Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio creator wants to create “JRPG 3.0”, so what does that mean for Persona 6?

Katsura Hashino, director of Metaphor: ReFantazio and the Persona games at Atlus, wants to create “JRPG 3.0” as the next evolutionary step of the genre.

Hashino spoke at Korean gaming conference G-Star 2025 earlier this month, which was reported by 4gamer (and translated by Games Radar). He separated JRPGs into three eras: 1.0 being those of the past, 2.0 being those of the present generation, and 3.0 being those of the future.

JRPG 1.0, said Hashino, are the “true classics”, and while he didn’t name any specific examples, the likes of the original Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games are likely implied. Then, the genre evolved into 2.0 with “its current style, which feels higher quality due to how much more responsive they are to the player.”

As for JRPG 3.0, Hashino didn’t provide any explicit details, but said he believes “there will be a greater dimension to these games and they’ll change the genre’s structure and presentation at a fundamental level”.

It begs the question: what does this mean for Persona 6?

Atlus has been recently looking more to the past for inspiration. Last year, the studio released Persona 3: Reload, a remake of the series’ popular third entry, while a remake of Persona 4 is currently in development.

Then there’s Metaphor: ReFantazio. Yes, it was the start of a brand new franchise for Atlus, but Hashino described it as a “culmination of our RPGs” marking the 35th anniversary of the company. It fits firmly into Hashino’s “JRPG 2.0” definition, with its narrative structure and turn-based combat perfecting what Atlus had achieved with its previous games.

That’s not to say the company hasn’t experimented. 2016’s Persona 5 proved so popular it spawned multiple spin-offs, namely Persona 5: Strikers and Persona 5: Tactica, both of which had different battle systems. There’s also Persona 5: The Phantom X, which brought the series to mobile.

Still, it’s unclear how Persona 6 will evolve the series’ formula. Very little is known about the game, though it’s been officially mentioned by Atlus on a couple of occasions. In a job listing interview in 2021, Atlus director Naoto Hiroaka stated the studio will “have to create a 6 which exceeds 5. However, exceeding 5 will be difficult with the current staff” (thanks Games Radar).

More recently, Persona 6 was included in a fan survey on the future of the series back in October, the first time it’s been officially mentioned by name (thanks The Gamer). Let’s hope that’s a sign news is coming.

And while Persona 3: Reload introduced improved elements taken from Persona 5 (and presumably, the Persona 4 remake will do the same), I’m personally hopeful Persona 6 may go further and step away from formulaic conventions like The Velvet Room and stereotypical characters.

What’s particularly interesting for the genre is the success this year of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which follows typical genre conventions of Japanese RPGs but was made by a French studio. It’s been widely praised for its turn-based combat, which includes action prompts – expanding on elements of Super Mario RPG, Lost Odyssey, and Legend of Dragoon.

Creator Guillaume Broche had intended to create a “big realistic” AAA turn-based game, which arguably hadn’t been seen since Xbox 360 exclusive Lost Odyssey.

“It was very overwhelming,” Broche told Eurogamer on the attention the game has received. “I was expecting turn-based fans to stand up and say ‘oh this looks cool’, but I wasn’t expecting this community to be that excited actually. It’s like we awakened a sleeping dragon.”

At the very least, Expedition 33 has heightened interest in turn-based Japanese RPG-style games. No matter how Atlus evolves the genre with Persona 6, the future of JRPGs is looking bright.