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LTTP: Persona 1

V

vicissitudes

Banned
I'm a big fan of P3 and P4, played through both twice, even played through the Answer and thoroughly enjoyed it. Wanted to play something different so I thought I might as well try P1 and P2. Even got a Vita just to play these three games.

Now, the only thing I've heard about Persona 1 is that it hasn't aged that well and that there are no social links. No problem, I thought. I played through Nocturne and had a good time, even had fun with demon negotiations.

So I'm a few hours in and "hasn't aged well" is the biggest understatement I've ever seen. I'm sure I'm playing this game wrong because it cannot possibly be this bad. Hopefully I can get some help here but these are my impressions so far:

- Story is terrible so far. Actually there is no story. People are trapped in a school. That's it.
- Character are...well there aren't really any characters either. I had to rescue one from the po-po because I guess he's a goof.
- You run down a hallway the whole game. By that I mean there is no character running, the entire screen is a hallway that looks exactly the same for 70% of the game. With random encounters. People who complain about randomized dungeons have no idea how good they have it.
- I don't get the battle system. I can't seem to scan for weaknesses at all. One of my guys is not in range of anything. One enemy puts all my party members to sleep on the first turn and one of them wakes up every third turn or so. I tried to escape and it took six tries. Six!
- Demon negotiation seems far far worse than in Nocturne. I haven't gotten one demon yet. No idea where to get more personas. In Nocturne it was random which was fun. Here every demon hates everything I try period.
- Where is Igor? :mad:

Uhh...should I just skip straight to Persona 2: IS? These games aren't cheap either.
 
M

MillionStabs

Banned
vicissitudes said:
I'm a big fan of P3 and P4, played through both twice,
Click to expand...

>big fan
>only played through them twice


Kidding. You're playing them on the Vita? By the time you finish that one, the other ones will probably go on sale again, since they tend to about ever 2 months or so.


And demon negotiation has always been bad, that's not your fault.
 
Z

Zeyphersan

Banned
I've started and stopped playing Persona 1 about five times. Persona 2 I've started and liked a ton better. So yes, if you're not having fun, I advocate just going to Persona 2.

That said, demon negotiation IS possible. It's just mostly bullshit. They react to your party members differently, and even the phase of the moon has an effect. Actually the phase of the moon affects everything in this game. Demon negotiations, Persona fusions, anything and everything changes depending on the moon phase. It combined with the grid-based combat made for one of the most obtuse game I've ever played

But yes, Igor is in it.
 
K

koutoru

Member
If you haven't even found Igor yet, I suggest you keep playing for a while.

Also making the jump from Persona 3 and 4 to Persona 1 is rough. I started playing Persona 2 after 3 and 4 and that helped me get used to 1.
As you previously said Persona 1's game mechanics have aged the worst out of all the series, but I find the overall story in the end to be quite enjoyable.
 
U

Ultimate_Trainer

Member
Igor is there if you've been to the velvet room. Negotiation in P1 is arguably the worst I've seen in a megaten game. Pull through with it tho OP!
Zeyphersan said:
I've started and stopped playing Persona 1 about five times. Persona 2 I've started and liked a ton better. So yes, if you're not having fun, I advocate just going to Persona 2.
Click to expand...
While I do highly recommend Persona 2, it is a direct sequel and all the neat references and characters don't have the same effect if you don't play Persona 1.
 
L

Lothar

Banned
You know I've never played another Persona because I played Persona 1 when it came out and hated every single thing about it. Maybe I should give P3 and P4 a chance if they're drastically different.
 
F

falconxcrunner09

Member
Lothar said:
You know I've never played another Persona because I played Persona 1 when it came out and hated every single thing about it. Maybe I should give P3 and P4 a chance if they're drastically different.
Click to expand...
Yes you should. I hated Persona 1. Aside from some of the music, I hated everything else about it.


But Persona 2-4 is on a whole different level compared to 1.
 
J

Jachaos

Member
Lothar said:
You know I've never played another Persona because I played Persona 1 when it came out and hated every single thing about it. Maybe I should give P3 and P4 a chance if they're drastically different.
Click to expand...

There's a reason for the constant "Persona started at 3". The games changed massively. Also, since P3 and P4 are unrelated to each other and to the earlier games, you can try them without being lost on the story.
 
K

koutoru

Member
vicissitudes said:
- Demon negotiation seems far far worse than in Nocturne. I haven't gotten one demon yet. No idea where to get more personas. In Nocturne it was random which was fun. Here every demon hates everything I try period.
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention but the thing with negotiation in this game is that each trait basically tells you how to interact with the demon regardless of which specific demon they are, unlike the randomized approached.

