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Persona Community Thread |OT9| SPOILER TAGS OR DIE

Man graduation day in P3 always gets me choked up real good. My eyes really do feel heavy...man what a fantastic game. I really got a whole new perspective on P3 after this play through and I love it so much more now. Nyx is such an incredible finale it's like a 45 minute gauntlet event, the stakes, the atmosphere, the tension, everything culminating on one last chance. It's so well delivered.

That being siad, here is a pro life tip for playing persona 3, don't start nyx at 4am.

I guess I should go through The Answer now, since that is the real reason I did this repeat play through haha. Even though what I really wanna do is replay P4 now!

I'm far from done with P5, but so far I much prefer the pacing of P3. There is a really satisfying rhythm to it, probably in part because you're not constantly asked to choose between either doing a SLink or going to the dungeons. The constant low-grade stress that creates in P5 is probably my biggest complaint with it so far.

Good luck with The Answer. Pace yourself, because those dungeons keep going, and going, and going.
 

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
Your impressions have been an enjoyable read. I really do need to get around to playing The Answer one day, and give P3P a try with the FeMC.

P3 truly is the goat (imo)!

Haha thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed reading through them! It really is a truly incredible experience, it's got its serious gameplay flaws but as a whole package it's amazing. The story and themes are so tightly woven together and their execution is so goooood!

I'm far from done with P5, but so far I much prefer the pacing of P3. There is a really satisfying rhythm to it, probably in part because you're not constantly asked to choose between either doing a SLink or going to the dungeons. The constant low-grade stress that creates in P5 is probably my biggest complaint with it so far.

Good luck with The Answer. Pace yourself, because those dungeons keep going, and going, and going.

I agree, P5 kept me feeling like I had to manage the hell out of every single day haha, even though it's definitely much much much harder to max all social links in P3 you can tell the game wasn't designed around you doing so, and time management feels much more lax as a result. Also being able to do tartarus whenever and not missing out on 60% of the games side content as a result is really nice.

Let's hope the answer ends up being a great experience. I really wanna reevaluate my opinon of it.
 

Lynx_7

Member
I have the opposite problem in P3 than what most people seem to have in P5: there's not enough story events to keep me invested. Social Linking is fine and all but when there's nothing to mix things up after I beat tartarus in a single day then the rest of the month just feels like a routine I need to get out of the way before the next moon event. I say this as a rather casual player who doesn't really care about min-maxing social links or "losing days" and whatnot, so by the mid-to-endgame I was feeling kinda tired of the grind. Which is a shame because the game absolutely nails the climax. Maybe I'd feel differently in a replay, but I dunno. My favorite moments in Persona are when the crew is hanging out or when the game shifts to "story time", so I realize I'm kind of in the minority here.
 
Drew another Persona, only two more after this.
tumblr_opwy4nhdZq1tt73w0o1_1280.png

tumblr_opwy4nhdZq1tt73w0o2_1280.png
 

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
Hmmmmm so The Answer is making me wonder something.

Do the Evokers allow the members of SEES all able to use their personas outside of the dark hour? Because uh, Aigis and Metis are able to use them just fine in the opening fight.

Would that make the members of SEES the only people post P1 and i guess P2 (never played P2 but I've heard it follows directly from P1) to use their persona abilities in the real world?
 

FluxWaveZ

Member
Hmmmmm so The Answer is making me wonder something.

Do the Evokers allow the members of SEES all able to use their personas outside of the dark hour? Because uh, Aigis and Metis are able to use them just fine in the opening fight.

Would that make the members of SEES the only people post P1 and i guess P2 (never played P2 but I've heard it follows directly from P1) to use their persona abilities in the real world?

The P3 cast can use their personas in the real world, yes. Persona 4 Arena goes over this (and maybe Persona Q?). They don't need evokers to summon, either.
 

Sophia

Member
It is explicitly stated by Mitsuru within her story mode that she can summon her Persona in the real world, without the use of an Evoker. It just takes more effort.

Mitsuru also summoned her Persona without an Evoker the first time, as seen in Persona 3 FES. She brings this up again in Arena when mentioning the above.

Later on in the game
Fuuka also uses her Persona in the real world and sends it across to the midnight channel.

