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[SPOILERS] Persona 5 Spoiler Thread | Steal your heart; steel yourself

They should rewrite Akechi in Crimson. Make him less terrible pls. As soon as he mentioned his reasons for siding with Shido and also his past "I WAS A CURSED CHILD" he went straight to shit. You know a character is bad when his stupid faces his only redeeming qualities are.
 
They should rewrite Akechi in Crimson. Make him less terrible pls. As soon as he mentioned his reasons for siding with Shido and also his past "I WAS A CURSED CHILD" he went straight to shit. You know a character is bad when his stupid faces his only redeeming qualities are.

I wish they didn't do the whole cliche where his face becomes all unambiguously evil to the point where he looked rather stupid.
 
I lost it at cognition Goro's crazy face.

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Lmao

---

But really, dude would've been a lot more intimidating if he kept his calm composure as he talks about how he betrayed you. At the very least, don't distort your face to look like a man that hasn't slept in 3 days. I dislike Akechi so much lol
 
Akechi's BS reasons made me hate him more. "Oh, so you had a good reason to commit several murders and yet you were still duped by an adult. Yeah. Sure. Get outta here, loser."
 
Every Persona traitor, once exposed, must always wear their evil face. It's tradition at this point. lol

One thing that bugged me with Goro was that I thought he raised interesting moral questions about the Phantom Thieves at first. Should a random, anonymous group really be allowed to go around changing people's hearts, enforcing their vigilante justice on the world, even if it is for a noble cause that helps people? Do the ends justify the means? As a player, you can't help but feel that it does, but there's definitely an argument to be made against them and Goro filled that gap. Once he reveals himself to be just another psychotic killer, it throws those ideas out the window and allows the Phantom Thieves to fully be the superheroes of their story, removing one of the few characters who might've challenged them to question their actions.
 
Something that has been bothering me regarding all Persona games I've played (since P3). What significance do the blue butterflies have? They're always there, but only during pivotal story moments. Obviously, they have some link to the Velvet Room (another Persona mystery--I'm guessing they are inter-dimensional beings that care for humanity for some reason).
 
They should rewrite Akechi in Crimson. Make him less terrible pls. As soon as he mentioned his reasons for siding with Shido and also his past "I WAS A CURSED CHILD" he went straight to shit. You know a character is bad when his stupid faces his only redeeming qualities are.

You reminded me of the scene where Akechi and Shido talk to each other but not really. It's like an exposition dump for the audience masquerading as a conversation. That was rough.

"And then I did this to get you to do this because it helped further our goals, which are these..."
"Aha, that was perfect because I also needed you for this, which serves my own motivations!"

In a 100 hour game, I expect a little better handling of that stuff than a quick scene with some pretty terrible writing.
 
You reminded me of the scene where Akechi and Shido talk to each other but not really. It's like an exposition dump for the audience masquerading as a conversation. That was rough.

"And then I did this to get you to do this."
"Aha, that was perfect because I needed you for this."

In a 100 hour game, I expect a little better handling of that stuff than a quick scene with some pretty terrible writing.

The pacing went to shit shortly after getting Haru. If you count her late introduction however, it went to shit even earlier.
 
Something that has been bothering me regarding all Persona games I've played (since P3). What significance do the blue butterflies have? They're always there, but only during pivotal story moments. Obviously, they have some link to the Velvet Room (another Persona mystery--I'm guessing they are inter-dimensional beings that care for humanity for some reason).

They are symbols for Philemon, a major character in P1 and both P2 games. He doesn't physically appear after P2EP in the games, but Soejima wanted a way to keep his legacy alive in the modern games and chose the butterflies for that reason.
 
Something that has been bothering me regarding all Persona games I've played (since P3). What significance do the blue butterflies have? They're always there, but only during pivotal story moments. Obviously, they have some link to the Velvet Room (another Persona mystery--I'm guessing they are inter-dimensional beings that care for humanity for some reason).

P3-4=Philemon. P5=Lavenza.
 
