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[SPOILERS] Persona 5 Spoiler Thread | Steal your heart; steel yourself
- Thread starter Nachos
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Mediking
Member
Take the time to sit down and ask yourself what are the best things and worst things about the game. Then come here and discuss!
SoulUnison
Banned
NOTHING fucking happened in Hawaii.
The entire excursion was basically an excuse to talk to a few NPCs and ave the characters/player think "Wow, the thieves are known internationally!"
Yusuke showing up randomly because there was a storm in LA and they randomly diverted to Hawaii of all places is the cherry on top of the pointless contrivance sundae.
Mediking
Member
Yup. It was bad. Not really a good example to show the group dynamic at all. They should've had a better playable section to walk around in and goof around for a few days. Instead, we watched Mishima play on his computer.
Double Donut
Member
Assuming this was your first Persona, do what I did and buy a PSTV + Persona 4 Golden.
It's got absolutely nothing on P5 when it comes to style but it's still Persona with some great, fun characters.
StarCreator
Member
I'm trying to do this but I lost interest in it even faster than when I first tried to play through P4 on the PS2. Something about it just doesn't resonate with me at all and I end up playing other things.
I finally finished and I have to say I was really disappointed after Palace 7. The game just takes a turn for the mediocre. I also hated how in comparison to P4 the characters didn't seem like a cohesive group of friends. They seemed like a group that was together for a common cause and they were all friends with the MC but I never got the vibe they were all friends. I think I would've liked the game more if they cut about 30 hours from it and made it a bit more concise. I liked the game but it definitely isn't the best game I've played this year.
ChasingComets
Member
biosnake20
Member
Is there somewhere I can get a PSTV dirt cheap?
Mediking
Member
WrenchNinja
Member
Going through new game plus, I think October is really badly paced. It feels like right after Okumura dies, it's like you lose control of the game for half the month. I think you only get to hang out with Haru starting on the 31st for example.
KoroEunectes
Member
MaximumSpider
Banned
PSTVs are like extremely cheap during the holidays. It's the memory cards that cost a lot since they are made of materials from the moon.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
but if you pick up a physical copy of P4GA, then the internal 1GB memory card is fine for just saving the game
biosnake20
Member
Just got a PSTV and P4G for like 50 bucks. Hopefully it grabs me like P5 did.
It's a much slower burn at the outset... stick with it, though, it's an amazing game.
So this may have already been discussed to hell and back, but what do you guys think would make for a more engaging and interesting battle system in future Personer games? Not that this system was bad, but I think they're good to start changing it up even more, while still keeping and refining all of the little quality of life changes they added in P5.
yanipheonu
Member
To be honest, I wouldn't want the core battle system to change at all. No one else does what they're doing, and I don't want to lose it.
I would like to see refinements though.
Technical seems like it could be more interesting than a damage boost.
Online features are woefully underused, they didn't even have the P4G feature where other players could heal you before battle. Seeing "you are not alone" before battle was neat. Lots of ways to expand that.
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
I loved P5 but just like how Hashino changed the formula after Persona 2 the new Team who taking over needs to completely change the formula, complete with new artist for Persona 6.
Soejima was more or less already confirmed to be the character artist for future Persona games after Hashino left the Persona team.
StarCreator
Member
I'd hesitate to see the P4G SOS mechanic return, honestly. Playing P4G now feels like a worse experience because so few people are using it years after release, making the game actively harder.
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
I don't mind that at all, I adore Soejima's art. I thought If the new team is taking over then new artist might give fresh look to it. But again Soejima is talented artis, his design for Re Fantasy already looks very different than his Persona design.
Raven117
Member
This
is killing me. He just keeps on healing with those angels.
Any tips on taking this guy out? Im level 69.
I may just drop the difficulty to Easy.
Edit: That said...Wow, the ending of this is truly superb. I think even the slow parts of the mid-game, help build to this epic ending. The writing with Shido..no one listening...man...it was really good. I've been playing JRPGs and games along time, and while this isn't Shakespeare, the themes are really good. In the hands of truly talented writers (no offense, but through translation and just video game writing in general...ya know...meh), this would have hit even harder.
Really top notch stuff.
Michael Fight at the end
Any tips on taking this guy out? Im level 69.
I may just drop the difficulty to Easy.
Edit: That said...Wow, the ending of this is truly superb. I think even the slow parts of the mid-game, help build to this epic ending. The writing with Shido..no one listening...man...it was really good. I've been playing JRPGs and games along time, and while this isn't Shakespeare, the themes are really good. In the hands of truly talented writers (no offense, but through translation and just video game writing in general...ya know...meh), this would have hit even harder.
Really top notch stuff.
