I didn't find the combat system or level design particularly compelling, and felt like the dungeon crawling only kept me away from the fun VN style gameplay I enjoyed.
If I have to run a dungeon twice (to get more loot or because I died), I'll probably put the game down. I just want to fly through them and keep the pace of the game moving, with no risk of having to restart a section.
If all dungeons were hand crafted and interesting, I'd be willing to spend time in then. As it is, I won't risk wasting too much time in more P4 style hallways by playing on Normal or harder.
Well you're looking for a visual novel game it seems. Should just play a visual novel game then
I'm not sure if the fact that the game would have hand crafted dungeons would suddenly make it enjoyable for someone who didn't even find the combat system enjoyable. I'd actually say judging by this comment that Persona as a series is probably not one that is for you. I mean what you're effectively saying is that you hate the bulk of what Persona is, but that you want them to redesign huge elements so that people who hate the bulk of what it is might have a chance at liking them more?
I'm all for improvements, but I think based off this the compromise is best for everyone. This way you don't destroy the game conceptually for those who loved
all of it (I like the combat and the persona hunting and the loot hunting and all that jazz, and so do plenty others), but you also let those who have distaste with those systems have a chance at enjoying some aspect of the games more than before.
I mean you're basically shooting off the concept of revisiting dungeons altogether from this post ("If I have to run a dungeon twice (to get more loot or because I died), I'll probably put the game down"), which is why I don't think it's smart to redesign the game for someone like that. There's plenty of games (and visual novels come to think of it) that will suit your needs without having to destroy this one to do it, ya know?
The only reason we have to go into the dungeons twice is because of how horseshit the quest system is.
"Hey, now that you cleared the dungeon, I just remembered that me and all my friends need items dropped from enemies in there!"
If they keep random generation, I'd prefer they just call it what it is and send us to brand new dungeons for questing with non-essential bosses. At least then I wouldn't have to wonder why i couldn't be doing these dull fetch quests on my first time through the bland landscape.
Running through Persona dungeons never feels like winning to me. I think you would be better served with random battles if you really love grinding that much.
But I suppose there's no point in talking about it. I'm happy for you that you're possibly being catered to and disappointed that I will find less enjoyment as a consequence. It is what it is.
That's not the primary reason I kept revisiting. I liked going back in because sometimes there was rare loot you could get out of the treasure chests, but it was never a guarantee. Additionally there were special secrets that you could find out if you paid attention to things that were told you, and of course that was related to quests. Many, many quests you'd still have to return to floors over and over so even if you were told every single quest from the get go you still would be making many revisits. On top of that, the big core reason - the most important, real reason - is because Persona Fusion is at the heart of the game. Due to this, returning to find specific Persona drops, to train up Persona to have the abilities I want, to basically do any number of a legion of Persona/Fusion related activities. I can safely say there is nothing more central to Persona than the Personas
So, yeah. I don't love 'grinding' in of itself, I love a game which appropriately contextualizes the work so that I feel like I am achieving something when I'm working the system. And in Persona, I do. Every time I'm in I'm leveling up more Persona or fusing this one or that one or trying to find a specific piece of gear. And whilst I love a good hand designed dungeon as much as anyone else, for me games which...
1. Have dominant focus on loot hunting
2. Have dominant focus on Monster Catching/Leveling up
3. Have a requirement for consistent revisiting of areas
...simply work best when attached to a randomized system. That's why Roguelikes are basically always procedurally generated worlds. Because you die all the time and that is an actual element of the gameplay that matters to your progression, revisiting the same hand crafted dungeon a zillion times would be
supremely boring. Everything would be predictable, you'd be playing 200 hours of the exact same areas over and over like some sick Stephen King fueled nightmare. Here at least you have an alternative where every time you re-enter you have to try to formulate a new strategy toward navigating its halls, try to figure out all the new locations of treasures and traps and catching/killing whatever specific enemies you like but in a new hunting context.
Anyway, Persona has always been a sort of weird middle ground which has elements that could work in both types. And whilst if I could only choose one I'd definitely go with randomized owing to the specific gametype Persona is, having both as a compromise is the ideal situation. It lets the gameplay systems which benefit from randomized design flourish, and it allows reprieves from this system for people who believe that is too tedious.
Compromise is good
