Call it a turn-based resurgence. Call it a "rediscovery of things that had fallen outside our field of view." Call it whatever you want, but one thing's for sure: turn-based games are hot, hot, baby, and they have been for, like, 10 years now. 10 years happens to be roughly the length of time between now and the release of Persona 5, which arguably catapulted the long-running turn-based JRPG series to mainstream status, and Kazuhisa Wada, head of Atlus's Persona team P-Studio, says that may or may not be a coincidence.
"I suppose the growth of the Persona series may have, in its own way, contributed to the recent spread of turn‑based combat – but I'm not entirely certain," Wada tells Game Informer. "Whether turn‑based combat was in the mainstream or had fallen out of favor, we continued to use [it], so it's hard for us to feel that shift firsthand."
Other famously turn-based series like Final Fantasy and Yakuza (now Like a Dragon) have either abandoned turn-based or flirted with real-time systems over the years, but Persona has remained true to its roots, at least in terms of mainline entries. Wada says that's because turn-based systems are very much intertwined with Atlus's design and narrative approach.
"For us, turn‑based elements are simply a means to an end – an expression of our game-design philosophy." he says. "Since strategic thinking is at the heart of the gameplay, I feel that a turn‑based system – where choices are made deliberately rather than in real time – aligns well with the Persona series' focus on internal psychological struggles. After all, one's perception of time can strongly influence one's mental state."
I love how Wada is essentially saying, in much more sophisticated language, that Persona has been doing turn-based since before turn-based was cool. Nowadays, with turn-based RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 breaking records for hoarding GOTY awards, there's officially no question around the format's ability to resonate with global audiences, even if that makes no difference to Atlus's approach to the Persona series. I suppose that also puts to bed my pie-in-the-sky hopes for a Devil May Cry-style hack-and-slash Persona 6 starring Ben Starr as a revenge-fueled, British English-speaking medieval warrior. (I kid).