Ahh... thanks. That was always confusing. So it's essentially the mechanism to awake the power of the wild card in the ones with the potential.
 
You reminded me of the scene where Akechi and Shido talk to each other but not really. It's like an exposition dump for the audience masquerading as a conversation. That was rough.

"And then I did this to get you to do this because it helped further our goals, which are this."
"Aha, that was perfect because I needed you also needed you for this, which serves my own motivations!"

In a 100 hour game, I expect a little better handling of that stuff than a quick scene with some pretty terrible writing.

That scene cracked me up more than anything. It was basically two villains reminiscing and jerking off together over their villainous deeds.
 
You reminded me of the scene where Akechi and Shido talk to each other but not really. It's like an exposition dump for the audience masquerading as a conversation. That was rough.

"And then I did this to get you to do this because it helped further our goals, which are this."
"Aha, that was perfect because I needed you also needed you for this, which serves my own motivations!"

In a 100 hour game, I expect a little better handling of that stuff than a quick scene with some pretty terrible writing.

i will probably forever remember this as the single worst scene in the whole game tbh
 
This probably won't find much sympathy here but I think Persona 5 is actually really kind of bad. Sure the gameplay and style is all fine, but it's like there isn't any humanity in it. It's all just so formulaic, as in 'this is what anime does, so here you go'.

I was pretty excited for this game entirely due to Persona 4 and a few of the characters and moments in that game connecting with me. It all felt pretty genuine even if it had some elements I disliked, and the emotional high points of the story felt earned and satisfying.

In Persona 5 though it all just came across as hackneyed and almost mechanical. I'm not normally an anime fan so I was just taking it on its own merits for a long period, gradually wondering why the story was so predictable, why the characters all seemed cookie cutter, and it began to dawn on me that oh yeah, this is an anime game. That's why. You can date Futaba because this is an anime game, even though it clashes with the family setup (or because it does - anime does incest things sometimes). Akechi is the way he is because this is an anime. Etc. There isn't really any element of the story that I think positively of, except possibly Sojiro's development throughout the year as Futaba comes into it and he begins to think of you as family.

I still haven't seen the very end of the game - I last left it having just arrived at the depths of Mementos, but overall I'm really disappointed with the game because the story it tells is very poorly written (or translated, whatever) and it feels like a product aiming for a demographic rather than something with actual feeling put into it.
 
I'm not crazy about Persona 5's story and such either. But man, even though I at times know what people mean when they say something "is so anime" or whatever, I really dislike it. It is truly a lazy way to describe something you don't like. It's a medium, blah blah blah, I'm tired of repeating this lol

It's just a reductive phrase/description that just takes away from the argument and/or criticism being made. Like I just messed around and removed all mentions of the word "anime" from your post, and it comes off a lot better lol
 
Every Persona traitor, once exposed, must always wear their evil face. It's tradition at this point. lol

One thing that bugged me with Goro was that I thought he raised interesting moral questions about the Phantom Thieves at first. Should a random, anonymous group really be allowed to go around changing people's hearts, enforcing their vigilante justice on the world, even if it is for a noble cause that helps people? Do the ends justify the means? As a player, you can't help but feel that it does, but there's definitely an argument to be made against them and Goro filled that gap. Once he reveals himself to be just another psychotic killer, it throws those ideas out the window and allows the Phantom Thieves to fully be the superheroes of their story, removing one of the few characters who might've challenged them to question their actions.

I actually didn't see it that way. As you mentioned, Akechi raised a lot of good points about the morally gray areas of stealing hearts, and members of your own team also struggled with them after they were raised (especially Makoto). Even though Akechi was hypocritical, his points were still relevant. The team decides to destroy Mementos in the end, effectively ending their ability to act as Phantom Thieves. The MC does have to endure some consequences for their actions, and there is handoff of justice from the Phantom Thieves to Sae (and society in general).

Throughout the game the team struggled with their reasons for doing what they were doing. Was it to change society? Was it for fame and recognition? Was it for self-validation? Were they really acting justly? What are the unintended side-effects of their actions? I think the game does a good job at allowing the characters to come up with their own answers to those questions throughout their journey.
 
