Five Changes I Want To See In Persona 5
In the past few years the Persona series, and the Shin Megami Tensei brand by extension, has risen from obscurity to become one of the top RPGs to come out of Japan. As sad as I am to say it, gone are the days when each Final Fantasy release meant a fantastic new adventure. Now is the time of Persona, with its quirky characters, deep stories, and cool mysteries. While I love the Persona games for what they are, I can’t deny that I hope some changes are made in the fifth entry which is currently in development. Below are the five changes that I want to see in Persona 5.
Jump to College
In the Persona games, you take on the role of a high school student that has been thrust into a bizarre occult mystery. Together with your friends, you go to high school by day and try to solve the mystery by night. This is a system that has served Persona well and has moved it from obscurity to mainstream popularity. The series shouldn’t feel stuck with this system, however. The next logical conclusion is to move the game from high school to college.
If the series makes the move to college the complex decisions players can make would be even more plentiful. Deciding whether to go to class or not, if you should go to a party or study, or what friends you should hang out with in your free time. The gamers that love this series are growing up, why can’t Persona as well?
Deeper Relationship System
The Persona games are known for giving players a lot of freedom in terms of who they spend their time with and who they romance. The decisions that you make with the people you meet affect how they react to you and how powerful your Persona (a demon that battles for you) is as well. However, there are a few missteps in this design that should definitely be remedied in Persona 5.
When you decide to romance a girl in the game you see a cutscene involving the two of you confirming your relationship and that’s about it. On top of this, if you want to you can romance multiple girls and none of them will take any notice even though they see each other every day. First off, the relationships in the game should continue their story after the relationship starts. As interesting as the lead up to the relationship is, seeing what happens while you date would be just as interesting and make it feel more organic. Second, if the player tries to date multiple girls, they should take notice and bring it up to the player. Giving these situations consequences is what would lend these relationships a sense of realism that they currently lack.
More Time In Each Day
I can’t tell you how many times I have wondered how sitting in a café in Persona could take up your entire day after school. The simple fact of the matter is that it wouldn’t take that long. Persona 5 needs to make the days longer. Instead of just having a single activity possible at different times each day, allow players to do at least three activities in each time slot.
Giving players this option would allow them to study, hang out with a friend, and do a school activity all in an afternoon. It doesn’t seem like a huge deal but these little things are what make up most of gamers’ times while playing Persona.
More Intricate Dungeon Design
As amazing as the gameplay is in Persona, the dungeon design definitely leaves something to be desired. Not in the locales, but in the actual areas. Persona 3 and Persona 4 both feature dungeons that amount to not much more than a bunch of interconnected hallways. This design gets boring fast and so things need to be changed up in Persona 5.
The areas should be given verticality. Instead of straight hallways, how about ramps that double over the floor below and make the environments more interesting. Some light puzzle elements in the dungeons could be a welcome addition as well and add to the intricacy of an already great game.
Connect To The Characters From Previous Persona Games
If I have learned anything from the most recent Persona game, Persona 4 Arena, it’s that the developers at Atlus have been adding depth to the Persona universe for years now. The best way to show this deep universe off is by giving connections between characters from previous games to the new one.
These additions don’t have to be huge, just clever nods to fans that have played through previous entries in the series. There has already been a little bit of this in Persona 2 and Persona 4 but giving connections between the stories as well would add yet another layer to the growing universe that is Persona.
And there you have it! These are the top five changes that I want to see in Persona 5. Do you agree with the changes, or is there a different change you would rather see? If so tell us below in the comments!
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Chris
