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Famitsu thread of Persona 4 raditude

Yeah, Error you're being kinda stupid.

I left out Atlus's ooooooold stuff for the most part because I don't think it's relevant at this point. If you start from the PS1 era which was like TEN YEARS AGO, they've been rocking the original games like crazy.

Honestly all I wanted was the jump that we got from Persona -> Persona 2. But then I guess we probably wouldn't be getting the game only 12 months from FES.

P4 will rock. It'll be an awesome game. But I'm just not going to be hyped or care until it comes out and I'm like "oh, hmm guess I'll play it" and then I'll likely enjoy it. I like Trauma Center, I love EO, but I still haven't bought TC2 or EO2 because while I know they are even better, they are just more of the same and I'm not in a rush to jump back into the same old same old. There's no excitement if you've experienced the core of it already. It'd be like a SoTC2, which would be zzzz despite that SoTC was an unforgettable original experience. At least with P4 there'll be the story to get me in, but gameplay, unless there are going to be MAJOR changes shown in the trailer that aren't apparent in the scan...yawn.

It's the reason why Edge scores games down for just being sequels. Something I highly approve of. Yakuza 3 is probably a way better game than the original, but I'd rate it nowhere near the score of the original, because Yakuza was doing something fresh and different and that's what made it so fun and exciting to play. Yakuza 3 is just the same thing again.

I really don't think you can understand where I'm coming from either. I think like three people max on GAF have finished FES. Come back in 6 months after doing another 300 floors of random dungeon crawling with personas and see if you're still foaming at the mouth for another adventure doing the same old thing.

And I'll never ride sales arguments. I don't care if a game sells. In fact I'm one of the few one gaf who HATE IT when a good game selling signals the developer to make an easy sequel. I hope those sequels bomb because I'd rather creative companies keep making original titles. I <3 Suda51 and have supported him in his good and crappy games because each time they were original and challenging the mainstream market. If Suda makes No More Heroes 2 and it's just an expansion pack I'll be saying the same exact rant I'm writing here in that thread. $$$ is important to keep companies going, sure. But selling out and doing what's easy, cheap, and sells is totally fucking lame and the death of the awesome developer.
 
Bebpo said:
Yeah, Error you're being kinda stupid.

I left out Atlus's ooooooold stuff for the most part because I don't think it's relevant at this point. If you start from the PS1 era which was like TEN YEARS AGO, they've been rocking the original games like crazy.

Honestly all I wanted was the jump that we got from Persona -> Persona 2. But then I guess we probably wouldn't be getting the game only 12 months from FES.

P4 will rock. It'll be an awesome game. But I'm just not going to be hyped or care until it comes out and I'm like "oh, hmm guess I'll play it" and then I'll likely enjoy it. I like Trauma Center, I love EO, but I still haven't bought TC2 or EO2 because while I know they are even better, they are just more of the same and I'm not in a rush to jump back into the same old same old. There's no excitement if you've experienced the core of it already. It'd be like a SoTC2, which would be zzzz despite that SoTC was an unforgettable original experience. At least with P4 there'll be the story to get me in, but gameplay, unless there are going to be MAJOR changes shown in the trailer that aren't apparent in the scan...yawn.

It's the reason why Edge scores games down for just being sequels. Something I highly approve of. Yakuza 3 is probably a way better game than the original, but I'd rate it nowhere near the score of the original, because Yakuza was doing something fresh and different and that's what made it so fun and exciting to play. Yakuza 3 is just the same thing again.

I really don't think you can understand where I'm coming from either. I think like three people max on GAF have finished FES. Come back in 6 months after doing another 300 floors of random dungeon crawling with personas and see if you're still foaming at the mouth for another adventure doing the same old thing.

And I'll never ride sales arguments. I don't care if a game sells. In fact I'm one of the few one gaf who HATE IT when a good game selling signals the developer to make an easy sequel. I hope those sequels bomb because I'd rather creative companies keep making original titles. I <3 Suda51 and have supported him in his good and crappy games because each time they were original and challenging the mainstream market. If Suda makes No More Heroes 2 and it's just an expansion pack I'll be saying the same exact rant I'm writing here in that thread. $$$ is important to keep companies going, sure. But selling out and doing what's easy, cheap, and sells is totally fucking lame and the death of the awesome developer.
ok, then why do you give a free pass to Nippon Ichi when they churn out a Disgaea every week?
 
Himuro said:
I'm tired of this character designer man. These characters and their Persona look so fucking generic.

Did you not look at the artbook that came with Persona 3?

I am a very big fan of Kaneko, especially the work he did in Nocturne. However, after P3, I think that Soejima finally managed to surpass him.
 
Error said:
ok, then why do you give a free pass to Nippon Ichi when they churn out a Disgaea every week?

I don't. I bitched when they announced Disgaea 2 and I'm not happy that they're becoming Disgaea only factory.

Disgaea -> Phantom Brave -> Makai Kingdom -> Soul Nomad are pretty much SMT->DDS->DS->Persona level of variety and originality. Plus they did Tori no Hoshi and ADV games.

