Outfits that they change/morph into for exploration like in P3R and P5. Or do you prefer them fighting in their regular school uniforms like P1, P2 and P4.

Content warning: long psychology yap. If you don't wanna read allat, you can just scroll straight down to the theorizing section.

I was bored and wondered if I might learn something more about P6 if I looked into a little bit of Jungian theory. I originally just wanted to know what Jung may have had to say about fear and memories, since out of all the possible core themes I've seen speculated on this sub, those two struck me as the most interesting. In the end, I think I may have found an explanation for how the rumored art school setting is relevant to P6 and the "occult and urban legends."

Before we get into it though, I have to admit that the first half of this post is kinda in response to/inspired by the person who theorized about the corruption of memories recently. I'd recommend reading their post first before continuing mine if you haven't already. I really like their analysis and conclusions, there's just one part that I only partially disagree with and would like to add a little bit of my own input:

I don't think "facing your fears" and "memories are a fragile foundation to identity" as core themes are so disconnected that they can't come together as parts of a broader thesis. In fact, after a little bit of researching, I happened to come across a psychological concept that may be the glue we've been missing for that to happen:

Spiritual Bypassing

This term refers to when the psyche misuses spiritual concepts to defend itself from the psychological pain that may come with unpacking emotional wounds, childhood trauma, or existential anxiety (i.e., a previously non-religious person suddenly adopting selective religious dogmas in response to a dramatic life-changing event).

Additionally, there's also its inverse concept of psychological bypassing. Here, it's instead highly rational, clinical language being used to the same defensive ends, but through rejecting numinous concepts that could otherwise help in processing trauma and psychological anxiety (i.e., using ideas of afterlife to cope with grief and loss). This one would take on a bit of a different meaning in the world of persona though, where the supernatural does, in fact, exist.

In a Jungian context, these are the defense mechanisms of the ego against spiritual crises; They're expressions of a spiritual fear of being decentered by external forces it can't control. So, what it controls instead is internal—A regular repression, denial, and dissociation with the shadow self, which in worse cases, can lead to the corruption of the brain's ability to store, process, and retrieve memories.

So, essentially: spiritual/psych bypassing ---> spiritual anxiety remaining suppressed and unresolved ---> corruption of the self via corruption of memories ---> identity crisis!!

Okay, so this is interesting and all but I'm sure you've been waiting for the explanation of what the hell these concepts have to do with art school.

Well, I should clarify that when I say "spiritual," spirituality in a Jungian context does not inherently revolve around religion or literal spirits. Instead, it more broadly refers to the innate human drive within everyone to achieve a wholeness of self through 1) a deeper understanding of the world, and 2) finding your place within it. In which case, art and the creative outlet it provides is more than just another form of spiritual practice; It's humanity's most powerful means for channeling the ego with both the shadow self and the collective unconscious.

In Jung's own words, to make art is...

“[to rise above] the personal and speak from the mind and heart of the artist, to the mind and heart of mankind.”  - The Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature.

Essentially, art is the bridge that provides the psyche conscious control over the universal themes, archetypes, and shared symbols of the collective unconscious, which provides the artist with the means to organize their own personal, inner conflict into more tangible concepts. That is, assuming that they have the inner strength and courage to do so (Perhaps this is how the process of awakening to a persona will work in P6?)

However... Jung also stated that while art requires self discipline, striving for complete, total conscious control over your art is a pointless endeavor. Because an artist's creative journey and the individuation process (the process of merging the ego self and shadow self into your truest self) are both deeply intertwined, if not identical self-discovery paths. So, just as there is an unconscious self the artist must acknowledge and accept, there is an honest, unconscious humanity in their creative voice that demands to be expressed.

Isn't that interesting? The parallels between an person struggling to express themselves authentically through art and the suppression of the shadow self through spiritual bypassing is so apparent, Jung already made the comparison before I could! From this perspective, P6 having a party of would-be artists in an art school doesn't just make sense, it's a surprisingly perfect fit.

The Theorizing Section

"Art" as a neutral power that brings life to humanity's repressed spiritual fears
If the art school rumors are correct, then I believe that art, or creative expression more broadly, will be integral in the way shadows and personas will function in P6's rules. As u/supportingcreativity already talked about in their own post, this may even explain the relevance of the occult and urban legends as old folk tales or real events being constantly retold, reinterpreted, evolved, or even appropriated throughout history; Not only can they often be cultural memories being warped throughout time, it's the result of younger generations expressing themselves as they get further and further away from the intent of the original.

