Topic: Persona 5

@KratosMD The stats being faster and precious experience must have been it. I could count the number of extra days I had to spend in palaces due to running out of resources on one hand most likely. I almost always only left for story reasons and grinded first.

@KratosMD Very interesting and well thought out remarks about the game. Glad you enjoyed it. It does motivate me to get back to it someday and finish it when I get the time.
So you would rank it as your #1 PS4 game?

@KratosMD Alright, how about this one then — Persona 5 or Breath of the Wild? You can only have one, which would it be?

@KratosMD Awesome read. I'm glad you liked it so much, and like me, consider to be the best PS4 game there is. It's been a lot of fun reading your thoughts on the game as you go through, so I'm almost a little sad it's over lol. And yes, I'd buy on P5: Velvet edition or whatnot in a heartbeat. The suggestions you had for it are excellent.

@KratosMD Really glad you enjoyed it so much and also that it has helped you these past few weeks.

Persona 5 is outstanding and certainly my favourite game on the PS4. I would like to replay it but don't know whether to wait given Atlus' tendency to release enhanced versions. We might still be a few years out as it took a long time between the original 4 and Golden.

The story is so good and on the whole I found it better than 4. The focus is certainly different as 4 is much more about the characters' friendship. I particularly liked how 5's story relates so much to real world issues and some of the problems with modern society, which really resonated with me. I don't know how much you know about British politics, but we were going through a particularly nasty General Election as I was in the final stages of the game. The game's twists and turns were gery well done. One I saw coming a mile off Akechi being villainous, but not the reasons why, but that late game twist with Igor was really well done. I thought it was strange that he had a new and very different voice!.

Love the main characters in this. I didn't warm to them as immediately as I did in 4, so it was a bit of a slow burner. My favourite was Makoto as you know! One character that really grew on me was Sojiro, and I liked how it all related back to the main story. Sae was great in this regard too. The social links were a highlight as usual for me. I don't remember enough specific details as it's now been a while since I played it, but I do remember needing to go to momentos getting annoying after a while! I can certainly understand your other criticism about the friends going on trips, but I did appreciate the greater focus on the central narrative this time and how tight it was. 4 did have such a great buddy vibe though.

Love the presentation and music. I've just ordered the soundtrack CD from Japan, so hopefully that will be here in a few weeks.

@KratosMD You're welcome, glad my tips were useful. Well done for maxing out the confidants, that's really impressive on your first playthrough! Agreed on Caroline and Justine. It's a little odd how something that is so strongly related to a major plot point is completely optional.

@KratosMD Hifumi is actually one of my favorite confidants, to the point I mildly regret romancing her in my NG+. However, she probably would have been redundant as part of the group, because her role as a strategist is already taken by Makoto.

Haru in my opinion didn't get enough time to develop more as a character. She was introduced pretty late in the game, and despite the development she does get, it's clear she doesn't grow as much as the rest of the cast.

@KratosMD I can see that. If you wanna draw parallels though, Haru is similar to Mitsuru from P3. Rich, classy and formal, Empress arcana, having their dads die, part of antagonistic conglomerates. The main differences is that Haru is less aloof and her battle style is less graceful than Mitsuru. That's probably why I liked her despite the wasted potential of her character. Which is also weird, because I'm supremely iffy of characters taking after other characters unless it's for storytelling reasons.

@KratosMD I wouldn't mind Hifumi as a party member, though her role as a confident did make a lot of sense. I also hope they use those months at the end of the game. Honestly, there are so many days that could end less early on just not pass by without you doing anything. Weekends and summer could give you another slot of time. that actually frustrated me with summer, that you had the same amount of time you did with school in session. It felt like less instead of more honestly.
I also want to see all dialogue (excluding texts) voiced, graphics that weren't meant for the PS3 (it's a gorgeous game, but the areas in the world could look better), more party events, and more dates for romances. I was disappointed that Kawakami only had like two social events/dates aside from her confident events as far as I could tell.
I also want to see dialogue options do more. I don't mean Mass Effect, I just want the conversation to react more and less times where they say the same thing back regardless. It would help you be more immersed as the main character and feel like they're truly your friends. I also would like to know when it'll affect what the person thinks of me so I know when I can respond freely without worry.

I wasnt the biggest P5 fan at the time, however looking back it was a great experience. I really felt in an anime. Possibly the only game I have felt that other than South Park last gen.

I think the starting characters are pretty boring though and coming shortly from P4 which I absolutely loved was a bit disappointing.

@themcnoisy Was Ryuji not your total bro by the end? I felt like some of the characters were okay at first, but they grew on me until they felt real by the end.

@KratosMD One day I will play P4 for sure, but to me it all felt right with the balance of seriousness/funny. To me I felt like it was deep with his social link too. It all felt rather reminiscent of real life with the tone too and seriousness too, they were laughing when something too serious wasn’t the subject, and it felt right. I also don’t mind him calling you leader because I felt equal on any ground outside of phantom thief business, which being the leader in general always throws a small hitch in, but appropriately so. And then I’m not sure I’d say I felt superior in a sense either. Maybe just smarter, but that’s separate.
Of course I can’t speak fully since I haven’t played P4 yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me if I sill liked P5 more.

@KratosMD It also probably helps that P5 was my first game then. Because you had different expectations, it was a little jarring for you, but for me, P5 set the expectations I will have for the series. I expect something serious that will tackle hard thems in life and have me really bond with the cast. I expect funny moments too, because P5 is far from all seriousness, but it set the balance I’ll think when I think of Persona. I think when you have a series like this, the first one you play has a big effect on which one will be your favorite.