The general rule they've established in various materials from Persona 3 onward is that you need some sort of external force to awaken to your Persona. Something that allows that "death instinct" to trigger. The Evoker basically forces this feeling on you, and supernatural phenomenon (The Dark Hour, The Midnight channel, Palaces) can make it easier as well. Once you've awakened to it once, you can seemingly summon it easier in the real world again after that, but it requires practice.

Persona 1 and Persona 2 followed a similar train of thought to a degree, so they're not entirely inconsistent with each other. The biggest difference is that Persona users seem to be much more common in Persona 1 and Persona 2.
 

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
Oh huh, thanks for clearing that up Sophia, I guess Fuuka also alludes to using her persona's "detection" ability in the real world a few times in P3. I guess the P4 and P5 cast are the only ones who are unable to use their persona's in the real world, at least given the ways they summon them in those games. I don't think there has really been any instance where they've even alluded to being able to use their power that freely. P5 you need to be perceived as a threat in the cognitive world or you won't have access to your mask, and in P4 it seems that outside the shadow world persona's just won't manifest?

The P3 cast can use their personas in the real world, yes. Persona 4 Arena goes over this (and maybe Persona Q?). They don't need evokers to summon, either.

You know that reminds me, when I first played P4 and you get to the part where the fog starts getting really crazy thick
because the shadow world is spilling into the real world
i was really hoping that the final fight and the final dungeon were just going to
take place in the real inaba, because I figured since the shadow world was spilling over then why wouldn't the investigation team be able to use their personas in the real world?
I'd call that a missed opportunity :p
 

Sophia

Member
Oh huh, thanks for clearing that up Sophia, I guess Fuuka also alludes to using her persona's "detection" ability in the real world a few times in P3. I guess the P4 and P5 cast are the only ones who are unable to use their persona's in the real world, at least given the ways they summon them in those games. I don't think there has really been any instance where they've even alluded to being able to use their power that freely. P5 you need to be perceived as a threat in the cognitive world or you won't have access to your mask, and in P4 it seems that outside the shadow world persona's just won't manifest?

Yeah, they're not TOO clear on this. The implication in the Arena games (which isn't really followed up on) is that the P4 cast could probably learn to summon their Personas in the real world, like how Mitsuru and company do.

As for Persona 5, the Palaces of the game are similar phenomenon to that of the dungeons in the midnight channel, and the game kind of uses "Metaverse" as a term for worlds of the unconscious made manifest. Although the Palaces of Persona 5 have another source than the dungeons of Persona 4, which may possibly explain the different "rules" so to speak.

Persona 5 does go out of it's way to explain elements from Persona 1, Persona 2, and The Answer tho. The concepts of cognition and cognitive existence existed in all of those games, even if they weren't named specifically.

Related, but I do like the concept of the spinoff games establishing a continuity of sorts between all the titles. It's obvious the main game team is adhering to some basic concepts, but beyond that are basically picking concepts out by thematic appropriateness.
 

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
Persona 5 does go out of it's way to explain elements from Persona 1, Persona 2, and The Answer tho. The concepts of cognition and cognitive existence existed in all of those games, even if they weren't named specifically.

Related, but I do like the concept of the spinoff games establishing a continuity of sorts between all the titles. It's obvious the main game team is adhering to some basic concepts, but beyond that are basically picking concepts out by thematic appropriateness.

Yeah P5 really felt like they tried to use all the previously established elements from every other persona game and try to build off of that, which was really great. Technically you could also argue that the P4 TV world / the midnight channel are elements of cognition since it's about the masses desires right? P3s main story is really the only game that doesn't explore that part of the franchise heavily.

I should really give Arena a shot some time. It sounds like they actually do a lot of story telling there lol.
 

Sophia

Member
Yeah P5 really felt like they tried to use all the previously established elements from every other persona game and try to build off of that, which was really great. Technically you could also argue that the P4 TV world / the midnight channel are elements of cognition since it's about the masses desires right? P3s main story is really the only game that doesn't explore that part of the franchise heavily.

I should really give Arena a shot some time. It sounds like they actually do a lot of story telling there lol.

