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Persona 5 came out in the west six months ago. How do you feel about it now?
- Thread starter Dantis
- Start date
Manny Calavera
Member
It's stylish all over and really loved the first half but started to lose interest after that and haven't finished it yet. Still it's a good game and I'm planning to finish it at some point.
Yes
Did you not notice that the antagonists were basically limited to ppl they encountered in daily life and that all their fixes for things the team was pissed off about was "change their heart?" Or that the ending basically took agency away from the humans like "nah it's this abstract thing at fault, not real decisions made by real humans".
It felt like Persona 4 again with a new coat of paint, worse pacing, characters I didn't like as much, a setting I didn't like as much, a completely uninteresting story, and the subtlety of a nuclear bomb.
Hated it honestly, and it really pains me to say that because I was eagerly anticipating it since I was a teenager.
Edit - oh, and the teacher shit is creepy and gross, and it's portrayal of gay men is shameful and contemptuous
Hated it honestly, and it really pains me to say that because I was eagerly anticipating it since I was a teenager.
Edit - oh, and the teacher shit is creepy and gross, and it's portrayal of gay men is shameful and contemptuous
Skullwaker
Member
I really enjoyed it, and it should end up in my top 10 games of the year for sure. But I do think it dragged on too long and I was getting tired of it towards the end. I wish there was more freedom in the game and less handholding.
Ryuji is the best husbando.
Confused Cheeseburger
Member
One of the best RPGs of the decade.
zerokoolpsx
Member
Very stylish game. Story is ok. Music is great and I've been listening to it regularly too. P3 cast is more memorable. Confidants are done better and have better perks. Gameplay improved a lot over P4, but stuff still got cut like with an investigator. P5 cast was mostly good. Haru had least impact towards the end and Ryuji was my least favorite. The writers had no clue what to do with Haru. I'm thinking, why are you even here??
Sunk 200 hours into it over 2 playthroughs and got the platinum. No regrets.
A majority of the party members confidants are pretty weak or not meaningful compared to P3 or P4. Like with Yosuke at the end of his link, I totally understood him and he's more plausible despite being comedic relief. With the P5 cast, no one really had the same impact. There is no bromance lol. Felt no love for Ann either. It was superficial at best.
I rate it P3 > P5 > P4
Pick your poison with Mona or bear puns.
I'm pretty sure Atlus will do a P5 Red Crimson version with more stuff added.
Sunk 200 hours into it over 2 playthroughs and got the platinum. No regrets.
A majority of the party members confidants are pretty weak or not meaningful compared to P3 or P4. Like with Yosuke at the end of his link, I totally understood him and he's more plausible despite being comedic relief. With the P5 cast, no one really had the same impact. There is no bromance lol. Felt no love for Ann either. It was superficial at best.
I rate it P3 > P5 > P4
Pick your poison with Mona or bear puns.
I'm pretty sure Atlus will do a P5 Red Crimson version with more stuff added.
Incendiary
Banned
Still my GOTY. I don't think anything's going to unseat it except maybe Super Mario Odyssey.
silver moose
Member
Still one of my favorite games this year, hell this gen.
Working on NG+ as we speak. Only like 8 years until P6! -_-
Working on NG+ as we speak. Only like 8 years until P6! -_-
Played and loved the first half of the game (ready to call it my GOTY), got burnt out and didn't enjoy some... writing decisions... from the beginning of the second half. So I took a break.
Then I went back to it and learned to love it again! Also the plot was easier to love past where I left off.
Then after I finished it, I thought about it for a bit, and my thoughts soured just a little in hindsight due to missed opportunities.
Then finally a playthrough I watched reminded me of the good parts of the game that made me fall in love to begin with.
In the end, P5 won't be my GOTY, but that's more due to the quality of the releases this year rather than the game being bad. It's still one of the best JRPGs of the modern generation, imo, warts and all.
Then I went back to it and learned to love it again! Also the plot was easier to love past where I left off.
Then after I finished it, I thought about it for a bit, and my thoughts soured just a little in hindsight due to missed opportunities.
Then finally a playthrough I watched reminded me of the good parts of the game that made me fall in love to begin with.
