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So why do people like persona?

C

Cow Goes Moo

Member
Of course this isn't including persona 5 since it's Japan only for a couple of more weeks

But why do people enjoy the series?
If I had to guess it would probably be the character interactions/ visual novel esque told story, it's presentation and the school life sim aspect and probably waifus or just the combination of these things

I suppose I've answered the question for most people
 
Amazing and varied music. Neat character design. Relatively good writing. Captures some of the feel of Japanese life in a way that was very novel to western audiences.

E: Especially the small town life of Persona 4. There are not many games out there with that feel and atmosphere, and it really struck a chord for me – and I imagine a lot of other people too.
 
Persona 4 Golden is the only Persona I have played so far, and I love the overall atmosphere and crazy plot. It's just so unique and different.
 
A mix of mystery, having choices on how to develop your character, some visual novel influences like dating and getting to know people and care for them, super awesome visuals, and kick-ass gameplay.
 
Cow Goes Moo said:
If I had to guess it would probably be the character interactions/ visual novel esque told story, it's presentation and the school life sim aspect
Click to expand...

Pretty much, I can't play VNs because of the minimal gameplay in them and this bridges the gap for me. The social link system allows for characters to be fleshed out too and gets you attached to the main cast. In P4 this also gives new skills to your main party.

The music is fucking great too. Hoping for future installments to transition out of high school. I still have yet to play P2, so I know that's a thing before anyone flames me.
 
You kinda answered your own question.

Well the battles are fun too with the "one more turn" if you hit a weakness, also fusioning personas in each game gets less complicated and more fun.

Never liked the "pick a card" to get items/buffs/persona from Persona 3 and 4 but 5 looks more promising having to interact with enemies instead.
 
1. Great music.
2. Compelling turn-based gameplay.
3. "Collect-'em-all" fusion system which is fun to engage with.
4. Great overall presentation. Great art.
5. Well written characters and interactions.
6. The novelty of an RPG that takes place in a modern, urban setting.
7. Lengthy games.

There are more reasons.
 
Persona 4 was really boring, to be honest.

Although Persona 5 looks a lot more interesting and engaging than 3 or 4 did for me.
 
If I had to guess it would probably be the character interactions/ visual novel esque told story, it's presentation and the school life sim aspect and probably waifus or just the combination of these things
Click to expand...

I like it for everything except the quoted. I would be ecstatic if it were suddenly announced that all of the social and school life aspects that came to the series with Persona 3 were suddenly gone. But I tolerate them. I enjoy the combat and raising my mans and the music and the general style. I like some of the characters.
 
The gameplay forces you to make really interesting decisions. Do you spend a day doing a dungeon? Furthering a social link? Improving a skill? It's cool how everything you do influences other parts of the game, and a lot of the fun is trying to be as efficient as you can.

Plus they're really stylish and the battle system is really fun.
 
They're generally very well-designed games with strong art and presentation. The characters tend to be much more humanistic and relatable than most other casts in the genre.

They're JRPGs about the human condition and they're only getting better.
 
I haven't played any Persona games before and probably won't get 5 but I will say from trailers/gameplay videos it looks very eye-catching.
 
For the modern titles, I really enjoy the combat. Sure it's not as deep as Press Turn but it's slick and I like chaining moves to get All-Out Attacks. I think the fusion system is incredibly addicting too and one of my favorite things about the SMT series is fusing new party members.

The life sim stuff is pretty fun too. I like the characters and writing a lot in these games. 2, 3, and 4 all have great casts.

Of course, the art direction and OSTs are great too. Just nice all around packages that I really like to spend time with.
 
it's an adult version of pokemon with extra things to do like side jobs and getting to know other characters.

aka it's got a decent story, fun characters, and I still gotta collect them all.
 
Aeana said:
I like it for everything except the quoted. I would be ecstatic if it were suddenly announced that all of the social and school life aspects that came to the series with Persona 3 were suddenly gone. But I tolerate them. I enjoy the combat and raising my mans and the music and the general style. I like some of the characters.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you just want to play SMT.
 
The older games were solid jrpgs with fun mechanics to where I don't think it's too surprising that people ended up liking them.

Part of what makes the newer ones even more appealing is that, in addition to the above, they are also just extremely streamlined games that cuts out a lot of the cruft inherent to the genre in exchange for doubling down on a lot of the most appealing parts of the genre.

Also waifus, I guess
 
Spukc said:
After really trying to like persona 4 i gave up after 6 hours.
Yeah its waifus.
Click to expand...

While waifus is a factor lots of people like it for the quirky characters and music. Still though, I can see it being off-putting especially if you don't like the dungeons or combat.
 
aadiboy said:
Sounds like you just want to play SMT.
Click to expand...

