With Katsura Hashino’s departure from P-Studio and Kazuhisa Wada changing into the brand new head of the division, we’re about to enter a brand new period for the Persona collection after Persona 3, 4, and 5 revolutionized it. One of many modifications that I hope P-Studio brings to Persona 6 (every time it comes out) is a playable forged of grownup characters, reasonably than one more story about youngsters in highschool going by means of highschool troubles. Sure, at present, we’re rehashing that previous discourse.
When you can play Persona video games as standalone titles, some widespread themes and motifs (to not point out gameplay components) tie the collection collectively and provides all of them a way of cohesion. Themes of friendship, self-discovery, and progress are current on the coronary heart of most Persona video games. These are principally the substances for fulfillment in a shonen manga. So it stands to cause that the forged tends to skew younger. However after three mainline titles in a row specializing in the teenage expertise, adults ought to get an opportunity to succeed in out to the reality of who they are surely underneath the Persona masks.
Adults? In a Persona sport? Preposterous! The Persona video games are a really uniquely teenager expertise! That’s the type of response some folks have given to the thought of a Persona sport about adults. However is it really that unusual? Earlier than we proceed, I want to notice that “somebody 19 or older” is an grownup within the context of this complete article. Whereas the Persona collection has at all times had its share of hardcore followers, it didn’t blow up and turn into the worldwide juggernaut it’s at present till the success of Persona 3. Earlier video games within the collection, resembling Persona 2, have by no means shied away from playable grownup characters. The issue is that the primary two video games (from Staff Maniax) are basically totally different in relation to how characters get their Personas. Due to that, it’s laborious to do a one-to-one comparability.
Luckily, the newer entries appear to be experimenting with older playable characters. In Persona 5 Strikers, Zenkichi Hasegawa joins the occasion as Wolf. He’s a police inspector who’s most likely in his forties or so. That is much more of a spin-off than Strikers was, however in The Phantom X, there’s Kayo Tomiyama, who moonlights as Okyann within the Metaverse. When she’s not serving because the participant’s Navigator in battle, she’s a housewife in her mid-forties. To be honest, she seems to be a lot youthful than her precise age when she’s within the Metaverse.
From what I can see on-line, there are two fundamental camps to this discourse: those that consider that Persona video games can’t be about folks older than youngsters, and people who wish to play as adults within the subsequent entry. There’s at all times the prospect that Persona 6 will do what Persona 3 did and alter the overarching guidelines for a way somebody can awaken to a Persona. That might be an attention-grabbing factor to see. However even when it doesn’t, there’s nothing about Persona that inherently tells a teen story. It’s solely the framing system of “switch pupil” that makes it really feel that manner.
When considering of tales that may solely work when the characters are a sure age, the primary one I consider is Puella Magi Madoka Magica. A whole lot of the story beats really feel like they might be unbelievable if the characters are older. Sayaka is the worst offender of this. Apart from her black-and-white worldview and obsession with justice (very Persona 5 of her), her common naivete about love led to her making a silly choice with main penalties. Aside from Sayaka, Madoka in Homura’s authentic timeline determined to turn into a magical lady to avoid wasting a cat. These are decisions which are solely plausible when the characters are twelve years previous. The narrative focuses on the lady expertise.
Now, let’s return to Persona. Not one of the main story beats actually give attention to one thing that’s teenage-specific. There are some interpersonal conflicts that come up from common immaturity—assume Junpei’s jealousy early on in Persona 3, Yosuke bringing weapons to the meals courtroom in Persona 4, and the Ryuji and Morgana argument in Persona 5. However aside from that, the tales aren’t as centered on {the teenager} expertise as Madoka Magica was for women.
Let’s say that Persona 6 doesn’t change something in how characters can awaken to their Persona. The brand new technique of awakening to your Persona in 4 and 5 is, in easy phrases, to come back clear to your self about your true emotions. It’s a bit naive to assume that adults magically determine themselves out as quickly as they hit 19 years previous. Within the case of Futaba, she needed to overcome a previous trauma earlier than she woke up her Persona. Once more, this isn’t distinctive to youngsters. In Persona 2, Baofu’s previous trauma and guilt are main elements of his narrative arc and characterization. Zenkichi and Kayo show that the newer variations of Personas may manifest in adults. So, please, Atlus, give us extra!
With out sacrificing realism, there are solely so many tales and themes to discover with a teen. However adults can have such a wealth of experiences, each adverse and constructive, and complexities simply by benefit of dwelling a number of extra years and going by means of extra stuff. Zenkichi was a single, widowed dad who was shedding contact along with his beloved daughter because of his workaholic tendencies. That’s so attention-grabbing exactly as a result of it was out of the anticipated norm from Persona.