If you want there is a good guide on Persona 1 demon negotiation in the persona 1 wikidot
 
C

CorvoSol

Member
Persona 1 is my favorite of the old games. But I will say that it takes most of the game before the story kicks in. You might be better off just reading the excellent Persona 1 Manga.
 
M

Makoto Yuki

Banned
It wasn't much of a party to begin with. While interesting at the time, it feels way more tedious these days.

Lothar said:
You know I've never played another Persona because I played Persona 1 when it came out and hated every single thing about it. Maybe I should give P3 and P4 a chance if they're drastically different.
Click to expand...

I remember trying it when I was younger on the PS1 and being put off completely, tried P2 and it still didn't sit well with me. I gave P3 a shot and really enjoyed it, and played through P4 with my brother, good times.

You should at least try P3 and P4 they hold up much, much, much, better.
 
R

RecursiveFault

Banned
falconxcrunner09 said:
PSP. That one is one of my favorites from the entire series.

Talking about this one:
Persona 1 PSP - A Lone Prayer: http://youtu.be/HPHJJY8GhMY
Click to expand...
Hm, I can see what you mean, I admit I haven't got around to playing the game myself.
CorvoSol said:
Persona 1 is my favorite of the old games. But I will say that it takes most of the game before the story kicks in. You might be better off just reading the excellent Persona 1 Manga.
Click to expand...
Ooh, I've never heard of this, that sounds perfect.
 
V

vicissitudes

Banned
Ultimate_Trainer said:
Igor is there if you've been to the velvet room. Negotiation in P1 is arguably the worst I've seen in a megaten game. Pull through with it tho OP!

While I do highly recommend Persona 2, it is a direct sequel and all the neat references and characters don't have the same effect if you don't play Persona 1.
Click to expand...

The Velvet Room is in this game? Sweet. Guess I'll need to play some more.

So far Persona 1 is basically SMT except even more bare bones and someone did a find/replace for demon/persona in some of the texts. Wished someone had warned me. But I feel like Persona 2 will be more enjoyable gameplay-wise if I can get through this one.
 
C

chrominance

Member
First time I played the game, I got the guy you meet in the hospital? as a party member, and discovered later that because I got him, I couldn't get any other people in my party. That was one of the reasons I stopped playing after a few hours.

The next time I tried playing, I made a point to not get him because he was a dick. I'm not saying it was the reason why I finished Persona 1, but screw that guy. Get anyone except Brown. I went through the game a second time with Elly and it was nice not having an asshole on your team.

One thing I will say: once you turn on all the speed-up options (turn off animations, set battle speed to max) and you figure out how everything works (demon negotiation is actually a little better here than P2:IS, just because there are fewer options to memorize), Persona 1 PSP felt better to play than Innocent Sin PSP did.
 
B

brianmcdoogle

Member
I think P1 is bad (never beat it because I didn't like it that much) and I think P2 is highly overrated (so far... I beat Innocent Sin and stopped halfway through Eternal Punishment. I don't know why people in the Persona community rate these two so highly. I really don't. The stories aren't any more "dark" or "edgy" than P3, the music isn't as good, the characters aren't as fleshed out, and the game itself isn't fun to play with high random encounters. The only benefit to P2 is the unique dungeons that are so much better than the randomly designed ones in P3 and P4).

Anyway, you made an effort. And, honestly, I'd skip P2, both incarnations, as well. There's some decent stuff in it, but something tells me that the fans overhyped those games to you as they did to me when I beat IS and got halfway through EP.

Best thing about the Persona games is none of them connect, so don't sweat it.
 
D

Dr Amazon MD

Member
vicissitudes said:
The Velvet Room is in this game? Sweet. Guess I'll need to play some more.

So far Persona 1 is basically SMT except even more bare bones and someone did a find/replace for demon/persona in some of the texts. Wished someone had warned me. But I feel like Persona 2 will be more enjoyable gameplay-wise if I can get through this one.
Click to expand...

Are you playing the PSP remake? Cause for me it was a lot easier to get into. The demon negotiation is tough, but once you understand the system it gets a little better.
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
The story is barely there on either of the routes, SEBEC especially. The story picks up on SEBEC on the last... 60% of that route or so.

The battle system in P1 is scrapped (the positioning mostly) and replaced in P2. Muuuch better use there. Igor is still here and like P2 you have to go to the mall/stores to get him.

But yes, skip P1 and go directly to P2. But if you can't stomach random encounters, you're going to be in for a RUDE awakening.

