I may be jumping ahead with this but after listening to Jeff on the podcast about the future of Persona, I was wonder if the next game will be Persona 5 with new characters and P3 and P4 Characters will pop in and help them out. Or there will be one more spin-off game with all of the characters of P3 and P4 working together and that some end event will be the thing that shows up in P5.

What I want is to see if there is anymore robots from the past Kirijo research group like Aigis and Labrys. Naoto's novel, Persona X Detective Naoto, has Sousei Kurogami "Genesis" who is the first anti-shadow weapon so it be true.

I think and personally hope that it will be a new cast of characters and a new theme. However, every Persona game has at least some connection with past characters in them.

I might have been more stoked to see a Persona 3/Persona 4 cast mash-up if there hadn't been a media overload for Persona 4. Just put Chie in Persona 5 as one of the main cast and I'm all set.

I really hope that they don't just bring back the old characters. As much as I love them, I want to see some new character development and themes. I'm sure they'll be some allusions to the past games, but other than that I want completely new everything.

So pretty much what @AndrewB said.

Super persona 4 arena most likely. I think each new game should bring its own ideas and themes

My dream Persona game has always been a combination of both the P3 and P4 cast. I'd love for it to be years later with all of them in college and in the Shadows Operative. Maybe it shouldn't be called Persona 5, but I'd love another game with this cast that ends their story.

New cast; new story; small cameos from previous games.

What Jeff described on the Bombcast.

I can see the P5 protagonist being an average Joe/Jane with "the potential" recruited into the Shadow Operatives if they're going to carry on with that stuff in P5.  I bet we'll see some cameos if they go that route, with Mitsuru maybe being a significant character since she'd be your boss and stuff.
 
I think the biggest, most important thing that is going to be carried into P5 is 
 

@FluxWaveZ said:

New cast; new story; small cameos from previous games.

What a straightforward responds. But yeah, the P3/4 cast will be involve in some way along with a new cast.

With how Arena's story mode ends, there's going to be another one. It's release is going to coincide with the Persona 3 movie

@metalsnakezero said:

What a straightforward responds. But yeah, the P3/4 cast will be involve in some way along with a new cast.

I don't want the P3/P4 cast to be a prominent presence in a Persona 5. I don't know if I even want that in another side-game other than Persona 4 Arena, which will obviously have sequels given how the story ends.

I imagine there has to be another story with how P4A ends. I think its going to be another spin off rather then P5 though. Every numbered Persona game should be its own separate story.

i think they have a good chance to tie these stories into 1 cohesive story with a larger scope and i think that would be incredible but also a very tricky and ambitious so im not sure they would go for that.

i think personas story has gotten itself into a corner where it must begin explaining the repercussions of the shadows on a wider level.

@mutha3: yeah that's kinda how I see it too, though it doesn't necessarily have to be mitsuru.

Eh, give me something new. I love P4, like P3, but that doesn't mean I want the Persona series to become nothing but those games. Just because I really like and enjoy one thing in a series doesn't mean I want the rest of the series to be nothing but that. I know it's a case for most people of loving something and therefore wanting more of it, but give me something new. Something new to love, new characters to enjoy, a new story to indulge in, don't just keep me in the same old loop of stuff I like. If I want more of something that already exists that I already love, I'll just go back to it.

I think they need to balance the old and the new. I hope they recognize that P3 and P4 have some awesome characters and a dedicated fanbase so I hope that events from those games tie into the next one. But at the same time, there needs to be a brand new main character, and probably other new characters on your team, since that's kind of what Persona is about. Forging new friendships, both those on your team and just other people in the regular world. Those games probably take a lot of time to generate all the content for each characters social link, so it'd be hard to have P3 and P4 characters with their own social links in addition to new charaters and their social links. But I would love to have any sort of continuation of P4, I never played it but after watching the endurance run I'm so ready for more of that world.

I'm usually not a fighting game person, but this game is pretty tempting, maybe I'll pick it up when its 20-30 bucks. Arc systems games always interested me to some extent, so this would be a good game to jump into I think.