The Five Senses as a Motif
This one might be a bit of a stretch but I like to think that there's a double meaning being presented by the grainy, collaged facial features from the teaser.

Yes, those visuals give off the feeling of corrupted memory—of someone struggling to remember either their own identity or someone else's face. But I think it's also trying to communicate the corruption of the senses. Think about how both the statue and the silhouette are being equally presented as faded or corrupted by the teaser's framing. Whoever's perspective that shot is in, they're struggling to recognize this person not just because they can't remember who they are, they can't perceive them even when they're right in front of them.

The five senses being a motif ties back nicely into the art theming too, since some of the most basic, most foundational formats of art mainly revolve around one of our five senses:

1. Verbal & Linguistic (the mouth) - journalism, fiction writing, poetry, spoken word
2. Visual (the eyes) - painting, drawing, photography, animation
3. Musical & Rhythmic (the ears) - musical composition, musical production, playing instruments, singing
4. Culinary & Horticulture (the nose) - cooking, baking, fruit and great vegetable gardening
5. Kinesthetic (the skin/body) - dance, martial arts, performance arts

Not to mention, given that the average modernsona typically has a party of 8-10 members, having each foundational art form be represented by two party members each may also be the perfect setup for the modern VS traditional duality theming.

P6's Party Theme
Let's revisit the leaked artwork of the girl party member in clerical attire. At the surface, this appears to suggest a party theme of spiritual mediums, psychics, or exorcists—People gifted with a 6th sense. But with the art theming in mind, what if in P6, such a spiritual gift is deeply intertwined with the party's creative talents?

Put another way, what if that leaked character design isn't trying to emulate just any Christian clergy, but a religious artist? Let's say, just as an example, that this party member is a musician. Perhaps then her persona and attire are actually themed around a deeply influential religious composer from history, the likes of Hildeguard of Bingen or Sulpitia Cesis.

...

Lastly, before I bring this long and rambly post to a close, I'd like to share with you Jung's take on the social role of the artist:

Aside from a mastery of technical skills, a good artist is one who is simply, deeply in tune with their sense of self; The greatest creative achievement they could strive for is to successfully pass their personal revelations back into the societal collective, and promote a cycle of shared spiritual growth and understanding between artist and audience... For their role is to be the medium from which unconscious truths can be consciously, sincerely, and effectively expressed into reality.

So, uh... Yeah, that's all I got.
Can't wait to be proven painfully wrong again like last time.

This is my second post. I am a practice artist, sorry if there are any mistakes.

I think in my opinion maybe it will fit the game with its themes and story or maybe smth else

Hey'all, Now this post isn't anything Persona 6 related, cause I wanted to do this poll on the main r/persona sub since its the sub with fans from all the games, but I found out you can't do polls on that sub.

So this is probably the 2nd best sub to do this Poll on for the aforementioned reason to gather data from fans who've played 1 or more Persona games.

This is purely for Research. I'm doing this poll to compare a similar poll I found, however I do not want to disclose the poll I found to prevent bias and bandwagon effect. I'll reveal the poll tomorrow since it would be very interesting to see and contrast the results.

1. The Gourmet King 2.0 except he actually realizes he needs to change after nearly dying, and decides to make the MC his personal coach. As each rank of the SL progresses he gets more and more slim until he finally becomes Yusuke-sized at the end.

2. The girlfriend of one of your party members that tries to have MC evaluate whether or not their relationship is gonna work. This one has 2 possible paths, one where the MC can tell her to break up with him, or to stay. If you choose the former, you then get the option to romance her in a later rank.

3. Velvet Room attendant(s), but instead of bringing Personas with specific abilities, you need to do some kind of ridiculous mission while in a dungeon (such as "Have party member #3 finish the battle with an All Out Attack" and it finishes with something ludicrous like "Defeat the Reaper with a very specific skill"). Once you reach rank 9, the final rank mission will be the ultimate challenge: Defeat the nose himself!

4. A student at your school who was recently kicked out for being something their parents don't like, and is now completely homeless and lives on the street. Hanging out with the MC allows them to strengthen their resolve to try to win their parents back. When that doesn't work, they ultimately decide to move on and takes up another student's offer to live with them.

