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What the hell is it about Persona 4?

We shall see. I finally pulled the trigger on this as it was 16.99 on Amazon. Betraying my Japanese heritage, I'm not a huge fan of Japanese games (JRPGS in specific, loved the Yakuza series).

I'll probably end up hating this....based on the waifu posts in this thread.
 
Well the obvious answer, as first reply said, is waifus. But that's very specific. The main thing I think that appeals to people everywhere is that the school-life stuff is very unique for a game. This is seen practically everywhere in anime, specifically slice of life, but for people in the west to experience one of these sol settings themselves is a huge bonus for P4. The demon system is also very cool as it allows you to create more powerful demons and go at your own pace.

But largely I feel that many of us want to play these sim type of games but it wasn't socially acceptable to do so. This game gave us the chance to experience it. To be able to play as anime characters in this glorification of high school is something awesome. I wonder if it was a bigger hit in the West than other jrpg's because of this.

That's why I'm glad that P5 takes place in a high school. I really do hope they keep some of the anime tropes as it was a breath of fresh air in a jrpg world full of fantasy and swords. I don't even have to ask for them to keep waifus because removing that would make the game bomb, and they know it.
 
Spiffy_1st said:
Are you saying real life Japan is like Persona?

All I want in life is for a girl to come into my room on christmas eve while we're in the middle of solving a crime. ;_;
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Haha it's not the plot, it's the setting and the culture. Although some parts are a bit exaggerated it is very similar to what I experience in a couple of small towns when I went there.
 
tokyostomp said:
We shall see. I finally pulled the trigger on this as it was 16.99 on Amazon. Betraying my Japanese heritage, I'm not a huge fan of Japanese games (JRPGS in specific, loved the Yakuza series).

I'll probably end up hating this....based on the waifu posts in this thread.
Click to expand...

You actually don't need to have a girlfriend in this game. It's as optional as it is in Mass effect. I don't even find it to be a major part of the game, but w/e.

Just stay in it for the really long intro, the game opens up more and more as time goes on.
 
I LOVE the style and enemy designs...its pretty unique for the genre and videogames in general....its also pretty colorful which is nice to look at.... its also a sort of unique setting if you arent familiar with anime tropes
 
Great character drama. It's a big time investment, but few games take any amount of time to create characters with believable personalities. Persona is all about great characters.
 
7Th said:
People that don't watch anime find the cheesy tropey super tropes novel and interesting.
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I watch plenty of anime and I found it interesting. I mean the beach and bath house episode tropes aside, just the fact I could experience this with a blank slate of a character I could 'immerse' myself in did wonders for my anime love.
 
It's the game that got me back into jrpgs. During the PS1 and PS2 era they were all I played but when Japanese devs were struggling with the PS3, I gradually moved to 3rd person actions games. It didn't help that my favorite series, final fantasy, fell down so much. When I played persona 4 something just clicked. Afterwards I played Xenoblade and it felt like everything was coming back. After that I played P3 and by then, my love for jrpgs was completely back. Thank god for persona and Xenoblade :D would have never remembered why I love jrpgs so much.
 
Steel said:
I can't tell if you're trolling with that profile pict, but it's the main series Persona is based on. Persona is a spin off of Shin Megami Tensei, and SMT has other spin offs like Devil survivor.
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Definitely not trolling in any way.

I'm relatively new to the series. I was literally introduced to P4 within the last year. I followed that up by looking into the music and have enjoyed the game and other things related to it. It's now one of my favorite games ever.

I honestly would like some direction on what games/info/etc...to look into. I know nothing about Devil Survivor for example. Are there other games I should look into? What platforms?
 
shandy706 said:
Definitely not trolling in any way.

I'm relatively new to the series. I was literally introduced to P4 within the last year. I followed that up by looking into the music and have enjoyed the game and other things related to it. It's now one of my favorite games ever.

I honestly would like some direction on what games/info/etc...to look into. I know nothing about Devil Survivor for example. Are there other games I should look into? What platforms?
Click to expand...
Many of the SMT titles released within the past decade came out on PS2, so you would want to have one of those or a PS3 with PS2 BC. This would include games such as these:

-Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 (features a set party focusing on people rather than demons, with more emphasis on story and characters than what tends to be the case with mainline SMT; very good starting point, and uses the same Press Turn system introduced in Nocturne and modified as the One More system used in P3 and P4)

-Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (third installment in the mainline series, with a particularly dark and bleak post-apocalyptic atmosphere, as well as a more minimalistic story; the lead character and Dante from Devil May Cry aside, your party members are limited to other demons, which you can recruit through negotiation or create through fusion)

-Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon (these are action RPGs set in 1920s Japan, with many favoring the story in the first one, yet regarding the second as the much better actual game; as usual, human lead, with lots of demons to recruit, yet there are also different investigative skills varying according to the type of demon used in the field that allow you to overcome obstacles, find items, or obtain new information)

If you own a 3DS, you can check out Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (an updated port of a turn-based, cyberpunk Devil Summoner originally made for the Saturn and PS1), as well as Shin Megami Tensei IV (probably has the most polished presentation of a traditional SMT). There's a 3DS port of the original Devil Survivor called Devil Survivor Overclocked, though the 3DS port of Devil Survivor 2 has been delayed until 2014 (you could always just play the original DS version on 3DS, though). I don't know as much about the Devil Survivor games (other than being under the same Megami Ibunroku banner that P1 was), which are strategy RPGs, so I'll just let someone else cover those.

EDIT: Forgot to mention Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, which is another DS game (first-person dungeons and combat like with Soul Hackers, but focuses on a mission to investigate a void that appears at the South Pole).
 
carfo said:
it's the dungeon where (endgame spoiler alert)
adachi
is the end guy, is there one after that? I'm not sure about the date
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If you're playing golden
There are two more dungeons and several months. If not golden 1 more with no more days. The ending is fairly cathartic in either case. It's really easy to miss that last dungeon though if you're not careful.

Edit:
shandy706 said:
Definitely not trolling in any way.

I'm relatively new to the series. I was literally introduced to P4 within the last year. I followed that up by looking into the music and have enjoyed the game and other things related to it. It's now one of my favorite games ever.

I honestly would like some direction on what games/info/etc...to look into. I know nothing about Devil Survivor for example. Are there other games I should look into? What platforms?
Click to expand...


Since the other Shin megam games were covered by someone else, I'll just get into Devil Survivor. It's like Persona in time management, but time passes in 15 minute chunks. There's a lot more choice involved and many different endings. The game has a much more hectic pace. Plays like an SRPG mix that is pretty unique but you'll recognize some of the mechanics from Persona.
 
Perhaps it's because a lot of the characters have traits that the players personally relate to. The game definitely tells a good story.

I played about 10 hours and thought "man, if I were still in high school or my early 20s, I would be obsessed with this game." DragonQuest VI re-grabbed my attention and I haven't gone back in months. Maybe someday.
 
I've put in around ten hours over the past few months, and it still hasn't grabbed me. The ugly, monotonous dungeons are a big problem. I do like the music and the unusual game systems, though.
 
- Excellent fusion of game/story that actually feed off each other, something that almost never happens in a game.
- It distills and enhances elements that have impact on the user, making it easier to stand out.

Those would be the biggest reasons without getting into specifics.
 
Can we stop talking about Persona 4? I just got a Vita and there are threads everyday telling me to buy it, but I don't feel like spending any more money.

Thanks guys.
 
Shouta said:
- Excellent fusion of game/story that actually feed off each other, something that almost never happens in a game.
- It distills and enhances elements that have impact on the user, making it easier to stand out.

Those would be the biggest reasons without getting into specifics.
Click to expand...

Also

- Rise
 
Everyone I've introduced to either the game or the anime loves it as well.

Great art style, music, and cast of characters are what I'd say it is. It keeps people going, especially in the game's case because it has a somewhat slow start.
 
LevityNYC said:
I played for about 5 hours...was bored out of my mind...sent it back to Gamefly.

I'm sorry, I'm 32 years old with a wife and kid. I don't have 8-10 hours to play a game "before it gets good"
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why do you care how much time it takes to get to that point? you know you can play a game more than 5 hours, right?
 
I think the secret is mostly good pacing. There are a few parts where I think it goes on too long, but other than that your time is well divided between social links and dungeon crawling. When the dungeon crawling gets tedious you can go do social links, and vice versa.

Everything is kind of distilled down into basic elements (no overworld, dungeons are basic, battles are quick), so while it's a long game it feels like you're always progressing and moving forward.

There's also an element of "one more day", where you want to go through one more day just to see what happens. It really keeps you invested.

Also, the writing is strong, witty, and self aware.

Honestly, if you're that turned off by the slow beginning, I think you're better off returning it. The game a ton of dialogue, and if that's not enough to pull you through slow parts, then you're not going to make it through this game. This game is absolutely not for everyone, but it hits a lot of different groups. I know people who hate JRPG's and love it, and people who hate anime that love it despite the presence of tropes from both.
 
