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[ShadowSoldier89]

I prefer Persona 4 golden overall, but jesus christ the dungeons are a million times better than the garbage ass procedural corridors of 4, and especially fucking tartarus with its goddamn 262 floors of fucking nothingness

And the characters are interesting and have a great group dynamic. They don't get as interestingly personal as Persona 4's, but they ar e a ton better than the cardboard cutouts of P3 (besides Junpei, he was interesting)

 

[AngryMoth]

As a newcomer to the series my only major problem was the pacing. I enjoyed the story and combat

 

[Son Of Sparda]

Bad headline, good article.

I agree with a lot of his points, especially those about the villains.

 

[FSLink]

Major spoiler warning:

Read your spoilers, glad I stopped after the first dungeon. I called

Spoiler

akechi

being the bad guy literally the second he walked onscreen. If it was supposed to be a surprise they failed miserably.

It's not meant to be a surprise.

Spoiler

The twist is that the party knew about it, and it's more of a red herring to the other twist in the game

 

[Wulfram]

It's always sad to me when someone writes something that has some sort of validity and then completely blows their credibility on a huge overreach statement like this author did.

Did the author write the headline? They often don't as I understand it.

 

[wondergorls]

I liked the game but it wasn't as great as some make out. The story and characters are very meh for a 80+ hour game.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

Haven't played the game but...these all seem like legitimate criticism.

lol

Either it was a sincere opinion or it was a good parody of those saying that they left the game after the first dungeon but feel that the entire game is bad.

 

[Firenze1]

It's not meant to be a surprise.

Atleast P4 had you guessing who the bad guy was until the end.

 

[Lynx_7]

Well I guess there's the rub - Persona should be considered a dedicated dungeon crawling series. That's all there is to the combat-centric part of it - dungeons dungeons and dungeons. There is no overworld with encounters, there are no fields to explore, etc. It's just a series of intense dungeons broken up by adventure game elements. So why shouldn't it be held up to the standard of the dedicated dungeon greats?

I don't know if I would, Persona puts a lot of emphasis in its story, characters, and daily sim stuff for me to see it as a pure dungeon crawling series. It's certainly not the reason most people play the series, contrary to stuff like Etrian Odyssey and SMT.
Even then, I understand saying it doesn't measure up to the cream of the crop, but that's a fair ways up from "terrible" and "bad", which is how a few people describe it.

 

[DR2K]

I'm just glad Persona 5 is in the same league as Persona 3 and 4 and not an unholy compromise shit fest that almost every single other JRPG sequel has been coming into this gen. My biggest gripe with Persona 5 is how long it took to make, hopefully Persona 6 doesn't take as long.

 

[FSLink]

Atleast P4 had you guessing who the bad guy was until the end.

Okay so? It's not just about what a twist is, but how they execute it.

 

[Beartruck]

Major spoiler warning:



It's not meant to be a surprise.

Spoiler

The twist is that the party knew about it, and it's more of a red herring to the other twist in the game

Heres the thing: considering how the game started, I guessed that too. I thought, that guy seems evil, is the intro

Spoiler

secretely a fakeout just so we can get that guy?

This is the problem with a lot of in media res stories: half the time they shatter any dramatic tension the story might have and reveal elements you normally wouldn't guess until hours later.

 

[NoctisVsStar]

I'm just glad Persona 5 is in the same league as Persona 3 and 4 and not an unholy compromise shit fest that almost every single other JRPG sequel has been coming into this gen. My biggest gripe with Persona 5 is how long it took to make, hopefully Persona 6 doesn't take as long.

Well I think the concern is that Hashino is out as director.

 

[Dead End Irony]

I wonder how the overall opinions of this game would've been like if Persona 5 didn't adopt this bizarre 'shit we gotta hurry and wrap this game up' vibe/pace during the final stretch. Like I can't think of a game I've enjoyed more than Persona 5 this year, but damn I still have a bad taste in my mouth from how the game finished.

 

[StereoVsn]

P5 had quite a few faults but it was still a good game. St the same time localization suffered compared to previous games, ends of combat animation wasted time, stealth camera in the dungeons was terrible, dungeons overstayed their welcome quite a bit.

