The timing is right for Persona 6 in 2025
Atlus has been releasing product after product over the past few years, and 2024 in particular has been an incredible year for the studio. New, definitive versions of existing games, remakes of older titles, and even some completely new experiments with new series. However, as we look forward to 2025, now is the time for Atlus to release Character 6.
To start, let’s take a look at the back studio character 5 and it Royal P-Studio version. This is the designated studio for your favorite execution personality game. While many of the creators from the original game continue to make them Metaphor: ReFantazioP-Studio still exists as the future of this particular game genre.
P-Studio’s final work, at the time of writing, is Reload Persona 3 in February 2024 and the last new game before that was Persona 5 Strategy in November 2023. The problem with these two games is that the former is a remake of an existing title, while the latter is a smaller spin-off. P-Studio has always shown they can create these types of games among larger titles without compromising too much on them.
Before those two matches, Royal Persona 5 is the main game that P-Studio has developed, launched in 2019 in Japan and in 2020 worldwide. The development team there has been working on quite a few spin-offs, remakes, and re-releases since the original release. P5 in 2016. That certainly seems like plenty of time to work on a more significant new title out of all of this.
For example, even if P-Studio does not start working Character 6 until later Royalfull-time development will take place over six years by 2025. While we’ve had to wait much longer than that between mainstream releases in the past, the previous title laid the foundations intuitively for what Character 6 can provide. The same can even be said for Metaphor And SMTV in some ways.
So, six years to launch Character 6 Seems like a pretty reasonable time frame. If nothing else, it looks like we should expect a game announcement with an official release date next year. The question then remains whether we will see it release in the same year 2025. This could happen, but most likely in the second half of the year.
However, the benefit of this is the ability for new releases to learn from previous releases. For example, it can release simultaneously worldwide for multiple platforms. I want to see Character 6 launching for Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC at the same time. Also, I wanted it to take some ideas from previous games like Metaphor.
For example, I like how the Bond system in JRPG 2024 works. They’re shorter, sweeter, and straight to the point. They have eight stages per relationship, instead of the usual 10 stages. Better yet, there are no unnecessary weird mechanics like relationship reversals or needing to waste time hanging out with someone just to get to the next level in the next hangout.
This is exactly how social links or Trusted People in the upcoming main section will work. Get rid of the fluff and let players just focus on the relationships with the various characters. In addition to social links, I’m also hoping to see a male and female protagonist. It’s high time for this feature. Sure, it takes a lot of effort, but it’s worth it. If this means both protagonists can be romantic in every choice, then so be it. Otherwise, specific dialogues and events will be necessary for both sides.
Then there’s the combat side of Character 6. I admire how Metaphor allowing players to enjoy both turn-based action and combat. You can kill and defeat some enemies without switching to the battle screen. This is a great hybrid system and we need to expand it. Allows the player to fully deal with all normal, non-boss enemies this way. There should be dodge, block, and Persona skills that you can use.
Finally, serious work needs to be done on the pacing and story. What really annoys me about recent Atlus games is how awkward the storytelling can be at times. For example, Personas 5 The best stories are the first and last parts in Royal. It is the same situation for Metaphoralso. The first part of the story throughout the Martira Arc is the most interesting part.
It’s time for stories to be engaging from start to finish. And it’s definitely time for new finished versions like Royal gone forever. I’m all for DLC like Episode Aigis expanding the existing game. But it’s disrespectful to expect players to play a 100-hour JRPG a second time with a new version just to see the new content.
2025 seems like the right year for Character 6. It’s been nine years since its first release character 5 in 2025. Atlus has a chance to shock the world with one of the greatest JRPGs of all time next year. Let’s hope that it will be announced and released in 2025.
Royal Persona 5 currently available for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and computer.