Hopefully they'll come back to their senses. I'd bet money their next original srpg is not a sequel and instead completely original.
 
Error said:
ok, then why do you give a free pass to Nippon Ichi when they churn out a Disgaea every week?
They've only "churned out" 3 Disgaea's in 5 years. And released plenty original SRPGs with very different systems in the same interval.
 
MechaX said:
While Kaneko art is pretty cool, if Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou was any indication, the guy's running low on (creative) fuel.

When I look at this image, I do not see a lack of creativity.
2l9qxk0.jpg


If you're talking about all the reused demons that almost certainly has more to with saving money than with Kaneko's level of inspiration.
 
And duckroll delivers!

*Dismisses angry mob of torch and pitchfork bearing eastern european villagers*

No where is the dvd rip? I'VE GOT TO SEE THIS!
 
what makes DDS so innovative anyway? it's typical SMT but way more linear and no demon recruitment and Devil Summoner is hardly original either, arpg with tacked on Adventure elements and a terrible battle system.

the only really innovative SMT titles from Atlus last gen were P3 and SMT3 and lo they were the most successful of the bunch.
 
Error said:
you were hyping D3 and don't backpeddle now because you were.

I get excited for franchise transitions to new gaming consoles. So sue me. Same reason I was excited for Yakuza 3 until the demo was more of the same. Moving to a new console means new possibilities for gameplay/graphics. So I tend to get excited when that happens.

Yes, I would give P4 a free pass if it was on X360 and at least did something new with the tech. Like a huge seamless FFXII city to navigate.
 
Error said:
what makes DDS so innovative anyway? it's typical SMT but way more linear and no demon recruitment and Devil Summoner is hardly original either, arpg with tacked on Adventure elements and a terrible battle system.

You always mix up innovative with different.

FFX-2 is different from FFX. Is it particularly innovative...? Not really. Almost everything in gaming has been done before elsewhere. But was it more interesting than if it had been a pure clone of FFX? Definitely.

DDS was fun after SMT3 because it's was different than SMT3. If it had been exactly the same with light on story, no party members, no voices, and monster making as you go through dungeons, it would have been a lot less exciting experience.
 
leroy hacker said:
When I look at this image, I do not see a lack of creativity.

When I look at Radiou, I see a slightly rearranged Aleph with a police cap on.
When I look at Naurmi, I see Isamu in Baofu's yellow suit.
When I look at Tae & Ms. Kidnapped School Girl, I think of virtually most of the main SMT females (Hiroko, Chiaki, etc) with slightly different hairstyles.
When I look at the red cape guards, I think of a whole load of soldier-looking people.
When I see Mr. Japanese General taking up 30% of the cover, I think of Basque from Zeta Gundam.

He could have been onto something with Rasputin..

... Assuming Shadow Hearts: Covenant did not use virtually the same design.

Of course, that does not count, considering Gregori Rasputin is in fact, a real character that has managed to be converted three separate times for entertainment mediums in the past decade.

Anyway, yeah. I do see a lack of creativity in that image.
 
Hmm, it's probably intentional, but the main's persona bears a lot of similarity to the "Japanese school punk" archetype, what with the headband and black, unbuttoned jacket.
 
bebpo: I dont care about different, I care about fun. being different didnt make DDS better than SMT3 to me (or more fun), being different didnt make Devil Summoner a good game.

Im all for new ideas, but to say you expect a company to always make radically different games in a series all the time is living in a fantasy land. fact is P3 was a huge success for Atlus, so it's unrealistic to expect them to make something completely different. what's wrong with playing it safe? after 8 DQs I still love the crap out of that series. not everything has to be different all the time.

I remember people giving crap to tri-Ace because VP2 wasn't like VP1. yet if they tried to replicate VP1, people would've then complained about VP2 being just a rehash. I guess you cant never please anyone.
 
The new Persona designs in P3 were fucking lame. Kaneko's 20 year old designs still looked better.

As long as they take out the calendar, the random dungeon tower, teammate A.i., and make the battle encounters random, I'll be excited for P4.
 
Himuro said:
Compared to the SMT character and demon designs I'm used to, I'd definitely say they're at the very least unimaginative. I just don't like that guy's style at all. Persona 3's character designs were really good, but so far 4's look absolutely terribly plain aside from the main character.

I didn't like Stella Deus art either.

Kaneko's designs are no more imaginitive or unique than Soejima's. Kaneko's drawing style, however, is less in line with the current trend of Japanese game/anime designers than Soejima is. Soejima's drawing style is unique to him but far closer to normal styles over there.

I personally prefer Soejima myself. I don't like Kaneko's style and his designs just scream "I'm trying too hard" sometimes.
 
MechaX said:
When I look at Radiou, I see a slightly rearranged Aleph with a police cap on.

This, I have to give you. There are some uncanny similarities between their costumes. I had never noticed that before but it is undeniable.

