Atlus’ announcement is what I’m most excited for fromXboxDeveloper Direct, and I have a few ideas of what it might be. I’ve been a fan of Atlus’ games since I played the originalCatherineand fell in love with its strange mix of psycho-sexual symbolism and puzzle-solving platforming mechanics. Recentsuccesses likeMetaphor: ReFantazioandPersona 3 Reloadhave made me very excited about their future output.
Warning: This article contains spoilers forMetaphor: ReFantazioandPersona 3 Reload
After some big years for the franchise,I’d be surprised not to see somethingPersona-related from Atlus. Of course, I also wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to continue building on the hype aroundGame of the Year nomineeMetaphor: ReFantazio. That said, the announcement could be a total curveball, which I would also welcome.
Metaphor: ReFantazio DLC Fits Its Ending Perfectly
Metaphor: ReFantazio Hints At The Future For Its Characters
Metaphor: ReFantazio’s ending makes it very clear that more adventures are on the horizonin the United Kingdom of Euchronia. Without giving too much away, the ending essentially confirms more problems in the kingdom need to be addressed and that the core group of characters is setting off to deal with them. This seems like the perfect setup for DLC that takes place after the main campaign ofMetaphor: ReFantazio.
Metaphor: ReFantazio: Every Follower, Ranked From Worst To Best
Metaphor: ReFantazio has 14 different followers for players to get to know, however, you may not have time to bond with all of them, so choose wisely.
This wouldn’t be the first time one of Atlus’ RPGs received DLCthat took place after the main story.Persona 3, and its recent remakePersona 3 Reload, added a new chapter focused on one of the main game’s party members, Aigis.Persona 3getting DLC was arguably less telegraphed by the main story thanMetaphor: ReFantazioseeing as the protagonist of that game dies at the end.Persona 3 Reload’s DLCcame out about seven months after the original game, so ifMetaphor: ReFantaziois following suit, it would make sense to announce any DLC soon.
There Are Rumors Of More Persona Remakes After Persona 3 Reload
Persona 3 Reloads Success Makes Me Expect More Remakes
Persona 3 Reloadwas a huge success for Atlus, both critically and financially. In fact, at the time of its release, it was Atlus’ fastest-selling game ever, according toPush Square. The game’s success has fueled rumors that otherPersonagames could be receiving similar updates.
At first glance, the obvious choices for remakes would be the originalRevelations: Persona, andPersona 2: Innocent Sin.Both games are much older and arguably more in need of a remake. That said, remaking one of these games would also be a huge endeavor. These games wouldn’t need to just be remade in a new engine, but essentially built a new from the ground up given how different they are from what players expect out of aPersonagame.
It seems unlikely that Atlus could have seen the success ofPersona 3 Reloadlast year and already have enough of aPersonaorPersona 2remake done to preview at Xbox Developer Direct. However,if Atlus wanted to quickly hop on thePersonaremake train and get another one out more quickly,Persona 4makes a lot of sense. It’s recent enough that Atlus could likely use its original voice lines, so there would be no need to recast and re-record everything. There are already some assets that they could pull from to make the game.
In 2015,Persona 4: Dancing All NightgavePersona 4’s investigation team and some supporting characters new 3D models in the style ofPersona 5. After that,Persona 4’s protagonist showed up inPersona 5 Royalas a secret boss battle. While Atlus may need to tweak some of these models a bit to make them look as nice asPersona 3 Reload’s, it would still be less of a major overhaul than trying to update the earlierPersonagames. Of course, there is anotherPersonagame some players are hoping gets previewed at Developer Direct.
Persona 6 Could Be Revealed At Developer Direct
It Has Been 9 Years Since The Last Mainline Persona Game
With theupdatedPersona 5 Royaland the recent release ofPersona 3 Reload, it’s easy to forget that thePersonaseries hasn’t had a brand-new release to the mainline series sincePersona 5in 2016. That means 2025 will mark nine years since its release, one year longer than the gap betweenPersona 4andPersona 5. Given this and the fact that Atlus’ other major RPG series,Shin Megami Tensei, had a mainline release as recently as 2021, it seems likeaPersona 6announcement is past due.
Persona 6 Must Avoid One Major Issue From Persona 5
Persona 5 was a major triumph for the series, but it did make a few mistakes that Persona 6 should try to avoid if it wants to be more successful.
Now there is one reason I’m a little hesitant to go all-in on myPersona 6prediction, and that’s the fact that this is an Xbox event. ThePersonaseries was a PlayStation exclusive as recently as the original release ofPersona 5. Even whenPersona 5 Royalcame out in 2019, it took an additional three years for it to make its way to Xbox. I have seen some convincing arguments that Atlus would save aPersona 6announcement for either a PlayStation event or a more neutral one like The Game Awards.
With that said, I could also see whyPersona’s past as a PlayStation exclusive makes Xbox Developer Direct the perfect place to announcePersona 6. BetweenPersona 5and nowPersona 3 Reload, the series has gained a decent number of fans. The awards buzz aroundMetaphor: ReFantaziolikely also drew some new eyes to Atlus’ RPGs. It’s possible thatAtlus thinks thePersonaseries is already popular enough with PlayStation playersthat previewing the next game at an Xbox event would help attract newer fans to the game.
Persona 5: The Phantom X Might Not Be As Likely As It Seems
Persona 5: The Phantom X Wasn’t Fully Developed By Atlus
One game I saw a decent amount of speculation about regarding Atlus’ upcoming announcement wasPersona 5: The Phantom X. This is a spin-off gatcha game set in the world ofPersona. As of now, it’s in open beta in China, but I’ve seen speculation that Atlus may be announcing a global release at Xbox Developer Direct. I may be setting myself up as badly as when I saidHalf-Life 3could make an appearance at The Game Awards, butI don’t think we’ll seeThe Phantom Xat this event.
While I have my fingers crossed forPersona 6or aPerson 4remake, I’d be just as happy with an unexpected choice like a newKnights in the Nightmaregame.
My main reasoning here is thatAtlus is not the main developer of the game.The Phantom Xwas developed by Black Wings Game Studio and was simply supervised by Atlus’ P-Studio. Personally, I think it’s more likely that Atlus will be focusing on a game they had a larger hand in developing.
As someone who has been satisfied with a lot of Atlus’ output in recent years, I’ll likely be excited about whatever turns up atXbox Developer Direct. While I have my fingers crossed forPersona 6or aPerson 4remake, I’d be just as happy with an unexpected choice like a newKnights in the Nightmaregame. Personally, I have my fingers crossed forMetaphor: ReFantazio - Dancing on Louis’ Grave, but I think my other predictions are more likely.
