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[Heartfyre]

Superb combat system, superb style, but for the wonky story, the dull cast, and the emaciated soundtrack, it's only my second-favourite Persona overall, and my least favourite when looking at narrative in isolation. I've yet to do the NG+ run, though, and my love of P4G was cemented during that, but I'm not expecting my opinion to change much.

Good to see some time and introspection brought a diversity of opinions -- the above perspective was not received well back in May.

 

[Chinner]

The only game that I quit before completion. While I can respect that the gameplay mechanics are solid, I found the structure, story and characters to be boring and rigid. Don't have any regrets giving it a pass ultimately.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Brilliant.

Would've been flawless if it was just 10-15 hours shorter, but as it stands it's my favorite game since Witcher 3.

 

[Teepo671]

Loved it then and still love it now. Can't wait to get ahold of the P5 rhythm games coming out. Still hoping we'll see P4DAN released on the PS4 as well.

 

[arcticice]

Still my GOTY alongside Nier Automata. Really glad that i got to play this gem despite my skepticism. This was my first foray into turn-based combat and i absolutely loved everything about it. the combat, the music, the characters, the story, everything was top notch.

It opened the doors for me to try out other games in the genre. so far i've played FFXII Zodiac Age (another fantastic game) and am about to play Divinity Original Sin.

 

[Sorian]

Still one of my favorite games of the year. Only complaint was all the extra unneeded dialogue of people repeating themselves day in and day out during each dungeon month.

 

[snausagesUK]

Got bored after 20 hours or so, just felt like more of the same. Didn't feel a reason to see it through if it had nothing new to bring to the table.

 

[kromeo]

I liked it more than 4 but it didn't hook me quite the same way as 3. Will likely remain my favourite game this year unless Xenoblade 2 is amazing (I've got doubts about that)

ranking it side by side with Shadow Hearts Covenant .

I like you

 

[ffvorax]

My best is still P4, but I really liked it a lot. Great soundtrack, great style, fast gameplay... I didn't liked the chars like the previous game, but it was still good.

Overall a really great jrpg.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

This game seems almost FFXV-level divisive lol. It's just way too long, man. Hell, I thought FFXV was more actual fun.

 

[Earthpainting]

Stylistically stellar, mechanically solid, but I honestly think Persona 5 is lucky it came out in such a loaded year. It has the style, pedigree, and word of mouth to sell well, but people are still eager to play the countless other excellent titles this year too. Anyone that bought it for their backlog, or played it and put it on the backburner after a few hours, might miss its recurring, overtly problematic aspects. I can only assume that if this was any other year, we'd probably have a lot more articles and video essays about its casual homophobia and misogyny, but things have been pretty light all things considered. Most of the articles I saw were cultural relativist ones in its defence, by people who just really like Persona games.

Aside from that disappointing stuff, the game did make some efforts in aspects I thought the series was lacking in. Dungeons had more effort put into them, which was very welcome, and the game felt like it started almost immediately, unlike the other recent games.

 

[Laws00]

i liked persona 4 but i knew a lot of little stuff do to reading wikis and stuff and trying to watch the anime

i played 5 got INTO and I loved it. everything about it

this game was better then ff15 and i can see why square enix was scared to release it around the same time last year

 

[silva1991]

This game seems almost FFXV-level divisive lol. It's just way too long, man. Hell, I thought FFXV was more actual fun.

Not even close and it's way higher in almost every list I've read.

 

[Omikaru]

I liked it, but it doesn’t come out favourably in the inevitable comparisons with Persona 4.

It improves on many things, like combat and dungeon design, but as a sum of its parts Persona 4 is the better game.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

Not even close and it's way higher in almost every list I've read.

Not on mine. It's like a bottom 3 MegaTen in my book.

 

[Bendo]

Burned out about 1/3rd of the way through. I still plan to go back to it, but it was a bit too disappointing to make me push through. It's a good game, don't get me wrong, but I just didn't like the story and the characters as much as P4, and the combat felt very uneven in terms of difficulty.

And don't get me started on the cat. The fact that they seemingly increased the number of fixed days was incredibly frustrating. I'd much rather they go the other way.

 

[tamaster92]

A lot of style but not enough substance to back it up.

It played the best of any persona game to date but it just didn’t grab me like P4G did.

Some of it is my fault because I don’t think anything could live up to expectations set by a sequel to persona 4 but it was still disappointing.

Great game, just not great enough next to a masterpiece like P4G I suppose

 

[kromeo]

I don’t think anything could live up to expectations set by a sequel to persona 4 but it was still disappointing.

Great game, just not great enough next to a masterpiece like P4G I suppose

That pretty much sums up how most of the P5 hate thread went a while back

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

A wonderfull RPG, but still a disappointement coming from the persona serie, even more if you compare to Megaten in general, definitely not the best, especially from the writing and the difficulty!

it has amazing style and great dungeons, the music were good but not as good as the previous games, and the rest was meh

but even if i was disappointed, it still by far one of the best rpg of this console gen

it could have been so much better though

 

[Dark_castle]

I loved it personally. Can't wait for SMT Switch.