As much as I love P4, I 'd rather see them reboot the whole persona universe and give us new characters, stories and themes. I wanna see something new Atlus, it's about time.

@Hyuzen: to be fair, forging friendships is all a P3 and P4 thing. There wasn't any forging of friendships really at all in P2 (not to the same level, and that's not what the game was about anyway) so Persona doesn't automatically mean friendship making.

I kind of like the idea that they'll go into Persona 5 with a new cast and a new situation, have maybe as many callbacks as Persona 4 did to 3, but otherwise separated. Then bring in Persona 5 Arena and have a few members of the Investigation Team come back as the old pros to aid in a crossover-situation to further the sort of connected sub-plot they have going withthat thing who is probably Nyarlathotep.

@Packie: They aren't going to reboot Persona. All the games take place in the same Universe, so to speak. Though, I wouldn't worry about it cause it will probably have all new characters and it's own theme. At best (or worst depending on your viewpoint) there will be a cameo of a character or two, maybe even scenery the way they did in P4 with the class going to Gekkoukan Highschool.

@Make_Me_Mad: P3 also had references to P2 and maybe P1, but they were very subtle and you really only picked up on them if you had played and remembered those games.

Persona 5 should be a new cast, but I would love to see more P4 spinoff stuff.

If I'm not mistaken, P5 has already been said to be taking a different direction than both P1/2 and P3/4, but still going back to Nyarly for antagonist.

P5 should be it's own thing, but there should be some kind of Persona 4-2 spin-off considering how things seem to turn at the end of Arena. The Investigation Team being back and action and seemingly being hunted isn't something they should just leave hanging and if it IS something they just leave out there, I would have preferred P4A wasn't ever made, because that shit is a major tease.

@Peanut said:

P5 should be it's own thing, but there should be some kind of Persona 4-2 spin-off considering how things seem to turn at the end of Arena. The Investigation Team being back and action and seemingly being hunted isn't something they should just leave hanging and if it IS something they just leave out there, I would have preferred P4A wasn't ever made, because that shit is a major tease.

Exactly. I'm fine with them taking Persona 5 in a different direction, but they can't abandon the Persona 4 and 3 characters after how Arena ends. At the very least another spin-off.

@JeanLuc said:

@Peanut said:

P5 should be it's own thing, but there should be some kind of Persona 4-2 spin-off considering how things seem to turn at the end of Arena. The Investigation Team being back and action and seemingly being hunted isn't something they should just leave hanging and if it IS something they just leave out there, I would have preferred P4A wasn't ever made, because that shit is a major tease.

Exactly. I'm fine with them taking Persona 5 in a different direction, but they can't abandon the Persona 4 and 3 characters after how Arena ends. At the very least another spin-off.

I'm guessing that Persona 5 will involve a new cast, but just like Persona 2 involved characters from Persona 1, P3 and P4 characters will become involved the proceedings when their paths cross. It doesn't sound like Atlus is working on a Persona 4 Arena 2 at the moment.

I would rather it be a new cast with cameos from older games. I'm gonna guess that due to the success of P4A that it will do what most fighting games do and release a newer version of the game. That's where this story should continue.

I really liked the hints they threw into P4A for where things go from here. The next game could easily be separate, but it would be a waste not to capitalize on some of the scenarios and characters they've set up.

I would like if they started with a small new cast, new hero and 2-3 allies, and have them stumble around trying to figure out what's going on this time for the first little bit, then introduce the Shadow Operatives or a dispatched unit of them to explain a bit and team up with them.

What I would really like is if they pulled some stuff from P1 and 2, if you met much older characters from them like Mark or Lisa. I've only played about an hour or two of P1 before I quit, but I like the ideas of stories that span decades. I like watching characters grow up instead of stay locked in one age and personality forever. And Persona 4 is entirely about confronting your weaknesses, and they don't stay the same throughout your life. I want a scene where a 22 year old Yosuke refuses to help you because he's got a kid to worry about and won't be dragged away to fight Shadows again... And then in some boss fight where the boss pulls out some massive kill move, Yosuke comes in for the save.