(And avoid Persona Q:Shadow of the Labyrinth if you can't stomach first person dungeon crawls)

brianmcdoogle said:
Best thing about the Persona games is none of them connect, so don't sweat it.
Click to expand...

Uh, P1->2 loosely connect. P2:IS and EP BOTH connect.

P3 loosely connects with P2 (cameos on TV), P3 and 4 are loosely connected (by PQ/P4U and hell P4's cast goes to Tatsumi Port).
 
B

brianmcdoogle

Member
TheSeks said:
The story is barely there on either of the routes, SEBEC especially. The story picks up on SEBEC on the last... 60% of that route or so.

The battle system in P1 is scrapped (the positioning mostly) and replaced in P2. Muuuch better use there. Igor is still here and like P2 you have to go to the mall/stores to get him.

But yes, skip P1 and go directly to P2. But if you can't stomach random encounters, you're going to be in for a RUDE awakening.

(And avoid Persona Q:Shadow of the Labyrinth if you can't stomach first person dungeon crawls)



Uh, P1->2 loosely connect. P2:IS and EP BOTH connect.

P3 loosely connects with P2 (cameos on TV), P3 and 4 are loosely connected (by PQ/P4U and hell P4's cast goes to Tatsumi Port).
Click to expand...


Well, of course IS and EP connect since one is a sequel. But outside of those two, everything else is tangential or only recently connected via fan service type stuff (Persona Q and the fighting games).

There are no real story connections between 2 and 3 and 4, and only cameos and random stuff that only fans would enjoy. In essence, you don't need to play any of them to enjoy the others, and the benefits are small.
 
V

vicissitudes

Banned
Dr Amazon MD said:
Are you playing the PSP remake? Cause for me it was a lot easier to get into. The demon negotiation is tough, but once you understand the system it gets a little better.
Click to expand...

Yes the PSP remake. Supposedly it has improvements over the original. I don't know how it's possible to make a game that is worse than what I'm playing now.

TheSeks said:
The story is barely there on either of the routes, SEBEC especially. The story picks up on SEBEC on the last... 60% of that route or so.

The battle system in P1 is scrapped (the positioning mostly) and replaced in P2. Muuuch better use there. Igor is still here and like P2 you have to go to the mall/stores to get him.

But yes, skip P1 and go directly to P2. But if you can't stomach random encounters, you're going to be in for a RUDE awakening.
Click to expand...

I don't necessarily mind random encounters but it's obtuse enemies every 3 steps and then I can't remember where I was going because the entire game is hallways.
 
J

Jezan

Member
vicissitudes said:
- You run down a hallway the whole game. By that I mean there is no character, running the entire screen is a hallway that looks exactly the same for 70% of the game. With random encounters. People who complain about randomized dungeons have no idea how good they have it.
- I don't get the battle system. I can't seem to scan for weaknesses at all. One of my guys is not in range of anything. One enemy puts all my party members to sleep on the first turn and one of them wakes up every third turn or so. I tried to escape and it took six tries. Six!
- Demon negotiation seems far far worse than in Nocturne. I haven't gotten one demon yet. No idea where to get more personas. In Nocturne it was random which was fun. Here every demon hates everything I try period.
- Where is Igor? :mad:

Uhh...should I just skip straight to Persona 2: IS? These games aren't cheap either.
Click to expand...
- I only looked at the mini map because it was easier than looking at the hallway.
-You can analyze the enemy after you have beaten them once.
-Use either Mark or Maki to negotiate, if they fail, don't bother.
-Velvet Room, you can access it after you advance the story a little.

My favorite is EP, haven't played IS, Persona 1 is so slow :S
 
U

ubercheez

Member
Yeah, this game is rife with terrible design decisions, and it being an old game can old excuse so much of that. I soldiered through the whole thing just to see if it ever felt like Persona (speaking as somebody who started with 3). It didn't.
 
M

mollipen

Member
I still love the original Persona, and to this day can play it and think it's a great game. Yeah, I know it's hard to get into for some people, especially those who weren't around when it originally came out. But, I don't know. I often have a lot of trouble playing through older RPGs again, but I have no problem replaying Persona.
 
R

randomkid

Member
shidoshi said:
I still love the original Persona, and to this day can play it and think it's a great game. Yeah, I know it's hard to get into for some people, especially those who weren't around when it originally came out. But, I don't know. I often have a lot of trouble playing through older RPGs again, but I have no problem replaying Persona.
Click to expand...

It's cool, there's at least half a dozen of us!
 
