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Persona Community Thread |OT9| SPOILER TAGS OR DIE

Jintor

Member
latest


Do Middle Schoolers count?

We aren't dealing with kids, we're dealing with teens. Flawed, vapid, superficial teens who have most certainly buy into the "white is great & exotic" mindset that is pervasive throughout Japanese media. And while i'll give you that positive ostracization is a thing, Anne explicitly mentions that people stay away from her. And there's the rub. What you're saying definitely applies to people who aren't fully Japanese. I fully buy that Japanese teens would ostracize, ignore and even bully people who don't fit the bill. But. This doesn't apply to people who are half Japanese and half White (or in Anne's case, 3/4ths Japanese).

But for serious, I think you're on entirely the wrong mindset here. Whether or not the attention is positive or negative the important thing is the othering that occurs as a result of her visibly mixed ancestry. I can see it going a number of ways. Maybe Anne was 'special' when she first arrived but that bred jealousy. Maybe people stay away from her because they don't want to be associated with the nail that sticks out.

I just completely don't see it as contrived as someone with experience in the Japanese schooling system albeit at a different tier of education.
 

Zolo

Member
It's also worth mentioning she's apparently a victim of rumors going on around her as well, so it's not just her ethnicity. It's also likely her ethnicity that plays a large part of Kamoshida wanting/fetishizing her.
 

Jintor

Member
I mean, I worked with great kids generally speaking and there was still levels of bullying going on, and that was the stuff that I as someone who is only beginner-intermediate proficient could see. What about the more subtle stuff? Anne isn't going to suffer from me-talk-like-katakana-foreigner or whatever, but high school drama takes so many forms I simply don't think it's inconceivable that she'd feel ostrasized and lonely.

I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I think probably a foreign transfer student into a Japanese high school, if they were fluent enough, could get along fine in most circumstances. But I don't think it's contrived that a person who is visibly of foreign origin could be excluded socially, or even bullied.
 
For what it's worth, I also suspect it also didn't get seriously started until #FE was finished. Not because of Atlus USA, but because they probably only really started getting material to work on around that time.

For all we know, the localization could end up getting delayed if set-backs happen.

I can imagine people would be frustrated, and for good reason. It's already going to be hard to avoid spoilers once they start spreading over the next month

Its for the impact

Using it differently than it's intended is confusing when everyone else here is using it as intended because there are actual spoilers :p
 

Guess Who

Banned
To frame the Anne issue another way: imagine a Japanese girl transferring into a very white high school in America and being assumed to be great at math, or seen as exotically beautiful, or fetishized in any of the myriad creepy ways Asian women are fetishized. Even "positive" racism is still racism.
 

Gecoma

Member
Yes there are spoilers, like who is the ultimate protagonist persona in p5.

Anymore than that? That particular one would be more of a gameplay spoiler to me. If I already know there is one a name for it isn't gonna change much.
I'm guessing there might be one for a velvet room attendant fight as well so I wouldn't count that either.

Sorry for all the questions!
 

Zolo

Member
Anymore than that? That particular one would be more of a gameplay spoiler to me. If I already know there is one a name for it isn't gonna change much.
I'm guessing there might be one for a velvet room attendant fight as well so I wouldn't count that either.

Sorry for all the questions!

It also lists the dungeon names.
 

Sophia

Member
The dungeon names
A handful of gameplay spoilers
Two achievements that I'm not sure are story spoilers or not.
And a lot of more subtle ones both gameplay and storywise.

Again, nothing MAJOR MAJOR, but definitely avoid them if you're avoiding story spoilers.
 

PK Gaming

Member
godot-chugs.gif


You're all so persistent. I wanna fire back so bad, but I can't deny the validity of some of your claims. Othering is a very good point that I didn't consider.

godot-steams(a).gif


Gonna have to concede on this one.
 
If you avoid the hidden achievements, which some sites should filter out by default, there's only one that I'd consider a spoiler, and it's not story related.
 