@Jaz007 " I think when you have a series like this, the first one you play has a big effect on which one will be your favorite."

Absolutely this. In fact if you jumped to P4 after P5 you would be disappointed for other reasons graphics, dungeons etc.

P4 was so funny at times though, like laugh out loud funny. @KratosMD mentioned 18 months ago that it was like being good friends with the team, and that's exactly how it is. I felt part of the group. Wherever that was through better writing or more likeable characters I don't know. I look back on P4 and remember most of the characters and how I felt about them. In P5 I preferred the peripheral characters all in all.

Either way its like comparing a Focus ST to a Golf GT TDI. The are both great. (first analogy that came into my head as I've got a Golf courtesy car until Saturday when I get my car back / it's in service)

I really must get back in to this game but every time I load it back up, i'm still stuck on what to do next. I can't exactly remember what I was told to do next but it was something like 'Share your success somewhere' and I can't for the life of me find out what that means. I'll try again later...

@Throb I’m the same. I abandoned the game partway through and have trouble getting back into it. I actually stopped in the middle of a palace, the 3rd one I think. I fully intend to finish the game, but you know what they say about good intentions...
But in relation to the discussion about P4 vs P5, I actually played P4G in a similar way as I’ve played P5 — that is, I spread it out over a couple years. In fact, looking at my trophies, the time lapse from my first trophy to my last in P4G is a span of 3.5 years. So when I look and see that my first trophy for P5 was 1.5 years ago, then I suppose I’m not too far off, but it does feel slightly like P5 is a little harder to “get into” and be engaged with as compared to its older sibling P4G. I can’t say I like the cast any less, but I’d probably end up with a list similar to @KratosMD ‘s where it’s a split of some characters are better from P4 and some are better from P5. The protagonist is better in P4, so that might be why it seems like the whole cast is better.
There’s no question that P5 is a more polished overall product, simply comparing a game running on Vita specs vs. PS4 hardware. But even technological advances aside, the art design of P5 is superior. You’d be hard pressed to find a more flashy and brilliant presentation for a game of any genre in any generation. P5 visually just impressed in a way that few games do.

As a follow up (and I apologize for the long winded post), I was able to find a physical copy of Persona 4 Dancing All Night and I grabbed it the other day. I had told myself not to buy any games due to the large backlog I am encumbered with, but I don’t listen to myself very well, apparently. I told myself that the game is pretty hard to find in physical cartridge form and with the impending death of the Vita, the rarity will just go up. And it was only $20. If I hate it, I’m pretty sure I can recoup most of that investment back when I resell it, given it’s rarity.

(As a funny side note, Vita games are becoming so scarce at retail and many GameStops are just taking down the already small Vita shelf space, and if there is a Vita section, it is often just one short shelf collection of about 10 sad lonely games. Well, the funny part was when I went to this particular store, I asked the worker where the Vita section was and he said, “Oh, just a second...” and he went into the back and literally came back with a shoebox of about 15 games and he said, “Here it is.”
A shoebox. 😂 It just struck me as funny because this was a really nice GameStop with all the fancy displays, not one of those back alley local mom-and-pop stores. And yet it felt like I was making a black market exchange for some kind of illegal contraband. The whole feeling of prohibition was further enhanced by the fact that in the box was one of the last remaining copies of P4DAN out in the wild, so I decided I better nab it. Probably the fact that they kept the Vita games in a shoebox in the back helped my cause, since few people would have seen the game unless they specifically asked for it.)

Anyways...again, sorry for the long boring post. 😛

I don’t know...the cheery/silly-ness is what turned me off P4.
It was particularly disappointing as I had just come of P3- which remains my favourite cast/story to date.
It’s good...but it felt very cookie cutter JRPG to me.
I hope the Persona team keeps exploring ‘dark’ themes.

Having said that, I enjoyed the story in P4 Dancing All Night.

@KratosMD I do the harem approach in my Persona games, so hard for me to say, but I did like Rise probably better than any of the P5 options so far (again, I’m less than halfway through it though so I haven’t met some of the characters yet) maybe because of her pop star status it felt more like a privileged to be able to romance her 😅. Of course Ann is a model, so has a similar celebrity status but clearly not as much as Rise. Chie was a neat romance too because her being more of a outspoken Tom-boy and into Kung-Fu and all, but then as you get closer to her she has that real sweet feminine side to her which was satisfying to bring out.
I just like to see all the deeper character arcs so I just romance everyone. 😂. Apparently I’ll pay for it when I get to Valentines Day in P5.

@KratosMD Honestly, Persona 4 was an oddball in the series. Most of the Persona games have had serious themes and analysis, and it's parent series Shin Megami Tensei, is far from happy and cheery. Not saying P4 isn't serious (It definitely was at times), but taking P4's central themes (truth) and comparing them to 3 & 5 (death and rebellion, respectively), and it's literally day and night. Nothing wrong with preferring P4, but I feel comparing the other titles to it so much is just going to leave you disappointed, since P4 was the different one out of the whole lineup.

@DerMeister 'I feel comparing the other titles to it so much is just going to leave you disappointed, since P4 was the different one out of the whole lineup.'

Now I feel depressed. Tbh Im glad I had the chance to play and enjoy both 4 and 5.

@Th3solution @KratosMD Chie was my girlfriend in P4G. Low maintenance and into Martial Arts. Win win.