Iva Demilcol
Member
Well, they did change the Persona formula because Persona 2 Eternal Punishment didn't have a good reception despite it being a great game. Persona 5 is the best selling game of the series so chances are that they refine the formula but not change it like they did with P3.
MaximumSpider
Banned
Yeah, I loved the ending is so good and I'm not afraid to admit I did tear up a bit when With the Stars and Us started. Yeah, I get the criticism of the game from this site but that all melts away when I'm playing it yet again.
I never knew what the hell the PSTV was for, but I did a little bit of research after seeing this post... i think i need one of these.
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
Don't get wrong I loved P3/4/5 but Persona is desperate need of refresh but I also understand its big risk. People might end up completely hate the new direction.
Iva Demilcol
Member
Did you beat that guy already?
If not I'd suggest using Ryuji: Matarukaja (raises attack for all party members for 3 turns) + Charge + a physical skill will make a ton of damage and if you have a skill that targets all enemies, you'll hurt all of them. Ann has dekaja, that nullifies buffs on enemies, so you can use her to cancel whatever buff that they apply to themselves to deal a lot of damage to your party; she also has concentrate, that makes her spells 2.5 times stronger. Makoto has Marakukaja, that raises your defense. And Joker has access to all those spells if you have the right Personas; Futaba may also supports your party and she can make you "focus"; focus has the same effect as "charge" and "concentrate", so if your party is focused you may want to do all the damage you can to the boss. By that time you can use Abbadon as well, you absorb physical damage and can deflect it as well if you have the right passive skill with you. You can also use Oda's Special on that boss and get a free All out attack.
You have tons of options imo.
The problem right now is that there's basically no other experiences out there remotely similar to Persona. Persona is comfortably sitting on an empty room where they are the king of what they do. If you get rid of the systems established by Persona 3, there's no one who can cover that and they know it. But that hasn't prevented Atlus to make other games set on HS that are more similar to Revelations Persona and P2; Devil Survivor is another game where HS students get to summon, fuse and fight demons, and those games are amazing IMO.
That being said, I believe that they'll experiment more with the settings of Persona, but not so much with its current structure and game mechanics.
Future help for others:
Get Seigfried. Just do it.
The way I finished the game was: Makoto + Haru + Ryuji + Joker
Makoto with heals and buffs
Haru with guns skills and ailment remotion
Ryuji with charge and physical skills that do severe/colossal damage
MC with charge and physical skills that do severe/colossal damage and also add Trumpeter there to DEBILITATE.
Just beat P5 today. Yep, this is definitely post-Persona depression. Spring 2018 can't come soon enough.
Only had a couple gripes with this game's ending.
I was really hoping that reaching rank 10 with Akechi would have triggered his second awakening, leading to the reveal about his second persona (and possibly his wild card ability if he has it?). I think that would have been a cool subversion of the "Oh cool, my party member has a new Persona!" since you'd have to immediately fight it.
Another point about Akechi. I was kinda expecting some sort of return of Akechi in spirit. Given the dualism between Akechi and Joker, I was expecting them to...I dunno. Resonate somehow during the final fight, or at least make some cheesy mention about how you can feel Akechi's resolve or something. While Akechi's final confrontation with himself is fitting, I feel like for all the stress they put on their yin-yang relationship during the velvet room scene at the end that he would have shown up somehow.
Lastly, the whole "leave it to the system/adults now" angle left a bad taste in my mouth. Just seemed to undermine what the Thieves were all about.
Only had a couple gripes with this game's ending.
I was really hoping that reaching rank 10 with Akechi would have triggered his second awakening, leading to the reveal about his second persona (and possibly his wild card ability if he has it?). I think that would have been a cool subversion of the "Oh cool, my party member has a new Persona!" since you'd have to immediately fight it.
Another point about Akechi. I was kinda expecting some sort of return of Akechi in spirit. Given the dualism between Akechi and Joker, I was expecting them to...I dunno. Resonate somehow during the final fight, or at least make some cheesy mention about how you can feel Akechi's resolve or something. While Akechi's final confrontation with himself is fitting, I feel like for all the stress they put on their yin-yang relationship during the velvet room scene at the end that he would have shown up somehow.
Lastly, the whole "leave it to the system/adults now" angle left a bad taste in my mouth. Just seemed to undermine what the Thieves were all about.
If you consider the idea that the phantom thieves realize that they weren't actually solving the root of the problem by stealing hearts, the "leave it to you now" ending makes complete sense. In the end, the Phantom thieves steal society's heart, with the hope that they'll be inspired to actually get active on their own.
That's why the bad ending is choosing to stay Phantom thieves forever. It doesn't actually solve the real problem and people continue to feed Yaldabaoth, God of Status Quo.
That's the whole theme, really: do people really believe in the concept of justice or do they just want to give in to status quo? The hope is that the phantom thieves did enough to make people see the world at least a little differently or, in the case of Sae, a lot.
