Topic: Persona 5

I'm not sure how I feel about Royal's extra semester. I love Persona, and I'm firmly in the camp that isn't bothered that the games are like a billion hours long, but Persona 4 Golden handled the extra content much better than Royal, I think. In Golden, they slip the extra dungeon in before the end and it feels like it belongs, whereas in Royal it's like PHEW JUST SAVED THE WORLD FROM THE BIGGEST THREAT POSSIBLY IMAGINABoh no here comes another baddie.

If I had to recommend one of the two I'd still say Royal for the extra stuff and the extra time you get to do things, but I do wish the new semester was more organically involved. Like if they'd moved the old end dungeon to the end of the new semester and put the new one in before it. Or something. I don't know.

Why on earth they made october such an annoying thing? An entire month of talking and chatting... Looks like I'll never have Maruki maxed before he leaves, so no 3rd semester... 😤

@andreoni79 before he leaves, he will be available for 16 days straight so don’t sweat it

@johncalmc As someone who failed to find the new dungeon in persona 4 I disagree. I expect it to just happen and it just didn’t.

@ZeroOverOne I really hope I can go from lvl 6 to 9 during the next weeks (I'm on the Casino now, 10/29).
@KratosMD The game told me Maruki would leave in november once I beat the fifth palace, but since then I had no chance of meet him because of forced events...

@Ryall Royal is the same though. Unless you fulfill certain criteria you miss out on the final dungeon. And the criteria is basically the same as it was in P4G as I recall.

@johncalmc I guess the difference for me is that I went into persona 4 golden expecting it to work in the same way as persona 3FES. Where as I went into persona five Royal knowing I need to meet a condition and therefore looked it up before I started.

I’m having a really good time with P5 the past few weeks. I am playing the base version, because that’s what I started a couple years ago when it first released and I had an unfinished playthrough that I jumped back into. I had fallen away from it sometime in July (the in-game July, that is) between the 3rd and 4th palace. I think maybe the 3rd palace put me off a little bit, but I just cleared the 4th one and it was really good. The main characters and confidants that you get to know are all so well done. Such a variety.

I think that’s one thing that Japanese games do probably better than Western games — that is creating diverse characters, as far as personality, background, and even fashion sense. Sure, there are a lot of overused tropes too — nerdy computer whiz, bumbling underachiever, overbearing aristocrat, etc. but there is a lot more experimentation with quirky character combos. I think Western developers favor having characters which are more grounded in reality and believable. As a result we get variations of the same themes. Usually a militant protagonist with a tragic background or a coming of age individual with a lot of self doubt but untapped powers. That kind of thing. And don’t get me wrong, I very much enjoy the Joels, Aloys, Cal Kestises, Peter Parkers, Lara Crofts, Arthur Morgans, and Kratoses of the gaming world. And the Japanese protagonists also have similar types of makeup. But especially in the supporting characters, companions, NPCs, and enemies, there are more variety in Japanese games. It’s amazing in Persona 5 that I can get to know a politician, a fortune teller, an artist, a shogi player, a teacher.... etc, etc. And each one is fleshed out with substantial background and personality. And the anime style visuals force the developers to get very creative with art style and presentation of each character so as to keep them all unique.

Anyways, I didn’t intend to drone on this way, but I think my favorite part of the game is getting to know and meet all the different characters.

I’ve made it into September. Still enjoying it quite a lot. I’m running into obstacles with progressing confidants because I lack certain characteristic levels. Other than that minor frustration, I enjoy the open ended social aspects. Nevertheless, I’m excited to see what the next palace might be.

@Th3solution
Glad you're enjoying it, it is a lot of fun. Did you ever play P4 Golden on the Vita? Definitely worth a go, if you're loving this.

@LieutenantFatman Yeah, I did. I had a very similar experience with P4G as I’ve had with P5 — That is, I started it and made it about half way through and abandoned it for a year or two until I recaptured the interest again and finished it later. I really enjoyed it too and have fond memories of it. I think I liked the characters even more and the storyline, but it’s hard to say. The overall polish of P5 is leagues better. But in P4G I don’t seem to recall the attributes limiting your social links quite as much, but I could be wrong.

@Th3solution
Yes, I did prefer the narrative and characters in P4G but you're right, the polish of P5 is definitely leagues better and the combat is improved as well.

