Persona 6 Release Date and Speculation: Platforms, Setting, Characters

Persona 6 is one of the most anticipated games right now. But the problem is, Persona 6 does not even officially exist (yet). Even still, that does not stop us from coming up with some Persona 6 release date and speculation ideas. With likely a bit of time, until the game arrives, we have time to speculate.

We are going to go over the Persona 6 release date and speculation that we think is going to happen. Included in this are my ideas for characters, the setting, the story, and more. Plus, I’ll include some of my ideas about new gimmicks we could see and what platforms it will be available on. Let’s get started.

Bottom Line Up Front

Persona 6 is one of the most anticipated games that could come out. It is undoubtedly the biggest game on Atlus’ plate right now as well. The next in the JRPG series would be the seventh mainline entry.

We think that it will arrive in Japan next year, with a worldwide release hopefully also in 2023. We believe that the announcement is imminent and will happen in 2022. Some of the features that we want are more online features, a bigger part-time job system, and more. We also hope that the storyline is darker, more intimate, and less predictable.

Persona 6 Release Date Speculation

If there is any game that I would drop every other game out there for right now, it would be Persona 6. The Persona series is one of my favorites in all video games ever and Persona 5 stands alongside 3 as two of my favorite games. My hype could not be higher, especially after the masterpiece that was Persona 5 Royal.

As such, I want to hope that Persona 6 is coming out relatively soon and will be subsequently announced in the near future. However, I do think that there is some evidence to support this claim. That is why I am going to do my best to break down the Persona 6 release date. Call it optimism but I think it is coming rather soon.

What History Shows Us

Before I give my thoughts on when Persona 6 releases, let’s take a look at the past. The original Persona came out in 1996 for the PS1. The sequel to it also came to the PS1 in 1999 with Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment followed the next year in 2000.

In just a span of four years, we received half of the mainline Persona games. However, they were all on the same platform and used similar assets. From there, the PS2 came out and changed everything including the Persona series.

Persona took a different direction with 3 in 2006 for the PS2. Despite this long gap to that point, Atlus gave us the next game, Persona 4, in only 2008. Unfortunately, this is where the series hit the brakes for a while. A series of spin-offs and re-releases carried the Persona series for nearly a decade.

Eight years after the original Persona 4, Persona 5 arrived in 2016 in Japan. It came out on both PS3 and PS4. Persona 5 Royal came out in 2019 as the last new main release from Atlus. With this setup, we can see that the biggest gaps were from 2000 to 2006 and 2008 to 2016. Oh, and well I guess the gap we have right now since 2016.

What is notable is that the first three games were similar to one another. Such was also the case for 3 and 4. It is my belief that Persona 5’s graphics and the engine will be used for Persona 6 in this way. As such, I think that the game is coming out a lot sooner than you might expect.

An Announcement is Likely Coming in 2022

This year is the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Persona series, even though that technically was supposed to be 2021. It began in September 2021 and will go for one year until fall 2022. During this time, announcements and festivals are happening.

Thus far, though, only one major announcement was made. That was Persona 4 Arena Ultimax for modern consoles. Atlus is still teasing that other announcements are coming this year. The final reveal is believed to happen in the fall this year to conclude the year-long celebration.

While we do not know when these announcements will happen, there is speculation on what they will include. I have heard myself that Persona 4 Golden is coming to modern consoles this year, including Switch. This is set to happen supposedly in the summer with an announcement soon beforehand. It does not need the fanfare of Ultimax since it is just the same as the PC port.

While I have heard about Persona 4 Golden, it is my hope that Persona 3 is there as well. That is the trickier one, though, since there is the argument of FES versus Portable. It would be nice to see a new version that blends the two together but that might be too much for this year.

Regardless, I strongly believe that the final announcement this fall will be Persona 6. It makes sense given the timing of everything and the strange nature of this celebration. There will likely be teases of Persona 6 leading up to the reveal, which should be a full blowout of gameplay, cutscenes, and the like.

When Persona 6 Will Possibly Release

While I do think that Persona 6 will have its announcement this year, it will not release in 2022. Atlus’ big new game this year is Shin Megami Tensei: Soul Hackers 2. Releasing at the end of the summer, it is my belief that Persona 6 will be announced after it.