That's why the bad ending is choosing to stay Phantom thieves forever. It doesn't actually solve the real problem and people continue to feed Yaldabaoth, God of Status Quo.
That's the whole theme, really: do people really believe in the concept of justice or do they just want to give in to status quo? The hope is that the phantom thieves did enough to make people see the world at least a little differently or, in the case of Sae, a lot.
I agree that that works as a reading, but in terms of the social commentary aspect of taking charge of the changes you want to see, it just felt like a final "Yeah, Persona players, it's important to be the change you wanna see in the world, but you're still ultimately under the thumb of authority" and it just kinda takes the wind out of its sails. But if you read the game as saying you need to have hope for the future, then it works I guess.
I think it's more of "the game spends most of its runtime telling you adults are shitty and the system is broken but it wants to take at least a moment to acknowledge that it's not hopeless and there are good adults in the system working for change, like Sae."
Iva Demilcol
Member
But that only happens because you help your confidants to overcome a personal problem. You really didn't help Akechi, in the end he chose to fight you and take you down. He had that power from the beginning. In fact, the PT acknowledge he is much more powerful than any of them because he had that power from at least two years before any of them. Akechi showed them just one persona so they wouldn't suspect how powerful he was nor that he was very much used to going into the metaverse.
But they do beat the system. They get Joker out of his sentence and clear his record. They also inspire more investigation into Shido. It'd be unrelatable if the phantom thieves totally broke society in half and magically solved all problems.
But Akechi came to realize that you could have been friends were circumstances different. The cast bonds with Akechi despite how things turn out. I do think the Thieves helped him overcome a personal problem.
That's true. A more drastic, utopian ending would be more fitting for other SMT games after all.
I agree, and this makes him even more tragic. He's really irredeemable, but you see that he slowly realizes the difference between him and Joker and how Joker was able to change things without killing anyone while he made people go insane. When he sees it in Sae's dungeon, he's actually somewhat shocked.
Iva Demilcol
Member
For all we know, Akechi did acknowledge you from the very beginning. He certainly accepted that if he had met you earlier things would've gone differently, that's true BUT he also says it's too late for him: he knows that his life (his facade) is already over and decides to go against you anyways, that's the conclusion of his story, he might have changed but he still decides it's over for him. That's why he doesn't get a new persona imo.
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
Yeah, I bet Akechi knew from the beginning what he was doing was wrong but he was willing to destroy himself for sake of revenge.
Alec
Member
Finished it last night. I don't have the post-Persona depression like I had with 3 and 4...I think it's because I don't really care that much about this cast than I have in the past.
I do, however, enjoy the open-and-shut ending. I like how everyone lost their powers (but we all know this won't last with the inevitable dance, EO and fighting games). I hope Akechi stays dead.
I do, however, enjoy the open-and-shut ending. I like how everyone lost their powers (but we all know this won't last with the inevitable dance, EO and fighting games). I hope Akechi stays dead.
ASilentProtagonist
Member
They'll make an excuse to bring him back for P5 Arena
It's sad how a post on GAF actually did a better job of making me sympathise a little with Akechi than that super sloppy "these people will never know I was an undesired child!" monologue and hammy death scene. I still don't really buy Haru and Futaba just accepting the guy that murdered their respective parents (Shido or not, he was still the one who pulled the trigger) and actually getting emotional over his death to boot, but yeah, I get why the team pitied his situation. P5 really should've wasted less time with over the top Light Yagami evil outbursts and actually bothered to explore Akechi's plight in a more tactful manner. His confidant really feels like a wasted opportunity, it should've been their cue to start building that aspect of his character before fully diving into it later. The way they did it in the game felt very amateurish. "You smiled a bit back there, didn't you? I saw it" "We could've been friends under different circumstances
" "Aaaaw, he really wasn't such a bad guy after all so you shouldn't feel guilty about shipping him with Joker" moments just weren't earned at all with what the game actually showed you. From the audience's perspectives, you have little to no reason to forgive him, and from the Phantom Thieves' perspective, it felt inconsistent with their prior relationship and interactions with Akechi.This is something P5 dropped the ball in general. Every single villain post-Kamoshida needed either some serious work on characterization or fleshing out their motivations, sometimes both. Looking back, Madarame was actually well executed compared to what came after him, and even then he felt undercooked. Kaneshiro is a disappointment on all fronts, Okumura was a big missed opportunity, and Shido wishes he was half as entertaining as Senator Armstrong (hell, the latter managed to not only be a much more fun villain, he actually delivered a speech that gives me a pretty solid grasp on his ideals and politics, contrast that with Shido's vague dream of being Japan's greatest sailor).