Before Persona 3 hit it big, Atlus used to put out a lot of different games with a similar core, and I really enjoyed that. Persona was a thing, Devil Summoner was a thing, Last Bible was a thing, Digital Devil Saga was a thing, etc. I like the different variety. I don't always want to play a core SMT game and have everything that entails.
 
i like making personas that have null/reflect/absorb all and loading them up with all the dyne spells or god hand or hassou tobi and wreck shit
 
Spukc said:
After really trying to like persona 4 i gave up after 6 hours.
Yeah its waifus.
Click to expand...

Nah, it's not. But it's pretty great that any moderately successful Japanese game will have its successes reduced to whatever cute girls it features, whether that has anything to do with it or not.

Yep. Pretty great.
 
Aeana said:
Before Persona 3 hit it big, Atlus used to put out a lot of different games with a similar core, and I really enjoyed that. Persona was a thing, Devil Summoner was a thing, Last Bible was a thing, Digital Devil Saga was a thing, etc. I like the different variety. I don't always want to play a core SMT game and have everything that entails.
Click to expand...
I could really go for a new Last Bible, or at least something in the vein of it.
 
Squire said:
Nah, it's not. But it's pretty great that any moderately successful Japanese game will have its successes reduced to whatever cute girls it features, whether that has anything to do with it or not.

Yep. Pretty great.
Click to expand...

image.php


WAIFU
 
The simulation aspect of the gameplay is the biggest draw for me.

It is a game built around making choices about how you live each day in a high schooler's life. That time management is both easy to understand and very engrossing. It combines with the story and dungeon gameplay bety well. That polished experience where all of the elements work together in a unique way is a big part of the modern Persona series.
 
Music
Enjoyable RPG combat with style
Endless OCD blackholes like fusions
Art
Polish
Music
Likeable characters
It actually earns the ~friendship~ theme that is shoehorned into so many games and anime
Waifus
But the music though
 
I think it's pretty crazy that we haven't seen a Persona-like RPG based on "regular North American/European kids" yet.

The last one I can think of that attempted this was Secret of Evermore, which I personally thought was better than Secret of Mana for that very reason.

i.e. if I"m going to play a really long game with lots of dialogue, I'd much rather a story that makes some degree of sense, rather than "rag-tag group of elf-wizards save the world from nebulous force of evil."
 
It's for people who want to fulfill their fantasies of going to highschool in Japan. Eventually they move on to Yakuza.
 
Characters and story for me mostly. Gameplay wise, I really only like the social link stuff. The combat, dungeon crawling, and persona making stuff is pretty meh.
 
It's like asking, why do people like video games? books? puzzle games? or anything really? Are these kind of threads allowed? So random.

To answer your question, I like it because it's an amazing videogame with a good story and great characters.
 
I like it because it's a stylish urban fantasy RPG with demons and shit all over modern day Japan. I like it because there are high school kids in trendy clothing summoning things which look like twisted robots to fight evil. I like it because there's a pop soundtrack that's catchy and addictive. I like it because the battles are fast and satisfying, and the UI is super slick. I like it because when I turn the game on I see the ATLUS logo appear.
 
Aeana said:
I like it for everything except the quoted. I would be ecstatic if it were suddenly announced that all of the social and school life aspects that came to the series with Persona 3 were suddenly gone. But I tolerate them. I enjoy the combat and raising my mans and the music and the general style. I like some of the characters.
Click to expand...

I don't watch anime and that was my favorite part of Persona 4 Golden and what sets set apart from other RPGs for me really.
 
The illustration of the existential crisis that teenagers have to go through.

That they can use stands is a plus.
 
I like the characters and atmosphere. I got into the franchise from the fighting game (Arena) and wanted to learn more about everyone, so I watched a play through of 3 & 4. Then I bought Shadow of Labyrinth for 3DS but that didn't play like the main series titles so my first official one will be 5.
 
Y'know for games that have such a sucky dungeon system (P4 was better than P3 and from the trailers P5 seems to improves this further) these games still rank so highly, for me, in the best RPGs of all time. It's the way it takes itself so seriously and yet is very self-aware that's so charming. There aren't enough games that take maintaining high quality dialogue of all the characters so seriously throughout the entire experience. Some of the best parts were doing the less important arcana sidequests. The grieving widow in P4 and the TV presenter in P3 come to mind. The whole package of these games is just amazing.

Why is it so popular in the West?
Waifus Wars.
 
Spukc said:
After really trying to like persona 4 i gave up after 6 hours.
Yeah its waifus.
Click to expand...

Yep. Replace 4 with 3 and that's my position too. I originally thought maybe my main issue was the age of the characters, that I was just too old to identify with them enough, but I just played Danganronpa this year and I freaking loved it so it's not that. (To be fair, good writing/acting makes anything more appealing.)

I liked Persona 2 back in the day, it had an interesting setting, unusual characters, and a wild story. But 3+ is an obvious and deliberate break from that sort of slightly more adult series.

I keep intending to give Persona 4 a fair shot, but then sometimes I look at GAF Persona threads and that kills my interest real fast.
 
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