Highlights
- Persona 6 could take inspiration from Baldur’s Gate 3’s party members, particularly Astarion, to introduce new and unique characters to its roster.
- Persona games usually introduce party members later in the story, while Baldur’s Gate 3 introduces them early, allowing for more party combinations and strategies.
- Persona 6 could benefit from including a morally ambiguous rogue-like character who starts off standoffish and gradually develops a better personality, similar to Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Persona 6‘s eventual roster could feature a bit of inspiration from one of Baldur’s Gate 3‘s own party members. The Persona games have experimented a lot with the types of characters seen in the party, and Persona 6 will need to come up with interesting new ideas. Baldur’s Gate 3 has such a diverse selection of party members that embody so many archetypes that it’s an easy game to look to for inspiration. However, one character in particular stands out in this regard, that being Astarion, as he sets an example that could lead to a new kind of Persona 6 party member.
The way that party members are introduced in Persona games has been consistent since Persona 3. The party gets filled out over the course of the story, with the final member typically joining only a short time before endgame approaches. Baldur’s Gate 3, on the other hand, introduces most of its prominent party members over the course of the first act, giving the player access to many party combinations fairly early. Despite this difference in pace, both games reliably provide a lot of variety for players to mix and match their party, allowing for an array of strategies for tackling different dungeons and bosses.
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Persona 6 Could Feature a Party Member in the Vein of Baldur’s Gate 3’s Astarion
Astarion Is a Morally Ambiguous Companion in Baldur’s Gate 3
One character that drew a lot of players’ attention was Baldur’s Gate 3‘s vampiric companion Astarion. He’s particularly notable among the game’s cast for being one of the most unscupulous members of the party. He’s open about his negative qualities, and is one of the party members with the fewest qualms about violence, underhandedness, and cruelty. However, he isn’t truly evil at heart, and he does grow a fondness for the party eventually, especially the player character if romanced. That gives Astarion a unique dynamic with the rest of Baldur’s Gate 3‘s party, and it’s one that the Persona series has yet to replicate.
Minthara is another shady recruitable character in Baldur’s Gate 3, but until a recent patch, recruiting her made several other party members inaccessible.
Persona 6 Could Use its Own Rogue in the Party
This kind of character concept could be one of the best options for a new kind of party member in Persona 6. It would create a new dynamic between party members. Maybe they could be someone who was cynical about the idea of the adventure from the start, or a straight-up criminal character who’s only working with the protagonists out of convenience. It would be interesting to see a character start as aloof and standoffish before slowly starting to awaken the better sides of their personality during the game. There’s a lot of potential for such a character to become as fascinating as Astarion was.
An Astarion Figure Could Be a Step Forward for Persona
The concept of party members with antagonistic features isn’t entirely alien to the Persona series. The best-known example would be Persona 5‘s Goro Akechi, who betrayed the party after working with them for a short time. The Persona 2 duology also featured Jun and Ulala, who both ended up having a connection to the villains, although they still remained heroic afterwards. Persona hasn’t yet tackled the concept of a party member who starts unpleasant and gradually lightens up. Astarion already showed that such an idea can work, and Persona 6 could try to recreate that success with a roguish character of its own.
Astarion was a memorable part of Baldur’s Gate 3 for his charm and interesting backstory, and his formula is one that Persona 6 could follow. It would shake up Persona 6‘s story to have such a character in the narrative, especially if they debut early in the game, much like Astarion himself. The series needs to find new stories to tell, and a subplot with a shady party member could do the trick. Persona 6 could find success with its own version of Astarion.