P5 is a damn great game regardless and it still has my overall favorite narrative between the three modern titles, but it's a bit frustrating how its writing prevents it from reaching the peaks it could've.
kitschbeam
Member
Finally finished this game. What a game! I have some issues with the game mainly the pace of the story but the last ending bit redeemed the game for me.
To be honest I think the game being a console game kinda ruin the experience for me. I could've finished it a lot more faster if it was launched on Vita but oh well.
To be honest I think the game being a console game kinda ruin the experience for me. I could've finished it a lot more faster if it was launched on Vita but oh well.
Systolique
Member
Just finished the game just a little under 90hrs, what an experience !
Definitely my favorite entry in the serie ; the soundtrack, Makoto & Takemi being strong reasons as to why.
Some thoughts right after the credits :
Mishima is the worst character of the serie
I wish next games will finally drop the "obtuse, dumb, pervy, always ready to kick ass" sidekick you get every game (Junpei, Yosuke, Ryuji)
I really appreciate the more mature writing they went for, hope it'll continue that trend !
Thought Morgana was going to be as painful of a character to endure as Teddy was, and he ended being one of my favorite of the serie
I loved pretty much everything otherwise, space palace and boat palace were a bit tiring to go through, but then again I got frustrated with every Persona game combat and this one was the nicest to play through.
What a game really, a pinnacle of RPG and video game in general, I think this is the kind of piece that'll get remembered through ages
Definitely my favorite entry in the serie ; the soundtrack, Makoto & Takemi being strong reasons as to why.
Some thoughts right after the credits :
Mishima is the worst character of the serie
I wish next games will finally drop the "obtuse, dumb, pervy, always ready to kick ass" sidekick you get every game (Junpei, Yosuke, Ryuji)
I really appreciate the more mature writing they went for, hope it'll continue that trend !
Thought Morgana was going to be as painful of a character to endure as Teddy was, and he ended being one of my favorite of the serie
I loved pretty much everything otherwise, space palace and boat palace were a bit tiring to go through, but then again I got frustrated with every Persona game combat and this one was the nicest to play through.
What a game really, a pinnacle of RPG and video game in general, I think this is the kind of piece that'll get remembered through ages
suikodan
Member
Finished the game today, 110hrs, whew!
Here are my thoughts...
- Too many bosses!!!! I just beat the Yakuza boss on the boat and my party was really not in shape then comes Akechi, arghh!
Then there's 3-parts Shido with his "you haven't face my strongest form yet!" *yawn...
Then we go down Mementos, this part dragged for wayyy too long...
The angels made me swear a lot especially Michael. I looked a FAQ for that.
- The Igor turnaround got me! I really was disappointed by the change of voice actor but to see that it was a ruse in the story, wow!
- I anticipated Morgana to be... something else
- The cast of characters was nice but I prefer the gang from P4.
Here are my thoughts...
- Too many bosses!!!! I just beat the Yakuza boss on the boat and my party was really not in shape then comes Akechi, arghh!
Then there's 3-parts Shido with his "you haven't face my strongest form yet!" *yawn...
Then we go down Mementos, this part dragged for wayyy too long...
The angels made me swear a lot especially Michael. I looked a FAQ for that.
- The Igor turnaround got me! I really was disappointed by the change of voice actor but to see that it was a ruse in the story, wow!
- I anticipated Morgana to be... something else
- The cast of characters was nice but I prefer the gang from P4.
ComradeZero
Member
C'mon. You can't beat perfection.
iceblade997
Member
Man, finished this this past week and am still nursing a "what do I play next" hole as a result. Loved this game. Loved, loved, loved it, and as a first Persona game I'm hoping to buy a Vita to play through P4G. I've played several games that I've really enjoyed this year, but Persona 5 was on another level, and I haven't had this much fun with a game in I don't know how long,
It's changed my opinion on the series from "This series looks fun but probably isn't for me" to, "Will preorder as soon as the next one is announced". And the great thing is, it does so many things well, but not just that: it also manages to speak really clearly on a lot of issues without being hamfisted or "we're just putting this in so we can tick off a box". What an excellent game. The soundtrack, the style, the characters, the story, the gameplay, the soundtrack... What a fantastic game.
It's changed my opinion on the series from "This series looks fun but probably isn't for me" to, "Will preorder as soon as the next one is announced". And the great thing is, it does so many things well, but not just that: it also manages to speak really clearly on a lot of issues without being hamfisted or "we're just putting this in so we can tick off a box". What an excellent game. The soundtrack, the style, the characters, the story, the gameplay, the soundtrack... What a fantastic game.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
I agree with this sentiment. While the P5 cast is made up of great individual characters (esp. my lovely Futaba), they don't quite come together as a group in the same way the P4 cast does. Like, I could imagine the P4 gang hanging out and becoming friends even if the Persona/TV world shit never happened. I don't really envision that scenario with the P5 cast.