In the end, P5 won't be my GOTY, but that's more due to the quality of the releases this year rather than the game being bad. It's still one of the best JRPGs of the modern generation, imo, warts and all.
Yup. Had to force myself to complete it.
Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
Still currently my GOTY. It's not as good as Persona 3 or 4, but still really good. I just started playing Breath of the Wild and Divinity: Original Sin 2 so we'll see if it remains.
BoogieWoogie
Banned
About 80 hours in but reaching the end game. Absolutely love it, hot damn the music alone.
katsubento
Member
Still probably my GOTY.
Iva Demilcol
Member
He's a physical representation of the lack of will to change (Because it is a game). He's basically a Shadow/Persona with too much power that got empowered by everyone. The villains in the story were the only ones with wills strong enough to fight him, so they were given their own prisons and when the PT took their hearts they surrendered to that system again. The PT constantly asked themselves if what they were doing was right.
You also missed the fact that when they said "Let's take down Mementos" and they accept that mean they'll lose their powers, Sae told them "you cannot do everything by yourselves, you'll have to leave us the responsibility to correct what's wrong" (more r less that's what she said.
You also missed the fact that when they said "Let's take down Mementos" and they accept that mean they'll lose their powers, Sae told them "you cannot do everything by yourselves, you'll have to leave us the responsibility to correct what's wrong" (more r less that's what she said.
What you're complaining about is addressed by the game too.
The game is oozing in style more so than any other game I've ever played, and the style alone carried the game for me for like 3 or so dungeons. But I'm not really invested on the plot or characters too much. I might finish it one of these days, but I didn't like it nearly as much as I liked Persona 4.
Could be just that I'm getting older, to be fair haha. So maybe the game just didn't like feel as cool as 4 did.
I don't know. The game did everything it could have and I have no complaints, but I just am not really feeling it. It's a good game, but I didn't fall in love with it.
Could be just that I'm getting older, to be fair haha. So maybe the game just didn't like feel as cool as 4 did.
I don't know. The game did everything it could have and I have no complaints, but I just am not really feeling it. It's a good game, but I didn't fall in love with it.
JudgmentJay
Member
It's the GOTY.
TiffanyTryhard
Member
Glad I finished it, but I'll almost certainly never touch it again. I think the most engaged I was in the plot was when they were going after Kamoshida, who was the only villain I felt any strong motivation to beat.
Despite the combat, music, art, and presentation being among the best in the series, the story, cast, and writing overall were just too inconsistent.
Despite the combat, music, art, and presentation being among the best in the series, the story, cast, and writing overall were just too inconsistent.
YankeeDonB
Member
Was really hyped going in, loved the style and the first couple of dungeons. Then the dungeons began to drrrrraaaagggg. The social stuff didn't work as well as in 4 I thought so I burned out after 40 hours or so....
C
Contica
Unconfirmed Member
Loved the first halr, then it took a nose dive. I wish I had stopped halfeay in, then I could have left with fond memories instead of being tormented by the same stupid dungeon for ten hours whioe becoming increasingly aware that the vocals were out of tune.
Sometimes working with sound is a curse.
Sometimes working with sound is a curse.
Buttonbasher
Member
Honestly the inability to take screenshots has really taken a lot away from my enjoyment. I took a whole ton in Persona 4, and getting to revisit them was a real treat. This just constantly reminds me of Atlus' out of date ideologies.
I had fun with it. Nice artstyle and great music. It was pretty good but it was way too bloated for its own good. It never ends and in a bad way for me. They kept stretching the plot especially at the end. They didn't have a script to last the 80 hours or so either as like P4 all the characters keeps repeating the same thing over and over. Moreover thematically don't try to have a plot about being a rebel in a docile society made of bigots and perverts while you can't even treat women and homosexuals properly in your game.
I'll just expand on my thoughts from NeoGAF's currently ongoing essential RPGs thread.
These are mostly in comparison to Persona 4. I think the game is far closer to Persona 4 than it is to Persona 3 in most areas.
Persona 5's basic strengths are the same as its immediate predecessors: balance a fantasy Japanese teen life simulation and a dungeon crawler with an engaging party battle system and Shin Megami Tensei demon collection, training, and fusion.
