One of the most iconic elements of the Persona series is the Velvet Room, where players can visit Igor and his attendants to perform Persona fusions and access their compendium. With Persona 6 set to follow in the footsteps of hit games like Persona 5 Royal and Persona 3 Reload, players can be sure that the Velvet Room will return. However, if Persona 6 wants to surpass the heights of its predecessors, it will need to make some changes to the Velvet Room's design in order to help it stand out both visually and mechanically.
While nothing about the game has been officially announced, rumors suggest Persona 6 will adopt a green aesthetic and will feature two main protagonists. If these rumors are true, Persona 6 could potentially be a big departure from past entries in the franchise, opening the door for the game to feature more creative designs for other classic elements. As such, it's possible the Velvet Room could see a major overhaul from its past appearances, which would do wonders to help this core part of the Persona series exceed previous iterations.
Why Persona 1 and 2 Remakes Could Be a Big Deal for Persona 6
The success of Persona 3's remake has paved the way for the first two games in the series to do the same, and Persona 6 can capitalize on this.
Persona 6's Velvet Room Needs to Get Creative With its Design
The Velvet Room has been around from the start, first appearing in the original Persona as a small room featuring three residents: Igor, Nameless, and Belladonna. In the Persona 2 duology, the Velvet Room takes on a similar appearance but adds the Demon Painter as another resident and servant of Philemon. Although the Velvet Room takes on a fairly simplistic look in these titles, it gets a huge makeover in Persona 3 to coincide with the rest of the changes this entry made to the franchise, now appearing as an elevator with only the residents of Igor and his attendant Elizabeth, or Theo in Persona 3 Portable, flanking him.
Persona 4's iteration of the Velvet Room has players find themselves in the back of a limousine where Igor and his attendant Margaret are found. Persona 5 shakes up the Velvet Room's design quite a bit by imprisoning the player in a jail cell with Igor's twin warden attendants Caroline and Justine assisting him. One of the Velvet Room's most recent incarnations comes in Persona 5 Tactica, where Igor is no longer found, and Persona 5's true attendant Lavenza assists players and eventually transforms the Velvet Room into a flying train, which will be hard for Persona 6 to top aesthetically.
How Persona 6's Velvet Room Can Top Past Entries
It might be tough for Persona 6 to beat Persona 5 Tactica's flying train Velvet Room, but there are some ways it could make its version stand out both aesthetically and mechanically. With Persona 6's rumored green color theme potentially implying the game will have a greater focus on nature, having the Velvet Room take on a more subdued or tranquil appearance such as a cabin may not be as out there as a flying train, but it could still be visually beautiful and fit within the game's theme. Another option would be for the Velvet Room to go in the opposite direction and appear as something futuristic like a space station.
If the Persona 6 rumor about the game having two protagonists is true, perhaps the Velvet Room will take on the form of another vehicle like in Persona 4 and have the new function of allowing players to switch between playable characters by using the Velvet Room as a method of transportation between the two. In this case, something like a ship or a plane could make sense for the Velvet Room to signify that the player is traveling between the protagonists' consciousnesses. Going this route with the Velvet Room's design can help Persona 6 create an experience on par with some of the series' best iterations of the mechanic.
Persona 3 Reload
- Released
- February 2, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17 / Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- P-Studio
- Franchise
- Persona
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
- Genre(s)
- JRPG, RPG, Life Simulation, Strategy
- How Long To Beat
- 65 hours
