Summary
Persona 6is a matter of when, not if. While thePersonafranchise has spanned decades, and many of the older titles have aged like fine wine,Persona 5launched the franchise to new heights.Persona 5effectively blended the edgier parts of its aesthetic that are prominent in the game’s visual language with wholesome character interactions and cozy slice of life inspired extracurricular activities. WhilePersona 5was genre defining in many ways, other elements of it felt archaic. The DLC is perhaps the worst offender in this regard, andPersona 6needs to show improvement in its approach to DLC.
Persona 5’s DLC is one of the few marks against an otherwise excellent title. The base game ofPersona 5had over 20 pieces of DLC available. All of these items fit into a few different categories. The vast majority are cosmetic costumes for characters and additional background music from pastPersonatitles and other Atlus games. The other mainstay of this DLC was Personas from previous games in the series, some of which totally destroy the game’s balance. Notably,Persona 5 Royalreceived its own array of DLC on the PS4, andPersona 5 Royallaunched for PCwith over 40 DLC packs.
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Persona’s Approach to DLC is Archaic
Persona 5’s approach to DLC is old-fashioned in more ways than one. While many developers have embraced DLC as a way to expand a game or add to its story, Atlus has yet to do so. Much ofPersona’s DLC feels analagous toElder Scrolls 4: Oblivion’s horse armor. Almost all ofPersona 5’s DLC is fan service designed to pull on the threads of fan’s nostalgia. The costumes and alternate BGM packs are one costume per character and a song or two. This mindset is extended to the add-on Personas from past games, which are often summoned at high level, making them either overpowered for most of the game or something players will have to wait to use in late game to preserve the experience.
Persona 6’s approach to DLC needs to be better. Cosmetic packs like the ones inP5need to come with more music or extra Easter egg content for the game its pulling from, and the add-on Personas need to be implemented in a way that doesn’t impede the intended experience. Better yet,Persona 6could include more substantial DLC that offers more than fan service to returning fans. While leaks suggest thatPersona 6is a few years awaystill, other titles from Atlus receive and have continued to receive similar DLC, includingPersona’s many spin-off titles.
More Substantial DLC Could Allow Persona To Tell More Stories
Not only does thePersonafranchise need a better approach to DLC, but it deserves it. More substantial DLC could allow Atlus to expand the game with new quests, characters and stories. While DLC probably wouldn’t be the size of the content added on toPersona 5in theRoyalversion of the game, It could allow for smaller stories to be added.Takuto Maruki is one ofPersona’s best confidants, and he was only added inPersona 5 Royal. Atlus has shown that it is capable of adding strong content to a title after its initial launch, and DLC could allow it to do more of this in bite sized chunks.
Persona 3 Reloadcould be a good testing ground for Atlus. As a remake ofPersona 3,it’ll be interesting to see if the game has DLC packs fromgames later in thePersonatimeline.Persona 3 Reloadwill also lack The Answer, a campaign added inFES,as well asPersona 3 Portable’s female protagonist. The theoretical post launch addition of the playable female protagonist and the added story content inFEScould be an opportunity for Atlus to show a dedication to more substantial DLC for the series going forward withPersona 6.
Persona 6is in development.
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