Yeah this game definitely has the weakest story. It's very straightforward and formulaic like you say. I enjoyed October because things actually changed a little. It wasn't just gonna be the same old "guy confesses and gets arrested" and I was so excited for it. August was awesome too. But really, P4 was formulaic too. Shit doesn't get real in P4 until Nanako is abducted. And yeah, idk what "its anime" even mean. Like, the tropes? And I still say there's no brother sister thing going on with the MC and Futaba. Just because they live with her dad doesn't mean they can't fuck.
 
This probably won't find much sympathy here but I think Persona 5 is actually really kind of bad. Sure the gameplay and style is all fine, but it's like there isn't any humanity in it. It's all just so formulaic, as in 'this is what anime does, so here you go'.

I was pretty excited for this game entirely due to Persona 4 and a few of the characters and moments in that game connecting with me. It all felt pretty genuine even if it had some elements I disliked, and the emotional high points of the story felt earned and satisfying.

In Persona 5 though it all just came across as hackneyed and almost mechanical. I'm not normally an anime fan so I was just taking it on its own merits for a long period, gradually wondering why the story was so predictable, why the characters all seemed cookie cutter, and it began to dawn on me that oh yeah, this is an anime game. That's why. You can date Futaba because this is an anime game, even though it clashes with the family setup (or because it does - anime does incest things sometimes). Akechi is the way he is because this is an anime. Etc. There isn't really any element of the story that I think positively of, except possibly Sojiro's development throughout the year as Futaba comes into it and he begins to think of you as family.

I still haven't seen the very end of the game - I last left it having just arrived at the depths of Mementos, but overall I'm really disappointed with the game because the story it tells is very poorly written (or translated, whatever) and it feels like a product aiming for a demographic rather than something with actual feeling put into it.

Your incredibly nebulous criticisms aside, this a weird stance to take considering Persona 4 is considerably more anime than Persona 5 was. But I digress, everyone has a different take away from things they experience.

I don't think you could ever get away with calling Persona 5 a really bad game, though. It's gameplay is miles ahead of P3/P4 on pretty much all front. If anything, Persona 4 was a unimpressive game on the gameplay front, purely carried by it's setting and wonderful cast of characters.

EDIT: Also P-studio busted their asses off making this game. I don't think you could seriously make the argument that P5 was just another product that they wanted to release.
 
Eh, I thought this game had by far the strongest story out of the modern Persona games. It isn't perfect, but its miles above P4 for me.
 
I'm not crazy about Persona 5's story and such either. But man, even though I at times know what people mean when they say something "is so anime" or whatever, I really dislike it. It is truly a lazy way to describe something you don't like. It's a medium, blah blah blah, I'm tired of repeating this lol

It's just a reductive phrase/description that just takes away from the argument and/or criticism being made. Like I just messed around and removed all mentions of the word "anime" from your post, and it comes off a lot better lol

I guess it is a little lazy, maybe? Except I've never expressed on opinion on anime before, but I guess you wouldn't know that and people do just throw it out as a label. I think what I mean to say is, I remembered why anime has a bad reputation amongst a lot of people while I was playing this. It's part of why it feels formulaic, because I know various elements of the story exists mainly because this is the way this genre tends to do it, not because it fits.

Like, why can you date Futaba? She's an emotionally damaged sibling-substitute. It's just weird. What makes Akechi an 'ace detective of justice'? What even the hell is that? He's a teenager, it makes no sense. Why is every single character utterly terrified of intimacy beyond holding hands? Kawakami, full stop, why? Why is Kamoshida, a serial rapist of high school kids, never directly accused of this? And then all the subsequent villains treated like they are just as reprehensible when they're really not? Why does the plot get explained over and over but the story never gets any deeper?

Ah, it's been driving me nuts. All this kind of stuff. It's really hard to point to a root cause beyond my suspicion that it's just a game made to a specific formula for a pre-existing audience who considers these flaws to be features, I guess.#

I dunno, people. Went in fully expecting to enjoy this alot and just gradually liked it less and less.
 