 

[Super Stardust]

Still my GOTY, but not as good as persona 3 or 4 though.

 

[Darkness Unleashed]

One of the finest and most polished experiences I've ever had with gaming as a whole. It delivered massively in both quality and quantity. And my GOTY, of course

 

[NEO0MJ]

Reading this thread I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt burnt out halfway through the game.
Makes me regret moving on far less, that I didn't really miss out on anything essential.

 

[thekeats]

Didn't enjoy it. Completed the first dungeon but felt no urge to go any further.

My own fault as i had the same problem with 3 & 4. Turns out i much prefer the SMT games and just don't like the day to day school and social links.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

Going to be a top 5 game ever for me when all is said and done. I'm actually still playing it. Close to the end of the game. My game save shows over 200 hours invested. For everything it offers, I've taken advantage of most. First persona where I gave a damn of expanding social links. Audio and battle system are sublime. Art is great.
Near perfect to me.

 

[Ambient80]

Still my GOTY and I doubt it'll change. Horizon is the only thing that came close.

.

 

[Mendrox]

GOTY 2017 even though I played every highlight this year. It's just a complete package with an awesome soundtrack. long playtime, intriguing story and stylish gameplay.

Also easily the most satisfying endboss moment this year for me.

 

[Sulik2]

I just started playing this week. I like the story and characters so far. The dungeons are the same overly long slog of Persona 4 without save anywhere functionality is its cardinal sin. I'll be kicking it down to easy so I can just get through the palaces as fast as possible, but they really need to hire some new gameplay designers to get away from their awful dungeon design philosophy.

 

[executor]

Just started it some weeks ago and I love it... and will probably occupy my next 6-7 months....Playing with my wife and she totally loves it..

 

[Mobius1]

Put 35 hours into the game and had to give up. Didn't find the characters or story interesting, the pacing of the plot was slow and purposeless, got tired of tutorials for new mechanics popping up even after 30 hours, the localization was very awkward, and while the battling was more streamlined the progression of encounters felt contrived and rarely delivered a compelling sense of challenge. In terms of tone and message I found it really jarring that the game tries to comment on harassment and abuse one minute and then turns around and indulges in typical anime tropes like having a main character trying to get an upskirt view of another main character.

I went back and spent 30 minutes with Persona 4 and found it did all of these things better than 5 does.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Its still a great game and a good modern refinement on the Persona formula. Not sure why that would change in 6 months. Hype cycle?

 

[Iva Demilcol]

Its still a great game and a good modern refinement on the Persona formula. Not sure why that would change in 6 months. Hype cycle?

Apparently some people like to say great things about new games and 6 months later after they finished it they do a 180 and hate it.

I can't really relate to that. I mean, a game can become more like a burden by the time you reach the end and I'd adjust my opinion of it accordingly, but if I love a game from beginning to end, six months later I'm not going to change my opinionjust because six months passed.

 

[Fou-Lu]

Probably my current GOTY. I am not quite sure if I like it more than 4 or not. 5 definitely has better gameplay. It's dungeons are far more interesting, it's system function as a cohesive whole much better, and the battle system just has that little bit of refinement that makes it near perfect. It is also probably the most stylish game ever made. Despite all that I liked P4's main cast more and felt more connected to the story.

 

[Sakura]

It was ok.
No where near as good as P4, but definitely not a bad game. I enjoyed my time with it.

 

[Moaradin]

Not nearly as good as P3 or P4. The game itself is good, but the story and characters were utterly forgettable.

 

[Socivol]

This game seems almost FFXV-level divisive lol. It's just way too long, man. Hell, I thought FFXV was more actual fun.

I agree with this. The final battles of FFXV I was still interested and motivated, with P5 I just wanted it over to say I finished it. It's just way too long, had it been around 75-80 hours I would've loved it but I think I clocked in 105 before I beat it.

 

[Steel]

It did turn based combat better than 3 and 4. Most the main characters are meh and don't have the same group dynamic as the initial 3. The story itself is serviceable, and the issues it tackles are very relevant especially considering modern events, but the execution was only so-so. The style was great, though. Confidants actually impacting gameplay more than a level boost to personas is also a nice change.

Overall, a good JRPG. Not best ever, but it met my expectations and kept me playing all the way through. Prefer 3 overall.

Each persona seems to do one thing particularly well, 5 had gameplay and style, 4 had a good group friendship going, 3 had story going for it and the best s links.

 

[20cent]

I can sell my PS4 and focus on the SMT (devil summoner / digital devil saga series) PS2 era I haven't played yet.

 

[Stead Fast]

Loved it.

My only wish was to have gotten it last year since I could've appreciated it more, it's so squashed up against other fantastic titles that it never got the slower play-through, where I could appreciate all the little day-to-day details, like I managed to give 3 and 4. Having BOTW, Nier, Yakuza 0, Nioh and Horizon knocking around at the same time made this a way more hostile release for Persona since (in my case) time was in short supply. And, I know I won't be the only fan who felt similar.

 

[Sami+]

Apparently some people like to say great things about new games and 6 months later after they finished it they do a 180 and hate it.

