Persona 5 Royaldid a lot for the game that came before it. It scored higher on Metacritic than the vanilla version ofPersona 5thanks to the myriad additions and adjustments that Atlus thought to make from the base game. One of the biggest things that Atlus changes between the two versions of the game was the narrative. AlthoughPersona 5 Royal’s story was mostly the same as the first game, it runs longer than the first one, and opens up into a couple additional possible endings. Atlus’s experimentation with a range of perspectives on the story is a fairly major deviation from thePersonaformula.
Personafans made it clear that they loved howPersona 5 Royalgrew from the first game, and didn’t mind the additional time added to the game by all the new story beats. The question, then is ifPersona 6willtake afterPersona 5 Royalspecifically. Maybe Atlus likes the idea of having a lot of possible endings, and soPersona 6won’t have as structured a narrative as usual. Maybe players will get a pretty broad range of choice in where the story goes. It could also be thatPersona 6explores some of the new narrative focuses thatPersona 5 Royalintroduced to the franchise.Warning:Persona 5 Royalspoilers ahead!
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Persona 5 Royal’s Branching Paths
Arguably the most important ending inPersona 5 Royalis the ‘true’ ending that a player gets by beating the bonus Palace in the third semester. If Joker declines Maruki’s offer to accept his created world and fights Maruki instead, then the ending that ensues is supposedly the true ending. Based on the way the plot unfolds, it stands to reason that it’s the most likely the one Atlus considers the closest to canonical. By defeating Maruki,Joker and the Phantom Thievesstand for their rebellion and independence, as is most appropriate to their characters.
However, it’s far from the only ending inPersona 5 Royal.It still includes the good and bad endings from the original game.If Joker doesn’t work on Maruki’s Confidant, then his story ends after defeating Yaldabaoth as usual. There’s also still the option to accept Yaldabaoth’s deal, giving Joker power over a world corrupted by a mad god. On top of all that,Persona 5 Royalintroduces a second bad ending. If Joker accepts Maruki’s false reality at any of the opportunities presented, then the narrative wraps up and Maruki’s created world becomes permanent. While the created world appears happy, it’s clear that it’s all a facade.
This is a pretty long list of possible endings. What’s really remarkable about them is that Atlus really didn’t have to include them all. It could’ve made things easier for itself and cut out the choice to accept Yaldabaoth’s deal inPersona 5 Royal.Similarly, it would’ve made perfect sense for Joker and the Phantom Thieves' characters if there was no option to accept Maruki’s deal. It seems, then, that Atlus was actively interested in creating a broad range of endings for players to consider choosing. If that’ssomething Atlus is looking at, then it could come back inPersona 6.
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Many Stories in Persona 6
Persona 5 Royal’s multiple endings worked out pretty well. It wouldn’t be too hard to replicate that success in anotherPersonagame.Persona 6could even draw multiple endingsalong similar lines. There could be both a human antagonist and a supernatural antagonist with storylines running alongside each other, whether loosely or closely connected. These storylines could each have good, bad, or ‘true’ endings connected to them based on player choice, particularly how players defeat each antagonist and in what order. It’d be great to seePersona 6introduce a Persona user antagonist whose intentions are well known for a long time, similar to Maruki.
There’s also something to be said for the player benefits of choosing an ending. Avoiding a specific canonical ending is a great way to generate fan excitement around the franchise. IfPersona 6has a broad range of endings, it’ll encourage fans to discuss and compare all the possibilities, generating excitement about the game’s lore and story. What’s more, the story structure of multiple endings does speak tothe spirit of thePersonafranchisein a certain way.Personais all about people discovering their true selves and gaining power from their unique identities. Multiple endings could be used to empower player interpretations ofPersonacharacters and their beliefs.
Persona 6’s ending might look different in terms of gameplay too. After all,Persona 5 Royal’s professed true ending comes after beating a completely optional Palace.Persona 6’s final dungeon might be one of several different options based on the ending that the player goes for. That’d be a fantastic way to encourage replaying the game beyond seeing different narratives, even if it creates a lot of extra work for Atlus. A long list of final dungeons and final bosseswould makePersona 6’s narrative pretty interestingto explore.
Inheriting Persona 5’s Legacy
There’s no doubt thatPersona 6will be reminiscent ofPersona 5andPersona 5 Royalin one way or another. These most recent games were so influential in bringing new fans into thePersonafranchise that there’s no way Atlus isn’t sorting out what made those games work so well so that it can replicate the appeal inPersona 6.Narrative is pretty likely to be central to that.Persona 5 Royal’s story was a little experimental for the franchise, but it paid off. That could havegivenPersona 6the green lightto get even more experimental.
All eyes are on Atlus right now.Personafans really want to see a big push from the studio this year after it promised big things forPersona’s 25th anniversary. Several months in, it hasn’t revealed a whole lot, althoughPersona 5 Strikersis a definite success. Maybe Atlus is just lettingStrikershave its victory lap for now so that more eyes will be on new announcements over summer or toward fall.Persona 6is still a total mystery for now, but if there’s really something big coming up for the franchise this year,Persona 6seems like the logical confusion. If they’re lucky, by the end of 2021,Personafans could have their hands on the next game in the franchise and find all kinds of hallmarks from the last one.
