The PlayStation store website has unveiled the official description for Persona 6 and there isn’t much revelatory there if you’re familiar with the series. Here’s what the description says:
Navigate the rhythms of everyday school life and build friendships, pursue romance, and cultivate memories that matter. But beneath the surface of familiar streets and quiet neighborhoods lies something darker: strange rumors, unsettling urban legends, and occult incidents that only you and your closest allies can face.
A student in modern Japan living a normal life, making friends, exploring whatever town they’ve been plopped into, flunking tests, and wooing partners, all while occult happenings simmer beneath the surface? Much like florals in spring; groundbreaking. In fairness to Atlus, that has been the modus operandi of every Persona game (Shin Megami Tensei too), and the company has managed to make the premise feel fresh every time. But it still feels kinda boring to hear it yet again. Especially when we know the developers at Atlus have it in them to do something different.
Two years ago, the company ventured off its beaten path, diverting away from its storied franchises to make a completely new game, Metaphor: ReFantazio. Metaphor managed to both do and say interesting things beyond what one would expect from either the Persona or Shin Megami Tensei series. It also racked up a handful of Game Awards for its trouble and produced an incredible soundtrack that married Buddhist tradition with Atlus-brand musical quality. It doesn’t feel too much to ask that Atlus take a similar approach with Persona. Then again, if it ain’t broke…
The sudden and random reveal of the plot makes it likely we’ll hear more about Persona 6 very soon—possibly attached to whatever Xbox reveals at Gamescom in August. Hopefully whatever it is, it’ll be more robust than what Xbox shared during Summer Game Fest.