Nah, the Midnight Channel is pretty much a part of the unconscious domain, or "Metaverse", if you wise to apply P5's term more broadly. Based upon Teddie's commentary
and Izanami's words
it appears that the Midnight Channel is a reflection of the unconscious thoughts of the people of Inaba. Cognitive existences can appear within the midnight channel tho, and the whole "broadcasting to the town" aspect appears to be cognition however.
 

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
I think what I really like about the answer is that it's basically a very stripped down SMT game. There is A LOT more thought put into the encounter design, it's less "find the weakness" and more "figure out the rhythm".

The second boss is a spectacular example of this. It's easy to figure out that the dancer it summons is weak to ice but that doesn't mean you should go to town on it with all your ice spells. It's better to have every party member focus the giant who has no weakness while you have a persona that's has a strong phys attack and any ice attack. Then on your turn you can bufu to knock the dancer down so it doesn't heal the giant, and since you got your press turn you can use your mighty swing to hit the giant hard. Then of course you want to consider the fact that the 2nd boss can use BUFUDYNE?!!?!?!? so you'll want something with null ice lmao.

I don't think I ever once felt like I had to come up with a genuine strategy in the main story like I do for the fights in The Answer, it's a super awesome change of pace. That being said I can see why a lot of people don't like it, most of my original negative opinions of it were not from this play style but from the fact that I originally thought it didn't add all that much to the narrative but instead kind of added more lore to the world i guess? Since I really haven't gotten far enough to hit the major story beats in the answer again I guess all I have to say is - Yukari fucking suuuuuuckkkkksssss in the answer. She's one of my favorites in the main story but the way she acts early on in the answer makes me want to skip over every line of dialogue she says.
 
Since I really haven't gotten far enough to hit the major story beats in the answer again I guess all I have to say is - Yukari fucking suuuuuuckkkkksssss in the answer. She's one of my favorites in the main story but the way she acts early on in the answer makes me want to skip over every line of dialogue she says.

Makes sense. She wants to be there as much as her haters do. :/
 

Sophia

Member
I think what I really like about the answer is that it's basically a very stripped down SMT game. There is A LOT more thought put into the encounter design, it's less "find the weakness" and more "figure out the rhythm".

Turn suppression was lost partially in Persona 4 and completely in Persona 5. It was a big factor in a lot of the strategy in The Answer. Persona 5 makes up for it because Baton Pass + crowd control skills still work on regular enemies, but they don't work on boss battles. : \
 

Lunar15

Member
Wow, it's really over, huh?

I really think they nailed the ending. As I said in the other thread, there's plenty of issues and missed opportunities, but damn if that wasn't one hell of a satisfying game. I genuinely loved it the whole way through.
 

PK Gaming

Member
I think what I really like about the answer is that it's basically a very stripped down SMT game. There is A LOT more thought put into the encounter design, it's less "find the weakness" and more "figure out the rhythm".

The second boss is a spectacular example of this. It's easy to figure out that the dancer it summons is weak to ice but that doesn't mean you should go to town on it with all your ice spells. It's better to have every party member focus the giant who has no weakness while you have a persona that's has a strong phys attack and any ice attack. Then on your turn you can bufu to knock the dancer down so it doesn't heal the giant, and since you got your press turn you can use your mighty swing to hit the giant hard. Then of course you want to consider the fact that the 2nd boss can use BUFUDYNE?!!?!?!? so you'll want something with null ice lmao.

I don't think I ever once felt like I had to come up with a genuine strategy in the main story like I do for the fights in The Answer, it's a super awesome change of pace. That being said I can see why a lot of people don't like it, most of my original negative opinions of it were not from this play style but from the fact that I originally thought it didn't add all that much to the narrative but instead kind of added more lore to the world i guess? Since I really haven't gotten far enough to hit the major story beats in the answer again I guess all I have to say is - Yukari fucking suuuuuuckkkkksssss in the answer. She's one of my favorites in the main story but the way she acts early on in the answer makes me want to skip over every line of dialogue she says.

Oh wow, I totally forgot about the strategic element to boss fights in The Answer. It wasn't just a battle of attrition... you actually had to change up your approach. Overcoming difficulty bosses was pretty rewarding. Isn't Metis just the most fun character to use?

Wow, it's really over, huh?

I really think they nailed the ending. As I said in the other thread, there's plenty of issues and missed opportunities, but damn if that wasn't one hell of a satisfying game. I genuinely loved it the whole way through.