Once you start realizing that the protagonist is actually the swagtagonist you are hooked. You have to keep playing to learn the life lessons of swag he has to teach. Everyone who beats the game gets a real life swag stat boost.

Also waifus as earlier stated.
 
It was one of the first and only games that got me so fully engaged into the story and characters to the point where I would just daydream in high school about going home and playing it. Something that I've been craving from games since I've beaten it back when it came out but I've never been able to replicate.

Also, TEAM YUKIKO
 
I have no idea what it is about Persona 4.
What I know is that after the PS1 I stopped caring about JRPGs, but still gave P4 a try because of the weird setting and the word of mouth that was around it when it first came out.
The result is that I finished in a week (and I don't want to say how many hours it took) and then proceeded to play every other game related to the MegaTen universe...

So I don't think it's about Persona 4, it's about Atlus in general.
 
Love P4, but it is slightly irritating that some people are (mostly in jest) saying that the main draw for people is the whole "waifu" thing. Maybe for some, but no, that is not why the game is so universally well-liked, otherwise we'd see more dating sims localized. In fact, it is probably one of the very few games with dating-sim elements that is so well received and has relatively wide appeal to many kinds of gamers.

Lots of males and females like Persona 4 and could care less about "waifus". The dating part is fun and enjoyable, but like other people said, it is a social sim, not a dating sim. It is engaging because it explores many aspects of human relationships, not just focusing on courting school girls and Christmas lovey-time.

Basically, if you haven't played it, don't let the waifu thing tun you off. It is a minor (although enjoyable) aspect of the game that gets blown up by the fanbase, but is as big of an aspect of the game as you make it. You can choose to ignore it entirely.
 
It arguably has the best damn cast of characters in video games, period and it's just a fun game. The Vita version is one of the best pick-up-and plays
 
I ordered it for 16.99 for the vita on amazon but it is out of stock and I don't know when it will be stocked up again I don't know if I should just pay the 29.99 and get the game asap.
 
I was tempted to make this thread yesterday. I love RPGs but have never played a Persona game and kind of been curious about it for a while. Only a little interested because the whole modern day high school and demons aren't my thing and in the end, that is what has been keeping me at bay.
 
Dark Octave said:
I was tempted to make this thread yesterday. I love RPGs but have never played a Persona game and kind of been curious about it for a while. Only a little interested because the whole modern day high school and demons aren't my thing and in the end, that is what has been keeping me at bay.
Click to expand...

If you're the type who can't get past a long long intro then from the posts in this thread I wouldn't bother. However, if you can get past that it seems that most people like it. Not everyone though. It is a game that's worth trying to see if you like it, though.
 
I haven't even played Persona 4. I played Persona 3 for five or six hours and couldn't take any more of it. I didn't even bother with 4, since it looked to be more of the same. I really hate what Persona has become. I have no desire to play 3 or 4.
 
I'm 45 hours into p4g. I'd never even heard of Persona until I came here. So, thanks for ruining my life, you guys.
 
Steel said:
If you're the type who can't get past a long long intro then from the posts in this thread I wouldn't bother. However, if you can get past that it seems that most people like it. Not everyone though. It is a game that's worth trying to see if you like it, though.
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Thanks for the heads up. I think I'll have to give it a shot sooner or later. It'll be one of those things nagging at me forever if I don't.

B.K. said:
I haven't even played Persona 4. I played Persona 3 for five or six hours and couldn't take any more of it. I didn't even bother with 4, since it looked to be more of the same. I really hate what Persona has become. I have no desire to play 3 or 4.
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What did it used to be and what has it become?
 
Dark Octave said:
What did it used to be and what has it become?
Click to expand...

Persona used to be like the Shin Megami Tensei series it came from(Which also still exists). Cities flooded with demons, it basically played like a normal dungeon crawler with persona fusion mechanics with combat and story to break up the time in between. In 3 and 4 it drastically changed to something more hybrid. The story was no longer about demons being absolutely everywhere. It still had a persona fusion system, but the mechanics behind it became different. You needed to actually engage in the story and side stories to become more powerful. A time system was added. It became a completely different game.

Not necessarily a bad thing, but there you go.
 
The demon gameplay is fun. No denying that. If you like monster collecting games then a person would like this too.

The rest of the game is a bit meh to me and I guess for me that's just an SMT thing, but that demon collecting and fusion is good stuff. Quite addictive in a way, especially just to get the Angels and Horsemen.

Edit: I say "meh" but I still spent over 80 hours just to finish it so... yeah. Not a "OMG BEST RPG EVER" game for me though.
 
todd360 said:
cmon someone else say a few words about the swagtagonist.
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Sure!

36r8J.jpg
 
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