It is hands down a better dungeon crawler than Persona 3 and 4. It has better, more engaging dungeons; the return of demon conversations; social link abilities; a more user friendly fusion system.
It also has a very even cast and very even social links. It lacks the lows of Persona 4 in this regard, even if I also think its highs aren't as high.
I was disappointed by some social links that could've been very special. I'm thinking of Makoto and Ann here.
I also think Haru was largely a non-entity and her being such coupled with the horrible Ryuji/Morgana subplot is the biggest hiccup in the game, in September/October.
Akechi, also, is a failed character. He was interesting as a moral rival. He was exceedingly boring and cliche as handsome "dark" anime rival boy. That story-line was also horribly rushed.
But, generally speaking, the social links, in and outside the cast, were largely decent. There weren't any clunkers on the magnitude of some in P3 and P4 for me.
Also: Makoto was the most "on-the-nose" waifu experience for me among the games. That is largely from her main-game characterization though.
Persona 5 also has a more innately appealing tone and cast of characters to me, even if I feel in actuality Persona 4's cast and setting are better realized. Inaba felt very well realized to me and touched home, as I grew up in a small hick town. The bubbly, dumb "scooby gang" of friends also charmed me far beyond its innate appeal to me. There is probably way too much Junes text, but the friendships just felt much more realized than the relatively sterile text interactions of Persona 5 allowed.
It probably does hew too close to Persona 4 with regards to time management and story layout on the calendar and is a very close sequel in that regard and it does have more noticeable loss of control than that game (i.e. it seems to have balanced its time drains worse or just hid lost days worse), but the story is less frustrating on a player involvement level with the veil of positive story-telling being much stronger. Basically, I think it is very similar to Persona 4 in terms of pacing and structure with some disadvantages and some advantages. In context, Persona 4 was a much more radical sequel to Persona 3 in terms of structure.
In the time of Trump the fight against the furiously corrupt that society seems unwilling to deal with is incredibly cathartic. I was always frustrated with the murder mystery in Persona 4. I felt it had so much promise. I love things like Memories of Murder, for example, which is similarly set in a small town with a confusing string of murders. This was never going to be that, but it should've, and could've been more.
I'm more generous with some with respect to Persona 4's exploration of gender and sexuality. I think a lot of the ground they cover was interesting and surprisingly thoughtful for the time and place it came from. On the other hand, the tendency to flirt with queer and land on straight was too strong. That is both the story of Naoto and Kanji. Also, while I think the general homophobia of the cast, and in particular Yosuke, was fitting for teenagers of the time, the game never directly addressed it. These together paint a picture of a game that wanted to say things but ultimately couldn't commit to doing so and you are left with banally homophobic content.
Persona 4 in general is more problematic in this way: see its treatment of fat people. Persona 5 is more dialed back but still has "gay panic" gags and its treatment of Ann post Kamoshida is suspect.
In general, I feel Persona 5 is the way better polished and tangibly improved dream sequel to Persona 4, but also a fitting end for the current line of Persona, and for that very reason.
Some more detailed thoughts:
On Makoto #1 (Links to a bunch of other posts
)
On Makoto #2
On Ann #1
On Ann #2
On Ann/Futaba/Haru
On Ryuji
On Akechi and the Ending
On the Social Links, in General
Also, it was definitely the game that meant the most to me this year.
These are mostly in comparison to Persona 4. I think the game is far closer to Persona 4 than it is to Persona 3 in most areas.
Persona 5's basic strengths are the same as its immediate predecessors: balance a fantasy Japanese teen life simulation and a dungeon crawler with an engaging party battle system and Shin Megami Tensei demon collection, training, and fusion.
It is hands down a better dungeon crawler than Persona 3 and 4. It has better, more engaging dungeons; the return of demon conversations; social link abilities; a more user friendly fusion system.
It also has a very even cast and very even social links. It lacks the lows of Persona 4 in this regard, even if I also think its highs aren't as high.
I was disappointed by some social links that could've been very special. I'm thinking of Makoto and Ann here.
I also think Haru was largely a non-entity and her being such coupled with the horrible Ryuji/Morgana subplot is the biggest hiccup in the game, in September/October.