I also found the story alright but the recollection mechanic was not great: "You laundry was folded too neat, you must have had professional dry cleaning help!" I also liked very few characters and pretty much none of the main party members.

 

[Firenze1]

Okay so? It's not just about what a twist is, but how they execute it.

Both

Spoiler

Akechi and Shido were poorly handled. I was waiting for a major twist between them

Also some of the dungeon puzzles were so basic that I question why they even bothered to add them.

 

[arcticice]

Lol. Most of the comments on here are from people who havent even played the game. tis turning into legend of zelda thread where everyone who hasn't played or can't play just posts a shitty remark and moves on.

 

[arcticice]

the game is awesome people. the combat and dungerons are great, characters are pretty good too. story is a bit predictable but quite fun, and is certainly better than most western games which don't put any thought on story whatsoever.

Yes it has some faults, but which game doesnt. it's a must play title and is easily one of the Game of the Year contenders

 

[MoonFrog]

This seems like a lazy comment when there have been in depth debates between people who prefer P4 and those who don't. I dislike a lot of things about P4 and I have since it was first released, but there's no question that when it comes to preference of design, writing, and cast, it really is a matter of personal taste. P4 and P5 are very, very different, and P5 shares much more in common with P3 than P4.

I don't think this is true.

Structurally, P5 is incredibly close to P4, rather than being a P3-P4 like evolution. Dungeons in the day-time with a loss of night-time. Relatively painless simulation with no serious harem penalties. No fatigue system. Character growth is almost entirely restricted to social links, instead of played out through the main events. Dungeons tied to characters and themed, instead of generic central dungeon and monthly events. Etc.

Persona 5 is a Persona game in the mold of Persona 4.

There are also clear character and event parallels, like, for example, Sojiro/Futaba to Dojima/Nanako or Futaba bikini-is-social-healing week to Nanako homework-is-social-healing week. Generally speaking, the P5 calendar and story structure is quite similar to that of P4.

But, Sojiro and Futaba not living directly with you definitely gives the air of being more independent a la Persona 3. The characters also give off a more "mature" vibe. The story is put (however illusory in this respect) much more in the party's hands and the group is spun in a more quasi-professional light a la Persona 3 and less of a rank amateur light a la Persona 4. Persona 5 is also a step away from the intense "you are a high school student" approach of Persona 4, which is more in line with how Persona 3 felt to me, where it was more like I was a super-teen who also went to school.

I feel tonally, Persona 5 does remind me more of Persona 3 but structurally it is a Persona 4 sequel through and through.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

Atleast P4 had you guessing who the bad guy was until the end.

This is something I never get: in P4 you supposedly search for a murderer and the progression for every dungeon is:

-"okay, we know who's the next target. Let's keep an eye on them to catch the culprit"
-they find nothing
-"guys, they were kidnapped anyways and thrown to the TV world. We have to save them."
-they save the victim
-"hey, do you remember who kidnapped you?" "Sorry no" "okay"
-they find nothing.

Rinse and repeat until the end of the game. In P5 there's always some sort of progression in the plot. The pacing could be the same in the three games but in P5 the story is always progressing until its conclusion. While in P4 there's no sense of progression other than getting new party members.

 

[DealWithIt]

Persona stories have been super weak since 3 so im not sure why p5 is getting called out on it all of a sudden. Were people just not paying attention?

I don't understand the appeal. Games that are regressive on social issues, mixed in with troped-out characters and melodramatic social link stories.

The battle system is essentially "hunt for the weakness so you can kill the monsters without taking too much damage." It's fun for 40 hours or so but it gets old very fast. And we have like 800+ hours of gameplay using that exact model now if you count SMT as well. The franchises are not innovating much, if you get right down to it. Most of the persona/demon designs and sometimes even artwork are recycled.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

Atleast P4 had you guessing who the bad guy was until the end.

Too bad

Spoiler

Akechi isnt the actual bad guy.

 

[Von Krukru]

the game is awesome people. the combat and dungerons are great, characters are pretty good too. story is a bit predictable but quite fun, and is certainly better than most western games which don't put any thought on story whatsoever.