D

Dak'kon

Member
I decided to play through P1 and 2 before P5 came out as I'd never played them either. I liked the darker tone and look of P1 compared to the more recent games as it's more to my taste. I was actually really enjoying the game until the very end when I had to grind massively to have any chance against the final boss as I was hugely under-leveled.

There is also absolutely zero handholding in the game so I ended up using a FAQ for demon negotiation since it isn't particularly intuitive. I also totally missed the Velvet Room for ages as I thought it would be introduced as part of the story but it's just another "shop" in the mall and then dotted in a few dungeons.

I didn't like how demon cards and Persona are very separate so you can't just keep fusing the cards together to get better and better Persona so you constantly have to keep going back and getting demon cards. The game also showed its age in some of the UI, like not being able to equip Persona outside of the Velvet Room.

I agree that the battle theme starts off sounding great but then starts to grate when the lyrics come in :p Although School Days and Let Butterflies Spread Until the Dawn are two of my favourites from the series.

I think it serves as a nice bit of context to the Persona universe and to Philemon, but I agree that it's probably not as fun as the recent games.
 
W

walnuts

Member
I couldn't go very far with this game either. In the PS1 version, I got lost in the city from the beginning, it took me ages to get to the hospital. Fortunately, they improved this in the PSP version, but the gameplay was still bad.

This game was supposed to be the easy version of the Shin Megami Tensei series. The first SMT has a horrible gameplay, it gets lots of improvements at the sequel, and Revelations:persona was supposed to be even better, but somehow it isn't.

I really understand why people only care more about P3 and P4 and do not even mention the first one, it's weird how that game became successful, and the sequels are thousands of kilometers better. I haven't tried the second Persona yet.
 
R

RecursiveFault

Banned
walnuts said:
I couldn't go very far with this game either. In the PS1 version, I got lost in the city from the beginning, it took me ages to get to the hospital. Fortunately, they improved this in the PSP version, but the gameplay was still bad.

This game was supposed to be the easy version of the Shin Megami Tensei series. The first SMT has a horrible gameplay, it gets lots of improvements at the sequel, and Revelations:persona was supposed to be even better, but somehow it isn't.

I really understand why people only care more about P3 and P4 and do not even mention the first one, it's weird how that game became successful, and the sequels are thousands of kilometers better. I haven't tried the second Persona yet.
Click to expand...
I've only played the remake of SMT1, but it was better than P1.

P2 has been amazing so far though.
 
V

vocab

Member
jwhit28 said:
How does P1 compare to older SMT games? I enjoyed KMT, SMT1, and SMT2.
Click to expand...
Pretty low on the priority list. Average at best. I think its only saving grace is different routes. Soul hackers is way better. The original world map for p1 was dreadful.
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
vicissitudes said:
I don't necessarily mind random encounters but it's obtuse enemies every 3 steps and then I can't remember where I was going because the entire game is hallways.
Click to expand...

That's why there is a minimap. You're supposed to use it to remember where you're going/what you're doing. Persona Q even lets you mark/notate it unlike older SMT first-person dungeon cralws did.

It sounds like first person crawlers aren't for you.
 
V

vicissitudes

Banned
koutoru said:
I forgot to mention but the thing with negotiation in this game is that each trait basically tells you how to interact with the demon regardless of which specific demon they are, unlike the randomized approached.

If you want there is a good guide on Persona 1 demon negotiation in the persona 1 wikidot
Click to expand...

Just wanted to say this was so helpful, there's actually a box with demon reactions that I've never noticed before. Now I try to get each demon to eager by trying different tactics. Even got my first Persona card. Game is fun again! Thanks gaf.
 
M

MaximumSpider

Banned
I beat this game two days ago and got a bad ending. I am done with this. No more!



Muaic is godly though but that's all I liked in this game.
 
P

Pocky4Th3Win

Member
The original Persona was a bad game and I LOVE the Persona series. The original version even had a part that can break the game if you were under leveled. You can get stuck in the Mall unable to beat it due to being too weak and basically be forced to load a previous save (my first time played at the time of original release I said fuck it and quit the game).
 
B

Barrylocke

Member
Pocky4Th3Win said:
The original Persona was a bad game and I LOVE the Persona series. The original version even had a part that can break the game if you were under leveled. You can get stuck in the Mall unable to beat it due to being too weak and basically be forced to load a previous save (my first time played at the time of original release I said fuck it and quit the game).
Click to expand...

I remember that part. Its a little annoying, but theres healing facilities, an equipment shop, a save tree, and a velvet room in the mall. If you can win even one fight at time, yoi can always just escape and rest while you gain resources, Etrian Odyssey style. You should be able to make it through easily enough.