Akechi, also, is a failed character. He was interesting as a moral rival. He was exceedingly boring and cliche as handsome "dark" anime rival boy. That story-line was also horribly rushed.
But, generally speaking, the social links, in and outside the cast, were largely decent. There weren't any clunkers on the magnitude of some in P3 and P4 for me.
Also: Makoto was the most "on-the-nose" waifu experience for me among the games. That is largely from her main-game characterization though.
Persona 5 also has a more innately appealing tone and cast of characters to me, even if I feel in actuality Persona 4's cast and setting are better realized. Inaba felt very well realized to me and touched home, as I grew up in a small hick town. The bubbly, dumb "scooby gang" of friends also charmed me far beyond its innate appeal to me. There is probably way too much Junes text, but the friendships just felt much more realized than the relatively sterile text interactions of Persona 5 allowed.
It probably does hew too close to Persona 4 with regards to time management and story layout on the calendar and is a very close sequel in that regard and it does have more noticeable loss of control than that game (i.e. it seems to have balanced its time drains worse or just hid lost days worse), but the story is less frustrating on a player involvement level with the veil of positive story-telling being much stronger. Basically, I think it is very similar to Persona 4 in terms of pacing and structure with some disadvantages and some advantages. In context, Persona 4 was a much more radical sequel to Persona 3 in terms of structure.
In the time of Trump the fight against the furiously corrupt that society seems unwilling to deal with is incredibly cathartic. I was always frustrated with the murder mystery in Persona 4. I felt it had so much promise. I love things like Memories of Murder, for example, which is similarly set in a small town with a confusing string of murders. This was never going to be that, but it should've, and could've been more.
I'm more generous with some with respect to Persona 4's exploration of gender and sexuality. I think a lot of the ground they cover was interesting and surprisingly thoughtful for the time and place it came from. On the other hand, the tendency to flirt with queer and land on straight was too strong. That is both the story of Naoto and Kanji. Also, while I think the general homophobia of the cast, and in particular Yosuke, was fitting for teenagers of the time, the game never directly addressed it. These together paint a picture of a game that wanted to say things but ultimately couldn't commit to doing so and you are left with banally homophobic content.
Persona 4 in general is more problematic in this way: see its treatment of fat people. Persona 5 is more dialed back but still has "gay panic" gags and its treatment of Ann post Kamoshida is suspect.
In general, I feel Persona 5 is the way better polished and tangibly improved dream sequel to Persona 4, but also a fitting end for the current line of Persona, and for that very reason.
Some more detailed thoughts:
On Makoto #1 (Links to a bunch of other posts
)On Makoto #2
On Ann #1
On Ann #2
On Ann/Futaba/Haru
On Ryuji
On Akechi and the Ending
On the Social Links, in General
Also, it was definitely the game that meant the most to me this year
.Peaked early and what followed was an almost never-ending downward slope into disappointment and mediocrity. A shame, really, considering how absurdly hyped I was for it at the time. I generally tend to have good judgement calls towards what I spend my time playing, so I'd confidently say it's my least favorite played game so far this year.
The opening "tutorial section" before the player is given much freedom lasts way too long. The game also would have been better if it was trimmed a bit: there's a lot of repetitive exposition that hurts the story pacing. The premise of (endgame spoiler)
is getting repetitive after Persona 3/4.
On the other hand, the dungeon gameplay is the best in the series. The style and presentation are top-notch. The protagonist has far more personality than previous protagonists. The supporting cast is mostly strong, even if it doesn't reach the highs of Persona 4 Golden. A great game overall, but it falls short of a masterpiece.
"a god seeks to destroy humanity by granting humanity's secret wishes"
On the other hand, the dungeon gameplay is the best in the series. The style and presentation are top-notch. The protagonist has far more personality than previous protagonists. The supporting cast is mostly strong, even if it doesn't reach the highs of Persona 4 Golden. A great game overall, but it falls short of a masterpiece.
I played in long sessions with friends so it wasnt a force situation but damn that last dungeon hahaha holy crap thats awful
formasymphonic
Member
Still my favourite game from this year. Multitudes of things that functionally make it the best Persona game easily, with some areas that I think were lacking compared to previous games.
