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Persona Series

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I realize Persona is a series within a series (Shin Megami Tensai), but I guess I never really got around to playing the games on PS1 (?) and PS2 earlier. That said, I'm playing Persona 3 on my PSP after almost unanimous praise of it from "Top PSP RPG" lists. I have to say, I'm really impressed with just how fun and weird it is. I like the dungeon crawling, socializing aspects of it. I'm hoping to get more games in the Shin Megami Tensai series at some point (I used to have Nocturne, but sold it several years ago), particularly the Persona games.
 
I encountered P3 in the form of My Life is a Goddamn Mess, a fanfic that extrapolates what sort of personality the protagonist might have in order to do the things he does. The framing device falls apart pretty fast, but it's an interesting character study that strengthens the impact of the game.

I also recommend finding an LP of Persona 3 FES, an expansion that isn't included in the PSP version and isn't mentioned in the fic. I think it's a vital capstone to the original game's themes, doing things I rarely see covered in this kind of story. (I remember seeing it in the LP archive, but it seems to have vanished.)

For 4, I watched most of the playthrough on Giant Bomb. It's beautifully written, but I couldn't get over how reactionary it is. Seemingly every other social link is about a person who feels like societal expectations are preventing him or her from being who he or she really is inside, and in every link except Kanji's, the character eventually accepts his or her role to a greater or lesser degree. It always makes some sense in terms of the character, but I often felt that it made the character less interesting or didn't seem like a healthy choice for a person in that position.

For what it's worth, my favorite Mega Ten is Digital Devil Saga. It's rather grindy at times, but I think it's the best work in the grotesque genre created in the part hundred years. "Rend! Slaughter! Devour your enemies! You have no other way to survive!"
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I never played Digital Devil Saga, but have definitely wanted to. It looked like the most "fantasy" kind of one in the series.

So do you think P4 is worth getting? I hope to get that one after I finish P3. There are also several P2 games with different names, but I'm not sure about them.
 
It's hard for me to judge, since while I have played DDS, I've only watched folks playing P4. I guess if you like P3, you should like P4 as well.

I've never seen someone recommend buying P2--the response is always that P3 improved on it so much that it feels dated by comparison.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I'm not sure, but are any of the other Shin Megami Tensai games available on PSP? That's where I'm playing most of my RPGs at the moment. They're not on PSN (I think) but maybe they're available on disk.
 
Surprisingly, I'm seeing good reviews for the rerelease of the very first Persona on PSP. The phrase people keep coming back to is "old-school"--it's an isometric dungeon crawler, and only appropriate for people who like that sort of game, but it's been streamlined a lot, the pace is faster, and they finally gave it a decent translation. (I suppose the same probably goes for 2--it probably just depends on how much you like the genre.)

Devil Summoner is on PSP, but it's Japan-only, so I don't know much about it. (None of its three sequels are on PSP, for some reason.)

P.S. I found the expansion for P3--or at least, a playthrough of it.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
Thanks! On a separate note, have you seen much fiction outside of fan fiction that that is similar to the Persona concept? I'm sure there are anime similar to it because I've seen plenty of high school/demon hunter type of manga around here. I particularly like Persona's mythos because it's not typical in fantasy. After playing the game, I've been largely considering changing some monsters in my current WIP to be a bit more "unique." Not necessarily copying what Persona is doing, but making some of my creatures less bestial and get experimental with them. Some of my creatures are heavily inspired by Lovecraftian ideas, but I'd like to make people say, "What the hell is that?" instead of "Oh, it's basically a dragon with a walrus head." (although that would be cool the more I think about it :) )
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
Cool, thanks! It figures, TV Tropes has a page for everything!

I like the Buffy comparison. I didn't even consider that, but I wasn't the biggest Buffy fan strangely enough. I watched it, but I remember kind of trailing off with it as it went on.
 

Tercel

Acolyte
If you're liking P3, you should enjoy P4. To me at least, it takes all the good from P3 and makes it better, but not so different so that it's still familiar. If you have access to a Vita, P4 Golden is the way to go!
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
Yeah, Tercel, I'm highly considering P4. If it's pretty similar in a lot of ways, I think I'd really like it. Especially if it improved on a lot on P3 since I think it's already a very good game.
 
I'm not sure about the direction of Persona 5; they have never made any true mistake, so it should be interesting what they do add. The one thing I don't like is the theme. Being a thief as a form of expressing freedom and not being shackled by societal standards....that is the worst concept, thought process and yet so Japanese ^_^ Unless the characters are going to be Robin Hood types, I doubt the story will be solid and sensical as the others, but like I said, more details will bring the next installment to light.
 
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