Persona 5 - A Gold Standard for JRPGs?

Games
1

Sounds like it, anyway. I was going to post this in the thread, but admit I’m very surprised there isn’t a one already? Unless my searching skills are failing me, or it’s under some crazy thread title. Maybe I should have used a V or something.

So I’ll assume this is the Persona 5 thread and here we go. Let’s start with this - I couldn’t get into Persona 4 on the Vita, it took hours to really get anywhere (I read after the fact) is probably why, but everyone raves about it. So I was half-watching Persona 5 with some interest, also it’s one of those “well, I have a PS4, what can I play on it?” kind of things.

Sounds like it’s amazing.

I do like the premise, and this one sounds like it kicks things off much quicker as well. I also think the menu’s and UI look like a lot of fun, and the ideas behind the game sound like something I’d really click with, so I’m tempted to pick this up, now that reviews are surfacing and showing it as something worth checking out, mayhaps.

I know this came up in quite a few posts in the “upcoming games 2017” thread, so I can’t be the only one that was curious about this one. If anyone does grab it, I know I’d sure appreciate some thoughts and impressions!

2

This is pretty much me exactly. Expecting to pick this up after I finish HZD and Zelda, but I worry I may bounce off it like I did P4. I just don’t get on with JRPGs these days and P4 gave me one of the worst cases of analysis paralysis I’ve ever had in gaming.

3

Yep. I’m getting this, for sure, but I’ll be looking for a support group to help me “go with the flow” and avoid crushing doubt around playing sub-optimally.

4

I’m kind of worried about the super stylized nature of this one, but it might work and i do love persona.

I’ve been pre-ordered for months though.

5

Allow me to explain, honey. You see, that blonde high schooler with her tits out in that leather cat suit wielding the whip is actually an integral part of the gameplay.

I mean, I love Persona, but this is gonna be difficult to have on the big screen here at the ol’ homestead.

6

It’ll be easier to explain that than the hours I’ve spent flipping between menus trying to get the right fusion.

7

Just look your wife in the eye and explain, “It’s from Japan.”

8

Or the hours spent making a master plan to merge countless monsters in to one ultimate destroyer.

I always have this problem in persona/SMT games.

9

P3 FES is one of my favorite games ever. Just a great combination of something novel (to me at the time) along with setting, characters, and mechanics that really worked.

P4 was fun, but it didn’t grab me the same way, even though on mechanics alone it’s almost certainly a superior game. I put a few dozen hours into it, got distracted by something else, and never went back to finish.

All that said, I’m one of those who had mentioned P5 in the other thread, and in a somewhat fortuitous coincidence, I’m going to be couch-bound after a minor surgery the week before Easter. I am actually kind of excited for it.

10

Probably my most anticipated game of the year, although I’ll be playing it on PS3.

I played Persona 3 (FES) and Persona 4 Golden, and they’re both on my favorite games of all time, so it was a no-brainer for me.

If you’re new to the Persona series, you should be aware that it’s trademark gameplay is half JRPG dungeon crawl, and half time management-dating sim, where you manage your real-world free time and build stats and “social links” that unlock story elements as well as having direct and indirect benefits to the dungeon crawl portion. The two gameplay types blend surprisingly well, but no doubt some may balk at the social elements. There’s also a light pokemon-ing aspect inherited from Shin Megami Tensei where you create your battle skill set out of monsters that you craft and upgrade. It isn’t the primary focus, but it is there.

Your reward for playing the social links is typically a well-told, but undeniably Japanese story with some pretty well-written and well-realized characters. However, your affection for those characters being in part drawn from the literal dozens of hours you spend with them in and out of dungeons. The stories are very Japanese, but not particularly “anime”-y, although there are some standard cultural referents there. It’s more informed by the setting, which is modern-day Japan, but with a shadow-world-of-magic-urban-fantasy setting kind of vibe.

The other real selling point for the Persona series, since P3 at least, is the fantastic soundtracks, which are an eclectic mix (Jpop/electro-funk?) unlike almost anything else in games. I’ve listened to a bit of P5’s and its great as well so far, although again, the real test is their earworm-ability as you spend hours with them, but they grow on you rather than grating. There’s a good reason one of the Persona 4 spinoffs was a rhythm game.

Like all JRPGs, the true home would be on portables, which is why I really hope the “Directors Cut” version of P5 ends up on the Switch (Atlus has a good relationship with Nintendo, so there’s no reason it couldn’t), but that’s probably several years away if ever.

11

This game might very well get me to buy another console. However, I think I might also need a TV.

Playstation 3 or 4?

12

I keep seeing people talk about how Persona 4 Golden is amazing and everyone needs to play it and yadda yah. But then I look at youtube videos and reviews and among all the praise is a lot of talk about being a high school kid trying to join school clubs, read books, make friends, etc. and it just leaves me dumbfounded.

Everything I"m reading about P5 says it gets into the action much sooner so maybe that will be the better way to jump in, cause while the high level premise and combat in P4 sound interesting everything else about the game definitely does not (to me).

13

PS3 vs PS4 is a question of budget. I don’t know if this looks/runs better on PS4 but one can safely assume as much, though the PS3 is going to be much cheaper to pick up, especially a used one. Kind of depends on what you feel like spending. Also, PS4 has some other great games out and coming out, while the PS3 is done, so you’d only get use out of a PS3 for a backlog of games you never played when they came out, which isn’t inconsiderable.

14

I’ll have to enjoy this one vicariously. I was also intrigued by the hype and the fact that my PS4 might get some use beyond Bloodborne and Nioh. But I’ve had enough forum effect recalibration lately to know that even the greatest example of a genre is going to struggle to make it to the “really liked it” stage if it’s a genre I’m not enthusiastic about.

Heck, I’m playing so many beat 'em ups now that I’m not sure I can handle any more Japanese games without exploding.

15

I have P4G but I bounced off the Vita in general (and I knew I probably would but bought it anyway because I’m a sucker and when we traded in our Wii we ended up with 6-700 dollars in credit. I’ve got Hot Shots and Lumines too, but I played the system about as much as my 3DS (I.e. Not much)

16

Persona 4 was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. It’s just a great JRPG, one of the best. Excellent music too. Plus, it’s yellow! How many games dare to go yellow?

I hope Persona 5 is as good, although I haven’t made up my mind if I’ll buy it yet. I’m not sure I’ll be able to get that same feeling again. Are there any pre-order shenanigans with this game? And it’s red. Not as excited by the red.

17

I love Persona and the other Megami Tensei games, so this has been right up there on the old anticipation list for some time. That it’s reviewing so well is highly encouraging!

Are there any PS Pro features?

18

Good question, I looked and I didn’t see anything. The rumor is 4K resolution will be added to the Pro via patch, but it’s just a rumor.

The PS3 is 720p while the PS4 will be 1080p and have faster load times, if that helps anyone decide.

19

Pretty excited for this one myself, though I do lament the lack of yellow. Not sure if I’ll play it right at launch, but it’s definitely high on my list.

20

I thought P4 was the best of the three Persona games I’ve played. Gameplay tweaks from P3 were great and I thought the story and characters were an inprovement, though that very slow start is definitely a minor strike against it. At the same time it fits in well, setting up the whole mystery theme.

May need to get a PS4 now to play P5. Really wish Atlus would do multi console releases for their SMT games.