Urban Scholar
Member
The UI and battle mechanics of P1 didn't click with me. In fact they were huge turn offs. I feel I gave it a fair shot
All of them have the box as far as I can tell. However, they are apparently missing some extras (trading cards?) that came with it.
As someone who has very limited familiarity with the series I just wanted to pop in and congratulate randomkid on a really boffo thread with what seems to me to be pretty good back and forth with respondants.
So I read your post. I appreciate the depth of thought you put into it. However, I pretty much disagree with everything you've written. The characters are mostly flat and lifeless, even if you are taking the opportunity to talk to them at every possible stage, the music, while good, is played on repeat so many times that by the game's conclusion it's near headache inducing, what little storyline there is seems largely glossed over, and the base mechanics seem complex but even things like the demon persuasion are really just rock-paper-scissors style choices when it comes down to it. The game has definite moments of excellence, the "moles" come to mind specifically, where you see the great character focused drama that makes me love the series so much, but I really just feel like Persona 1 was planting the seeds of ideas for something much greater; something realized wonderfully in the following iterations.
If I wanted to play Persona 1 & 2 today, my best bet would be to buy a Vita and get them on there, right?
The theme of choice is also really built into the games fabric, its the reason why in old usenet postings, Persona was recommended to folks who were fans of Gold Box games, during a time when RPG labels were more porous and that sneaky J hadnt yet latched itself omnipresently to the term. Choice here also extends to the fifth character in your party, a friendly way to promote replay value without new game plus, and certain choices locking you out of giant chunks of the game, an unfriendly way of getting you through the game again. In a world though where developers are desperate to ensure that gamers experience all content (so many buzzwords!), the chutzpah of Persona being willing to lock you out of huge swathes of the game is something I actually admire.
Like turning one character black and making the hair look like some intern with MS paint had to make quick n dirty is gonna make the western crowd think any differently.
I started up Persona PSP yesterday just to see how it played compared to what I remember of Revelations and I don't think I can tolerate the new music. The pop song that plays around the school and the town is bordering cringe worthy. While I do admire the range of Meguro given his offerings on the original, this new material is detrimental for me.
I thought to myself, I wish I could play this with the original music. I've noticed there has been some talk as recently as this year with the same idea, but I haven't seen anything beyond brainstorming.
Is there a project in the works that anyone knows of that replaces the PSP music with the original PSX version?
If nothing comes of it, I guess I will tough out the Snow Queen Quest and then replay the original when I get around to it.
Haven't done an extensive comparison of the two OSTs, but I really hate the PS1's standard battle music and given how much combat the game has, you listen to it ALL THE TIME. The PSP version is superior to me just because they replaced it with a catchy Persona 3/4-style Engrishy tune.
I'm also a big fan of Let Butterflies Spread Until the Dawn (the PSP world map music).
Haha I thought a lot of the PSP remake tracks were fine for what they were but the battle music sure wasn't one of em! The idea that people could prefer hearing the same initial 30 seconds of a sorta offkey Engrish loop over semi prog-rockish weirdness is crazy to me.
As for patching the original soundtrack into the remake, that would be a difficult task, since the remakes' soundtrack has less tracks than the original. That would mean there's no calls in the first place for some tracks, so you wouldn't be able to mod them in. (For example, Awakening Legend.)
The Velvet Room in this title still has the classiest cast of inhabitants.
Haven't done an extensive comparison of the two OSTs, but I really hate the PS1's standard battle music and given how much combat the game has, you listen to it ALL THE TIME. The PSP version is superior to me just because they replaced it with a catchy Persona 3/4-style Engrishy tune.
I'm also a big fan of Let Butterflies Spread Until the Dawn (the PSP world map music).
Hearing snippets of what I was missing in the Snow Queen Quest let me imagine again and create an entirely new experience in my head, what had to be an amazing game.
This was totally me. I remember reading this ancient FAQ and being amazed that there was a whole other game locked away on my disc. Getting the chance to finally play through in the PSP version was so great.
One small quirk in the PSX Persona games that was weirdly absent in the PSP versions; Every time when you finished a battle, the results screen did not have its own music, but rather, it continued playing the battle music. When you closed the results screen, the game would then play the main bar in the battle music, but at a different key than usual. In Persona 2, it even waits a second or 2 if the music is in a place where it wouldn't fit. This helped the battles feel more fluid and connected to the game, IMO.
Since the PSP games uses streamed music, I guess they considered it to be more trouble than it's worth to implement this thing in them, but I think it was a nice touch.
One small quirk in the PSX Persona games that was weirdly absent in the PSP versions; Every time when you finished a battle, the results screen did not have its own music, but rather, it continued playing the battle music. When you closed the results screen, the game would then play the main bar in the battle music, but at a different key than usual. In Persona 2, it even waits a second or 2 if the music is in a place where it wouldn't fit. This helped the battles feel more fluid and connected to the game, IMO.
Since the PSP games uses streamed music, I guess they considered it to be more trouble than it's worth to implement this thing in them, but I think it was a nice touch.
Those portraits are actually from Persona 2.
Haha I would be very pleased to see this thread randomly bumped whenever as a #safespace to discuss Revelationsersona. Wasn't aware Shidoshi was also a fan of the first game, I think that means there must be dozens of us. Dozens!
Can you really play through the whole Snow Queen Quest with that code? I knew it was still there on the disc but I had no clue it was actually playable and even partially translated.
One small quirk in the PSX Persona games that was weirdly absent in the PSP versions; Every time when you finished a battle, the results screen did not have its own music, but rather, it continued playing the battle music. When you closed the results screen, the game would then play the main bar in the battle music, but at a different key than usual. In Persona 2, it even waits a second or 2 if the music is in a place where it wouldn't fit. This helped the battles feel more fluid and connected to the game, IMO.
Since the PSP games uses streamed music, I guess they considered it to be more trouble than it's worth to implement this thing in them, but I think it was a nice touch.
And of course the Persona World Guidance book is just ten kinds of awesome
http://i.imgur.com/wxLbHIR.jpg
(Not in image tags in case of spoilers)
sweet merciful Nyarlothep why am I just now learning this is a thing that exists
just impulse bought it on ebay~
I hope "used but excellent" is an accurate description!
Excellent! It's one of my favorite books from one of my favorite trilogies
Though I'm surprised you have never heard of it before!
This is my jam.
With that said, these are the kinds of threads we need lately. Threads about games. Or your educated passion about those games. And game design. I've missed this kind of stuff on GAF lately.
Persona had some interesting ideas and it deserves credit for the unique concept it brought to 1995. But what could have been a striking game, simply wasn't. For what should be a surreal vision of a transformed Japanese city (or was it a town?), the dungeon design is some of the dullest work ever conceived. Even Devil Summoner had more work put into its dungeon design (with what seems like a conscious trade off with its battle visuals). And the ones in Persona go on forever. The monotony nearly drove me insane.
You're better off reading about the game, then moving on and playing the far superior Innocent Sin.