Summary
Persona 6can bring back a tried-and-true Social Link dynamic that previous games have found great success in using. PastPersonatitles have used all sorts of setups for Social Links, withPersona 5even giving them a new angle in the form of Confidants, granting bonuses with each Link. It’s virtually a guarantee thatPersona 6will continue this tradition, granting its protagonist a new list of Social Links to form with various members of the game’s supporting cast. While designing these Social Links, the developers can take a few notes from those that worked in the past.
Social Links are a contender forPersona’s most important franchise tradition. The turn-based combat, summonable personas, and long, high-stakes stories are all part of the norm forShin Megami Tenseigames. However, Social Links are what make thePersonaseries stand out from the others. Social Links are a game mechanic that tracks certain relationships that the protagonist forms with various NPCs, including party members. As the Links advance, they also guide the player through a story with said character, often seeing them confront a prominent issue in their lives. Seeing a Social Link through generally provides a satisfying conclusion for both the character and the player, and to make the feature as good as it can be,Persona 6should tie Links to clubs.
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Social Links Based on Clubs Could Come Back in Persona 6
Many Social Links, such asKou and Daisuke fromPersona 4, come from members of school clubs that the player can join. InPersona 4andPersona 5, every club that the player joined had a corresponding character that they would form a Social Link with. From there, every club meeting would grant progress toward the corresponding Link. Although each of these Links started in more or less the same way, the variety of personalities that the players would encounter led to wildly different stories. The scheduled meeting days were also helpful to remind players when the Links would be available.
WhilePersona 5did a lot to upgrade Social Links with the Confidant system, school clubs are aPersonaSocial Link feature worth bringing back. One major reason for this is how effective it works as a way to introduce the protagonist to a new friend. By joining a club, they can encounter a new character that they reasonably haven’t met before due to them typically not crossing paths otherwise. Not to mention, such a setup makes good use of the school as a setting. IfPersona 6’s protagonist is also in school, clubs could be the key to new Social Links.
Another advantage of bringing back club Social Links inPersona 6would be exploring ground that the series hadn’t tried before. A goodchange forPersona 6’s Confidantscould come with some new concepts. For example,Persona 3andPersona 4both had Social Links from athletics clubs, but neither game had one from a science club, for example. This could also extend to more niche ideas, like computer and gardening clubs, to come up with new types of characters thatPersonahasn’t seen yet.Personahas only scratched the surface of school-related Social Links, givingPersona 6plenty of room to expand.
Persona 6has several games to work off of, so it should be able to deliver a satisfactory selection of Social Links. While there are many things thatPersona 6can fix regarding Social Links, the aspects that worked should be kept, if not expanded upon. Having Social Links start through school clubs and other such groups was a natural way to introduce new Social Links without feeling forced or coincidental. Not to mention, the setup is highly flexible as well.Persona 5missed out of club-related Social Links, butPersona 6can pick up from where it left off.
Persona 6is in development.
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