Now that Persona has reached a new peak in popularity with a more diverse audience worldwide, there’s plenty of ways the series can evolve or change over time. Persona 6 is rumored to be in the works, presumably for PS5, which sets up a whole new avenue for the franchise. Opening up romances to all sexual orientations and emphasizing more customization for the game’s protagonist, there’s plenty of ways for the franchise to lean further into encouraging more player freedom. Perhaps the most impactful change the developer can make is something the series has experimented with before: making a mainline Persona game with a female protagonist.
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Women in the Persona Series
Every mainline Persona game has had a straight male protagonist as the player’s main character. Spin-off games like Persona 2: Eternal Punishment have had a female protagonist for additional stories, but never for a mainline Persona entry. The closest Persona has come to a female lead character was in Persona 3 Portable, but even then it was only a gender choice and the canon character is still male. Traditionally games with social simulator or dating aspects like Persona have starred a male protagonist simply because of preconceived demographics and the status quo of the time. It’s not necessarily a bad thing for existing Persona games, and the gameplay experience isn’t lesser for it. But considering Persona 5 modernized the series in a big way, why not further evolve the series and improve inclusivity for everyone?
Previously, Persona 5’s director Katsura Hashino has discussed the potential addition of a female main character in the series, but Hashino’s response was disappointing. In the context of Persona 5, Hashino had stated that adding a female protagonist option in the game would be “not worth it,” likely citing the additional writing and scripting required to adjust for gender differences. Hashino also stated that the narrative in Persona 4 and Persona 5 “seemed more natural for a male character to fulfill that role” in each game. It’s a disappointing take, one that’s hopefully remedied now that Persona has received significant mainstream acclaim.
Persona 6: Why it is “Worth It”
Each Persona game’s general structure is almost exactly the same, so there’s no realistic reason why a female protagonist couldn’t find themselves in a similar situation. The main protagonist of a Persona game is typically an outcast in a high school social situation, forced to tackle a hasty coming-of-age with the support of their friends around them. Based on the core concepts alone, there’s no reason why a female protagonist could not handle the trauma, progression, and growth that a male main character could. This makes the comment coming from Persona’s director a bit strange because it is in spite of the franchise’s several examples of genuinely strong female characters.
Games in other franchises have welcomed female protagonists and/or gender choices for the main character with open arms. In the past, several developers had made arguments before that developing female characters would have “doubled the work,” as made famous by Assassin’s Creed Unity’s controversy. Since then, Ubisoft and Assassin’s Creed has made huge steps in that regard, even making the female main character Kassandra the canon choice for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Not to mention she’s the better written, better performed character in comparison to Alexios.
Dishonored 2 also championed the female protagonist even further, providing a gender choice between Corvo and Emily, but also making their abilities and playstyles vastly different. Horizon Zero Dawn solely featured a female main character, and was one of the most critically acclaimed and highest selling PS4 games this generation. Not to mention countless TV shows and films like Ladybird that have proven a coming-of-age story is not exclusive or only relatable to men. There’s no empirical reason why Persona, a video game series all about the growing confidence and expression of a teenager, wouldn’t be “worth it” to feature a female protagonist. Even if the game is about using various mythical beings to battle selfish adults manifested as monsters, that’s just a method of delivery for the same core narrative.
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Persona’s Future
Video games, from a thematic and narrative standpoint, have evolved and improved drastically in the last few decades. Female leads in games has never even really been some kind of caveat or exception. Future Persona titles should look story-driven adventures and other RPGs for inspiration, and understand that not every core Persona title has to feature a male lead. Even if a gender choice is the more preferable design decision, cutting content for the sake of a male lead due to perceived development complications is not a valid excuse anymore. Plenty of games have proven a female protagonist is as relatable and capable as any male main character. The Persona series is capable of crafting inspirational and intelligently written female characters, so it’s time for them to take the leading role.
Persona 6 is rumored to be in development.
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