Yes it has some faults, but which game doesnt. it's a must play title and is easily one of the Game of the Year contenders

Nah, these dungeons are boring and drag on forever! Still my GOTY, as the rest is very good.
Glad Hoshino/Meguro/Soejima are out and working on something fresh. P5 felt like Dark Souls 3 : a very good entry, but without the surprise an the sense of discovery of the old games.

 

[BakedTanooki]

After two full playthroughs, 195 hours and the platinum trophy, I don't agree.
I was a little sad to leave that awesome world behind. Would love to go back for DLC or an expanded version.

 

[Prophaniti]

I couldn't get through it. I will eventually but it's not all that fun except for the social link stuff.

My big complaint is the "stealth" stuff was super annoying after a couple times. Didn't add anything to the game at all. Also the dungeons felt like a game designed for a vita.

 

[tenderbrew]

Surprised legit that people not into the characters. I loved the main cast Ryuji, Ann and Makoto were damn near perfect.

 

[MoonFrog]

This is something I never get: in P4 you supposedly search for a murderer and the progression for every dungeon is:

-"okay, we know who's the next target. Let's keep an eye on them to catch the culprit"
-they find nothing
-"guys, they were kidnapped anyways and thrown to the TV world. We have to save them."
-they save the victim
-"hey, do you remember who kidnapped you?" "Sorry no" "okay"
-they find nothing.

Rinse and repeat until the end of the game. In P5 there's always some sort of progression in the plot. The pacing could be the same in the three games but in P5 the story is always progressing until its conclusion. While in P4 there's no sense of progression other than getting new party members.

Yeah. I mean, P5 story is intensely reactive too but they cast it in an active light. Your group is seeking out targets, gets some ideas, and then is forced to commit. Player's feeling of agency is harmed by worse loss of control than in Persona 4, but the thieves are much more played as active players rather than a group of plucky teens who makes no progress in their investigation but manages to save everyone. A lot of that, perhaps, is just in the premise differences, but some of it is at least is in the difference in presentation.

Both have central premises that are used as mostly window-dressing for character-centric episodic drama, but I think P5 strings those together in a less frustrating way.

But both do have their own sorts of frustrating repeated conversations, but P5's texts aren't just circling around little plot points you can't get past yet--they're annoying and repetitive on other grounds.

That said, P4 does change it up in summer. Fish-eyes was a good change of pace that actually brought murder back into the game. (P5 does too, having a Persona 4 episode in summer ).

 

[arcticice]

Nah, these dungeons are boring and drag on forever! Still my GOTY, as the rest is very good.
Glad Hoshino/Meguro/Soejima are out and working on something fresh. P5 felt like Dark Souls 3 : a very good entry, but without the surprise an the sense of discovery of the old games.

I haven't played any of the other persona titles, so maybe that's why i didn't feel dungeons dragged on. i was happy with P5's dungeons length

 

[Flame Lord]

Yeah I don't understand this complaint either. Like, this article even states that the dungeons are a step down from 4. But the dungeons in 4 are fucking nothing. Like, literally they are corridors with different wallpapers and enemies roaming around. Persona 5, meanwhile, has actual dungeons with unique layouts, added mechanics and puzzles, and a much better implemented first strike system which actually uses the level design of the dungeons rather than running in a circle trying to get behind a shadow. Are all of the mechanics introduced in each dungeon good 100% of the time? No, but most of them break up the combat nicely and work well enough. At least they tried something to make dungeons more engaging, and I think they succeeded for the most part.

As far as I can tell people's main complaint seems to amount to "Waaaahhh, I can't run through dungeons in ten minutes and get back to the story parts!" and that's perfectly fine to feel that way, but if that is the way you feel maybe you should watch the game on Youtube if you hate playing it so much. For someone like me who really enjoys that gameplay I far more appreciated dungeons with a lot more thought put into them than the randomly generated garbage from last two games.

 

[zMiiChy-]

Of all the 'Hyped' games this year, Persona 5 is the only one that doesn't interest me in the slightest.