- They could have done more a few more events with everyone to solidify the friendship/group dynamic a bit more. That was something I felt lacking compared to P4/P4G. Hawaii Trip for example could be redone to be better "group event".
- Some characters didn't get enough screen time, while one got way too much deference to her in almost every way.
- Haru should have been given a few earlier appearances prior to her main arrival in the game - similar to how Naoto appears a few times in P4. Relatively easy fix would be to bring her on to the roof when you stop using it as a base, and have interactions with her work similarly to how they do with the newspaper girl.
- Game "ends" too early. Even if they still wanted to do
Then let you have more fun slice of life stuff in
, like white day as follow to V-day, the 3rd yrs prepping for graduation, everyone prepping for joker to leave etc. a bit of exploration of why he's even going back home etc.
I made a longer list in a few other places but these are a few off the top of my head. Still my favourite game of the year and a worthy addition to the franchise.
P5 also had the best implementation of a plot twist I've ever experienced in a game — but I suppose its full effect is only felt if you
. Generally though -while not perfect- I loved the game and would really like to see how they could better it in a P5 Crimson/Ruby.
- They could have done more a few more events with everyone to solidify the friendship/group dynamic a bit more. That was something I felt lacking compared to P4/P4G. Hawaii Trip for example could be redone to be better "group event".
- Some characters didn't get enough screen time, while one got way too much deference to her in almost every way.
- Haru should have been given a few earlier appearances prior to her main arrival in the game - similar to how Naoto appears a few times in P4. Relatively easy fix would be to bring her on to the roof when you stop using it as a base, and have interactions with her work similarly to how they do with the newspaper girl.
- Game "ends" too early. Even if they still wanted to do
the giving yourself up thing, they could have easily let you have Christmas + New Years and you hand yourself in on Jan 2nd.
February-March
I made a longer list in a few other places but these are a few off the top of my head. Still my favourite game of the year and a worthy addition to the franchise.
P5 also had the best implementation of a plot twist I've ever experienced in a game — but I suppose its full effect is only felt if you
were enough of a fan to know about stuff like who the voice actors were and Igor's JP VA passing away a few years ago
No i know these things, we are just interpreting the events differently, which is fine.
the disbandment of pt, to me, refers to young riled ppl "growing up", which is a stark negative to me in the context of this game. They sacrifice their ability for super powered anarchy in order to "do the right thing", which is a big tool for adults to control children and make them in their own image. They are being reintegrated into the system by the end of the game, and like you said, basically go the "yeah maybe there are good adults, lets let them take care of things despite that going against every single thing we've gone through".
In the end though it's not really a matter of conflicting plot or anything like that for me. You have a game that depicts young ppl getting fucked over by adults, released in a world where young people are getting fucked hard by adults, and the message that i end up with here is basically a version of "make sure you vote! Cant complain if you dont vote!" Nah fuck that.
I def missed the part where the bad guys were fighting the last boss by being rapists or fucking over their workers, but if what you're saying is correct then it makes me like the game even less lol. Like that would immediately insuinate something like "oh yeah these bad guys are mad fucked up but man they sure have impressive wills huh" and im not really here for that at all.
The biggest thing tho is how they approach the whole changing hearts thing. Obviously this is a really idiotic way to change society, but i expected the p thieves to reap how idiotic this is way harder. Theres no satisfying failure for them nor is it a meaningful learning experience for them.
In the end though it's not really a matter of conflicting plot or anything like that for me. You have a game that depicts young ppl getting fucked over by adults, released in a world where young people are getting fucked hard by adults, and the message that i end up with here is basically a version of "make sure you vote! Cant complain if you dont vote!" Nah fuck that.
I def missed the part where the bad guys were fighting the last boss by being rapists or fucking over their workers, but if what you're saying is correct then it makes me like the game even less lol. Like that would immediately insuinate something like "oh yeah these bad guys are mad fucked up but man they sure have impressive wills huh" and im not really here for that at all.
The biggest thing tho is how they approach the whole changing hearts thing. Obviously this is a really idiotic way to change society, but i expected the p thieves to reap how idiotic this is way harder. Theres no satisfying failure for them nor is it a meaningful learning experience for them.
