Go beyond the target audience
This is not the first time that Katsura Hashino has spoken out about a need for evolution regarding the JRPG genre. A few weeks ago, he spoke of seeing the genre heading towards a second transformation, after that experienced in the years 2000-2010. At Game Informer, he returns more specifically to the future of JRPGs made in Atlus, indicating that the future of the studio will be motivated by the ambition to develop its games :
“ Rather than sticking to a specific game genre, we’re looking at how to evolve our JRPGs and what they look like. We are reaching a decisive turning point: we truly want to take a new step in the evolution of our JRPGs. »
While he obviously does not want to sacrifice anything in this transformation, insisting on the importance of storytelling and the elements so characteristic of Atlus games, it underlines the desire to seek out a new audience by making certain productions more accessible :
“ Faced with market developments, we feel the need to modernize our format and create games that are more accessible to a wider audience, not just those accustomed to the JRPG genre. It is with this in mind that we wish to adapt our format. »
We can see a first step in this direction with Metaphor ReFantaziowhich uses the formula Persona by making it a little less heavy and therefore perhaps more digestible, which undoubtedly made it possible to attract newbies (without counting on the attraction of a whole new universe). These recent declarations seem in any case to prepare the ground for Persona 6which might be more “accessible” than its predecessors, whatever that means.