Congrats on making it to the finish line.
 

Lunar15

Member
I honestly think that might be my favorite ending in the series. Thematically, I really enjoyed it, and it played to the cast's strengths.

It's hard to top the feeling of loss that 3's ending conveyed or the nostalgia that 4's imparted, but 5's gave me a totally different feeling. I think it was the most direct message in the series and the very end really nailed the concept of "freedom".

I'll talk about some of the weirder aspects of the finale later, but the epilogue was immensely satisfying.
 

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
Turn suppression was lost partially in Persona 4 and completely in Persona 5. It was a big factor in a lot of the strategy in The Answer. Persona 5 makes up for it because Baton Pass + crowd control skills still work on regular enemies, but they don't work on boss battles. : \

Yep, turn suppression adds so much depth, that coupled with the fact that hitting a downed enemy would wake them up added a lot of dimensions to how you planned your attacks. Even in P4 the choice between splitting damage when you couldn't get an AoA or going for a dizzy was great.

Haha actually now that I think about it, my first death in P5 was because I thought turn suppression still worked the old way. I had no way of doing an all out attack because the group I was fighting were weak to gun and I only had one shot left. So I used my last bullet to knock down the enemy down that was going next turn and whacked a random one. I thought "okay so he's gonna get up and skip his turn, then it will go to Ann and she'll use her SMG to knock them all down"

Next turn the guy I knocked down got up and mudo's my main character.

Isn't Metis just the most fun character to use?

Hahaha, you know she surprised me in a truly hilarious way, early on when you don't have access to mitsuru I finished scanning something and fuuka blurts out "It's weak to ice!" and i'm like "too bad I don't fucking have anyone with ice" and the very next turn Metis casts bufala which I guess she had just secretly learned or something lol.

I'll talk about some of the weirder aspects of the finale later, but the epilogue was immensely satisfying.

Oh man nice! I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions on it. P5 was ridiculously good at weaving its themes throughout every aspect of its narrative and the finale really sold that.
 

PK Gaming

Member
Hahaha, you know she surprised me in a truly hilarious way, early on when you don't have access to mitsuru I finished scanning something and fuuka blurts out "It's weak to ice!" and i'm like "too bad I don't fucking have anyone with ice" and the very next turn Metis casts bufala which I guess she had just secretly learned or something lol.

She's so OP. Be sure to abuse the hell out of her Neo Orgia mode which is absolutely brutal. The fact that she covers 2 elements on her own makes her a staple forever.

I honestly think that might be my favorite ending in the series. Thematically, I really enjoyed it, and it played to the cast's strengths.

It's hard to top the feeling of loss that 3's ending conveyed or the nostalgia that 4's imparted, but 5's gave me a totally different feeling. I think it was the most direct message in the series and the very end really nailed the concept of "freedom".

I'll talk about some of the weirder aspects of the finale later, but the epilogue was immensely satisfying.

P5's ending was really satisfying. After wrestling with a lot little things that bugged me throughout the game, the ending helped me let it go of it all for a moment. True freedom indeed.
 

Sophia

Member
Yep, turn suppression adds so much depth, that coupled with the fact that hitting a downed enemy would wake them up added a lot of dimensions to how you planned your attacks.

Haha actually now that I think about it, my first death in P5 was because I thought turn suppression still worked the old way. I had no way of doing an all out attack because the group I was fighting were weak to gun and I only had one shot left. So I used my last bullet to knock down the enemy down that was going next turn and whacked a random one. I thought "okay so he's gonna get up and skip his turn, then it will go to Ann and she'll use her SMG to knock them all down"

Next turn the guy I knocked down got up and mudo's my main character.

I feel like if crowd control, elemental weaknesses, and status effects were more reliable in boss battles, the combination of the three would be akin to turn suppression. I got a lot of use out of hitting one enemy's weakness, baton passing to Ann, and putting another enemy to sleep.
 

Lunar15

Member
P5's ending was really satisfying. After wrestling with a lot little things that bugged me throughout the game, the ending helped me let it go of it all for a moment. True freedom indeed.

Yeah. I've certainly got problems. This game hurts itself with ambition. But like with P4 and P3, the overall package shined through in the end.