That said, I do think that Persona 6 is coming out sooner than we thought. Atlus made a lot of mistakes with both announcing Persona 5 and Shin Megami Tensei V. They were announced too soon and caused fans to wait for a very long time to get them.

But what we did see with SMTV was that Atlus essentially re-revealed the game in summer 2021 before releasing it less than six months later. This six-month span of time is what I expect Atlus is going to aim for with Persona 6.

As such, I absolutely believe that Persona 6 is coming in 2023. In fact, I think it was originally intended for somewhere around fall 2022 but was pushed back. If I had to nail down when I think it will release in 2023, I think most likely in the February to May window.

I do think there is a chance it could be delayed to later in 2023 but I hope not. Releasing somewhere in the first or second quarter of the year sounds right for this game. That is especially the case when new school years in Japan begin in April. Trying to release Persona 6 around April would be perfect. After all, we will likely start around that time of year in the game itself.

Persona 6 Platforms

Then there are the platforms for Persona 6. I’m going to go ahead and burst your bubble: it is not coming to Switch. Atlus is so strange when it comes to exclusives. The developer is in this groove of Shin Megami Tensei being tied to Nintendo and Persona to PlayStation.

This may come from their roots as SMT began life on Nintendo and Persona on the PS1. That said, remasters are not included in that; only new releases. This is why games like SMT3: Nocturne comes to PS4 and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax comes to Switch.

In that same vein, I expect Persona 4 Golden to come to Switch this year. However, Persona 6, the newest game, will not. Instead, I think it will remain a PlayStation-exclusive. As for the actual platforms, I think that it will come to both PS4 and PS5.

I think that both consoles will have a dedicated version and that the PS5 one will be better. It will likely have a couple of nicer features like performance modes and DualSense compatibility. I think it will use the same engine as Persona 5 but look markedly better since dropping the PS3 requirement.

Besides PS4 and PS5, the one platform I could see Persona 6 come to is PC. I think it is very likely that it will come to Steam someday. However, probably not at launch or until more than a year after its release on PlayStation. After all, Persona 5 is still not on PC even now.

Setting Speculation: Return to the Countryside

Moving into the more exciting stuff, here is what I expect and would like to see from Persona 6. When it comes to the setting, I expect that Persona 6 will feature a more intimate setting. This will make it more in line with games like the original Persona and Persona 4.

I think that the Persona 4 focus lately is not for nothing. Similar to SMT3: Nocturne and SMTV, I think that Persona 4 and 6 will be connected. I mainly think this will be on a tonal level. In this way, I expect that Persona 6 will feature a countryside Japan setting again.

This is also mainly because there are so few major cities in Japan left to cover at this point. Persona 5 Strikers took care of cities like Sapporo, Kyoto, Okinawa, and Osaka that would have been perfect for the next mainline game.

The only other major cities I could see are Nagoya or Fukuoka. Yokohama is out since it was the basis for Persona 2 and Saitama is just too close to Tokyo. With such the huge scope of Persona 5, I just cannot see Atlus trying to top that in Persona 6.

That is why I think this next game will have a smaller and more intimate tale, just like Persona 4. That said, I do think that it will not be a small game by any means as you will see in one of my later predictions. If I had to pick one area in Japan for the game to take place in, I would select Shizuoka Prefecture.

This is a more peaceful and chill part of Japan that is picturesque. The reason I’m picking it is its close relation to Mt. Fuji. I think having a game that is set with the most famous Japanese volcano always in the background would be stunning and unforgettable. All the while, it would allow for a more personal storyline in its quieter setting.

Female Protagonist

One of the main features that I and others would like to see is a female protagonist. Thus far in the series’ history, there are only two. The first was in Eternal Punishment and the other in Persona 3 Portable. And even then, both of these examples are a bit undersold.

For one, Eternal Punishment has Maya as the main character after being a party member in the previous game. In a way, this undercuts that appearance a bit. And in the case of Persona 3 Portable, it is only in this PSP version that there is a female protagonist option. She was not an option in the original Persona 3 or its FES version.

