Summary
As thePersonaseries continues in its trend of spinoffs while development on the sixth mainline entry is underway, speculation has arisen over aPersona"party game" in the works. Rumored to bea crossover title featuring the main characters of thePersonaseries, this party game, referred to asPersona ASA, is said to be an homage to the series. Though its validity has yet to be confirmed, the trend seen across priorPersonaspinoffs, including the most recentPersona 5 Tactica, begs the question of whetherASAwill include a story with its gameplay, and just how canon this might be to the series' greater timeline as a whole.
Personaspinoff games tend to incorporate narratives within the new contexts they introduce. FromPersona 4 Arenato thePersona Qgames and evenPersona 4: Dancing All Night, the ability to frame stories alongside new mechanics allows the titles to hone in on what the series is most known for, its characters. While in some cases this use of story might have seemed unnecessary, a likely reason as to why thePersona 3and5dancing games transitioned to being more social link-based rather than having an overarching plot, the prevalence of spinoff narratives doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. BothPersona 5 TacticaandStrikersdemonstrated this, and despite the typical conventions of a party game, the rumoredPersona ASAcould as well.
Persona 5 Tactica’s Canon Place on the Timeline Raised Some Constraints On Its Story
Persona Spinoff Games and the Series' Timeline
Atlus strives to make itsPersonaspinoff games canon to the storyline, a feat that paints some constraints on their stories. Given the fate of certaincharacters inPersona 3and5, having to consider where a spinoff might take place per the mainline games' timelines has proven to be a bit tricky. Even though some of the spinoffs result in what is essentially a “mind swipe” for its characters, leaving them with no memory of what’s occurred or how they interact with the team is still predicated on when the spinoff takes place. This can be further muddled by the spinoff games' release dates.
In the case ofPersona 5 Tactica, the main story takes place after the events ofPersona 5, focusing solely on the core Phantom Thieves team. This allowed the Thieves to reflect on the events that shaped them without having to reestablish their rapport with each other, though it left fans questioning the absence ofAkechi and Kasumi, with the ambiguous fate of the former still being debated.
The reveal of the “Repaint Your Heart” DLC seemed to rectify this. However, to do so, it had to revert to a previous place inthePersona 5 Royaltimeline, leaving Akechi’s characterizationat a point before his true motives are revealed.
WithTacticabeing beforeStrikerson the timeline, but after the title in its release, there was also the absence of Sophia and Zenkichi to contend with. Some fans were hoping the two would be playable as DLC given their popularity, though this wouldn’t have made contextual sense given thatTacticatakes place before the Thieves' summer road trip.
Ifthe rumoredPersona ASAparty gamewishes to include all of the main playable characters from the series while still being a canon experience, then it would need to contend with similar issues, not just forPersona 5, but for its other entries as well. This could work in a similar approach to the secondPersona Qwhile adding thePersonaandPersona 2 ISandEPcasts, though the handling of a character like Akechi would be tricky to fit in ifASAwere to include playable spinoff characters like Toshiro and Zenkichi as well.
A Persona Party Game May Be Faithful to a Specific Point in Canon
The same can be said for other spinoff characters like Labrys, who is technically encountered by grown-up versions of the SEES Team in thePersona 4 Arenagames, further muddling the chance for an appearance. Because of this, it’s likely thatPersona ASA, if real, will opt to include the casts of only the mainline entries at the ages/appearances in which they were first introduced.
This still brings up concerns overPersona 5in particular, since it would require fittingASAinto the slightly complicated events ofthePersona 5timeline, given how Akechi is handled. IfPersona 5 Tacticais anything to go off, then this might result in his pre-anti-hero role once again, though the opportunity to work from a post-Persona 5 Royal,Tactica, andStrikers' timeline might be a more advantageous and less unwieldy route to go, if Atlus chooses to verify the character’s survival.
