Summary
Atlus has been steadily increasing its number ofPersonaspinoffs throughout the years, culminating in its present-day focus onPersona 5offshoots. Within the past five years, the company has explored a number of genres for the Phantom Thieves that have deviated from its mainline approach. From a rhythm game to aWarriors-like and now gacha and tactics titles, it’s evident thatAtlus andPersonahave been branching further afieldto see how these different contexts will be received.Persona 5 Tactica’s recent announcement is testament to this, begging the question of where the company might land for future spinoff titles.
Atlus' approach has been considered a double-edged sword by some. While these spinoffs have worked as a way to keep the IP fresh and relevant between mainline releases, their steadily increasing numbers have left many fans eager forPersona’s next mainline iteration. It’s unclear whetherPersona 5 Tacticawill be the last off-shoot beforePersona 6gets formally announced, though the company’s trend towards genre experimentation would indicate a similar focus following the next mainline game’s release. As such, there could be a number of new genres that the company chooses to utilize.
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The Platforming and Character-Action Genres Could Be Viable For Persona
ThePersona 4 Arenagames are considered some of the most successfulPersonaspinoffs, due in part to how well the series' core concept translates to a fighting game. A crossover of beloved casts, each with unique Persona designs, attack gimmicks, and melee weapons, makes for a compelling tie-in to the genre, cemented by the title’s approach to combo-driven battles. Similarly,Persona 5 Strikersutilized hack-n-slash fights with real-time combat, relying on quick thinking and timed actions. The success of these two suggests aPersonaspinoff could go the full character-action route, channeling the strengths of each.
TheSMTseries has, in the past, experimented with the action side of role-playing, namely with its approach to theRaidou Kuzunohagames. Taking this a step further through meticulous combos andPersonauser summons could make for an interesting spinoff that utilizes the strengths of its previous mainline protagonists. Square Enix’sValkyrie Elysiumrelied on elemental summons through Einherjar, which could provide inspiration to such a concept. Channeling the strengths of past wild-card users for combo finishers and follow-up attacks could make for a compelling approach to real-time combat, given the different elemental affinities of protagonist Personas like Arsene and Orpheus.
Similarly, givenPersona’s emphasis on the elemental, a spinoff in the platforming genre could be interesting to handle. Terrain that focuses both on player timing and strategy could make use of certain skills, relying on switching Personas between levels. For example, a Persona with the Zio skill could provide electricity to moving platforms, while a skill like Kouga could temporarily light up the player’s sight. There could even be instances where support and debuff skills come into play, like the use of Masukunda to slow enemies' movements, for example.
Games likeCelesteprove that the platforming genre is capable of delivering powerful narratives, which could combine well with thePersonabrand of storytelling. Character-action games likeDevil May CryandBayonettademonstrate similar capabilities, which could be an indicator of aPersonaspinoff’s success in the genre. With the range of narrative conceits and gameplay mechanics that thePersonaspinoffs can tackle, the ability to branch out and experiment could be a clever direction to take between mainline titles.
Persona 5 Tacticais set to release on June 08, 2025 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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