Persona Golden was such a chore to play, so many bad gameplay mechanics and a story that really wasn't that good.

 

[Xaero Gravity]

Yeah I stopped after 40 hours, I didn’t care about any of these characters and the dungeons were boring.

I'm in the same boat, although I didn't last nearly as long as you. One of my personal biggest disappointments in gaming period

 

[Lord of Ostia]

This is something I never get: in P4 you supposedly search for a murderer and the progression for every dungeon is:

-"okay, we know who's the next target. Let's keep an eye on them to catch the culprit"
-they find nothing
-"guys, they were kidnapped anyways and thrown to the TV world. We have to save them."
-they save the victim
-"hey, do you remember who kidnapped you?" "Sorry no" "okay"
-they find nothing.

Rinse and repeat until the end of the game. In P5 there's always some sort of progression in the plot. The pacing could be the same in the three games but in P5 the story is always progressing until its conclusion. While in P4 there's no sense of progression other than getting new party members.

Yep, the only reason P4 'keeps you guessing' as to who the murderer is, is because the investigation group literally makes 0 progress until the last part of the game

 

[AcademicSaucer]

We know that Atlus can build interesting and fun to explore dungeons, why are Persona dungeons so bad then?

 

[Lynx_7]

This is something I never get: in P4 you supposedly search for a murderer and the progression for every dungeon is:

-"okay, we know who's the next target. Let's keep an eye on them to catch the culprit"
-they find nothing
-"guys, they were kidnapped anyways and thrown to the TV world. We have to save them."
-they save the victim
-"hey, do you remember who kidnapped you?" "Sorry no" "okay"
-they find nothing.

Rinse and repeat until the end of the game. In P5 there's always some sort of progression in the plot. The pacing could be the same in the three games but in P5 the story is always progressing until its conclusion. While in P4 there's no sense of progression other than getting new party members.

I kind of agree. As someone still going through the game, I already see a "main plot" developing in the background and the game keeps bringing up some plot threads in particular which I expect will be addressed later. I'm also a sucker for these 0 to hero kind of stories so I'm also enjoying that aspect with the rise of the PT as a group greatly. I guess the "murder mystery" hook was just more effective for most people at conveying a goal you're working torwards to.
I've noticed P4 has gone through a sort of romanticization lately. It's one of my favorite games of all time but even I think it's been a bit much. I expect things to normalize a few years from now, specially if we get a revision for 5.

 

[Aselith]

I played through P3 and P4 multiple times but I am not so sure about doing that with this one. Maybe I'm just tired of being forced to sleep.

They do that in P4 a lot too

 

[Boy Wander]

I wonder how many internet games "journalists" are actually journalists.

 

[three_muffins]

I think you mean "One freelance writer who has never written anything for Kotaku before blasts Persona 5 in what is clearly an opinion piece".

I always thougt all reviews are opinion pieces not just the unwanted ones.

 

[silva1991]

We know that Atlus can build interesting and fun to explore dungeons, why are Persona dungeons so bad then?

They aren't lol. They are mostly praised and considered as improvement over 3 and 4 if you read reviews and most people's opinion.

For some, they are just way too long.

 

[MoonFrog]

They do that in P4 a lot too

The thing with P4 is that on investigation days you can social link with non-cast members after your daily activity. You can also spend your nights on these days.

P5 does steal control a lot more and a lot more completely.

I like to think it is probably a balance issue with how much time it takes to complete the simulation game.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

They aren't lol. They are mostly praised and considered as improvement over 3 and 4 if you read reviews and most people's opinion.

For some, they are just way too long.

Being better than the dungeons in 3 and 4 is not a great achievement.

 

[8bit]

I think it is a good headline. /shruggie


Anyway, chances are the author of the piece didn't write it and a sub ed decided to wind up Persona Stans.

 

[Spinluck]

Persona 5 dungeons are a godsend compared to the other games.

I love them all though.

 

[Lynx_7]

The thing with P4 is that on investigation days you can social link with non-cast members after your daily activity. You can also spend your nights on these days.

P5 does steal control a lot more and a lot more completely.