Because of this, it is about time for a female protagonist in the Persona series with no strings attached. The easiest way to do this would be to just have a male and female option available. After all, Persona protagonists do not talk so that should not be an issue.

This would also allow for numerous romance options and allow the game to appeal to more players. It would also allow for more replayability since you could try the game as both protagonists and see the differences. This does require more work on Atlus’ part but it would be worth it.

How Many Personas?

Most games in the series increase the number of Personas available in it. Both Persona 3 and 4 had more than 150 Personas available. Persona 5 bumped the number closer to 200 while Persona 5 Royal surpassed that number with around 225.

Compared to other similar series out there, this is still a pretty manageable number of Personas to collect. I want to see the series go up further to roughly 250 or so. More important than that, though, it is high time for some new Personas in the series.

I would like to see at least 30 or so new Personas that are brand new to the series. This includes ones not even seen in the Shin Megami Tensei series before. To supplement this number, I want to see new designs for many of the existing Personas that we already have.

New Gimmicks We Could See

As with each new game in the series, there is usually a new gimmick or two. In the case of Persona 5, there were a lot of new features introduced. I expect this to continue with Persona 6 and there are some gimmicks I think that we could see happen.

The first of these is more online connectivity or multiplayer options. I’m not looking for necessarily total cooperative play or anything like that but there are some cool online features we could get. I think the competitive play would be interesting like a Velvet Room-like area where you can fight other players online.

I think an in-depth rescue system could be fun, too. Perhaps once per battle, you can call another player to come in and help you with an attack. This could synchronous or asynchronous. The requesting player could get a powerful attack to help them out while the helping player could receive a special reward.

Another gimmick that I think would be interesting is the ability to expand school life. Perhaps you can join school clubs and there are actual minigames for you to do. Maybe fishing in the fishing club, doing a soccer minigame, archery, and so on. There could even be school tournaments and the like to enjoy.

Lastly, when it comes to gameplay, there is a final gimmick that sounds great to me. This would be a fusion-style Persona system. I think giving the protagonist the unique ability to fuse with their Persona would be awesome. A bond bar could fill up in the battle and then let you fuse with your Persona. Together, you can do superpowered versions of the Persona’s abilities while looking sweet.

Confidant Changes We Want

The Confidant system in Persona 5 was an extension of the social links in past games. The problem is that Confidant worked nicely for the thief atmosphere. It does not really make sense for future games. However, I do not see Atlus regressing and calling it social links again.

It will likely have a new name like the bonds system or something, and I want to see changes because of this. The new content I want to see has to do with expanding the storyline. The stories with the Confidants are fun and can be a little bit interesting.

However, it typically has little weight to it. Furthermore, it never affected the main story in Persona 5; only gameplay. I’m not asking for the main story to change much but I would like to see some new features. For one, I would like to see the ability to change the story of a bond.

Sure, you can change the story some by romancing or not romancing certain characters but that is it. These stories do not affect the main plot so why not let players shape the Confidant’s story? For example, let’s say that there is a character who was a former child prodigy detective.

They quit, though, because they wanted to explore other career options in life. You can help them choose what they end up doing or guide them back to being a detective. That is just a barebones example. This could potentially change gameplay, too, if Atlus wanted.

In addition, I want to see the side characters that you connect with matter more. Mishima in Persona 5 really seemed like he would join the party at some point but didn’t. I want to see there be a few Confidants that are not in the party that can optionally join the party if you raise their relationship high enough and make the right choices.

Story Themes and Ideas

On the story side of Persona 6, I enjoy the games when they embrace the darker nature. Persona 4 could be its inspiration for the setting but I want it to end there. The game, despite being about serial murders, was too lighthearted and goofy for me.

This has its place in the series, for sure, but only so much. I think Persona 5 struck the balance almost perfectly but still fell just a tad short of the goal. This is especially after the opening arc with Kamoshida was the best single storyline in my opinion.

At the same time, the Kamoshida part was personal and had to do with a single high school. Having these more intimate and personal villains in a smaller setting could work out well. It could lead to some dark and real themes and issues that players playing it can understand.