Also, super end game spoilers:
Satanael was rad as fuck.
 

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
I feel like if crowd control, elemental weaknesses, and status effects were more reliable in boss battles, the combination of the three would be akin to turn suppression. I got a lot of use out of hitting one enemy's weakness, baton passing to Ann, and putting another enemy to sleep.

Yeah I figure the design decision behind the removal of turn suppression is that skills like pulinpa and dorimina have a ridiculously high success rate even without their boost passive in P5. And if hitting with a weakness kept enemies down for a full turn it kinda diminishes the utility of those abilities a bit. In P3 the options for crowd control are fear, charm, knock down and the elec / freeze chance on those spells. The chance on fear and charm without a boost is like 25% I think? And the chance of freeze and elec status on a bufu / zio spell is probably even lower.
 

danthefan

Member
I've been playing through Persona 4 Golden trying to beat it before I get P5. I'm in December and am doing the dungeon. I fucking despise the dungeons in this game, they're not fun at all imo, but the rest of the game is so good I struggled through them.

So this dungeon first of all is confusing as hell but second of all
I got to some floor where he sent me back about three floors because I encountered an enemy.
So yeah I think I'm done, just going to watch the end on YouTube. Really pissed
at this game forcing me to replay crap content.

Overall I'd give this an 8/10, I absolutely loved it but imo the dungeons are just such a weak spot.
 

Dantis

Member
I honestly think that might be my favorite ending in the series. Thematically, I really enjoyed it, and it played to the cast's strengths.

It's hard to top the feeling of loss that 3's ending conveyed or the nostalgia that 4's imparted, but 5's gave me a totally different feeling. I think it was the most direct message in the series and the very end really nailed the concept of "freedom".

I'll talk about some of the weirder aspects of the finale later, but the epilogue was immensely satisfying.

I'll be interested to see if you maintain this going forwards. Personally, I feel it's the weakest ending of the three.

P5 is super good but also super flawed. I wonder how many of the blemishes can be put down to its troubled development.
 
Yep, turn suppression adds so much depth, that coupled with the fact that hitting a downed enemy would wake them up added a lot of dimensions to how you planned your attacks. Even in P4 the choice between splitting damage when you couldn't get an AoA or going for a dizzy was great.

I don't really think turn suppression added depth; the combat system in P3 felt on autopilot once you figured out the optimal paths for attacking. That could be why they took it out. In P5 I always feel vulnerable in most battles because there's little breathing room, outside of status effects on enemies and baton passes.

She's so OP. Be sure to abuse the hell out of her Neo Orgia mode which is absolutely brutal.

I've always felt embarrassed for the Persona team that they even put something called Orgia Mode into the game, especially with the in-game description of it.
 

JBwB

Member
I managed to finish Persona 5 twice and Persona 4 Golden in the past month and a half.

That was seriously one of the best months I've ever had when it comes to gaming.

Thank you Atlus / P studio.
 
I managed to finish Persona 5 twice and Persona 4 Golden in the past month and a half.

That was seriously one of the best months I've ever had when it comes to gaming.

Thank you Atlus / P studio.
Am I misremembering, or were you saying that P5 was your first Persona game?
 

Lunar15

Member
I'll be interested to see if you maintain this going forwards. Personally, I feel it's the weakest ending of the three.

P5 is super good but also super flawed. I wonder how many of the blemishes can be put down to its troubled development.

I could see this happening. It's been 5 years since ive played another persona.

Everything leading up to and including the final boss is messy, but the epilogue still resonates. I'll have to think on it.
 

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
I don't really think turn suppression added depth; the combat system in P3 felt on autopilot once you figured out the optimal paths for attacking. That could be why they took it out. In P5 I always feel vulnerable in most battles because there's little breathing room, outside of status effects on enemies and baton passes

Ehhh, I would agree with you if we were talking about P3s main story but in the answer the fights are very much designed around using weaknesses to block an enemy from taking their turn while dealing with something else. There is a lot of nuance to the encounter design in the answer that I don't think i've seen in any other persona game since. In P5 I never really feel vulnerable because crowd control spells (especially single target ones) nearly always hit, and if they don't you can always just use your baton passes to take way more pot shots at the enemies. If you can't get an AoA you can do a knock down on one and then baton pass to some one who has crowd control.
 