I actually didn't see it that way. As you mentioned, Akechi raised a lot of good points about the morally gray areas of stealing hearts, and members of your own team also struggled with them after they were raised (especially Makoto). Even though Akechi was hypocritical, his points were still relevant. The team decides to destroy Mementos in the end, effectively ending their ability to act as Phantom Thieves. The MC does have to endure some consequences for their actions, and there is handoff of justice from the Phantom Thieves to Sae (and society in general).

Throughout the game the team struggled with their reasons for doing what they were doing. Was it to change society? Was it for fame and recognition? Was it for self-validation? Were they really acting justly? What are the unintended side-effects of their actions? I think the game does a good job at allowing the characters to come up with their own answers to those questions throughout their journey.

Yeah that's true. I know it's something they have doubts about, like when the group was hesitant to take down Okumura, and they do ultimately decide to "leave things to the adults." I guess I just would've preferred it if Goro actually did have a strict sense of justice, because I feel like it would've made a potential clash between him and the group more interesting. Like, I expected him to turn on the group to try to get them arrested, but for a moment I thought it would be because he genuinely felt he was doing the right thing and refused to cut them any slack. Then he tried to take out Joker execution style and I realized that wasn't the direction they were going with him. lol
 
I guess it is a little lazy, maybe? Except I've never expressed on opinion on anime before, but I guess you wouldn't know that and people do just throw it out as a label. I think what I mean to say is, I remembered why anime has a bad reputation amongst a lot of people while I was playing this. It's part of why it feels formulaic, because I know various elements of the story exists mainly because this is the way this genre tends to do it, not because it fits.

Like, why can you date Futaba? She's an emotionally damaged sibling-substitute. It's just weird. What makes Akechi an 'ace detective of justice'? What even the hell is that? He's a teenager, it makes no sense. Why is every single character utterly terrified of intimacy beyond holding hands? Kawakami, full stop, why? Why is Kamoshida, a serial rapist of high school kids, never directly accused of this? And then all the subsequent villains treated like they are just as reprehensible when they're really not? Why does the plot get explained over and over but the story never gets any deeper?

Ah, it's been driving me nuts. All this kind of stuff. It's really hard to point to a root cause beyond my suspicion that it's just a game made to a specific formula for a pre-existing audience who considers these flaws to be features, I guess.#

I dunno, people. Went in fully expecting to enjoy this alot and just gradually liked it less and less.

Futaba develops a crush on you during her Social Link so I guess she doesn't see herself as a sibling. During Akechi and Shido's dick waving contest I believe it's explained that Akechi took credit for a lot of cases he only solved because he's the one who did the crime. It's not very well done though. He's just a phony progidy. People being afraid of intimacy? That I believe is more cultural than it is anime. But it could be anime. Kawakami? Meh. Teachers fuck students plenty. Everyone ignores Kamoshida's devious shit because they were more concerned with the school's reputation and the students getting ahead in life.
 
I guess it is a little lazy, maybe? Except I've never expressed on opinion on anime before, but I guess you wouldn't know that and people do just throw it out as a label. I think what I mean to say is, I remembered why anime has a bad reputation amongst a lot of people while I was playing this. It's part of why it feels formulaic, because I know various elements of the story exists mainly because this is the way this genre tends to do it, not because it fits.

Like, why can you date Futaba? She's an emotionally damaged sibling-substitute. It's just weird. What makes Akechi an 'ace detective of justice'? What even the hell is that? He's a teenager, it makes no sense. Why is every single character utterly terrified of intimacy beyond holding hands? Kawakami, full stop, why? Why is Kamoshida, a serial rapist of high school kids, never directly accused of this? And then all the subsequent villains treated like they are just as reprehensible when they're really not? Why does the plot get explained over and over but the story never gets any deeper?