One thing I didn’t contemplate till discussing this with a buddy is how the Persona writers can get away with a lot of issues when the characters are youngsters and never adults. It’s fairly simple to simply accept a teen being self-contradictory. What number of teenagers are there on Twitter who love Black Butler however take offense to “age distinction” ships? Like, my buddy, you’re studying the age distinction manga. That is the obvious in Persona 5, which had one of many messiest tales I’ve seen from an Atlus sport. Regardless of the narrative framing them as these nice heroes, the Phantom Thieves have a really infantile and reactionary sense of justice. The sport by no means appears to acknowledge this.
Apart from Madarame, all of their targets are folks others selected for them, or folks they want to focus on as a result of in any other case they’re in peril. Kamoshida is one other exception I’m prepared to miss as a result of he’s the primary one and the inciting incident. The advertising and marketing for the sport bought the Phantom Thieves like they’re in charge of their very own future. But, by no means at any level did it really feel like that they had any actual company over their selections.
A personality making dumb decisions doesn’t make for unhealthy writing. Slightly, it’s the shortage of consistency in themes and tone that do. Ryuji repeatedly blowing the Phantom Thieves’ cowl in public along with his loud voice and impulsive character doesn’t imply that the writers are incompetent. It’s a personality flaw. What was unhealthy was when the Phantom Thieves thought Ryuji died after Shido’s Palace. After he reveals himself completely alive albeit shaken up, the Phantom Thieves beat him up as a “humorous” second. It felt out of character at finest. At worst, it’s insensitive contemplating Ryuji’s historical past of bodily abuse from his dad and Kamoshida, on prime the very fact somebody did really die in that Palace. Although you possibly can argue that solely Joker’s conscious of Ryuji’s previous, the writers may have merely chosen to not embody this, or flip it right into a extra emotional reunion as an alternative.
The sport clearly desires us to take Kamoshida’s sexual abuse and pedophilia severely. It opens with an tried suicide, in any case. However then, after his arc, Atlus begins utilizing the women for fanservice. Even throughout it, Ann expressed discomfort about her Panther catsuit. This type of “Eek, I’m in a revealing outfit however I don’t prefer it!” gag is nearly at all times to titillate. After Kamoshida, we had: Ryuji trying up Ann’s skirt whereas she’s sleeping, the women’ underwear being seen as a consequence of sweat, a close-up of the women’ necks and legs in the course of the summer season pageant, and extra. I’m not arguing for Persona 5 to stay as grim because it was at first. I’m saying there are methods to be humorous with out objectifying ladies, Hashino, particularly when the opening act of the sport was about how unhealthy it’s to sexualize minors.
As a disclaimer, I don’t care about fictional characters’ ages. Nevertheless it’s laborious to not side-eye Persona 5 when the sport opened with Kamoshida being an unrepentant and disgusting pedophile, just for the remainder of the sport to make use of the teenage ladies as eye sweet. This isn’t even a degree of equality the place I’m making an attempt to demand the fellows even be sweaty or bare. The dissonance between the themes and narrative framing was simply ridiculous, and a microcosm of a variety of Persona 5‘s points as a narrative.
Once more, whereas adults are absolutely able to being hypocrites, it’s far more widespread for teenagers to say one thing after which do one thing fully totally different. Ryuji calling out Kamoshida for being gross solely to show round and be gross himself is a reasonably reasonable response…for a “dumb” teenager. It’s simple to forgive him for this as a consequence of his age, whereas if Ryuji was older, folks may not let him off the hook with a “boys will probably be boys” mentality.
I’ve seen folks defend some features of Persona 4 and 5’s writing as cultural variations between the west and Japan. For instance, in case you think about Japan’s household register system, it’s very simple to grasp why Akechi’s reveal of his orphan standing was framed like a giant deal. However these inconsistencies in tone, values, and themes are usually not a cultural distinction. It’s simply unhealthy writing. Persona 4 suffered from one thing comparable, although to not the diploma of 5. May an older forged of characters assure higher writing? Properly, no. However it could possibly definitely place extra stress and expectations on the writers in relation to narrative beats and characterization.
The unlucky actuality is that video games don’t simply rely upon builders and programmers. Buyers are a significant a part of the method as effectively. Prefer it or not, the Persona model has turn into related to a sure narrative and other people have sure expectations. Very like how one can at all times anticipate a mainline Pokemon sport to comply with a younger little one happening their first journey to gather health club badges, Persona video games have turn into tales a few switch pupil who strikes to a brand new place, meets new associates, and finds themself wrapped up in some homicide plot or different. As I discussed earlier, some persons are agency of their perception that Persona is a collection about youngsters. Perhaps these folks gained’t even trouble shopping for a Persona sport if it differs an excessive amount of from that premise, and that “what if” is likely to be sufficient for traders to close down a possible adult-oriented narrative.
Atlus has not given us any actual data on Persona 6 but. For all we all know, the following sport may actually function a forged of individuals of their early twenties who’re adults, able to tackle societal injustices whereas balancing their profession and/or college. I sincerely hope we are able to lastly graduate from highschool and discover some extra different or nuanced narratives once more.