Wazzy

Banned
I just beat P2: Innocent Sin.

:(

I'm glad I played this because I really like the cast and story. The characters looked way better in the ending lol especially Michel.

I'm pretty excited to start EP now. Does anyone have tips for it?
 

Lusankya

Member
Any plot spoilers in the P5 trophy list? Like Persona 4 Golden had a bunch of save
& even one apprehend
"insert character name here" ones. I don't care about gameplay spoilers so anyone know if they're safe to look at?

Personacentral.com has a list without the hidden trophies. There are no story spoilers at all.
 

Dantis

Member
I'll write some impressions once I'm done with the first dungeon, but P5 is tremendous and Anne is totes adorbs in her Yaso outfit.
 

asagami_

Banned
I just beat P2: Innocent Sin.

:(

I'm glad I played this because I really like the cast and story. The characters looked way better in the ending lol especially Michel.

I'm pretty excited to start EP now. Does anyone have tips for it?

Try don't to use Estoma so much. There is a moment where the game really peaks at difficulty and not decrease. I played with my mindset the same way how I played IS. It was bad :(

The good thing of this is EP battle system is really fun. Kinda weird to say but between the battle system from EP PS1 and IS PSP (which is slightly worse than the original) I prefer the former. The EP PSP battle system looks really amazing and it's faster, but sadly I will wait to play the port until the fantranslation is out.
 
thank fuck for the trails series. No other game wouldve work for holding me over until february. Even though i will have cold steel 2 complete possibly this weekend.

I still wont be playing P5 until 2/26 at the earliest...
 

Setsu00

Member
The full list of congratulators from yesterday's stream in order of appearance:

- Takemaru Abiko, novelist (Ningyou series, Banshee's Last Cry)
- Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Capcom (Sengoku Basara, Dragon's Dogma)
- Yosuke Saitou, Square Enix (Dragon Quest X, NieR Gestalt/Replicant)
- Mitsuki Tsujimura, novelist (Kagi no nai Yume wo miru)
- Teita, illustrator (Norn9, Juuza Engi series)
- Yoko Nihonbashi, mangaka (G Senjou Heaven's Door, Shoujo Fight)
- Seiji Mizushima, anime director (Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Expelled from Paradise)
- Yoko Taro, game director (NieR, Drakengard series)
- Arco Wada, illustrator (Fate/EXTRA series)
 

PK Gaming

Member
thank fuck for the trails series. No other game wouldve work for holding me over until february. Even though i will have cold steel 2 complete possibly this weekend.

I still wont be playing P5 until 2/26 at the earliest...

Man, that's what I've been saying!

Still have to play through TiTS too.
 
I tried my hardest to like Trails of Cold Steel but everything about that game seemed specifically designed to turn me off. I have Sky FC on Steam that I haven't tried yet tho, maybe I'll somehow have better luck with that.

The wait for P5 itself doesn't seem that daunting since what's another 5 months to the 7 years since I first played P4. I have an import copy on the way but I'm unsure if I feel up to playing the whole thing in Japanese. shrugs
 

asagami_

Banned
I will be playing SMT IV: Apocalypse and Dragon Quest VII, so the wait for me is not that bad. Maybe I will end buying a PS3 as a Christmas present to me, I really want to play Trails of Cold Steel 1 & 2, even if I now it would better to wait just a little more to Trails in the Sky the 3rd.

Decisions~~
 
I will be playing SMT IV: Apocalypse and Dragon Quest VII, so the wait for me is not that bad. Maybe I will end buying a PS3 as a Christmas present to me, I really want to play Trails of Cold Steel 1 & 2, even if I now it would better to wait just a little more to Trails in the Sky the 3rd.

Decisions~~
you might as well play them, I find missing out on Ao and Zero first to be worse, but these games stand on their own just fine, and I'm still looking forward to playing the 3rd next year
 

Mediking

Member
I will be playing SMT IV: Apocalypse and Dragon Quest VII, so the wait for me is not that bad. Maybe I will end buying a PS3 as a Christmas present to me, I really want to play Trails of Cold Steel 1 & 2, even if I now it would better to wait just a little more to Trails in the Sky the 3rd.

