It’s no secret thatPersona 5is a massively popular game for Atlus, so it makes sense that it would receive several spin-off titles, including the recently announcedPersona 5 Tactica. While these spin-offs are great for fans of the original game and can help tide them over untilPersona 6releases, the number of spin-offs being introduced calls into question the canon of thePersona 5timeline.Persona 5 Tacticawill be the seventh game in the subseries, which means Atlus will have a hard time maintaining a consistent canonPersona 5timeline for much longer.
Aside from the initial release ofPersona 5, the other titles to consider for the canon of the timeline arePersona 5 Royal,Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight,Persona 5 Strikers,Persona Q2,Persona 5: The Phantom X, and nowPersona 5 Tactica. While some games are decisively canon to the timeline, others have a debatable status given their seemingly contradictory nature. As such, the more spin-off titles released in thePersona 5timeline, the more convoluted the canon is going to get, meaning at some point Atlus is going to need to tone down the spin-off releases.
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The Persona 5 Canon is Already a Mess Prior to Persona 5 Tactica
When it comes to the canon of thePersona 5timeline, there are a lot of factors to consider that make it difficult to determine which entries fit into the normal canon of the series and which are non-canonical or exist outside the main timeline. A major factor is the nature of thePersonaseries following an in-game calendar cycle, clearly setting a timeline in which the game’s events occur. The entirety of the originalPersona 5game takes place over the course of nearly a year, with the game beginning in April and ending in the following March.
Despite changing the canon a bit to add new characters like Kasumi Yoshizawa and Takuto Maruki, as well as a new semester,Persona 5 Royalstill follows this basic timeline, only changing what occurs during the later months of the game. Things get a bit more convoluted when trying to fit the otherPersona 5spin-offsinto this timeline as some games likePersona Q2take place during the course of the mainPersona 5game, specifically during the game’s casino arc, whereasPersona 5: Dancing in Starlighttakes place after the mainPersona 5story wraps up, but before Joker leaves the gang.
Persona 5 Strikersthen takes place the following summer. Already there are some issues that call this timeline into question, mainly that certain characters don’t appear in games where they theoretically should if all the games follow one canon timeline. IfPersona 5 Royalis the canon gamethat all other spin-offs are beholden to, then it is strange that Yoshizawa doesn’t appear inPersona 5: Dancing in StarlightandPersona 5 Strikers, which take place after she would have joined the Phantom Thieves.
There is also the question of why, if the events ofPersona Q2occur during the course of the main game, are they never discussed by the cast, suggesting they actually take place in some non-canonical time outside the main timeline. It’s still too early to tell whenPersona 5: The Phantom XandPersona 5 Tacticawill take place on the timeline, though clues suggest thatPersona 5 Tacticacould take place in an offshoot timeline similar toPersona Q2.
One telltale sign ofPersona 5 Tactica’s placement in the canon is whether it features characters like Yoshizawa or Zenkichi, who joined the Phantom Thieves inPersona 5 Strikers.WhileYoshizawa is rumored to be a DLC character, Zenkichi has not been seen in any trailer, suggestingPersona 5 Tacticacould take place during the course ofPersona 5 Strikersprior to him joining the gang.
Persona 5 Tacticawill launch on November 17 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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