The early game ofPersona 5featured one aspect thatPersona 6can easily copy to make its own introductory chapter more accessible. The early hours of a game are vital for grabbing the player’s interest, especially in story-heavy titles like thePersonagames. Whether they ease the player into the gameplay loop or drop them in head-first, the gameplay needs to be fun and challenging, without being too unforgiving.Persona 5found a trick to making its early game more accessible than past titles, andPersona 6wouldn’t have to do anything difficult to replicate it.
One common feature is forPersona’s party membersto join gradually over the course of the game. The slow build-up of the party acts as a way to mark the player’s progress in the game. In addition, inPersona 4, the party members had to face their Shadows before joining, andPersona 5’s party members had to awaken their Personas through moments of personal crisis. This gave story reasons for their later inclusions, because they would not have been able to fight before properly awakening their Personas. However, there was a party-related trend thatPersona 5broke, andPersona 6would to well not to bring the trend back.
RELATED:Persona 5 Royal Makes a Case for Reworking Skill Cards in P6
Persona 6 Shouldn’t Make Players Wait to Get a Full Party
Unlike past games in the series, whenfacingPersona 5’s first boss, players will already have a full team of four characters. They start with Joker and Morgana, with Ryuji joining partway through the tutorial, and Ann completes the quartet before they can take on the first Palace for real. This approach gives players a full party to work with as soon as the game properly begins. In this case, the player can quickly learn how to manage four characters at once, as they will for the rest of the game. It also ensures that the player will not feel underpowered early on.
Conversely, when players make their first few attempts at theTartarus dungeon inPersona 3, they will only have the protagonist, Junpei, and Yukari, with Akihiko not joining until after the first full moon battle. Likewise,Persona 4only gives players the protagonist, Yosuke, and Chie for the duration of Yukiko’s Castle, with Yukiko rounding out the party a few days after that arc is completed. With this approach, it’s hard for the player’s options to not feel limited, especially if they’re on a second playthrough. Not to mention, having fewer party members limits the player’s options, even in the easiest dungeons.
There’s little reason forPersona 6not to give players a full roster before the first dungeon. WhateverPersona 6’s approach to party membersmay be, there’s no real reason to place restrictions on the player’s party for the first dungeon. Players may collect more party members as the story goes on, but it shouldn’t be difficult to find a reason for the player to have a full party of four before the first real boss. This will give the original pack of four more time to establish themselves as a team as well, making it work for both story and gameplay reasons.
Hopefully,Persona 6will takePersona 5as the start of a new pattern, giving the player enough party members for a full team early on.Persona 6can end past series trends, and the shtick of making players fight a boss before they can fill out their party is one that can be safely left in the past. After all, characters are a strong point forPersona, so introducing more characters in a timely manner seems like a natural choice. With this in mind,Persona 6could let player form a full team for its first real challenge.