Unpredictable Twists

Also, I want to see unpredictable twists in Persona 6. Someone accidentally spoiled the traitor for me in Persona 5 while I was playing it. While I was disappointed at first, I didn’t care too much in the end since it was so blatantly obvious.

In the case of Persona 4’s twist, it was not as obvious but it was rather lame, in my opinion. I want to see unpredictable twists that you do not see coming. Make the best bro character permanently betray you or die in the middle of the story. Let you romance one of the villainous characters and have a tragic story with them.

And, for the love of all things Morgana, please no more weird twists with the talking companion. The whole amnesia thing is so overdone at this point and annoying. I’m okay with the talking animal companion so long as we can get something new for once with them.

I also want to see more main character deaths again, including party members. It was one of my favorite parts about Persona 3 as I did not see that coming at all. Last but not least, I want more Persona user villains. There were a lot of these in Persona 3 and not enough in 4 and 5. Give me more rival teams to fight against that have their own compelling reasons for doing what they do.

Expanding the Part-Time Job System

One of my favorite side mechanics in the later Persona games is the part-time job system. I love going to work, making choices to get the best reward, and all that. But I would like to see this expanded to offer more features with it like promotions and the like.

Have the promotions matter like seeing you as the manager of the store. Maybe your work will change from stocking or sales to training the new employee. I want to see possible minigames, too, that could affect how much money you make in the shift.

I think it would also be great if you could work at the same place as some of your Confidants. Perhaps you have a relationship with the waitress at a restaurant and working there alongside her will build your bond.

I also think it would be cool if working at certain shops could expand their selection over time. Maybe your success working there helps them to expand their items that you are then able to buy.

More New Areas

One of the issues with Persona 5 that I have is that the explorable areas are too limited. This is especially noticeable when we are playing in the most populated metropolitan area on the planet. And, yet, we can only explore a couple of streets in a few of the wards in the city.

That was a problem I had that Royal barely scratched the surface of fixing. It is high time for more areas and larger ones that you can explore. This may sound counterintuitive since I am saying that this could be a countryside game.

That is why I think that whatever prefecture it is featured in should be nearly fully explorable in the game. I’m not talking about open-world; it can be the same segmented game as always. Perhaps there are multiple towns and cities that you can explore throughout the prefecture, each with its own districts and streets.

Some more outdoor areas like the lake in front of Mt. Fuji or one of the beachside towns would be welcome, too. Having more variation in these areas would help to make the quieter setting more alive and interesting.

More Than One School Year

Perhaps one of the most difficult and arduous tasks that I could ask of Atlus is this one: more than one school year. If you did not already know, the stories of Persona 3-5 are generally based around a single school year in Japan. The story takes place over those months with major events happening at various times.

But it is super predictable in this way. Some of the games have a bad ending point where if you do not want to complete a certain objective or figure out the truth, your story ends there. Then if you want the full ending and play the rest of the year, you will need to do that task.

For this game, I want this to happen at the end of the first school year so that it seems like the normal ending of the game. But then a twist happens and you get to play for a whole other school year or at least a semester longer than usual.

This would be a huge change to the series and allow for some surprises. Perhaps you could open up a new area or two in this time period and find out more about what the Confidants are up to. Maybe you could even unlock five more bond levels for each person to a total of 15 and other extra content in this extra school year or semester.

FAQs

Conclusion

Persona 6 is my most anticipated game right now and I know I am not alone in that. The possibility of seeing this series not held back by the PS3 would be fantastic. In addition, I think that the success of 5 will see the series go in a bold new direction from here.

But, in the end, we have a lot of time between now and Persona 6’s release, let alone reveal. To pass the time now is the best time to check out past games. To help with that, we recommend checking out our piece on the gameplay overview of the entire Persona series up until now.

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Cody Perez

Cody is a writer who discovered the Persona series about 10 years ago. As a huge Pokemon fan growing up, he was recommended to check it out on his PSP. He started with the very first game and when in sequential order before catching up with Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden cemented his love for the series. He was proud to be able to eventually spread his passion into the Shin Megami Tensei series and be there in time for the launch of Persona 5, which is one of his favorite games of all time.

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