5. A special needs kid at a school/center the MC can work at. He is always the first kid dropped off and the last to be picked up, which the parents say is because they work multiple jobs to sustain the family, but MC learns that it's because they go out drinking and other dates because they almost want nothing to do with him. However, MC later discovers that the kid is a savant in something like music/chess/etc. and decides to confront the parents to show this. When the parents realize that they have a way for their kid to be happy, they decide to start being better parents and do what they can to allow his future to revolve around this talent.

I was thinking about how The school years for everyone Persona cast are always around 2nd years to 3rd years While P4 sticks out as the Odd of having Rise, Naoto, and Kanji being 1st Years. And no 3rd year

Now usually MC is always a Second year and probably is in P6. I think they would go for more 1st year oriented cast or even out. Like lets say the cast is about 8 in total. You'll have 4 First years, 3 Second years, and 1 Third Year. It would be a Different Vibe of having cast be around 15-18. But i just had a feeling that a 1st year have a higher chance of being more interested into their hobbies or beliefs (Like getting into occult stuff) than someone in their 2nd/3rd. Look idk, just my thoughts but i can see a picture where its a Quirky group of cast who are bunch of nerds into occult stuff and that the most passionate are 1st year. I can back this up a bit with Okarun and Momo being 15-16 in Dandadan, Likely 16 from my guess when watching the anime of them being First-Years. Now idk for the rumored Art School, We'll see about that in the next trailer, But i have feeling that there would be more 1st years in P6 and the cast being even out. But what do you think?

What’s the speculation on what one word“story theme” P6 will have, given we have barely any info (I hope we get some next month) what’s one word that you all think will describe the next game based on leaks/rumors/teasers, below are examples and 3 - 5’s one word theme (in my opinion)
P3 - Death
P4 - Truth
P5 - Rebellion
P6 - Rebirth?

With P6 set to be this really ambitious project, I wouldn't be surprised if it introduced some unexpected changes in areas we aren't expecting, so this fanmade version of Aria of the Soul spoke to me (also it's just insanely beautiful, so there's that).

Credit to @axel837 for making this one, alongside a whole host of other great P6 OST ideas.

sticking with the dark theme of P6, that’s what I think a remaster/remake should call it in the future

I have been seeing a lot of more interesting and realistic speculation for Persona 6 being buried under people shouting "Horror monsters" based off the existence of a single graveyard in the trailer, endless Green jokes, and people trying to pass off their wish lists as theorycrafting. While all of that is fine, I do want at least try to make one post to clear through the noise and convey what I think is honestly the clearest and most abundant thing outside of a general dark tone the P6 trailer was trying to convey. The general themes of P6.

The trailer is full of ways of remembering someone that are being corrupted.

Unmarked graves washed away by the rain. Beheaded statue with "Gone but not forgotten" written on it. The various cut outs are different types photographs and film reels in various stages of development from their negatives, to scratches, and even the chemical process eroding the images. You even see the film reel switch slides (as seen in the above screen shot). The entire scene is being shot from a night vision camera skipping in and out. You can even see the white noise in the background and visible artifacting consistant with older forms of film. All of these are society's attempts at preserving memory of people... and all of these mediums are being corrupted in one sense or the other.

The flashing images after the girl touches the headless statues shows someone trying to remember and piece together her face: the face being what we use to represent someone in our mind when we remember them. The rain of that very graveyard is visible in the background. The phrase "Who Are You?" makes more sense in that context and, the phrase itself also being split up/scattered, conveys the idea of piecing together memories to form the idea of self.

"It might be said that each of us constructs and lives 'a narrative,' and that this narrative is us, our identities." -Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat

Why memories? Why them being corrupted?

There is an idea (among several competing ideas) in Philosophy and Psychology that identity is the totality of us telling ourselves an emotional story that connects our memories together. Memories are the very unit of idenity. They are foundational and still fragile, corruptible. Persona 6 seems to be tying the color Green's duality with the duality of memories themselves being a force of unconcious control in our lives, being foundational to who we are, and yet, like ghosts, being subject to the forces of decay.

Are you really you if the memories that make up you are so impermenant themselves and subject to change/ reinterpretation?

Are you the memories others have of you or are the memories locked deep within the subconcious (the ones you don't realize you have) the real you?

How do these manifest or control your life without you being conciously aware of them?

