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[Seomel]

No

Yes

 

[Fbh]

There can always be time for a change. We just had P3 Remake and are getting P4 Remake so it's not like there is a big freak in high school gameplay.

As far as College Experience for Japanese students that heavily depends on major, University and the student themselves. That contrast would have been interesting to explore.

Going back to high school is just lack of creativity. And considering that the audience is aging it's also a commercial miss, IMO.

Personally I think something like a "Salaryman Persona" would be awesome. Could be some young graduate joining the workforce.
Like Zoom 100 before the zombies:

It would offer a nice change of setting, some new themes they could tackle and it would still work well with the calendar system since you still have to go to work, have deadlines, meetings, office flings, other activities you can do after work or on weekends, etc.

But to be honest I don't think Persona will ever leave High School. The Japanaese audience (and weebs) absolutely adore the Highschool setting and seemingly can't get enough of it. Expecting Persona to leave highschool behind is like expecting The Elder Scrolls to leave medieval fantasy behind. The best we can hope is that someday they make a new franchise or spinoff like Metaphor that changes things up.

You can have both. In MHStories 3 there is character creation but character is fully voiced with proper personality.

Yeah I know.
I'm just saying that I understand why you'd insist on a specific design if your character actually has a personality and dialogue and backstory, etc. I get why FFXVI or Xenoblade go with a specific MC design.

But a game like Persona or Dragon Quest? If the whole point of having a mute main character is for them to serve as a blank slate avatar for the player, then it doesn't make sense to me why you wouldn't let the player create their own character. Maybe back in the day it was more of a technical limitation, but these days that's hardly the case.

 

[Danjin44]

But a game like Persona or Dragon Quest? If the whole point of having a mute main character is for them to serve as a blank slate avatar for the player, then it doesn't make sense to me why you wouldn't let the player create their own character. Maybe back in the day it was more of a technical limitation, but these days that's hardly the case.

With Persona mostly because of anime cutscenes, can't put anime cutscenes in a game with fully customizable MC.

 

[Fbh]

With Persona mostly because of anime cutscenes, can't put anime cutscenes in a game with fully customizable MC.

Personally I'd be willing to sacrifice anime cutscenes for that.
Besides, how many are there? Persona 5 is a 100 hours game and has maybe 30 mins of anime cutscenes. Also modern graphics do a good enough job of capturing the anime look, you can still make really good in engine cutscenes (look at Xenoblade 2-3 for example).

They can still have a default look that they can use for anime adaptations and stuff like that. Just like the default Sheppard in ME.

 

[Zamana]

Similar to Metaphor huh I guess they are going for user gender-neutral MC. I'll be there if 1) fast combat 2) cool moveset 3) fluid UI and of course I believe P6 will have all of this. Persona 5 was cool, Metaphor I really connected. Looking forward to this.

 

[Danjin44]

Personally I'd be willing to sacrifice anime cutscenes for that.
Besides, how many are there? Persona 5 is a 100 hours game and has maybe 30 mins of anime cutscenes. Also modern graphics do a good enough job of capturing the anime look, you can still make really good in engine cutscenes (look at Xenoblade 2-3 for example).

True Shin Megami Tensei V has no anime cutscenes, all them is in engine which Persona can go same direction.

 

[March Climber]

Persona will always be a high school game

What other setting would you expect a Persona game to take place in?

That is just what Persona is.

What about university/college? You still get the school setting but also get to explore even more adult themes.

win/win?

 

[Killer8]

Atlus will also be like "why aren't our games meeting sales expectations?"

 

[Magister]

But to be honest I don't think Persona will ever leave High School. The Japanaese audience (and weebs) absolutely adore the Highschool setting and seemingly can't get enough of it. Expecting Persona to leave highschool behind is like expecting The Elder Scrolls to leave medieval fantasy behind. The best we can hope is that someday they make a new franchise or spinoff like Metaphor that changes things up.

But it actually did once. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment had all adult cast and no high school.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Personally I think something like a "Salaryman Persona" would be awesome. Could be some young graduate joining the workforce.
Like Zoom 100 before the zombies:

It would offer a nice change of setting, some new themes they could tackle and it would still work well with the calendar system since you still have to go to work, have deadlines, meetings, office flings, other activities you can do after work on on weekends, etc.

But to be honest I don't think Persona will ever leave High School. The Japanaese audience (and weebs) absolutely adore the Highschool setting and seemingly can't get enough of it. Expecting Person to leave highschool behind is like expecting The Elder Scrolls to leave medieval fantasy behind. The best we can hope is that someday they make a new franchise or spinoff like Metaphor that changes things up.



Yeah I know.
I'm just saying that I understand why you'd insist on a specific design if your character actually has a personality and dialogue and backstory, etc. I get why FFXVI or Xenoblade go with a specific MC design.

But a game like Persona or Dragon Quest? If the whole point of having a mute main character is for them to serve as a blank slate avatar for the player, then it doesn't make sense to me why you wouldn't let the player create their own character. Maybe back in the day it was more of a technical limitation, but these days that's hardly the case.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

P2: Eternal Punishment managed to work with a mostly adult/non-student cast. I really don't see any reason why they "have" to stick to a high school setting. More like, they settled into a formula that worked and made them a lot of money, now they are afraid to change it.

Honestly I think another Persona game with a darker + more violent tone like P2:EP could be really damn cool and successful.


