Revamping Persona 6's Confidants for a More Meaningful Social Experience

To ensure a successful follow-up to Persona 5, Persona 6 must address the issues with its Confidant system. While the system was a clever advancement from the Social Links of previous games, there were some imperfections that could have been improved upon, even with the rerelease. The Confidants were certainly a highlight, offering players bonus perks and empowering their Personas in unique ways. However, there were some Confidants that felt underdeveloped and lacking in benefits. Persona 6 must strive to avoid repeating this misstep by ensuring that each Confidant is fully fleshed out and offers meaningful rewards to players. Ultimately, the success of Persona 6 will depend on its ability to build upon the strengths of its predecessor while addressing any areas in need of improvement.

Persona 6's Automatic Social Links or Confidants Should Mean Something

In contrast to the majority of Persona 5's cast, Sae Niijima and Goro Akechi stand out as crucial characters in the game's overarching narrative. Sae serves as both Makoto's sister and an integral part of the game's framing device, while Akechi is a former party member and represents the Justice Confidant. Interestingly, both characters' Confidant paths level up automatically as the story progresses. However, despite their importance, these Confidants offer no tangible benefits, with Justice only occasionally revealing enemy affinities in Royal and Judgment serving as nothing more than a glorified event flag.

While there may be some reasoning behind this design choice, such as Akechi's brief stint as a party member and the ease with which the Confidants are unlocked, it still feels like a missed opportunity for the developers to offer some sort of reward or benefit for engaging with these Confidants. As it stands, Judgment and Justice feel like Confidants in name only, lacking the depth and value of their counterparts.

Persona 6's Confidants could be rewarded in ways that feel balanced and meaningful. For example, story-linked Confidants could offer minor passive bonuses like increased enemy drop rates or discounts on Persona summoning, without being overpowered. Another option is to treat certain unlockable features, such as new shops or areas to explore, as rewards for leveling up Confidants. Although this approach may seem contrived, it's better than having no bonuses at all until the endgame. Morgana has already demonstrated that automatic Confidants can be useful without being overpowered. Persona 6 has the opportunity to make social links and Confidants more meaningful by finding a way to balance their rewards. These connections often represent important relationships, as seen in Persona 3 and Persona 4 where they represented the party as a whole. Therefore, it's essential to ensure that they're worthwhile. Persona 6 should strive to avoid the missteps made by Persona 5's automatic Confidants and make them feel more important.