Persona series

[No_not_like_Quake]

I recently bought Persona 3 FES and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I originally thought the Japanese High School simulation aspect would be daft but it works well and I appreciate the nuances in the combat side of things. How are the other games in the series? Thinking of getting Persona 2 vanilla off of PSN. Worth it?

[soprano1]

I recently bought Persona 3 FES and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I originally thought the Japanese High School simulation aspect would be daft but it works well and I appreciate the nuances in the combat side of things. How are the other games in the series? Thinking of getting Persona 2 vanilla off of PSN. Worth it?

Yes, but it's pretty different from 3 and 4, fyi.

[Nana]

I love the first two Persona games (three if you count both halves of Persona 2), but P3 and P4 are a huge turnoff for me. The dating/school sim itself I can live with, since it's entertaining and the writing is character-focused. I really enjoyed my first 10-20 hours with P3. But goddamn, the gameplay itself just kills me. Not that it's difficult and I actually die, just that it's so monotonous and boring that I can't stand it. It's such a shame, too, because the other SMT games demonstrate that the devs know exactly what they're doing when it comes to good dungeon designs.

I played like 100 hours of P3 before dropping it right before the final boss. Never picked it up again.

[CMoon]

I appreciate the nuances in the combat side of things.

If you haven't played the other titles from the SMT series, you might consider it. There are a huge number of other available titles that have none of the Japanese high school sim and all of the dungeon exploration/RPG elements. There's even an SRPG spin-off if you want to go that direction. There is an 'all things SMT' thread if you want to dig that up.

To answer your original question, I think Persona 3 & 4 are most like each other. Persona 1 & 2 are much more like the core SMT series from my understanding.

[BryanM]

The first three have awkward combat interfaces and some annoying demon chatting (especially if you're as ocd as me). 3 and 4 are more straight forward jRPGs with flashy jpop music videos, and I assume 5 will continue the trend.

Q would be a good Etrian Odyssey clone as long as they have skill trees.

Koro's trailer for those who need hype.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I'd say Persona 2: Innocent Sin is a more typical jRPG (for its time and age) than Persona 3 FES.

[No_not_like_Quake]

I appreciate the nuances in the combat side of things.

If you haven't played the other titles from the SMT series, you might consider it. There are a huge number of other available titles that have none of the Japanese high school sim and all of the dungeon exploration/RPG elements. There's even an SRPG spin-off if you want to go that direction. There is an 'all things SMT' thread if you want to dig that up.

To answer your original question, I think Persona 3 & 4 are most like each other. Persona 1 & 2 are much more like the core SMT series from my understanding.

Yeah, I have been interested in SMT series for awhile but haven't delved into them yet. I think I'm going to jump into Persona 2 and see where to go from there. It's pretty cool finding a new (old ) rpg series to get into.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

[xorthen]

P3 and 4 are way better than 1 or 2 by light years. The originals are meh. Not bad, not amazing either.

[Pretas]

I'd say Persona 2: Innocent Sin is a more typical jRPG (for its time and age) than Persona 3 FES.

Not so with Eternal Punishment. It's one of the rare JRPGs where the story is told from a distinctly adult perspective, rather than that of a child or adolescent. This is why I hold it in higher regard than Innocent Sin.

[cj iwakura]

I'd say Persona 2: Innocent Sin is a more typical jRPG (for its time and age) than Persona 3 FES.

Not so with Eternal Punishment. It's one of the rare JRPGs where the story is told from a distinctly adult perspective, rather than that of a child or adolescent. This is why I hold it in higher regard than Innocent Sin.

I started with EP, so I'm biased, but that's how I feel. It's also easily the hardest in the series(admittedly not saying much). Always saddens me how they're practically reviled by the newer fans. They were considered masterworks back then. Niche, but essential.

[alamone]

I tried to play Persona 1 remake, with only an English dub, long drawn out battles, and unappealing character art, I stopped playing after maybe an hour...
If anything I'd probably rather play the Soul Hackers remake as it looks like they sped up movement and combat quite a bit.

[cj iwakura]

I tried to play Persona 1 remake, with only an English dub, long drawn out battles, and unappealing character art, I stopped playing after maybe an hour...
If anything I'd probably rather play the Soul Hackers remake as it looks like they sped up movement and combat quite a bit.

P1 is... yeah, rough. SH is amazing though.

[BryanM]

For the zeroty people here into it, it's been observed that Persona Q may feature even more new characters. The rumor I'm starting here is it has a couple Persona 5 guys in it.

Maybe a guy back from Persona Classic as a way out of left field.

[Blinge]

I played like 100 hours of P3 before dropping it right before the final boss. Never picked it up again.

This very nearly happened to me. I think the game kinda lulls you into thinking it won't be a total grind but it really is. Stuff that really starts to grate after a while is the amount of loading screens, loading between tiny areas, the slow menus, inability to save for huge set-piece portions of the game. WAY too much dialogue, there are scenes where you've got the point after a few lines but it'll carry on for another 10 minutes of standard anime fare "HUH?!? HUH"??!" and saying each others names ad nauseum.

The persona fusing aspect was utterly lost on me because it was so unintuitive and took forever, so much heavy menu-ing. Maybe i'm not enough of a hardcore RPG player but I swear you'd have to memorise gamefaqs just to get a decent persona loadout, so I ended up fusing as little as I could manage. As a result I was pretty underpowered for the final boss, so my first attempt took an hour before I finally died..

In spite of all this I still liked the game, which is infuriating in its own way!
...It's only a matter of time before I pick 4 up

[cj iwakura]

For the zeroty people here into it, it's been observed that Persona Q may feature even more new characters. The rumor I'm starting here is it has a couple Persona 5 guys in it.

Maybe a guy back from Persona Classic as a way out of left field.

I'd enjoy that, although for some reason I'm not that hyped for PQ. Maybe it's the art style.

[iconoclast]

I'm pretty hyped for Persona Q. The only downside for me is the fact that Ken's in it.

[Moniker]

I played like 100 hours of P3 before dropping it right before the final boss. Never picked it up again.

This is my story with just about every SMT game. I'm pretty sure I played Devil Survivor all the way through, although the fact that I'm not sure indicates my heart wasn't in it by the end. Still vastly enjoy the games, but they just go on too long. At the end I end up losing ~30 mins of progress for some reason or another, and am so demotivated I don't finish them. Similar story for many JRPGs and RPGs in general, I sappose.

[Doctor Butler]

The Persona games are sublime. The only RPGs I've ever played for more than an hour.

[Blinge]

sub·lime (sə-blīm′)
adj.
1. Characterized by nobility; majestic.
2.
a. Of high spiritual, moral, or intellectual worth.
b. Not to be excelled; supreme.
3. Inspiring awe; impressive.

[cj iwakura]

I'm pretty hyped for Persona Q. The only downside for me is the fact that Ken's in it.

You must be ecstatic over P4A2.