MaximumSpider said:
I beat this game too days agoa and got a bad ending. I am done with this. No more!
Click to expand...

Honestly this is the biggest flaw in the game for me. OP, this game has a good vs bad ending similar to Persona 3 and 4, where you have to abswer a series of questions properly to finish the ending portions of the game and get a good ending. But the big difference is that in Persona 1, the ending fork is one or two dungeons after the ending determining scene, so its very easy to have saved past the scene if you messed up, and you'd have to start the entire game over to move on. In P3 and 4, the ending fork is right after the questions, so if you mess up, you wont have to start over.

Spoiler on a few details.
Eventually you'll come to a forest dungeon and be asked some questions. You have to answer them clearly and without indecision. A guide should give you the specific answers. If you get attacked by a boss right after answering the questions, you messed up.

Its interesting that the Psx soundtrack isn't as enjoyed it seems. I suppose it being the earlier version with the weaker localization and slower gameplay isnt helping much. Id normally spam links to favorite songs, but I'm on mobile. Check Randomkids Persona 1 thread, I probably have a few in there.
 
B

Barrylocke

Member
Ezalc said:
Well I meant the length of a normal song, so like around 3 minutes not hours.
Click to expand...
I like lone prayer, but its not long before the song repeats, so I ultimately prefer the instrumental Psx battle theme. In P3 and 4, the songs may be vocal but they're also longer, so it feels less repetitive for me.
 
S

Seda

Member
I played Persona PSP after P3/P4 and I would say I liked it despite the encounter rate and demon negotiation being a little annoying. I knew what I was getting into though, and had a number of conversations about the game, so I wasn't caught off guard in any way. I actually 'ranked' it above P3/P4 in a semi recent thread for a couple reasons.

I really appreciated how you set Personae for each character, and I valued having that extra control over party coordination. I did not like how EXP was handled. I oftentimes had a particularly strong Persona I had to shuffle around characters to help them kill enemies to gain levels.

I enjoyed the Persona 2 games as well, but Persona PSPs battles are a tad faster (and I thought the UI was actually a little bit easier to get accustomed to).

Dak'kon said:
I decided to play through P1 and 2 before P5 came out as I'd never played them either. I liked the darker tone and look of P1 compared to the more recent games as it's more to my taste. I was actually really enjoying the game until the very end when I had to grind massively to have any chance against the final boss as I was hugely under-leveled.
Click to expand...

Yeah I eventually found myself cruising through most of the game only to find a roadblock at the final boss. I had to 'grind' a bit as well, but I wasn't too surprised about that considering how fast I blitzed the final third of the game.

Also Nanjo is the best.
 
B

Barrylocke

Member
I remember Masao got particularly hit hard by the uneven EXP distribution. My final parties levels were something like MC>>Maki>>>>>>>>>>>>>Ayase>>>Nanjo>>>>>>>Masao.

I find it a little funny that the encounter rate being restored back to it's original higher state was one of the things that Atlus USA advertised as a benefit to the PSP version, along with the other restorations. In the PSX version, the encounter rate was lower and the exp/money gains were higher to make up for it. It does make the game harder which I can appreciate as a person who found the PSX version pretty easy, but considering how many people find the battle rate in the PSP version to be too high, perhaps that was one thing they should have considered leaving in the USA PSX state.
 
R

randomkid

Member
Barrylocke said:
I find it a little funny that the encounter rate being restored back to it's original higher state was one of the things that Atlus USA advertised as a benefit to the PSP version, along with the other restorations. In the PSX version, the encounter rate was lower and the exp/money gains were higher to make up for it. It does make the game harder which I can appreciate as a person who found the PSX version pretty easy, but considering how many people find the battle rate in the PSP version to be too high, perhaps that was one thing they should have considered leaving in the USA PSX state.
Click to expand...

It really makes no sense to me at all why they increased it, I've got no clue what the developers were thinking. Not everyone knows how to use Estoma or negotiation to get through stuff quickly when needed.
 
J

Just take it with you.

Member
I played through P1PSP (both routes), and I thought the game was okay. I'd put it among the weaker Megaten games of that era. I wish they had made the dungeons more interesting and made it worth your while to explore more.

Also, after listening to the original PS1 soundtrack, I think they really should have left the original music as an option in the game like they did for P2PSP. The new music is good, but nonetheless gives the game an entirely different tone, particularly that battle theme.

Speaking of P2, I really wish Atlus had been able to bring over EPPSP as well so we'd have a complete set. I do have the PS1 original which I acquired during one of the reprints they did several years ago, but still...
 
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