Summary
ThePersonaseries has its own set of traditions that players have come to expect in each entry such as the ability to recruit and fuse Personas to create new ones. While a game likePersona 3 Reloadlooks to modernize the classic title with elements from the more recentPersona 5 Royal, it’s unclear howPersona 6will improve upon the series' staple mechanics. However, one aspect of the seriesPersona 6can improve upon is the utility of the protagonist’s startingPersona, making it more useful beyond its first few levels.
An iconic part of each mainlinePersonagame is the scene where the protagonist first awakens to their power as a Persona user and summons their starting Persona. For how memorable these Personas are among series fans, they don’t see much usage outside the early hours of the game as they quickly become outclassed by other Personas players will encounter. This design is likely to encourage players tofuse their starting Personaand introduce them to one of the series' core mechanics, butPersona 6should at least make this starting Persona more viable so that players can choose to keep it on their team if they want.
RELATED:Persona Protagonist Tier List
Persona 6 Should Make its Protagonist’s Starting Persona Viable in the Long Term
For how much the Personas of the most recent games are associated with their respective protagonists, they will likely spend very little time in the player’s roster before being fused into something better. Most of thesePersonas start with specific elemental skills, but stop learning new skills around level 6 or 7, meaning players will likely ditch them after the game’s first dungeon.
7% HP
Light Strike Damage to one foe
3 SP
Light Fire Damage to one foe
2
6 SP
Decreases one foe’s Attack
6
Orpheus is the starting Persona forPersona 3’s protagonist, but it ends up being one of the weakest options in the game with very little to offer players once it hits level 6. The skills learned by Orpheus are incredibly limited, likely intended to give players a taste of the three main move types in the game: Physical, Elemental, and Support, and will quickly become outclassed once players can fuse a Persona like Pyro Jack at level 14.
4 SP
Light Elec Damage to one foe
5% HP
Light Phys Damage to one foe
12 SP
Increase one ally’s Defense for 3 turns
Decrease one foe’s Defense for 3 turns
3
Increase one ally’s Attack for 3 turns
5
While Izanagi, the starting Persona forPersona 4’s protagonist, has access to more skills than Orpheus inPersona 3, it drops off in utility much earlier at level 5. Izanagi starts with Physical, Support, and Elemental skill right off the bat, but only learns two other support skills through level up. Players will likely want to fuse Oberon as a replacement once they hit level 12.
Light Curse Damage to one foe
6% HP
8 SP
Decrease one foe’s Agility for 3 turns
4
8% HP
Light Phys Damage to one foe. Medium chance of Sleep
Increase critical rate when being ambushed
7
Arsene, the starting Persona forPersona 5’s Jokerhas the most useful skill set of the group with a diverse pool of Elemental, Physical, Support, and Passive skills available to it. However, it still becomes outclassed after level 7 when it stops learning new skills, meaning players are better off fusing it into Agathion duringPersona 5’s fusion tutorial.Persona 6can remedy this trend by giving its protagonist’s starting Persona access to more skills, even if they come less frequently after a certain level.