Ah, it's been driving me nuts. All this kind of stuff. It's really hard to point to a root cause beyond my suspicion that it's just a game made to a specific formula for a pre-existing audience who considers these flaws to be features, I guess.#

I dunno, people. Went in fully expecting to enjoy this alot and just gradually liked it less and less.

You aren't wrong about some of the things you brought up, but I think you're giving Persona 4 a complete pass despite also sharing some of the same flaws that Persona 5 had. Consider the following:

  • Why is a 15 year old an ace detective? Why can she own a gun?
  • Why does the culprit complain whenever the protagonists save someone from being thrown in the TV? This is blatant plot hole.
  • What's up with the various instances of Yosuke perving on the girls? What happened to the previous arcs?
  • Hanako is a giant fat joke, and the game is needlessly cruel to her and Kashiwagi. And King Moron. The game generally treats ugly people with absolute scorn.
  • Why does the game set up a
    death of a child and then immediately go back on it, with absolutely 0 explanation.
  • P4 is too protagonist centric. Nothing of note happens with him (you), and the game never switches perspectives.
  • Why didn't Yu just stick a hand into the TV and show Dojima instead of trying to explain the TV world. Why are adults useless?
  • Why does Naoto needlessly exposit literally everything to the player? She kills the original scoobydoo dynamic by taking over the investigation.
  • The story is incredible repetitive. Save Kanji, go home, and oh wait Rise got thrown in. Rinse and repeat. There's barely any variance, with Mitsuou's arc being marred by how dumb the protagonists are.
  • Why does a mystery game have the player figure everything out at the very end, instead of gathering clues throughout.
Some of your criticisms have explanations too. Goro is an ace detective because he solves his own crimes, Kamoshida wasn't a serial rapist, physical intimacy in Japan is incredibly rare (and something P5 has over P4 like kissing), and the subsequent villains are absolutely reprehensible. The disparity in quality between both games isn't that big. Persona games have always lived and died on their characters and setting, with story almost always being flawed.

EDIT: And I say this as someone who's incredibly fond of both games.
 
I mean you aren't wrong about some of the things you bring up, but I think you're giving Persona 4 a complete pass despite also sharing some of the same flaws that Persona 5 had.

  • Why is a 15 year old an ace detective? Why can she own a gun?
  • Why does the culprit complain whenever the protagonists save someone from being thrown in the TV? This is blatant plot hole.
  • What's up the various instances of Yosuke perving on the girls? What happened to the previous arcs?
  • Hanako is a giant fat joke, and the game is needlessly cruel to her and Kashiwagi.
  • Why does the game set up a
    death of a child and then immediately go back on it, with absolutely 0 explanation.
  • Why didn't Yu just stick a hand into the TV and show Dojima instead of trying to explain the TV world. Why are adults useless?
  • Why does Naoto needlessly exposit literally everything to the player?
  • The story is incredible repetitive. Save Kanji, go home, and oh wait Rise got thrown in. Rinse and repeat.
  • Why does a mystery game have the player figure everything out at the very end, instead of gathering clues throughout.

Some of your criticisms have explanations too. Goro is an ace detective because he solves his own crimes, Kamoshida wasn't a serial rapist, physical intimacy in Japan is incredibly rare (and something P5 has over P4 like kissing), and the subsequent villains are absolute reprehensible. The disparity in quality between both games isn't that big. Persona games have always lived and died on their characters and setting, with story almost always being flawed.

You're right about Persona 4, I did give it a pass on a lot of the stuff you mentioned which is because I liked enough of the characters (Kanji, Chie, Dojima) that it didn't matter as much. In this one, with the translation being as rough as it is, and the characters not seeming as human to me, all of the flaws stood out way more.

Some stuff that was in Persona 4, like Naoto (who I basically ignore in my recollection of the game) and her ace detective stuff was a fairly small part of the story. Akechi's ace detective stuff is prominent throughout almost this entire game. So it's a matter of what was focused on, even if the two games share a lot of the same story elements.