In the end i enjoyed the game, i just wish they dealt with themes that they could write better, and imo the writing fell pretty flat and soured the experience for me.
Fbh
Member
I mostly enjoyed my long time with it.
I enjoyed the characters and main story, and it improved on one of my biggest issues with past entries which was Dungeon level design and combat.
The game is also oozing with style, everything from the menus to the UI to the music, animations and overall art style just looks and sounds great
With that said, it also commits one of the biggest sins a game can (at least IMO), which is not respecting my time.
To put it quite simply, Persona 5 is a great 60-70 hours game that has been stretched to be a 100+ hours. At several points the pacing slows down to a crawl for no reason, characters love talking in circles and having the same conversation with different words over and over and over again, the game has at least 1 dungeon too many and the dungeons themselves start to drag on. The first 1-2 dungeons had the perfect length and pacing but the later ones are 2 or 3 times bigger and it feels like the only reason they are like this is to make the game longer. At one of the later dungeons one of the characters actually says something like "damn, another corridor?". The writers might think it's clever but to me it just feels like the game itself admitting that I'm playing filler content.
But as I said, despite my post sounding negative I still enjoyed my time with it. It doesn't respect my time and at 1-2 points I started considering dropping it. But In the end, after finishing my 100+ hours playthrough I still find myself missing it.
I would also have no problem listening to another 100 hours of Beneath the mask
I enjoyed the characters and main story, and it improved on one of my biggest issues with past entries which was Dungeon level design and combat.
The game is also oozing with style, everything from the menus to the UI to the music, animations and overall art style just looks and sounds great
With that said, it also commits one of the biggest sins a game can (at least IMO), which is not respecting my time.
To put it quite simply, Persona 5 is a great 60-70 hours game that has been stretched to be a 100+ hours. At several points the pacing slows down to a crawl for no reason, characters love talking in circles and having the same conversation with different words over and over and over again, the game has at least 1 dungeon too many and the dungeons themselves start to drag on. The first 1-2 dungeons had the perfect length and pacing but the later ones are 2 or 3 times bigger and it feels like the only reason they are like this is to make the game longer. At one of the later dungeons one of the characters actually says something like "damn, another corridor?". The writers might think it's clever but to me it just feels like the game itself admitting that I'm playing filler content.
But as I said, despite my post sounding negative I still enjoyed my time with it. It doesn't respect my time and at 1-2 points I started considering dropping it. But In the end, after finishing my 100+ hours playthrough I still find myself missing it.
I would also have no problem listening to another 100 hours of Beneath the mask
This is how I feel too. Had a lot of fun playing it but I didn't feel too attached to the plot or characters. The plot twist was cool but it didn't surprise me like P4 did.
Gameplay = 5>4>3
Plot = 4>3>5
I still really liked it. If they re-release it with new features and added story I wouldn't mind picking it up again.
AmayaPapaya
Banned
I really liked it. The game dragged on far too much towards the end, though. The last arc felt dumb, TBH. Had the feeling like it was a fever dream.
Gameplay is great until it isn't. Overall, this is much better than the other persona games, just because of this, though. I couldnt finish the other games because it was too bland to play.
Gameplay is great until it isn't. Overall, this is much better than the other persona games, just because of this, though. I couldnt finish the other games because it was too bland to play.
I played the Japanese release last year, and while I still like it a lot, it doesn't really leave me with the long-lasting glow I feel for Persona 4. Probably a side effect of all that downtrodden, fight authority, we're-less-bffs-in-the-world-and-more-forced-together-by-a-world-that's-rotten brand of camraderie. It's a bit less like all the characters are homies and more like they're together because they have to be, because CRIMES.
Actually thinking upon it a little, I like Persona 5 more stylistically (it's hard to argue with on that front) but Persona 4's nuts and bolts story and character give me a warmer feeling.
And then off in the corner you have Persona 3, cradling a plastic model of it's robot waifu and listening to Cure albums while being sad.
Actually thinking upon it a little, I like Persona 5 more stylistically (it's hard to argue with on that front) but Persona 4's nuts and bolts story and character give me a warmer feeling.
And then off in the corner you have Persona 3, cradling a plastic model of it's robot waifu and listening to Cure albums while being sad.