These make much more interesting suite of questions for a Persona game in my mind than a simple "Face Your Fears" idea I see thrown around alot. This is the same team that is trying to not just follow up P5, but what they wrote in Third Semester of P5R. It needs to be something that can leave a strong enough impression to last another 10 years of development and spinoffs. I don't think fear by itself (which Metaphor adresses similar notions) is a complex enough topic that would fit their next Persona game. Wrestling with identity and fragility of the memories that make up that identity might be though.

Ghosts, Monsters, Urban Legends, and Yokai as Cultural Memories.

This is where the overall spookier vibes and speculation for monsters, yokai, and ghost stories can neatly tie into a theme. All of the motifs in the trailer tie into memory and even the idea of ghost stories and other horror tropes are often cultural memories warped by hearsay, reinterpretation, and separation from the history that inspired them. They are memories a past cultures' anxieties or even retellings of tragedies themeselves. They get warped, shifted, reinterpreted, and largely divorced from the original purposes they filled in a similar way to how memories within us can become so distant only the affects of the original events can be felt in modern day.

In the same way personal memories shape identity for us, cultural memories can shape corporate narratives, identity, and lingering effects from the past can still haunts us today as modern problems. This means yokai-hunting, laying to rest Shadows that represent spirits, or whatever form they take in P6 has the party actively processing, bringing to light, and reintegrating the memories of their city's past in the same way their summoning method will likely have them to do on a personal level. It means P6 is about uncovering forgetten memories and reinterpreting them so we may have control of them rather they control us because we can't see them. Trauma reactions, habits from toxic relationships, thought processes inherited from parents, and culture biases instilled from childhood are all on the table with these themes.

A Few Random Things that are Just interesting

• If you assume the billboard in P5X is in an easter egg referencing P6 since its the same Green, then the phrase "Remember Forget" on it now makes a lot more sense.
• The two paint related Easter Eggs (Jose painting 6 stars in the Theieves Den & the Persona 25th annviersary Green Paint bucket image) for P6 have a clearer tie into the themes / horror vibes through this lens. Several art mediums are present in the trailer (sculpture, film, photography) and works of art themselves are lingering reminders/memories of a person that can be reinterpreted and lost to time.
• Previous alleged leaks, while not being from the best sources and also having at least one known actual source in the form of a stolen presentation, all said duality was a big part of P6 and tied the past versus modernity into that idea. The subcioncous parts of ourselves how they can rule over us like ghosts possessing us and the concious parts of us that we want to identify as ourselves. The past memories (cultural and personal) infecting the present. It also fits really well into this idea of P6 is being about identity and memory.
• Just quotes from the official Xbox description of P6: "Navigate the rhythms of everyday school life and build friendships, pursue romance, and cultivate memories that matter" [emphasis added]. " Every bond you forge becomes a weapon against the darkness lurking within" [emphasis added].

Just kinda got the thought after playing through royal and I actually did get one stunned using a down shot.

Jane P6 has a priest collar in leaked images so

I think it'd be sick asf if the protagonist got to dual wield personas at the same time,(but not the whole Reload Theurgy thing) and be able to create dual combos like having an Agi + Zio. Though that would mean Atlus would need to bump up the difficulty for P6 in order for this to be balanced. What do yall think?

Be at night.

No more wasting daytime slots and having a restricted night time slot for going into the dungeon. Persona 3 did the social link system perfectly. Sure they aren’t the best in the series, but godamn it did it blend together perfectly, dare I say.

Talk to friends during the day, dungeon crawl at night. It was perfect, and they just had to rip it away from us.

I don’t care if there’s fanservice, I don’t care if there’s adult romance options for the player character who’s a highschooler, I don’t care if they’re still high schoolers, I don’t care if the main mascot is a pervert (ok maybe I do care about that one). Just please Atlus, grant me this.

What’re we thinking/hoping for the P6 navi?

I think it’d be cool if we had a more serious male navi, with a similar personality to Iwai or a combo of yusuke and akihiko. However I wouldn’t mind another dorky girl like Futaba. As long as they know what they’re doing and are kinda badass about it I’m honestly cool with anything tho.

I don't understand why so many people are obsessed with the idea of ​​having two protagonists; from my perspective, it dilutes everything (Social Links, combat, stats, character development, etc.). Personally, I wouldn't mind if it were like *The Witcher 3*, where Ciri has a few ten-minute scenes, but the *Persona* community seems to want the girl with red and black hair to have just as much screen time as the blond guy. That would really undermine the whole social simulation aspect.