I can't really relate to that. I mean, a game can become more like a burden by the time you reach the end and I'd adjust my opinion of it accordingly, but if I love a game from beginning to end, six months later I'm not going to change my opinionjust because six months passed.

Speaking personally I think it's just easier to talk about. I was hyped as hell for it because I absolutely adored P4 when I was in high school, but at the 30 hour mark was when I realized I kind of realized I hated P5.

Thing is you kind of feel like a dick going into a fresh OT where everyone's talking about how amazing the game is and saying you think it sucks. Hype subsiding makes having a contrary post a bit less intimidating.

 

[Forward]

The best thing I can say about it, is that I am fairly certain that it helped facilitate the 3DS getting Persona Q2 next year.

So I cannot hate it.

 

[The Artisan]

there's too much depth for me and i'm stalling on it

 

[SoulUnison]

It's such a mechanical improvement and the presentation is top notch.
I loved P3, played P3P, adored P4 and had a great time with P4:G.

P5 is just... I'll never understand how the writers managed to take such an amazing sounding concept as "Gentleman phantom thieves in Tokyo" and make it SO incredibly boring.

They held the game back for a long time because they just kept adding to it, but maybe it needed less, not more.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

Speaking personally I think it's just easier to talk about. I was hyped as hell for it because I absolutely adored P4 when I was in high school, but at the 30 hour mark was when I realized I kind of realized I hated P5.

Thing is you kind of feel like a dick going into a fresh OT where everyone's talking about how amazing the game is and saying you think it sucks. Hype subsiding makes having a contrary post a bit less intimidating.

While I can see where you're coming from I must tell you that I'd prefer someone in the OT giving their honest opinion about the game instead of what we did experience in those threads: people who didn't understand Japanese in the import OT telling us that the story of the game sucked, or people saying the game had tons of awful problems that were the same problems the previous games had and give those games a pass but not this one.

I mean if you prefer the cast of any of the other games more that's a totally valid answer that no one can question.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

It's such a mechanical improvement and the presentation is top notch.
I loved P3, played P3P, adored P4 and had a great time with P4:G.

P5 is just... I'll never understand how the writers managed to take such an amazing sounding concept as "Gentleman phantom thieves in Tokyo" and make it SO incredibly boring.

They held the game back for a long time because they just kept adding to it, but maybe it needed less, not more.

Imagine P4 with the style oozing menus and whatnot from 5... Dream game.

 

[Dolobill]

I enjoyed it a lot for a while but it lost me after about 60 hours due to the slow pace.

 

[iceblade997]

Absolutely loved it. I haven't had that much fun in a game in a long time, and though I've played several really really fun games, this stands as one of the best experiences of the year regardless. Honestly I kind of wish it lasted longer: I didn't want it to end and there's still a hole in my heart from having finished it.

Plus that soundtrack... Man, that soundtrack...

Loved it then when it first got released in the west and I still love it now. Might even be my GOTY tbh. It was one of those games where I only played that game and nothing else until completion. And not a lot of games (especially 80+hr long JRPGs) are able to do that to me.

Same here... To the letter.

 

[Rozart]

Loved it then when it first got released in the west and I still love it now. Might even be my GOTY tbh. It was one of those games where I only played that game and nothing else until completion. And not a lot of games (especially 80+hr long JRPGs) are able to do that to me.

The best thing I can say about it, is that I am fairly certain that it helped facilitate the 3DS getting Persona Q2 next year.

So I cannot hate it.

Yay, a fellow PQ lover!

 

[HeelPower]

Its easily a cornerstone of Japanese game development now and one of the best games ever created.But its also pretty damn flawed.

Its a wild beast to discuss. So many strong points ,but just as many weak points.

To use an analogy,It would be like evaluating the US system you know.Too many states,too many things to discuss if you want to evaluate it fairly ,and you can't just box it up in a couple lines and move on.

Its certainly much more ambitious,much bigger in scale and much more important than any JRPG made in the past two gens. Its kind of like the japanese answer to TW3.

 

[Sinistral]

I started playing this a couple weeks ago but it just has a weak grasp on me...

A few things might play into that: Tried to play it with Japanese Audio, segments of some cutscenes completely lacked subtitles which is real stupid. Along with other miscellaneous background voices. 15+ seconds of cinematic of me being completely lost. Restarted with English audio, glad that is pretty good.

Completely failed to finish the first dungeon by one day because of lack of explanation that you need additional days beyond getting to the end of the dungeon. Got rolled back a game week and lost about 4 hours. This is more clearly explained before you begin the SECOND dungeon. Where I'm at now. Now I'm paranoid about saves and have 4+ rolling.

High school drama and immature shallow insipid brats... I'm getting too old for this crap.

Some days and activities are way too forced, without much freedom. Sunday needs to be split up as much as weekdays if not more. Can't go do something after an exam? Fuck these children need to better manage their time.

I really don't care for much of the cast, everyone's a dick. This main character tried to save a woman from being (sexually) assaulted and is treated like a menace to society because of it.

Once main character goes down in battle, it's game over. Random choices then 1-mores for enemies have OTK'd me quite a bit.

After typing this out... maybe I'll shelve the game and go start Yakuza Kiwami.