Ehhh, I would agree with you if we were talking about P3s main story but in the answer the fights are very much designed around using weaknesses to block an enemy from taking their turn while dealing with something else. There is a lot of nuance to the encounter design in the answer that I don't think i've seen in any other persona game since. In P5 I never really feel vulnerable because crowd control spells (especially single target ones) nearly always hit, and if they don't you can always just use your baton passes to take way more pot shots at the enemies. If you can't get an AoA you can do a knock down on one and then baton pass to some one who has crowd control.

I agree that The Answer ramps up the strategic thinking, I was speaking more about P3. Juggling turn suppressions also feels a bit...meta-gamey?

In P5's early game, crowd control is almost overpowered. Marin Karin worked almost every time (Mitsuru is so jealous of this party). But a few palaces (
4th
) in (and this may well be because I'm on Hard mode), I'm constantly underleveled -- often fighting demons 7-9 levels above me -- about 6 levels behind what the average level is on the network, and those status effects aren't working much on the demons. I'm thinking there may be a correlation between level parity and effectiveness. And even when they do, it's a gamble as to how long they last, and those effects don't set up the enemies for an all-out attack. So for me at least, P5 feels much more like I could wipe on at least a quarter of the random dungeon battles if I have bad luck or don't stay focused on every turn.

As P3 was my last Persona game, P5 not having turn suppression was a big shock, but I can see how its removal creates more tension. Ultimately, taking out turn suppression allowed them to make ailment spells more important, and I think that was a good call, because in P3 they were weak until you got boost abilities (at which point you could steamroll most everything). Also, the baton passes bring back a form of turn suppression, but feel more fluid and immediate to me, though perhaps harder to keep track of.
 
Her weapon choice is absolutely hilarious, and the Persona is definitely great. It's totally reminiscent of a P1 Persona. Simple, but memorable.
Thanks.

---

Just cleared the twist sequence in P5 in November...
Played out completely differently than I had anticipated. Their plan was convoluted but man if that wasn't a fun thing to watch unfold. But I did totally see Akechi being the traitor coming a hundred miles away--I actually specifically caught that "pancakes" line myself when it first happened. Plus his appearance in the beginning of Okumura's Palace, and his confidant abilities just kind of... stopping at rank 6. And his Persona's moveset was just kind of a trashbin of the stuff the other characters didn't have, no real clear focus. And I took him into Mementos once and noticed he didn't really have a whole lot to say...

So I have like twenty days left and I totally think I can 100% all the confidants.
 
From what little I know of shinto and stuff he's always portrayed as like one of the strongest mother fuckers around.

He's basically as significant as say Poseidon is to the greek pantheon, one of the major gods.

And of course I look it up and the only games Poseidon's in throughout all of Megaten are DemiKids and Devil Children. XD
 
Is the Persona Training option in the Velvet Room worth bothering with? Personas get changed so frequently that I wonder why it's there. I mean granted, I've kept a couple that are really good builds for way too long, but only because there weren't suitable replacements.

It's okay

E6c79xf.gif

This is actually a translation error, it was supposed to say "We Take Your Time".

But yeah, I don't mind being over 100 hours and only on the 4th palace; who knows how long it'll be before I'll be able to play through a Persona game for the first time again.
 
Is the Persona Training option in the Velvet Room worth bothering with? Personas get changed so frequently that I wonder why it's there. I mean granted, I've kept a couple that are really good builds for way too long, but only because there weren't suitable replacements.

This is actually a translation error, it was supposed to say "We Take Your Time".

But yeah, I don't mind being over 100 hours and only on the 4th palace; who knows how long it'll be before I'll be able to play through a Persona game for the first time again.

More useful than network fusion. I'm only getting the same five results no matter what I plug in.

Probably a result of other players fusing away their trash.
 

asagami_

Banned
I wonder if Persona resonance were still a thing, the plot of modern Persona would resolve... a lot more fast.

Persona 5 spoilers
Especially the fact Akechi is a Persona user.
 

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
So I am about half way through the answer and honestly I'm doing a total 180 here lol.

