, but also to streamline the experience and make it something that truly stands the test of time for endures the future rather than being too influenced by the past.
The Franchise Traditions of Persona are undoubtedly one of the reasons fans love them, and there’s no need to completely overhaul the basics of the series. It works great, but draws more influence from western RPGs like Stories of origin did, and Final Fantasy 16 seems to do, would be a clever way to make the next entry even more complete. It worked for Final Fantasy 7 Remakeso there’s no reason why it couldn’t work persona 6.
persona 6 is under development.
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