Summary
Persona 5 Royaland the base game ofPersona 5were a big departure for the series. While pastPersonatitles had strong themes, such asPersona 4’s strong homages toTwin Peaksand its presentation of small-town life,Persona 5leaned in harder than previous entries with its gentleman thief theme. While in palaces, players were given the ability to sneak up on enemies while hiding behind cover, and a variety of other tools related to this theme. One of these tools is the grappling hook which allowed for traversal puzzles and more vertical spaces to explore than past entries.Persona 5 Royal’sgrappling hook will be sorely missed in the franchise’s next entry.
Persona 5did a lot to modernize thePersonafranchise.Persona 4’scombat systemand social links system provided the foundation ofPersona 5, but the fourth entry was a PS2 game and very of its era. While4’s RPG mechanics remain strong today,5had a lot of work to do in bringing the franchise’s pace and presentation up to modern standards.Persona 5did this largely by crafting one of the best user interfaces and menu systems in gaming. Itis a joy to move around and interact with. It also tried to make dungeons more exciting than the previous procedurally generated ones. This is where the presentation and themes of the game came together.
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Persona 5 Royal’s Grappling Hook Represents a Shift in Game Design
Persona 5 Royal’s grappling hook is only possible because of the shift in design philosophy that accompanied it. While previousPersonagames had flat, randomized dungeons,5switched primarily to a deliberately designed approach. The grappling hook is made possible by this deliberate design.Palaces inPersona 5are heists. Getting in and out of each one undetected in something of a puzzle for players to solve, and the grappling hook allowed players to move between spaces in a way that added to these puzzles and made the game more exciting.Persona 6will presumably have a different theme, and as such, the grappling hook will likely need to be replaced.
While the loss ofPersona 5 Royal’s grappling hook will surely sadden some, it must not accompany a return to exclusively randomized dungeons. While Mementos was an important part of the game and kept that element alive, the specially crafted dungeons are too good to let go of. The loss of the grappling hook becomes unacceptable if it accompanies the loss ofPersona 5’s environmental puzzles and approaches to design. WhilePersona 4can still hold its own againstPersona 5, it is important the series keeps moving forward.
Persona 6 is a Big Question Mark Right Now
Little is known aboutPersona’snext mainline entry. The developer has said nothing about it publicly, thoughleaks indicatePersona 6is in development. A new game in the series may not be able to fit the grappling hook in a way that feels lore-friendly, but it’s important that the game holds onto what the grappling hook represents.Persona 6needs to have palaces with set pieces and puzzles that feel exciting to explore in the same way 5 did. While the grappling hook will be missed, the developer could find a way to fill in the blank with something equally interesting.
WhilePersona 6is a true wild cardand likely still years away, it already has big shoes to fill and high expectations to reach.Persona 5 Royaltook the strong RPG elements ofPersona 4and brought them to a wider audience with its stylish presentation, andPersona 6needs to hold on to its predecessor’s leaps forward in level design to see the same success. The grappling hook will be missed in future entries if it does not return, and new mechanics need to fill in the blanks it will leave behind and the problems that it solved for the franchise.
Persona 5 Royalis available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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