ThePersonaseries has a unique formula of blending RPG and life sim gameplay, which is part of the reason why it’s become so popular. The romantic routes are also a very popular feature, as there’s always plenty of characters to choose from and each route is a unique story. However, there is definitely room for improvement with regards toPersona’s romantic routes.
Now that there are rumors brewing ofPersona 6’s potential announcement, speculation has started on what the new game’s social links, and thus romance, will look like. Atlus does seem comfortable in the series' established formula, but the gameplay risks taken withPersona 5paid off. It’s not impossible that there could be improvements to the romantic routes in future games. The problem lies not in the gameplay necessarily, but the narrative.
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Unethical Power Balances
There’s an obvious problem when it comes toPersona 5’s romancesspecifically. There are not one, but four different adults that the 16-year-old protagonist can potentially date. One of them is his teacher, and another is a doctor who performs dangerous clinical experiments on him. It’s odd forPersona 5to be so laissez-faire when it comes to the protagonist dating adults, when the very first Palace of the game revolves around another teacher sexually abusing students.
It’s a glaring contradiction in the game’s themes. Kamoshida is a horrible abuser, but Kawakami is fine because she’s a cute woman who dresses like a maid. Kawakami herself states that she shouldn’t pursue a student, but if the player insists enough, she gives in and decides to be Joker’s girlfriend as long as they keep it secret. The game wants to have its cake and eat it too, but it’s impossible to do that when the game deals with such heavy topics of abuse.
With regards toTae Takemi, she seems downright gleeful in causing pain and taking advantage of her leverage in the clinical trials. Supposedly it’s just part of her sardonic personality, and she’s a good doctor deep down, but it’s hard to believe that when she’s okay with dating her underage “guinea pig.“Persona 5ends up undermining the themes of both the Confidant storylines and the overall game with these romantic routes. Considering thePersonaplayerbase is largely adults, it makes sense that it would cater to adults in its romantic routes, but then why is it so stuck on having teenage protagonists?
Persona 5tends to treat its protagonist as a pseudo-adult while still clinging to the high school setting. Joker can work in a bar in the red-light district, where he can pursue the drunk journalist Ohya, and generally make his way around Shibuya the way an adult would. It’s both unrealistic and uncomfortable at times.
This problem extends to previous games on a lesser scale: there are the Velvet Room attendants like Margaret and Theodore, and some suggestive scenes involving the nurse inPersona 4and a teacher inPersona 3. None of the previous games go as far asPersona 5does, however. If Atlus wants to continue playing around with ethics and more suggestive relationships, it’s time for them to at least age upthe cast inPersona 6.
No Room for Friendship
In Social Links and Confidant routes with female characters, in allPersonagames, there comes a point where it seems like they all inevitably fall in love with the protagonist. Some players have even started romances accidentally, when they were just trying to rank up friendship with a girl. This is especially apparent inPersona 3, where the player simply has no choice but to date every single girl if they want tomax their Social Links. InPersona 4and5, romantic routes can be avoided, but nearly every girl falls for the protagonist anyway. Hints of romance are always present, and the player can simply choose which girls win the protagonist’s affections.
Immediate romance removes autonomy from the female characters; they simply can’t go through their own personal arc without dating the protagonist or at least falling for him. It forces the player to keep certain girls at a distance, and cheapens their character development. This pattern speaks to alarger narrative issuein the series: the protagonist is always the most important person in the world, and his mere presence fixes the lives of everyone around him. While it makes sense from a strictly gameplay perspective, it’s definitely odd when taken at face value in the story.
If every girl has to be romanceable, then her story should at least still be fulfilling if the player chooses not to pursue her. There have been few exceptions like Naoto inPersona 4, where players need to meet certain choices to unlock their romance, but she ends up being a special case among other women inPersona. The way things are now, the protagonist just ends up leaving a lot of broken hearts.
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Gender-Locked Romance
Every romance route in thePersonaseries has been heterosexual. The only time boys have been romanceable is for the female protagonist inPersona 3 Portable. The one exception is Tatsuya inPersona 2: Innocent Sin, who can proclaim his feelings for Jun and then the two are seen as romantic partners. ThePersona 2games, however, don’t have the fully fleshed out romances of later games.
In general,Personagames have a shaky track record of handlingLGBT issues.Persona 4attempted to tackle these themes with Naoto and Kanji, but it ultimately backs out by pairing the two off in a heterosexual romance (provided the protagonist doesn’t pursue Naoto himself).Persona 5included harmful stereotypes of gay men, but those were then altered in theRoyalre-release.
Persona 4almost included a romance route with Yosuke, but then at the last minute, it was removed. There is amod for thePersona 4: GoldenSteam releasethat adds the Yosuke romance back into the game, and also removes some of the homophobic scenes. Considering how close Yosuke becomes to the protagonist, even calling you his “partner,” it only feels natural that he should be a love interest. Sadly, the mod is the only way to experience this route now.
There are many thingsPersona 6could improve upon in its romantic routes. Considering the popularity of the dating elements, it seems inevitable that the newest entry of the series will also include them. to really excel and make fans happy, however, there are plenty of tired tropes and patterns Atlus can leave behind. More freedom to choose partners, equal balance in relationships, and more autonomy for female characters are all great ways to make the romance inPersona 6better than its predecessors.
Persona 5is available now on PS3 and PS4, andPersona 6is rumored to be in development.
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