There’s quite a few video game anniversaries going on lately. 2020 has involved more than a few celebrations, withSuper Marioas one example. Mario and company have been celebrated with everything fromSuper Mario 3D All-Starsto a Direct offering a sneak peak at theMario-themed theme parks opening next year. Nintendo fans are also looking forward toThe Legend of Zelda’s 35th anniversary next year, hopingBreath of the Wild 2will be Nintendo’s core celebration. It’s not just Nintendo that’s celebrating, though. Atlus' RPG seriesPersonaturns 25 next year, so that’s another cause for excitement.
Just like Nintendo, it looks like Atlus won’t let an anniversary pass unrecognized. A veteran producer and director at Atlus has already hinted atPersonanews for next year, specifically meant to celebrate the anniversary. Atlus has so many other projects going on right now that it leaves fans wondering what it could be planning, and the increasingly apparent choice is that Atlus will finally revealPersona 6next year. The next installment in the franchise has been rumored to be in development for a long time now, and the 25th anniversary seems like the perfect time for Atlus to come forward and pointPersonain its next direction.
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The Persona 5 Market
If someone from Atlus had said a few months ago that there was bigPersonanews coming out next year, Western fans probably would’ve assumed that it meantPersona 5 Strikers.ThisDynasty Warriorsflavored spinoff ofPersona 5has been exclusive to Japan for a long time, and fans worldwide have been clamoring for the game to get an international release. However, only a little while ago, Atlus already revealed thatPersona 5 Strikerswill arrive on game store shelves everywhere next February. It’s certainly bigPersonanews for 2021, but apparently it’s not how Atlus wants to celebrate the 25th anniversary.
WithPersona 5 Strikersout of the way, there’s no knownPersonacontent awaiting a release in the near future. Kazuhisa Wada, the Atlus director whoteasedPersonanews in the near future, didn’t provide details on what Atlus is planning, but it ought to be huge withPersona 5’s side content out of the way. Fans of the original game have had many months to get through the expandedPersona 5 Royalby now, and soon they’ll get to playPersona 5 Strikersto tide themselves over until Atlus' next big announcement releases.
In a way, it seems like Atlus has been staggering this side content to keepPersonahype alive while it works toward the 25th anniversary.Persona 5 Strikersmay have takena long time to release worldwide, but that looming release keeps the game and the franchise on players' minds. It wouldn’t be surprising is Atlus is shrewdly buying itself time while it getsPersona 6ready for a reveal around the same time asP5 Strikers' global release. Its market has expanded vastly after the overwhelming success ofPersona 5,so it’s wise to give fans some extra content to enjoy while it plans the next steps for the series.
A Five-Course Persona Meal
It’s worth acknowledging that there’s lots of other things Atlus could announce to celebratePersona’s anniversary. For example, afterPersona 4 Goldengot a remastered releaseon Steam, veteranPersonaplayers are optimistic that there’s a remaster inPersona 3’s future too. In a similar vein, many fans are hopeful thatPersona 5will make its way onto PC sometime soon. Perhaps even more surprising would be it Atlus decided to return to the first twoPersonagames, remastering them for a new generation of fans. Atlus definitely isn’t short on options to celebrate here.
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The 25th is a big anniversary, though. Just a remake of an old game or a rerelease ofPersona 5seems like insufficient celebration, especially compared to that ofThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword,released inthe year ofZelda’s 25th anniversary.Skyward Swordis a crucial entry in the series, as it tells the story of the Master Sword’s creation and the beginnings of the endless battles for the Triforce, essentially serving as the prologue to all otherZeldagames. It would seem more appropriate if Atlus introduced a brand newPersonagame that’s as ambitious and important toPersonaasSkyward Swordwas toZelda.
Again, that comes back to the obvious option: the reveal of the nextPersonagame. Certainly this wouldn’t have to be the only thing that Atlus reveals to celebrate the anniversary, though. It could also announce ports of games likePersona 3and5as companions to a brand new game, giving fans a chance to celebrate and reverePersona’s history in the same way thatShin Megami Tenseifans get to do with the upcomingShin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturneremaster, which releases around the same time asseries newcomerShin Megami Tensei 5.
Persona Then and Now
If Atlus does in factreveal the nextPersonagamenext year, the form it takes will be a big deal. A game specifically intended to celebrate the 25th anniversary will make waves and show fans where the series is going. Lots of fans are actually hoping that the nextPersonagame will actually be a mainlinePersona 5sequel, more than the wayPersona 5 Strikersacts as a sequel. If the 25th anniversary of the series is defined by a new adventure for the Phantom Thieves, it might mean Atlus is willing to commit to a very specific cast of characters for years to come, rather than changing things up every time, as is tradition.
One also wondersifPersona 6will make any significant changesto the structure or themes of the games. While it’ll almost certainly always be a turn-based RPG about teenagers or young adults mastering their Personas, Atlus has all the power to overhaul elements like the combat or Social Link systems if it so chooses. It has room to be a little experimental after it’s recent surge of success, but it does still have to find ways to appeal toPersona 5’s huge fanbase if it wants to preserve the attention of new players. It’s not a guarantee thatPersona 6will be announced next year at all. Even if it’s only an announcement and not a release, though, the next core game in the franchise would be the best way to congratulatePersonaon 25 years of making RPG history.
