Sammy Samusu
Member
I find this very hard to believe, dungeons are incredibly boring even for a JRPG fan (hi). I can't imagine a COD dude playing and enjoying Persona 4.
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What the hell is it about Persona 4?
- Thread starter Steel
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XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
buddha0991
Member
P3FES on Hard is harder than P3P on Maniac, just like P4 on Hard is harder than P4:Golden on Very Hard
I am one of those more old school players, notice how I like Persona 1 more than P3 The Journey
Please don't start the back and forth on that.
The intro is all story(Like, 5-8 hours before the game opens up), then there's dungeon crawling, then there's the game within the game of the social and other stuff outside of the dungeon crawling. You gotta put more time into it before judging it fully.
You see, I actually expected this kind of reaction from my friend. I mean this is the kind of argument he puts forth against JRPGs when he starts talking about them.
Edit:
Trust me, I find it extremely hard to believe too(Why this thread was made). I mean, I didn't even suggest the game to him because I thought he wouldn't like it. To be fair though, you have other JRPG combat systems to compare it to, though.
My Theory:
1) Life simulation/Dating simulation games are uncommon in traditional western hardcore gaming. At least the Japanese style ones anyway. It's the same reason Animal Crossing sold so many copies. It scratches the same itch as FarmVille or even The Sims -- raising a bunch of numbers without the involvement of any combative or challenge-based gameplay (outside of dungeons).
2) The story, characters, and writing in general are well above the average quality people come to expect in video games.
1) Life simulation/Dating simulation games are uncommon in traditional western hardcore gaming. At least the Japanese style ones anyway. It's the same reason Animal Crossing sold so many copies. It scratches the same itch as FarmVille or even The Sims -- raising a bunch of numbers without the involvement of any combative or challenge-based gameplay (outside of dungeons).
2) The story, characters, and writing in general are well above the average quality people come to expect in video games.
Crash Station
Member
Considering the series has actual antagonists that you fight, I can't imagine this working.
Actually, yes. Xenoblade has some slow parts but it is good at the start.
Anyway, P4 is gripping because the dialogue and characters are good, and the modern school setting with a calendar system is cool/fresh.
or they could go play something else
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
A few people have mentioned the game not clicking for them in this thread. So no, it doesn't actually. ;P
wat
Did Persona 3 cease to exist? ;P
Honestly, if I ever have to start a new Persona 4 file raw, I'll probably just set it to easy mode. I think the combat in the game is great objectively, but I personally don't enjoy it as much as the story and life simulation stuff. It's one of the reasons I'm trying to find the time to play through P4A's visual novel mode. Didn't BioWare try to basically do a mode kind of like this in Mass Effect 3 though? But yeah I'd be down for just a pure visual novel mode of Persona on my tablet or smartphone.
Immaculate
Banned
I love everything about persona except the whole tired system
let me explore a dungeon any day I want to goddamnit
let me explore a dungeon any day I want to goddamnit
Lambda Pie
Banned
i played it for 2 hours and all i did was talk to a little girl at her place and go to school. awful game.
But I like the story and music, I don't like the tedium. It doesn't have to change much, just a prompt or something like "Skip dungeon?" when you enter one, then it just plays all the dialogue and cutscenes leaving all the RPG elements intact for those who want it.
Bioware is the last company I would ever want them to follow
That's good for him. It's better to enjoy a game than not! I didn't have anything to compare it to. I'm a complete JRPG newbie who read in a review that it was the JRPG for the uninitiated.
I didn't care for it to the fanatical degree that others seem to. The characters are really great and the story is better than most but underneath that the dungeon crawling and battle systems aren't the greatest, in my opinion. The secondary systems like fusing personas and moving skills around can be really deep and intricate but doesn't shine unless you're playing on a harder difficulty. The selling monster drops to the store seemed really limited, would be cool if there was another layer of depth to it.
I'm not saying it's not a good game. If you are looking for a jrpg with an entertaining story this is one of the best out there. I know a lot or jrpg players and gamers in general are looking for an entry that isn't full of terrible characters and shitty performances and nonsensical boring unimaginative stories, and this game delivers. Just if you view those sorts of elements as secondary to what's important in a video game, the gameplay systems are not as great (but not bad, merely "good".)
I'm not saying it's not a good game. If you are looking for a jrpg with an entertaining story this is one of the best out there. I know a lot or jrpg players and gamers in general are looking for an entry that isn't full of terrible characters and shitty performances and nonsensical boring unimaginative stories, and this game delivers. Just if you view those sorts of elements as secondary to what's important in a video game, the gameplay systems are not as great (but not bad, merely "good".)