I would be okay if they drastically changed the gameplay or hook of the game. I don't need to be in Japanese high school again. I don't need to be watching a calendar for the weather or exploring randomized dungeons. I said that the next team up should be Atlus and Platinum making a character action game and that still sounds incredible.

I personally don't want any meaningful ties to the old games, cept' like maybe Igor. I say hit the reset button like P3 did.

Persona 5 will probably have a new core 4 characters but then the rest of the cast will probably be a mix of P3 and P4.

Igor probably won't be in Persona 5. They can't keep reusing the old voice files.

@Brodehouse: in the shadow operatives picture, I swear that lady with the long coat is Ulala from eternal punishment.

and to be fair, (Persona 2 spoilers) I don't think we'll ever see Eikichi, Lisa, Tatsuya or Jun ever again.

@Animasta: We might see Tatsuya again

@Bocam said:

@Animasta: We might see Tatsuya again

His memories were lost in Eternal Punishment though. I mean, it's entirely possible nyarly brings back the tatsuya from the Innocent Sin world if Maya gets involved, but Tatsuya of Eternal Punishment has no more of an in than Jun does. If we see anyone from Persona 2 in actuality, it'll be Maya.

Also wonder if the fact that the Persona 1 and 2 cast have the wild card ability will be either retconned or what. It seems pretty important from what Elizabeth and Margaret say.

I think Jeff's theory is the most spot-on. There are quite a few distinct references to P3, and the (huge Persona 3 spoiler below).

Between that and everyone coming together in Arena, I think Jeff makes a pretty strong case (though I doubt it'll be globetrotting as they'll likely want to keep the S. Link/School theme going).

Also wonder if the fact that the Persona 1 and 2 cast have the wild card ability will be either retconned or what. It seems pretty important from what Elizabeth and Margaret say.

  And Persona 4 is entirely about confronting your weaknesses, and they don't stay the same throughout your life. I want a scene where a 22 year old Yosuke refuses to help you because he's got a kid to worry about and won't be dragged away to fight Shadows again... And then in some boss fight where the boss pulls out some massive kill move, Yosuke comes in for the save.

@mutha3: they can use most of them though, and can't you eliminate the arcanas they can't use with the sumaru genie in eternal punishment? I never did it but I've heard that happens. Even using more than one arcana, even if they can't use all, is still way more than everyone else in P3 and 4, protagonists aside. and, it's not like Maya or Tatsuya were even special within the group (they also had arcana they couldn't use)

@mutha3 said:

They were able to trample over player choice by not allowing you to name Charlie, so I sure hope they're not going to go with the route of making every girl a pure virgin who still has a crush on Charlie/P3MC so that otaku don't feel like their waifus got defiled. These are supposed to be regular people.

Hahahahaha, Atlus would never do that. They want that otaku money.

@Bocam said:

@mutha3 said:

They were able to trample over player choice by not allowing you to name Charlie, so I sure hope they're not going to go with the route of making every girl a pure virgin who still has a crush on Charlie/P3MC so that otaku don't feel like their waifus got defiled. These are supposed to be regular people.

Hahahahaha, Atlus would never do that. They want that otaku money.

well, dating the P4 cast would be silly at this point, plus they aren't high schoolers so they already lost that otaku money in this potential past high school game.

@mutha3 said:

They were able to trample over player choice by not allowing you to name Charlie, so I sure hope they're not going to go with the route of making every girl a pure virgin who still has a crush on Charlie/P3MC so that otaku don't feel like their waifus got defiled. These are supposed to be regular people.

Hahahahaha, Atlus would never do that. They want that otaku money.