As far as some of the non-comparison stuff - eh, Kamoshida only isn't explicitly a rapist because the game isn't explicit enough about exactly what he has been doing. They beat around the bush, just saying he abused the male students physically and the female students sexually. It's pretty clear what his trangressions are supposed to be, but the fact the game never really lays the line down is part of the problem with him. The villains are all out of proportion - like sure Madarame at the very end says he watched Yusuke's mother die (which is still not the same as murdering her or anything) but for most of that whole arc it really is just 'oh my god he's a plagiarist!' and I was thinking 'do these writers think this is on the same level as sexually abusing high school kids?'. Just a lot of disconnect like this. The whole thrust is supposed to be that adults are corrupt, I suppose, but it treats every kind of misbehaviour by adults as equivalent and coming from the same source. It's juvenile - and I feel like I just hit on the problem. The whole thing is juvenile.

But yeah in the end I guess it does come down to characters and setting. In Persona 4 those elements fit together in such a way that I felt sympathy for the characters despite the formula, while in Persona 5 I just wasn't able to see past it and have ended up feeling like I wasted my time giving this game the patience it asked for.
 
I'm pretty sure Kamoshida only raped Shiho and it was that one time so by definition he's not a serial rapist. Madarame also abused his pupils. Kaneshiro is a straight up gangster so you know he's committed tons of crimes outside of the stuff he did in the game. Okumura I don't remember much.
 
You're right about Persona 4, I did give it a pass on a lot of the stuff you mentioned which is because I liked enough of the characters (Kanji, Chie, Dojima) that it didn't matter as much. In this one, with the translation being as rough as it is, and the characters not seeming as human to me, all of the flaws were less easy to overlook.

I think even with the rough translation, Persona 5's characters are more grounded and better written than Persona 4's. Of course, that obviously doesn't translate to more "likeable", but I digress.

Some stuff that was in Persona 4, like Naoto (who I basically ignore in my recollection of the game) and her ace detective stuff was a fairly small part of the story. Akechi's ace detective stuff is prominent throughout almost this entire game. So it's a matter of what was focused on, even if the two games share a lot of the same story elements.

I wouldn't call it a fairly small portion at all. Her impact on the game is pretty significant (causing Dojima to get outright replaced by her in the investigation). She takes over investigating the latter half of the game, and is able to move the case forward on her own (even if you have to deduce in the end).

As far as some of the non-comparison stuff - eh, Kamoshida only isn't explicitly a rapist because the game isn't explicit enough about exactly what he has been doing. They beat around the bush, just saying he abused the male students physically and the female students sexually. It's pretty clear what his trangressions are supposed to be, but the fact the game never really lays the line down is part of the problem with him. The villains are all out of proportion - like sure Madarame at the very end says he watched Yusuke's mother die (which is still not the same as murdering her or anything) but for most of that whole arc it really is just 'oh my god he's a plagiarist!' and I was thinking 'do these writers think this is on the same level as sexually abusing high school kids?'. Just a lot of disconnect like this. The whole thrust is supposed to be that adults are corrupt, I suppose, but it treats every kind of misbehaviour by adults as equivalent and coming from the same source. It's juvenile - and I feel like I just hit on the problem. The whole thing is juvenile.

The game is explicit enough, though, and "serial rapist" is a completely incorrect read on him. Kamoshida abuses his position as a gym teacher. He physically abuses his male students and molests, harasses and hist female students. He doesn't literally go around raping girls, but his flagrant indulgence in his fucked up desires went ignored by teachers around him, likely because in Japan, you're not supposed to speak up about your problems as a student. He confesses to all of his crimes in the end, and while I agree they probably should have gone harder than "sexual harassment", it's still an umbrella term that covers sexual abuse as well. As for Madarame... he's more than just a plagiarist, he's abusive and uses "taking care of someone" as justification for mistreating and taking credit for their work. It's pretty fucked up.

EDIT: I also don't think the game treats ever misbehavior as equivalent (though I'd argue that Kaneshiro is absolutely worse than Madarame or Kamoshida), but rather, shines a spotlight on issues that outright exist in Japan (and pretty much the entire world). The execution is definitely overt, but the game is still the only Japanese game with the guts to actually shine a spotlight on real world issues.