The added scenes are really really touching, they give us almost a sense of what some of the party members who don't get slinks would have been like, their problems, their life outside of SEES. Junpei in particular gets a really wonderful moment in the mall.

The encounters and dungeons getting heavy duty as hell is also pretty engaging, though i'm getting to the point where not having a compendium is becoming a much larger nuisance. I just decided to make a thor and a surt so I could have access to dyne spells of those elements but in doing so I was forced to give up a ton of utility spells so I had to fuse some cobbled together titania that is basically just mataru, marakunda, masuku and matarunda....but in doing so I lost my main wind damage dealer which I won't really be able to get back until I level titania for a bit or grind out the fusion fodder I need to make like a quetzalcoatl or something.

Also giving up my black frost to make surt (i think?) made me sad, having both fire and ice spells on one persona saved my ass on two bosses. Also Cu Chulainn with vile assault (bonus damage to knock down) is seriously doing massive leg work. I am almost tempted to see how far I can take him. If I set up my party right and I get them to knock things down vile assault does like 800 damage.
 
So I am about half way through the answer and honestly I'm doing a total 180 here lol.

The added scenes are really really touching, they give us almost a sense of what some of the party members who don't get slinks would have been like, their problems, their life outside of SEES. Junpei in particular gets a really wonderful moment in the mall.

The encounters and dungeons getting heavy duty as hell is also pretty engaging, though i'm getting to the point where not having a compendium is becoming a much larger nuisance. I just decided to make a thor and a surt so I could have access to dyne spells of those elements but in doing so I was forced to give up a ton of utility spells so I had to fuse some cobbled together titania that is basically just mataru, marakunda, masuku and matarunda....but in doing so I lost my main wind damage dealer which I won't really be able to get back until I level titania for a bit or grind out the fusion fodder I need to make like a quetzalcoatl or something.

Also giving up my black frost to make surt (i think?) made me sad, having both fire and ice spells on one persona saved my ass on two bosses. Also Cu Chulainn with vile assault (bonus damage to knock down) is seriously doing massive leg work. I am almost tempted to see how far I can take him. If I set up my party right and I get them to knock things down vile assault does like 800 damage.

I never got the hate for the answer, I liked it a lot.
No compendium is my biggest gripe.
Story-wise it has a lot of great moments and the fact that its essentially a dungeon crawler didn't bother me since I'm as much into mainline SMT as I am into Persona, I loved the challenge it provided and the story nuggets were more than enough incentive to press on.
 
If we get P5 Arena [Story spoilers for P5]
I want Akechi in, but maybe some sort of side story that happens before he turns on us, or he is the main villain. Also Lavenza or the Twins? Basically make the Arena games side stories/alt universe things so we can get all the characters.

Potential roster: Joker, Skull, Morgana, Panther, Fox, Queen, Navi (hopefully not ditched first iteration like Rise), Noir, Crow, The Velvet Twins (potentially could be split). That's 10 (11) characters, Xrd launched in arcades with 14 I believe, 17 with Elphelt, Sin, and Leo but they were DLC.

If Akechi is in, I would vastly want him as a side story character. Or they could do some dumb cognitive version of him. Bringing him back would probably do more damage than good, but the spin offs are pretty good at that already. Aside from the main cast, I would prefer Lavensa, but if we got the Twins thats fine. Maybe have (not)Igor as well?
I know it will never happen, but I desperately want some P1/P2 characters in there.
 

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
I never got the hate for the answer, I liked it a lot.
No compendium is my biggest gripe.
Story-wise it has a lot of great moments and the fact that its essentially a dungeon crawler didn't bother me since I'm as much into mainline SMT as I am into Persona, I loved the challenge it provided and the story nuggets were more than enough incentive to press on.

What I think turned me off the first time playing the answer was that I thought P3 ended perfectly and that it didn't really need an epilogue, but now the more I see the scenes from P3 the more I feel like it's just about opening up the player to characters that should have gotten slinks but didn't.

Your story as the protagonist is done, it's time to see what the other members of SEES were struggling with and how they are trying to move on from the traumatic experiences they had. Which is really cool.

I always loved the dungeon crawling because it's probably my favorite part of this franchise (SMT as a whole not just persona), but to people who mainly only play persona I can see how a huge focus on dungeon crawling would be a total turn off.
 
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