I like to think it is probably a balance issue with how much time it takes to complete the simulation game.

It is. Maybe I'm just better at these games at this point, but I've realized my social stats and confidants are a lot higher at this point in the story than I remember them being at my 3 and 4 playthroughs. I've almost got Guts and Kmowledge maxed out and I'm a bit over halfway through or something.

If they give you more free time in a future revision, they'd need to rebalance the social aspects a little bit.

 

[Realeza]

Is there anything more pathetic that people who hide behind random articles from nobodies to say "yeah I agree"?

Persona 5 is a fantastic game.

 

[Novel Mike]

This is something I never get: in P4 you supposedly search for a murderer and the progression for every dungeon is:

-"okay, we know who's the next target. Let's keep an eye on them to catch the culprit"
-they find nothing
-"guys, they were kidnapped anyways and thrown to the TV world. We have to save them."
-they save the victim
-"hey, do you remember who kidnapped you?" "Sorry no" "okay"
-they find nothing.

Rinse and repeat until the end of the game. In P5 there's always some sort of progression in the plot. The pacing could be the same in the three games but in P5 the story is always progressing until its conclusion. While in P4 there's no sense of progression other than getting new party members.

Thats not really true though.

During the first arc two people are killed and you and the team end up in the TV world.

Then when Yukiko gets kidnapped they realize that the people who are thrown into the TV can be saved and vow to stop the killer.

With Kanji's arc they realize that the midnight channel itself is signaling who will be kidnapped.

With Rise's arc they actually do think they catch the guy only to find out it was just a fan being stupid.

After that the whole thing with Mitsuo (I think thats his name) happens and they finally 'stop' the killer.

Then Naoto realizes that something doesn't make sense and sets herself up as bait.

Then once Naoto (a real detective) joins the group they really start piecing everything together and barely miss saving Nanako.

The biggest difference is that each time something happens they are learning more and are actively trying to figure out whats going on but in the end these are kids trying to solve a crime once they have Naoto who again is a real detective and she understands how everything has played out they really start to peace it together.

Once thats done you head towards the endgame with the real killer revealed after during everything you they had learned about on its head and realizing that Namatame wasn't the one who killed the first two people.

Even then though the brilliance of Persona 4's story is that all of that might be solved but the 'real' twist has existed right in from of you from the very beginning, the reveal of Izanami is absolutely brilliant and unlike the 'true' villian of Persona 5 is properly foreshadowed ahead of time.

I'm not going to say that the kids never remembering anything about the abduction isn't contrived or plot device to keep the story from moving quicker then it does but it does make sense in context of whats going on, the kids are knocked out unexpected and thrown into a strange TV world, I can at least see how that would screw up what they remember although it would've made more sense if it was ever said that Namatame had used something to knock them out that messed with their memories.

 

[PK Gaming]

This reads like a user submitted GameFaqs review

"Persona.. If It can even be called that anymore."

 

[FallenGrace]

Are people not feeling P5's characters?

I didn't like Ryuji much and Mona at times but the others were great.

 

[PSqueak]

They're different styles of writing with different purposes.

Still, let's not pretend VIDEOGAME reviews aren't all opinion pieces tho.

 

[donutzsick]

Exactly how I feel about the game. Overall it's a good game but story sucks and the game is passable because of it.

 

[James Scott]

Great gameplay improvements let down by massive amounts of tedium.
Confidant requirements felt too steep so despite all the work I put in I didn't get to S rank as many as I wanted to.
Not enough bonding scenes like in 4G. After finishing 4G I felt sad having to say goodbye to the Inaba gang. Here I was like "Uhh...bye Makoto".
The story and the twist were very lackluster. "Adults are bad; us teens are good" isn't as effective when I'm in my 20s.
The main villain is a throw away character. Would be better without him.
The twist is that one of the bad guys you thought was going to be bad ended up bad? That's...not a good twist
The dungeons were too long and there were too many. Axe 2-3 and make the rest higher quality/shorter. Or make more of the stuff people actually play Persona for (social links)


It's still a good game, but it left me wanting more and that it was too long and bloated.