@mutha3: they can use most of them though, and can't you eliminate the arcanas they can't use with the sumaru genie in eternal punishment? I never did it but I've heard that happens. Even using more than one arcana, even if they can't use all, is still way more than everyone else in P3 and 4, protagonists aside. and, it's not like Maya or Tatsuya were even special within the group (they also had arcana they couldn't use)

@Animasta said:

@Bocam said:

@mutha3 said:

They were able to trample over player choice by not allowing you to name Charlie, so I sure hope they're not going to go with the route of making every girl a pure virgin who still has a crush on Charlie/P3MC so that otaku don't feel like their waifus got defiled. These are supposed to be regular people.

Hahahahaha, Atlus would never do that. They want that otaku money.

well, dating the P4 cast would be silly at this point, plus they aren't high schoolers so they already lost that otaku money in this potential past high school game.

Atlus will never do two things.

1. Have Charlie have a canon girlfriend
2. Have any of the dateable girls from Persona 3 or 4 get boyfriends.

It doesn't matter that they're not in high school. To those type of otaku it'll feel like "Netorare" (Cuckold)

@mutha3 said:

I think the Velvet Room is what grants you the actual ability to switch Personas, not the Wild Card by itself.

I'm pretty sure it's the person itself who has the potential to have multiple personas. P4 MC-kun was special in that he was given the ability.

@mutha3: you may be right. Still, I wonder about Persona 2; someone from it kinda has to be in whatever sequel this is, if the malevolent entity IS nyarlathotep. and I was wondering whether if that is a party member, if they explain how they can switch personae.

@Brodehouse said:

@mutha3 personally, I really wish that Kanji scores Naoto, if only because they seem like a really good couple. They seem like they should have their own game like Ace Attorney Investigations, where Naoto is Edgeworth and Kanji is Gumshoe. I think Yosuke and Chie should be a thing, they have that Sam and Diane thing going on, a little Slap Slap Kiss. Plus, they're the most 'regular' of the characters, they aren't heiresses or genius detectives, they're just two kids who bit off more than they could chew. That there could be a drama hook, it's hinted at in Chie's story, she's plagued by fear that she's fooling herself by trying to be 'special'. Maybe Yukiko stays single a little longer than people think she should, and that can be a source of personal drama. What if the beginning of Persona 5 was Dojima being shot dead during an investigation, and now a 23 year old Yu has to somehow take care of Nanako in addition to protect the world from Nyarlathotep. That's basically why I want to keep these characters around, because they're better realized than most and it pays to explore that depth rather than make a new Yosuke/Junpei clone, and a Yukari/Yukiko clone, and a Chie/Akihiko clone.

This sounds like a really cheesy soap opera

@Brodehouse said:

@mutha3 personally, I really wish that Kanji scores Naoto, if only because they seem like a really good couple. They seem like they should have their own game like Ace Attorney Investigations, where Naoto is Edgeworth and Kanji is Gumshoe. I think Yosuke and Chie should be a thing, they have that Sam and Diane thing going on, a little Slap Slap Kiss. Plus, they're the most 'regular' of the characters, they aren't heiresses or genius detectives, they're just two kids who bit off more than they could chew. That there could be a drama hook, it's hinted at in Chie's story, she's plagued by fear that she's fooling herself by trying to be 'special'. Maybe Yukiko stays single a little longer than people think she should, and that can be a source of personal drama. What if the beginning of Persona 5 was Dojima being shot dead during an investigation, and now a 23 year old Yu has to somehow take care of Nanako in addition to protect the world from Nyarlathotep. That's basically why I want to keep these characters around, because they're better realized than most and it pays to explore that depth rather than make a new Yosuke/Junpei clone, and a Yukari/Yukiko clone, and a Chie/Akihiko clone.

This sounds like a really cheesy soap opera

Actually the mythology thing is a good place to start from. P3 went Greek, P4 went Japanese (and a throwback to the original Megami Tensei games), Catherine went Sumerian and P4A went Greek again. What's next, Slavic mythology about gods with many faces, or they can get into how Christian folklorists basically invented a sky god as a counter to Czernobog (underground god). Fits with the 'belief can make falsehoods true' stuff of the Shadow world.