P5's story is probably the most predictable and weakest of the modern Persona games but its gameplay steps all over P4G and P3, not even to mention the presentation and art direction

I just feel none of the villains until Maruki really topped how imposing and slimy Kamoshida was

Also Shadow Kaneshiro looks like Baxter Stockman in his fly form and I couldn't unsee it since I first played P5

The story is just alright, but yeah, everything else is so improved in P5/Royal. I was thinking about that the other day: my nephew and I were running around the at times labyrinthine bank dungeon leading up to Kaneshiro, and I recalled how all the dungeons in P4G were these weak-ass hallways.

It's not too often I play further into a game because I'm so invested in the story. That was the case with Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but otherwise, I rarely get that into the narratives of the games I play.

@Ralizah Persona 4’s dungeons are almost laughably simplistic in their design. At least they all have absolute bangers for dungeon tracks though, the bathhouse and strip club themes totally got me through.

I played Persona 4 Golden on my PlayStation TV a few years back, but I regrettably traded in the game and console before I finished it. I had high hopes of a PS4 release after seeing there was a recent PC version, but nope! I might pick up another PlayStation TV just to so I can play and finish it.

@Ralizah Yeah, P5’s story is good enough, just. And actually, it would be much better if it didn’t crawl forward at a snail’s pace. I understand the basic premise of using each segment of the day to do non-story related social activities is going to put a hard limit on how fast the main story can be advanced, but it seems like it could be done a little better. For example I’m currently playing through September and the whole Futaba joining the team storyline dragged on and on. I think the base idea is a great one — a tragic girl living with the guilt of her mother’s death has become a recluse and lost all social interaction skills. But then the process to acclimate her to the team took a couple weeks of in game time as she did various activities strung out until we get to the beach trip. That could have been consolidated into a couple narrative sessions rather than ten. The same applies to just about every story beat — it has to be hammered as infinitum until it actually resolves and pushes forward.

There is so much repetition of things like the Medjed situation and the rise in popularity of the Phantom Thieves that it becomes tiresome to read all the text and hand-wringing the characters have over and over until something is done about said conflict. Everytime I get a group text or talk to Morgana bugging me to go to Mementos or to meet up with the group it just grates.
Couple that with the slow pace that the confidant stories progress (which would be fine except, depending on your approach, it take months of in game time to get through a simple 10 part storyline) and it makes for glacial storytelling.

I sound really harsh there, because I adore the Persona games, but the gameplay loop definitely puts a hamper on the execution of the story.

It’s interesting, because as you rarely get into the narratives and yet me I think I have become more dependent on having a strong narrative in my games. It’s what seems to push me forward in a lot of games. Of course, my favorite games have gotta have both — gameplay and good storytelling.

@TraCuz-
Saw your other post and fortunately... ta-da!... we have a P5 thread 😄

What are you liking about the game?

@Th3solution I am just completely in love with this game. It's funny because I always heard about how great it was but never thought it was my style of game. I started doing my research and found out from some other diehard fans that P5: Royal was the definitive way to play the game. I'm glad for the PS Plus collection exposing me to it. I told myself if I enjoy the first 30min I'll buy Royal. I don't regret it in the slightest.

Obviously the art direction and stylish nature of the game stand out first, Morgana makes me smile all the time haha. Just all the deep mechanics man, the social stats, confidants, personas and all the different ways you can go about working on them. The soundtrack... I actually listen to it on a daily. The first time I went into the Velvet room and heard the song.. Both my controller and my jaw dropped. I recently just had that moment again when I went to the Jazz club with Akechi.

Everyone's story is just so touching, with Futaba's Palace hitting the hardest. Speaking on palaces for some reason I feel like I'm playing an episode of Scooby-Doo in Peach's castle in Mario 64, it's amazing. I also wish more games had a dialogue log, it's nice to be able to pause and digest what their talking about.

What you like about it so far?

@TraCuz- I had some thoughts posted earlier in this thread from a few weeks ago, and they are mostly still reflect my current mindset. I do really like the game too. My favorite aspect is the characters and the social aspects. I enjoy learning everyone’s back story. Like I said above I have a small issue with the pacing and some sections drag a bit.
The music is really good, and the combat, customization, and all the different personas are great fun to play around with. I am a big fan of the previous Persona games and this is a nice addition, even though so far I prefer maybe 4 and 3 slightly more. We’ll see how things conclude though. I’m almost through the space palace and maybe I can make it to the next palace by the end of the weekend.

So you think you’ll get Persona 5 Strikers or since got like the music - Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight?

I have Dancing in Starlight in my backlog, waiting to play it until I finish the main game. I played the other dance rhythm games for 3 and 4 and they are good fun if you like the music, want to spend some more time with the characters, and are good at rhythm games.

Definitely keep me posted on how your playthrough develops. We look to be in roughly the same timeframe. My gameclock says I’m 83 hours invested so far.