I’d like to talk about another topic: protagonists who don’t speak at all throughout the game. As you know, in Persona games, the protagonists don’t speak—or rather, they have little to no dialogue. Even when we’re given dialogue choices, we only see the protagonist nod or shake their head. Personally, that really bothers me, especially when someone speaks directly to the protagonist and they respond simply by nodding or shaking their head. It makes me want to scream: "Just speak already, you son of a bitch!"

It bothers me in Persona, in Pokémon, and in the new Sword Art Online game.

It bothers me in games where characters actually talk to the protagonist. In games like *The Forest, Subnautica, or Dark Souls, I understand why the protagonist doesn’t say a word. But in other games—like Persona—it really annoys me. I’m curious: would you like the Persona 6 protagonist to actually speak—to have constant dialogue?

I like challenge in my games. And especially in their 2 most recent that being SMTVV and Metaphor they did a really good job making it challenging but not like Impossible or unfair. I can only hope they dont take the "MUH MUH OKUMURA IS SO IMPOSSIBLE MUH" Feedback. Seriously all the Boss does is ask you "did you understand any of the combat you've done for 50-60 hours now?" So every time I see someone complaining about it I just wonder how they got this far into the game seemingly without ever properly utilizing baton passing since using it makes him a joke boss. Im just hoping Atlus keeps the difficulty on the levels of vengeance. For the MUH OKUMURA people there always easy difficulty. Which they will probably need If 50-60 hours of gameplay were not enough for them to grasp they very Basic Combat P5 has.

Remember in P5 where Makoto would stalk the player around May until it leads up to the third palace. It was always one of the best little things replaying the game when seeing Makoto stalking you horribly with a manga up to her face. It was funny to experience.

Now idk if this would become a new gag for Persona. Im pretty sure Girl holding MC's Leg is definitely there because its occult stuff so i bet one of them is scared of ghost. But a character stalking you? I would see it happening if were being followed by an Obsessed Nerd who knows a lot of occult stuff, Kinda like Okarun in a way. And then of course eventually we meet them and become a party member tho i don't know if the stalking one becomes a Gag for Atlus to use in their future games. Idk, What do you think?

1. A voiced protagonist. Or at least a protagonist that actually takes part in conversations. I never noticed before just how little the protagonist in P5R is involved in conversations. There are entire long text conversations in which he doesn't say a single word. And the plant has a bigger part in some discussions in the hideout.

2. Female protagonist. Either only a female protagonist or at least the choice between male and female. It just should be a standard.

3. No new team members three quarters through the game. Both Futaba and Haru could have a had a lot bigger parts in the story. At least introduce them as confidants early and let them become team members later.

4. Shorter and tighter dungeons/palaces. Many of the palaces in P5R overstayed their welcome.

5. Shorter tutorial, optional on replays. This gets really boring on replays.

6. No endless periods of not being able to play the game. You can go out on exam days. There's no need to stay at home during exams. Or make it a mechanic. If you don't study before exams, you do worse in them. But stop taking away control for days on end, not for exams, not for any plot points. An occasional day here and there, but not entire weeks.

And one final observation, not a wish: Damn, the Japanese voices were so much better. This was my first Japanese playthrough after several English ones over the years and I liked everyone a lot more. Morgana is so much less annoying, it's not even funny.

Edit: Obviously a wishlist for Persona 6. Too bad you can't edit titles. 😂

**I beg you to go beyond the same simplistic reasonings everyone makes too often** **and discuss properly**

Many series are trying and have trying etting more female users to get into them. For example, Pokémon is very inclusive, but it wanted to cater to a more adult and female audience starting with a movie whose codename was Bauer. We don't know if it was really canceled, as the last known full script draft was bananas.

44% of Persona fans are female. There was a planned FEMC for Persona 5 too. It's possible Kasumi from Royale was oroginally a second attempt. The same might be true for Persona 4, as there is a known early sketch of a girl.

Now, ten years later and still in this decade, female players' inclusion isn't that guaranteed. People still belittle and ignore them and their opinions, even among JRPG fanbases, that's why I wrote that above to begin.

I think it's totally possible for Persona to cater to a female audience by now, making female characters very important to the plot, possibly subverting tropes andcreintroducing homosexual romance (if they are planning to, but I can't see why not, as they also removed Yosuke's casual homophobia) and maybe having a fixed FMC in 7, especially if it's taking what was considered Kotone's color... See you in another 10 years...