But yeah in the end I guess it does come down to characters and setting. In Persona 4 those elements fit together in such a way that I felt sympathy for the characters even despite the formula, while in Persona 5 I just wasn't able to see past it and ended up feeling like I wasted my time giving this game the patience it asked for.

I think it might also come down to expectations too. Nobody (myself included) expected Persona 4 to be so damn good when they first played it. I can list its flaws for pages and pages, but it really doesn't matter because the act of playing Persona 4 was so damn satisfying for me. Persona 5 was satisfying in a different way, since the improvement to gameplay and noticeably different approach made it a different experience from Persona 4.
 
I'm pretty sure Kamoshida only raped Shiho and it was that one time so by definition he's not a serial rapist. Madarame also abused his pupils. Kaneshiro is a straight up gangster so you know he's committed tons of crimes outside of the stuff he did in the game. Okumura I don't remember much.
Considering his attempts to blackmail Ann into sex, its very much possible she wasnt the first

NG+ im currently at the Akechi scene on the ship. This remains the absolute worst scene
 
Eh, I thought this game had by far the strongest story out of the modern Persona games. It isn't perfect, but its miles above P4 for me.

+1

I think Persona 4's strength is in its characters, not in the story itself. I think a lot of the strong story moments are because of how good the characters are.
Nanako
being a big example of this.
 
Yeah that's true. I know it's something they have doubts about, like when the group was hesitant to take down Okumura, and they do ultimately decide to "leave things to the adults." I guess I just would've preferred it if Goro actually did have a strict sense of justice, because I feel like it would've made a potential clash between him and the group more interesting. Like, I expected him to turn on the group to try to get them arrested, but for a moment I thought it would be because he genuinely felt he was doing the right thing and refused to cut them any slack. Then he tried to take out Joker execution style and I realized that wasn't the direction they were going with him. lol

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed with the way Akechi's character arc ended, especially because I actually thought he was a pretty great character before that. I didn't really have a problem with his actions in and of themselves so much as just the writing around them. Akechi was operating under his own warped sense of justice because he was dealt a shitty hand by both his father and society and he just wanted to piss all over them. He's also meant to be juxtaposed with the MC, as an example of what happens when two people are given the same powers, but under different circumstances. I think the general trajectory of his character works with the game's themes and everything, but they really needed to give that side of his characterization more room to breathe. All of that was pretty much delivered in one rant with the melodrama turned up to 11, and then he promptly disappeared from the game.

When I was playing the game, I was actually 100% expecting an Akechi palace. I think his character would have been better off if he was actually able to "win" and trigger a mental shutdown in his father after the election. Then you would try to change his heart in a palace, allowing more room for the other side of his character to grow. Basically replacing the Shido palace with an Akechi palace. Obviously this would have required a bunch of other things to play out differently in the end, so who knows if it actually would have worked, but it was where I thought it was going at least.
 
I
I think it might also come down to expectations too. Nobody (myself included) expected Persona 4 to be so damn good when they first played it. I can list its flaws for pages and pages, but it really doesn't matter because the act of playing Persona 4 was so damn satisfying for me.

As far as your other points, I don't agree for the most part but I'll leave those because I've said what I had to say - but this part, yeah I think that's true. I had a passing interest in Persona 4 that grew over the time I played it and by the end I was like 'man, if they fix this, this and this, the next game in this series could be really great'.

I expected Persona 5 to be an improvement, and I guess it had to be for me, and in pretty much every way that matters to me (and UI design and battle system improvements don't, really), it's worse than I remember Persona 4 being, and not good enough to make me want to play the next Persona game unless it is significantly different in terms of story content. I don't expect it will be, though.
 
ugggh...Futaba telling Akechi "it doesnt matter when you start over", like seriously, fuck this guy. Futaba and Haru especially shouldnt be offering him a second chance. I mean for fucks sake, he fully admits that he wasnt really working for Shido, he was doing all this shit of his own accord just for "Goro Akechi-kun's Revenge". Every death is more his fault than Shido's
 
You're right about Persona 4, I did give it a pass on a lot of the stuff you mentioned which is because I liked enough of the characters (Kanji, Chie, Dojima) that it didn't matter as much. In this one, with the translation being as rough as it is, and the characters not seeming as human to me, all of the flaws stood out way more.

