Many fans of Atlus’Personafranchise are under the impression that the days ofPersona 5are nearly over. The fifth chapter inPersonahas already had plenty of installations, fleshing it out into a solid, beloved time inPersonahistory. The originalPersona 5got an extended edition, aDynasty Warriors-styledspinoff, and a dancing game. The Phantom Thieves have also had plenty of appearances in other franchises fromSuper Smash Bros. UltimatetoIdentity 5.Atlus recently acknowledged that it’s looking intoPersona 6,which would suggest it’s done working onPersona 5related titles. It’s sad to think that fans might part ways with the Phantom Thieves soon, but saying goodbye was always inevitable.
DoesPersona 5really have to go away to make room forPersona 6,though? If anything,Persona 5seems to have the perfect set of characters for engaging and entertaining fans ofPersonawhile Atlus works on the next core game in the franchise. Even though there are no knownPersona 5projects on the horizon, the state ofPersona 6’s development suggests that there’s room for moreadventures of the Phantom Thievesto come forth while the next game gets made.Persona 5still has plenty of time to stay in the spotlight before it needs to give way toPersona 6.
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Persona 6 Could Be Far Away
At the same time that it started teasing severalPersonaprojects related toPersona’s 25th anniversary, Atlus confessed that it’s working on the next core installment in the series. Fans believed that Atlus was already working onPersona 6, but now they got a better sense of where the game is actually at. It turns outPersona 6isn’t as deep in developmentas expected, even though about five years have passed since the originalPersona 5came out. Atlus is expanding aggressively to ensure it has the resources it believes it needs to makePersona 6a success.
The expansion initiative shows thatPersona 6isn’t far along whatsoever. There could be several years still to go beforePersonagets its next central title, introducing a new roster of Persona-using protagonists. Atlus needs to entertainPersonafans in the meantime, which is why recent hints about7Persona-related projects to be revealedwithin the next year are a big deal. Atlus clearly isn’t makingPersona6its sole priority right now. It’s acknowledging the importance of being patient withPersona 6, celebrating the franchise as a whole rather than knuckling down on the next big game.
That’s why it would be strange to endPersona 5’s winning streak now just becausePersona 6is in the making.Persona 5’s many spinoffs are so successful that Atlus has nothing to lose from adding a few more projects to the list of games involving Joker and the Phantom Thieves. Such spinoffs are appealing to both longtime fans and new players brought into the series byPersona 5. The Phantom Thieves are more important than ever. They’re the modern ambassadors for thePersonafranchise, and they’re pivotal in keeping eyes on the series whilePersona 6goes through what could be a long development.
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Persona 5 Still Has Room to Grow
An important reason thatPersona 5shouldn’t wrap up as a chapter of the franchise is that there’s still a lot that Atlus can and should do with it. For instance,Persona 5fans, especially potential players who don’t have PlayStations, desperately want to see the game come to other platforms.Persona 5 Strikerswas once thought to be a Switch port of the game as fans found listings referring to it simply as ‘P5S’. Between Joker’s appearance inSmash Ultimate,Persona 5 Strikersreleasing on Switch, andthe newly announced Switch OLED, Nintendo would likely be open to aPersona 5Switch port. Similarly, PC users are still waiting forPersona 5to joinPersona 4 Goldenon Steam.
Persona 5is also a solid anchor for all kinds of potential spinoffs with different genres and new stories.Personahas tried fighting games beforewith positive results;Persona 5’s Phantom Thieves, as well as some of their enemies, would make a great list of playable characters in a fighting game set in Mementos and across Palaces. OtherPersona 5spinoffs and expansions could include an action-oriented game focusing on Goro Akechi’s life story, a game exploring the Phantom Thieves' lives several years after the first game as they become adults, and so on.
Although the ending ofPersona 5is meant to suggest that there are no more adventures in store for the Phantom Thieves, the games that came afterward consistently prove that that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Atlus is full of great ideas onhow to keep usingPersona 5’s characters, as well as the game’s take on the world of Personas and Shadows. DroppingPersona 5now would be to leave only the tip of an iceberg explored. There’s still room for more characters arcs and more setting exploration usingPersona 5and its cast.
Persona 6 is On the Horizon
Inevitably there’ll be a time forPersona 5to step back. Although there’s time for Atlus to release some extraPersona 5content right now, it wouldn’t be wise to flood the gates with more spinoffs related to it once it actually releasesPersona 6.As valuable asPersona 5has been in terms of drawing in new fans of the series, there’s also a risk that it could be a distraction fromPersona 6if Atlus tries to focus on both the games at the same time. Instead, the Phantom Thieves will probably someday become distant background characters likethe cast ofPersona 3andPersona 4.
That day is clearly pretty far away, though. Again, Atlus says openly that it has a lot of work ahead of it when it comes toPersona 6;it’s still assembling the team it needs to make the game, which probably means the game itself still has a lot of the planning phase ahead of it. Fans haven’t heard about it because its development isn’t nearly as far along as many once believed. In theyears beforePersona 6is ready, Atlus should feel comfortable leaning onPersona 5.Considering how beloved its characters still are, there’s no harm in letting them remain the dominant influence on thePersonafranchise until it’s truly time to end their story.
Persona 5is available now on PS3 and PS4.
