SweetieGames

A while ago, I wrote about my feelings concerning the distinct lack of content for Persona 6. The Persona 5 cast were shipped around from collab to collab, appearing everywhere from Bang Dream! Girls Band Party to Call of Duty Mobile. Outside of the Phantom Thieves appearances in every media ever, we also got remakes for Persona 3, and a Persona 4 remake on the way. It felt like we were so far from even seeing a hint of the next instalment in the hugely popular franchise.

However, towards the end of May, right as I was focussing on writing about the reveal for Dragon Quest XII, something unexpected happened. Leaked character designs, supposedly for the upcoming Persona 6 sequel. They detailed a potential protagonist and side character, showing off a variety of designs.

The designs quickly spread from where they originated on Chinese social media site Xiaohongshu, and the leaker alleged that the game will release in 2027. I couldn’t believe that it would be so close! And only a couple of weeks later, we saw our first teaser trailer for Persona 6. It’s finally real! While we didn’t see these characters in particular, it promises to be an exciting instalment in the franchise and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

There was also brief discussion about the game having dual protagonists, which were the male and female characters detailed in the leak. However, others have said that the leak revealed only the male character as a protagonist, and the female character is a side character or possible party member. As is the norm for Persona, the characters are wearing school uniforms, implying another school setting for the game.

As usual, there was some negative reactions to the protagonist design. Many people weren’t keen on the blonde hair and especially the bowl cut and heavily compared him to the infamous Persona 3 NPC Bebe. However, I quite like this design! I think he stands out among the other Persona protagonists, demonstrating that the game is going to have a very different feel from the games before it. He also looks great next to the female character; they look like polar opposites which makes me excited to see their personalities and how they come together.

With the alleged release date being late 2027, we’ll have to wait and see how legitimate these leaks are and if they hold back release at all. There’s plenty of opportunities at upcoming gaming expos for news and reveals, so we’ll have to stay tuned!