Decisions~~

The only way I'll play SMTIV:A if the characters are actually likeable this time. I can deal with a bad map. I can deal with difficulty spikes. But I won't deal with a Jonathon or Walter clone. They were both so bland. Isabeau was well..... alright.
 
Well been a while since I posted, looks like I forgot to cancel my order from Amazon Japan, got a 20th Anniversary persona 5 here now welp guess I'm playing it then.

I'll also get the localised version when it comes out.
 

Mediking

Member
Well been a while since I posted, looks like I forgot to cancel my order from Amazon Japan, got a 20th Anniversary persona 5 here now welp guess I'm playing it then.

I'll also get the localised version when it comes out.

This is the best "welp" situation I ever read. Enjoy it!
 

atlusprime

Atlus PR
The only way I'll play SMTIV:A if the characters are actually likeable this time. I can deal with a bad map. I can deal with difficulty spikes. But I won't deal with a Jonathon or Walter clone. They were both so bland. Isabeau was well..... alright.

Pro-tip: SMTIVA reviews are out today!
 

Setsu00

Member
This is what Yoko Taro said about P5. What he says was pretty funny, but I'm not sure if it comes across in my translation. Juggling three languages at the same time can be kind of taxing.

Hello Persona fans. My name is Yoko Taro. I can already hear some of you saying “Who the hell is that guy?”, so I think I should introduce myself to you. I'm a game director. There's this game called “NieR Automata” from Square Enix that I'm working on and it's coming out early next year. It's target audience overlaps totally with Persona's, so I think we really dodged a bullet when they delayed NieR Automata.

Well, when I was playing Persona 5 I kept thinking how awesome everything was: The menus, the battles, the characters – everything was stylish and awesome! But you've probably heard about that already from other people, so I'm going to write about the other things I found noteworthy to provide a different perspective.

The first thing that caught my attention was the darkness of the town. It's really dark, as if someone reduced the saturation and brightness of the colors by 50% in Photoshop. That's how bleak this place is. The teachers aren't your friends and that leaves a bitter taste. It's the kind of melancholic environment that makes you think “That's just like my own experience of high school!”! However, what really stuck out to me were the bent backs of the NPC business men – that was great! Whoever came up with that idea is a genius.

Then of course there is the Shibuya Station. If you've ever been there before, I think you'll understand what I mean when I say that trying to navigate this place is a nightmare. If you a new planner at a video game studio created a level like this, they'd probably get slapped... Or at least, that's what I always thought, but it is a perfect recreation of the real thing. It's fascinating.

Yongenjaya is also nice. If you leave Atlus's headquarters, there's a street that looks similar to that place. Maybe I was just imagining things.

Subtly changing the names of real places like this* adds a nice touch to the game. It's an interesting way to express that adults are also kind of trapped. From a meta perspective, that was very enjoyable.

Until next time.

*Yongenjaya is based on Sangenjaya.
 

Tamanon

Banned
This is what Yoko Taro said about P5. What he says was pretty funny, but I'm not sure if it comes across in my translation. Juggling three languages at the same time can be kind of taxing.

I like the idea of having a completely different atmosphere from Persona 4, which was pretty light-hearted and laid-back. Everyone was so durn helpful there, so it'll be nice to have a different set of interactions.
 

Lynx_7

Member
This is what Yoko Taro said about P5. What he says was pretty funny, but I'm not sure if it comes across in my translation. Juggling three languages at the same time can be kind of taxing.

I remember him saying he wanted to play Undertale back then but couldn't due to the lack of a japanese translation, wonder if he ever got around to it.

It's interesting to read his perspective on the game, and seeing how most people are saying this game is darker than the previous (2) Persona games then it must be right up his alley.
It's also the second time Square or someone directly related to them has acknowledged Persona 5 as a noteworthy competitor to their own products so that's neat. :p

EDIT: Also, there are a few reviews out for Apocalypse already. Surprised there's no review thread for it yet.
 