I cannot argue with what you see, but I myself don't see the other comparisons you made as more than superficial. For me nearly the biggest part of the Kaneko character designs is the expression through fashion and even with some minor facial resemblances the styles of dress are completely different in the other comparisons you made. Baofu and Narumi both have yellow suits but they are different styles of suits, fitted and worn differently, that make completely different impressions on me.

n4y639.jpg
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Reilly said:
totally lol worthy

Though I am a devoted Kaneko fan and cannot agree with him about the Persona 2 characters, Shouta has a point. A number of the designs in Maken X felt that way to me, particularly the scientist with the box around his head.
 
leroy hacker said:
Though I am a devoted Kaneko fan, Shouta has a point. A number of the designs in Maken X felt that way to me, particularly the scientist with the box around his head. I can't agree with him about the Persona 2 characters though.

It's not like I hate all of the P2 designs myself, just Maya and Ulala's totally out of there elements as I pointed above. Baofu, Tatsuya, and Kazuya are great. The IS gang is pretty damn good too and they didn't need those outrageous aspects.

Alts said:
I'm more of a teeth on the breasts guy

No complaint for that. Totally works for a persona (not the Persona, persona). :lol
 
I like both artists and I'm glad they are both doing the artwork for various R&D1 games (it's just we haven't seen Kaneko for a while).

I thought Soejima was awesome when Stelladeus came out and I liked his P3 works as well. It's different than Kaneko but it works. I honestly don't think Kaneko's art would fit the modern day Persona games.
 
Kanekos art seems to have that wierd 80's/mid 90's cyberpunk vibe even when the setting is totally different. Just like the odd fashion choices and things give it that vibe. Kinda like how everything urushihara has that kinda futuristic swords and sorcery look with giang shoulder pads and a german twist.
 
pancakesandsex said:
Kanekos art seems to have that wierd 80's/mid 90's cyberpunk vibe even when the setting is totally different. Just like the odd fashion choices and things give it that vibe. Kinda like how everything urushihara has that kinda futuristic swords and sorcery look with giang shoulder pads and a german twist.
And is shiny... soooo very shiny.
 
zoku88 said:
And is shiny... soooo very shiny.

Yes...so shiny...

But anyway, Urushihara suffers from the same problem as Kaneko IMO. They both take the design too far sometimes. Sometimes leaving the bells and whistles out works wonders.
 
Shouta said:
Yes...so shiny...

But anyway, Urushihara suffers from the same problem as Kaneko IMO. They both take the design too far sometimes. Sometimes leaving the bells and whistles out works wonders.

I like that though, it gives them charm. I enjoy the wild fashions and stuff. It adds flavor.

Soejima can be a bit more pedestrian in his clothing choices, but they don't lack detail, and his mechanical/monster designs seem to have a steampunk vibe which i enjoy.
 
pancakesandsex said:
I like that though, it gives them charm. I enjoy the wild fashions and stuff. It adds flavor.

I agree with that. In a way, it kind of reminds me of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, which is kinda funny, considering how Persona itself, probably draws at least some inspiration from JBA's "Stand" concept... :D
 
pancakesandsex said:
Kanekos art seems to have that wierd 80's/mid 90's cyberpunk vibe even when the setting is totally different. Just like the odd fashion choices and things give it that vibe. Kinda like how everything urushihara has that kinda futuristic swords and sorcery look with giang shoulder pads and a german twist.

And perky breasts.
 
If anything, I'd like social links to have more cross effects. I mean how two of your friends feel about each other has an effect on you.
That and I'd love more life-sim stuff but it needs to have more effects on battle, I feel.
 
Himuro said:
I agree. P3's designs were good, but P4's holy shit. That's just fucking EMBARRASSING. Persona has always been the more mainstream SMT series, but this is ridiculous. Mickey Mouse Persona? The main character and his Persona look badass though.

I was so glad I'm not so infinitely anal about character designs.
 
There needs to be a commu with an ugly chick you can date that would ultimately lead to the best Persona. No pain, no gain.

Man, I'm full of such good ideas.
 
RevenantKioku said:
There needs to be a commu with an ugly chick you can date that would ultimately lead to the best Persona. No pain, no gain.

Man, I'm full of such good ideas.

Butter face commu

Imagine if it affected your other party members perceptions of you?
 
Himuro said:
It's not just the character designs. It's inclusion of little kids and dogs as party members as well.
but that's not soejima to blame, blame Hashino for telling him to design a kid and a dog.
 
Soejima haters = stupei

I actually like Soejima more than Kaneko. I mean I like Kaneko a lot, but I kind of am attracted to Soejima's...eh, softer designs...a little more. Kaneko's designs to me represent very bold, striking figures that are often more unsettling than they are relatable. Soejima's style is perfect for Persona-- or at least Persona as I know it, which is really just Persona 3.

I love this game. SEE YOU IN 2009!
 
pancakesandsex said:
Butter face commu

Imagine if it affected your other party members perceptions of you?
Think about it.
Would you nail the fatty for the best Persona?
 
I don't think the new main characters are far from generic, but they are a step down from P3. :lol @ the Mickey Mouse persona and the lead persona's cup (or whatever the hell that is).

I wonder if Masayuki Doi is helping out with the NPC designs, that guy beside the little girl looks more like a design from TC:NB... I guess it would be too hard to tell since Soejima designs look too similar.
 
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