Could be like another Expedition 33 scenario. After decades of some people insisting that shounen anime tropes/cliches + "relatable" teen protagonist are indispensable parts of the JRPG genre and you're crazy for even questioning it, finally someone makes "Final Fantasy X, but for grown ups" and it sells a shitload + sweeps practically every GotY award.

 

[Griffon]

A blonde dude with a bowl cut.
Medieval-maxxing is not a bad sign.

As for his androgynous appearance, it's because J-RPGs are also played by girls, and they need their pretty boy-band/kpop singer as a protag or else they wont buy. It's been a thing for over 20 years now. Square Enix has also been doing that since forever.
With that said... I wonder, in this current modern climate, if it will go over well with male players now...

 

[Odinnii]

What about university/college? You still get the school setting but also get to explore even more adult themes.

win/win?

From Kazuhisa Wada

"Persona is a coming-of-age story. The setting that best encapsulates this theme features students who are on the cusp of adulthood. Another part of it is that being a student is something most people have experienced, so it's easier to resonate with.

As for gender, mental age plays a role. For the same high school age, it's said that girls tend to have a higher mental age compared to boys. Because we're depicting growth, we feel that male students as the main character represent that the most. That said, I don't think adults or women are necessarily off-limits either."

Personally I just see Persona as a high school game. It's what the series was always about.

 

[Fbh]

But it actually did once. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment had all adult cast and no high school.

But that was back when the franchise was still niche.
It's the high school games starting with P3 (but specially P5) that gave the franchise that mainstream international success.
It's also by far their best selling series while the mainline SMT games and even Metaphor are still relatively niche.

As much as I'd like for the games to change, I just don't think they'll want to mess with their golden goose.

I can at least hope P6 won't have as awful of a pacing as P5, and that they'll announce they are finally done with their annoying "definitive edition" strategy.

 

[March Climber]

From Kazuhisa Wada

"Persona is a coming-of-age story. The setting that best encapsulates this theme features students who are on the cusp of adulthood. Another part of it is that being a student is something most people have experienced, so it's easier to resonate with.

As for gender, mental age plays a role. For the same high school age, it's said that girls tend to have a higher mental age compared to boys. Because we're depicting growth, we feel that male students as the main character represent that the most. That said, I don't think adults or women are necessarily off-limits either."

Personally I just see Persona as a high school game. It's what the series was always about.

I always read quotes like this as what someone felt at that time, rather than as creed or law.

In saying that one day I'm hoping Wada changes his mind and tries to write a coming of age tale with a uni/college protagonist. There's a lot that can be explored there and a lot of people out there are still in a fish out of water situation when they enter uni, let alone graduate from it, just in a different manner.

 

[NormalGamer]

Glad to see the berries and cream guy getting work.

 

[Odinnii]

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

P2: Eternal Punishment managed to work with a mostly adult/non-student cast. I really don't see any reason why they "have" to stick to a high school setting. More like, they settled into a formula that worked and made them a lot of money, now they are afraid to change it.

Honestly I think another Persona game with a darker + more violent tone like P2:EP could be really damn cool and successful.


Could be like another Expedition 33 scenario. After decades of some people insisting that shounen anime tropes/cliches + "relatable" teen protagonist are indispensable parts of the JRPG genre and you're crazy for even questioning it, finally someone makes "Final Fantasy X, but for grown ups" and it sells a shitload + sweeps practically every GotY award.

Couple of points.

• Eternal Punishment is a sequel to Innocent Sin. It's part of a package, regardless of the awkward localization choices.

• SE's continuous experimentation have degarded the identity of FF, I dont want to see the same thing happen to Persona. If Atlus wants to make an adults Persona it should be called something else.

 

[StereoVsn]

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

P2: Eternal Punishment managed to work with a mostly adult/non-student cast. I really don't see any reason why they "have" to stick to a high school setting. More like, they settled into a formula that worked and made them a lot of money, now they are afraid to change it.

Honestly I think another Persona game with a darker + more violent tone like P2:EP could be really damn cool and successful.


Could be like another Expedition 33 scenario. After decades of some people insisting that shounen anime tropes/cliches + "relatable" teen protagonist are indispensable parts of the JRPG genre and you're crazy for even questioning it, finally someone makes "Final Fantasy X, but for grown ups" and it sells a shitload + sweeps practically every GotY award.

Yep, that's why sometimes taking a bit of a risk could pay off. And the audience is getting older.

I think being fixated on high school age for all their games is going to start hurting.

We have had P5/P5R/P3R/P4 Remake and Metaphor. A bit of change would do well I think with College Age characters.

 

[Boss Mog]

Is Persona 6 being developed for "modern audiences", cause that's the vibe I'm getting from those designs.

 

[Danjin44]

From leaks Soejima is still the character designer but I highly doubt Hashino is directing the game this time around which makes me curious who is going fill his role.

 

[Deft Beck]

I was on board with high school until they made it weird in 5 by allowing you to date much older adults like your teacher or Takemi the doctor.

I was just weirded out when a licensed physician with years of practice came into the freakin' attic of a café where a teenage boy lives. Then before the not-so-subtle sex scenes she went "so, your guardian isn't here?"

Nah, that was just wrong and strange in a bad way. At this point, make the protagonist a young adult with their own place.

I even think they changed the consent laws in Japan that would make the Kawakami relationship straight-up illegal too, or it might have always been since she's your teacher and likely around a decade older.

I skipped the entire teacher social link because I found the entire thing disgusting. Even worse that they tied vital QOL mechanics to progressing in it.