I'm currently (finally) playing through Yakuza 5. It's no urban fantasy picaresque tale starring high school students, but it's set in a contemporary environment across multiple cities so I'm getting my vicarious digital experience of Japan there. This and a couple of other games coming out before February 14 are what'll tide me over (I ultimately decided against importing a couple weeks ago). Oh, and the OST.

Otherwise, I have to put P5 out of sight, out of mind. I only get bummed out when I dwell on it for the time being. It's bitter sweet how its Japanese release is such an event while its release next year in every other territory will barely register a blip on the radar.
 

Setsu00

Member
I love this man.

Same here. He writes unique stories and I can't wait to see what he'll do in NieR Automata.

I remember him saying he wanted to play Undertale back then but couldn't due to the lack of a japanese translation, wonder if he ever got around to it.

It's interesting to read his perspective on the game, and seeing how most people are saying this game is darker than the previous (2) Persona games then it must be right up his alley.
It's also the second time Square or someone directly related to them has acknowledged Persona 5 as a noteworthy competitor to their own products so that's neat. :p.

It's actually the third time. There was also a message by Yosuke Saito of Dragon Quest X fame:

Persona is a ray of hope for all the Japanese developers out there competing with the world's greatest games. I'm currently working on NieR Automata and we are hard at work to make sure that we won't lose against Persona.

My expectations for Persona 5 are incredibly high!

So, uh... Yeah, P5 turned into a big deal.
 

PK Gaming

Member
I tried my hardest to like Trails of Cold Steel but everything about that game seemed specifically designed to turn me off. I have Sky FC on Steam that I haven't tried yet tho, maybe I'll somehow have better luck with that.

The wait for P5 itself doesn't seem that daunting since what's another 5 months to the 7 years since I first played P4. I have an import copy on the way but I'm unsure if I feel up to playing the whole thing in Japanese. shrugs

How far you're get to, if you don't mind answering? And if you say "I didn't get past the prologue" then you're in for the ass beating of your life!
 
This is what Yoko Taro said about P5. What he says was pretty funny, but I'm not sure if it comes across in my translation. Juggling three languages at the same time can be kind of taxing.
I love when developers comment on each other's games! There's always new insights to be learned, :) Pretty cool that the city is legitimately dark. And yes, the Shibuya subway system is so confusing. There is no shame in asking for help there, lol.

Also makes me feel good about supporting Nier:A when it comes out.
 

Lynx_7

Member
It's actually the third time. There was also a message by Yosuke Saito of Dragon Quest X fame:



So, uh... Yeah, P5 turned into a big deal.

Hot damn I didn't know about that one.
There's also the collaboration with Monster Hunter so in a way even Capcom's acknowledging Persona is a big deal. Sega obviously also respects it and Atlus in general a lot considering how they specifically mentioned them when they said they were aiming to be better and please their fans.

I wonder when the transition from "fairly niche franchise with loyal fanbase" to "arguably third most important JRPG franchise sans monster collecting multimedia affairs" happened. I suspect it started somewhere between the anime adaptation and P4 Arena. P5's first trailer being as good as it was probably sealed the deal.
 

barybll

Banned
Hot damn I didn't know about that one.
There's also the collaboration with Monster Hunter so in a way even Capcom's acknowledging Persona is a big deal. Sega obviously also respects it and Atlus in general a lot considering how they specifically mentioned them when they said they were aiming to be better and please their fans.

I wonder when the transition from "fairly niche franchise with loyal fanbase" to "arguably third most important JRPG franchise sans monster collecting multimedia affairs" happened. I suspect it started somewhere between the anime adaptation and P4 Arena. P5's first trailer being as good as it was probably sealed the deal.

I will refrain from saying persona is big until I see some sales numbers.

Japanese numbers tend to be unpredictable
 
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