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
There's a skip battle option there - it's called mash the autocombo over and over again while moving forward. The story CPU is a joke and can be defeated like this.
The fandom can get extreme, to put it lightly.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
The long intro/tutorial (about 1.5-3 hours long) is the worst part of the game but the story is interesting right from the start and once you're past the intro, the game opens up quite a bit. Definitely a weakness, but nowhere near as bad as some RPGs I've played.
Anyway, to answer the OP's question, it's quite simple. Persona 4 is one of the best JRPGs of all-time so it makes sense that if you can talk people into giving it a chance, there's a good chance they'll love it even if they're not huge genre fans. It's like Chrono Trigger in that regard.
Anyway, to answer the OP's question, it's quite simple. Persona 4 is one of the best JRPGs of all-time so it makes sense that if you can talk people into giving it a chance, there's a good chance they'll love it even if they're not huge genre fans. It's like Chrono Trigger in that regard.
Seth Balmore
Member
I understand how some people want to be grabbed during the 1st hour of any game they start, but considering a basic playthrough of Persona 4 averages 72 hours (and this is usually the case for JRPGs), playing 2 or 3 hours is barely scratching the surface. I would give up if a game like this didn't grab me after 10-15 hours, I guess.
Matt Attack
Member
It's what high school was supposed to be like. I felt like I was living in the game's world. Also the music is ridiculous, the game is hilarious, and it's got this all around stylish feel to it.
I sort of like the aesthetics and some of the stuff that's explored in the social links. But the dungeons are really bland and don't really have interesting layouts. It doesn't help that the regular enemies generally don't provide much challenge, so it gets a bit boring going through the dungeons.
I loved the music though and still listen to the OST every now and then.
I loved the music though and still listen to the OST every now and then.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Persona 3 got things going a lot faster though, as do a lot of JRPGs.
I didn't mind the approach for P4, but can see why people even familiar with RPGs could be offput by the slow start. Hopefully P5 strikes a better balance,
To directly answer the OP, the game is incredibly charming in its presentation. The user interface elements are all designed extremely well and are bright and fun and thoughtfully put together. Same goes for most of the game. The brightness is tinged with the occasional classical SMT darkness and mystery, which adds a lot of intrigue and is used to drive the story forward. I really think the charm takes people off guard and sucks them in. The game itself is great, in a ton of ways.
From a post-first-impression perspective, one of the best parts about Persona 4 is how integrated the game is. Which is why, when people complain about particular segments of the game (the dungeons, the combat, the social links, etc) it makes me kinda concerned that they missed (or intentionally ignored) something. You're never doing just one thing in the game. When you're in a dungeon, you're fusing and you're exploring the dungeon and you're fighting shadows. The more you fight, the more personas you get, the more you can fuse, the more new skills and skill-sets you can try. When you get out of the dungeon, you can sell items, buy new ones, improve social links (which improves your ability to fuse), fuse more, etc etc.
There's TONS of content in the game, and I don't just mean big large story segments. The game itself lasts a very long time, but it's also filled with tons of small details. Conversations and interactions with things that people may never find in half a dozen playthroughs.
The game sucks you in with its presentation and keeps you ensnared by connecting everything together. It's a high quality product that feels like it was genuinely made with love. It's enjoyable.
From a post-first-impression perspective, one of the best parts about Persona 4 is how integrated the game is. Which is why, when people complain about particular segments of the game (the dungeons, the combat, the social links, etc) it makes me kinda concerned that they missed (or intentionally ignored) something. You're never doing just one thing in the game. When you're in a dungeon, you're fusing and you're exploring the dungeon and you're fighting shadows. The more you fight, the more personas you get, the more you can fuse, the more new skills and skill-sets you can try. When you get out of the dungeon, you can sell items, buy new ones, improve social links (which improves your ability to fuse), fuse more, etc etc.
There's TONS of content in the game, and I don't just mean big large story segments. The game itself lasts a very long time, but it's also filled with tons of small details. Conversations and interactions with things that people may never find in half a dozen playthroughs.
The game sucks you in with its presentation and keeps you ensnared by connecting everything together. It's a high quality product that feels like it was genuinely made with love. It's enjoyable.
Honestly, I wish I knew. I've never quite been able to understand it.
It's not the waifus. Gajllions of animu waifu games come out every year, and they're almost all incredibly niche.
It's not the dungeon gameplay. Other SMT titles use similar but better versions of the same combat systems, but are less popular.
