For the rumored “party game,” there are several questions to be asked (will it have a story, how will it affect the franchise’s timeline).

Although there are rumors that a Persona 6 is in the works, there are also rumors that a more light-hearted title featuring the main characters of the franchise will pay homage to the series. We’ve already seen such a detour with Persona 5 Tactica. But narrative is also an important element in the spin-offs, as we’ve seen in everything from Persona 4 Arena to Persona Qs to Persona 4: Dancing All Night, stories are built into the new game mechanics. In some cases, the use of story may have been unnecessary, but in the Persona 3 and 5 Dancing spinoffs, the social connection is still important. Persona 5 Tactica and Strikers both proved that Atlus, being part of SEGA, does not want to neglect the story, but rather tries to follow a “canon” direction that is authentic to the main story.

In the third and fifth main parts of Persona, the fate of some characters limits where the spin-offs can be placed, but the tricks sometimes “erase” the characters’ memories, making them forget what happened or how they interact with the rest of the team. However, it is possible to know in advance if the spinoff date is known in the story, and the release date of the spinoffs further complicates all of this. Persona 5 Tactica takes place after the base game with the main team of the Phantom Thieves, and they don’t have to reunite with each other, and they can recall older events, but the absence of Akechi and Kasumi could be strange, but this was remedied by the revelation of Repaint Your Heart. However, they had to reset the events to a place in Persona 5 Royal, so Akechi’s true goals are unknown at this point.

Persona 5 Tactica is before Strikers on the timeline, and the absence of Sophia and Zenkichi is notable, and while there were those hoping for DLC, their appearance would not have made much sense in the context, as P5T takes place before the Phantom Thieves team’s summer trip. If Persona ASA wants to come out with all the main characters and in a story-correct way, it’s going to have a tough time. Persona Q used the cast of Persona Part 1 and Part 2; if ASA were to include Akechi, it would be even more difficult to place Toshiro and Zenkichi. Not to mention Labrys, who essentially runs with the adult version of the Persona 4 Arena SEES team. The spinoff could thus make the characters in the main episodes more like the age of their introduction, which still leaves a lot of questions about Persona 5.

Akechi could be an anti-hero again, but if it takes place after Persona 5 Royal, Tactica, and Strikers, then the ASA could be more plausible if Atlus wants to explain the character’s survival. So all the spin-offs just complicate the situation!

Source: GameRant