It's not the story or writing. Well, actually, it seems that it is - the game receives a lot of praise for these things. I just don't understand why. Nothing about the narrative stands out to me compared to other games or anime. It's very... normal.
It's also a very similar game in every regard to Persona 3, but somehow much, much more popular. This is maybe the most confusing point - it is improved, but that much?
I can only assume it's some transient, magical combination of factors. There's probably also an element of good timing; people wanted this kind of experience at this time in gaming history, for whatever other reasons, gaming climate and so on. And of course, being popular helps make things more popular, so after it picked up initially, it makes sense that it became larger. But overall... I don't know. It's just amazing to me, the whole phenomenon. I just can't figure it out completely.
It's not the waifus. Gajllions of animu waifu games come out every year, and they're almost all incredibly niche.
It's not the dungeon gameplay. Other SMT titles use similar but better versions of the same combat systems, but are less popular.
It's not the story or writing. Well, actually, it seems that it is - the game receives a lot of praise for these things. I just don't understand why. Nothing about the narrative stands out to me compared to other games or anime. It's very... normal.
It's also a very similar game in every regard to Persona 3, but somehow much, much more popular. This is maybe the most confusing point - it is improved, but that much?
I can only assume it's some transient, magical combination of factors. There's probably also an element of good timing; people wanted this kind of experience at this time in gaming history, for whatever other reasons, gaming climate and so on. And of course, being popular helps make things more popular, so after it picked up initially, it makes sense that it became larger. But overall... I don't know. It's just amazing to me, the whole phenomenon. I just can't figure it out completely.
Why don't you play a VN novel then.
Crash Station
Member
So you basically want a crazy exchange with a boss, then the boss fight gets skipped with the whole resolution scene playing? That would be jarring as hell.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Meaning noone really plays those games. P3 and P4 are a lot of people's first exposure to this sort of thing, so it would be new and interesting for many of them who mainly are coming in for the more traditional JRPG game.
John Kowalski
Banned
Everyone wants to be Nanako's onii-chan.
Mihos
Gold Member
What a stream then, isn't that what all the kids are doing now anyway?
Kanji kicks the shit out of both of them.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
LOL
Deified Data
Banned
I'm convinced this is the case. P4 is a decent RPG, but by no means a "great" one mechanics-wise - you can't really control the growth of your allies, dungeons are bland, equipment doesn't play much of a role outside of increasing/decreasing damage, etc. What makes Persona a great franchise is the sim elements. I guess it's deemed uncool to go out and pick up a visual novel game so people pick up P4 and pretend to hate the social links when in reality it's what keeps them playing.
I think one of the biggest draws to P4, and Persona in general, is that it emulates what it's like to have a tight-knit group of friends - something that's alien to a lot of people. It certainly was to me when I played.
Xenoblade was good 5 minutes in.
buddha0991
Member
Memento_Mori15
Member
Truth hurts bro.
I have to agree, I tried really hard to like it but I gave up 10-15 hours in because of these reasons.
But my favorite game in the series is one without the sim elements
persona started with 3
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
But my favorite game in the series is one without the sim elements
SMT fans in general likely aren't who he's talking about. Moreso the people who started playing with P3 or P4.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
To me it's the cast and the humour. I genuinely laughed out loud on so many occasions. They're all so lovable. The date sim part is also probably a big reason people like it. The fact that everything else not only doesn't suck but is great too is just the cherries on top.
AcademicSaucer
Member
Exactly
...Because I like the Persona 4 characters and music? Believe me, if there were a VN of similar quality I would be reading it.
I can accept some rough transitions to skip dungeons. I'd still like to see the boss though, maybe have the initial dialogue-->AI takes over and kills it in as many turns as it takes to see all the forms, i.e. 3 forms? 3 turns until dead-->resolution dialogue.
I'm sure Atlus would prefer I pay them, and I'd be willing to for the convenience of going at my own pace and picking which social links to pursue.
Romars202129
Member
I kinda want to know why it did so much better than 3. Some of the systems improved for sure, but it felt like a real step down in story.
It could have something to do, with just the Vita port. I don't remember 4 making so many waves back in the day, and when you think about it, it's not a hard arguement to make that right now, it's the best thing available on that system. I'm sure that has more than a little to do with it.
I'm glad for the success either way, don't get me wrong. 4 was great.
It could have something to do, with just the Vita port. I don't remember 4 making so many waves back in the day, and when you think about it, it's not a hard arguement to make that right now, it's the best thing available on that system. I'm sure that has more than a little to do with it.
I'm glad for the success either way, don't get me wrong. 4 was great.