Some stuff that was in Persona 4, like Naoto (who I basically ignore in my recollection of the game) and her ace detective stuff was a fairly small part of the story. Akechi's ace detective stuff is prominent throughout almost this entire game. So it's a matter of what was focused on, even if the two games share a lot of the same story elements.

As far as some of the non-comparison stuff - eh, Kamoshida only isn't explicitly a rapist because the game isn't explicit enough about exactly what he has been doing. They beat around the bush, just saying he abused the male students physically and the female students sexually. It's pretty clear what his trangressions are supposed to be, but the fact the game never really lays the line down is part of the problem with him. The villains are all out of proportion - like sure Madarame at the very end says he watched Yusuke's mother die (which is still not the same as murdering her or anything) but for most of that whole arc it really is just 'oh my god he's a plagiarist!' and I was thinking 'do these writers think this is on the same level as sexually abusing high school kids?'. Just a lot of disconnect like this. The whole thrust is supposed to be that adults are corrupt, I suppose, but it treats every kind of misbehaviour by adults as equivalent and coming from the same source. It's juvenile - and I feel like I just hit on the problem. The whole thing is juvenile.

But yeah in the end I guess it does come down to characters and setting. In Persona 4 those elements fit together in such a way that I felt sympathy for the characters despite the formula, while in Persona 5 I just wasn't able to see past it and have ended up feeling like I wasted my time giving this game the patience it asked for.

See, stuff like that goes a lot further than describing something as being "an anime game" lol

I overall agree. The localization also doesn't do any favors in terms of making several of the villains not come as sort of mustache-twirling either (Akechi and Shido especially), as well as the characters' rebuttals to the adults and Shadows that they face off against.

As for Kamoshida, he was the best villain imo, probably due to how personal it was for me, Ryuji, and Ann. But yea, I did find it kinda weird that they decided now of all times to be vague and just not flat-out call it rape. Like we just saw a girl try to commit suicide not that long ago, but apparently that's where the line is drawn.

I guess it is a little lazy, maybe? Except I've never expressed on opinion on anime before, but I guess you wouldn't know that and people do just throw it out as a label. I think what I mean to say is, I remembered why anime has a bad reputation amongst a lot of people while I was playing this. It's part of why it feels formulaic, because I know various elements of the story exists mainly because this is the way this genre tends to do it, not because it fits.

Like, why can you date Futaba? She's an emotionally damaged sibling-substitute. It's just weird.

The substitute sister thing aside, because that's been discussed plenty of times already, that's yet another why Futaba as a romance option just didn't work for me. Girl was a complete shut-in for what, years? I know we changed her heart, which is basically a magical solution to her problems, but still, I'm not gonna get with a girl who needs to first get readjusted back into the real world, among other things.

ugggh...Futaba telling Akechi "it doesnt matter when you start over", like seriously, fuck this guy. Futaba and Haru especially shouldnt be offering him a second chance. I mean for fucks sake, he fully admits that he wasnt really working for Shido, he was doing all this shit of his own accord just for "Goro Akechi-kun's Revenge". Every death is more his fault than Shido's

Nah man, come along, let's settle this with Shido!
 
I too thought it was a little odd that the game dances around specifically calling what Kamoshida did "rape." The game heavily implies it (Kamoshida talks about how he had Shiho "take Ann's place" when Ann wouldn't sleep with him), and it definitely shows the consequences of it as if it were rape (with Shiho trying to kill herself and Ann all but wanting to murder Kamoshida).

Usually when we talk about media that avoids calling a rape what it is, it's because the author is trying to downplay it in some way. Either they're making excuses for the rape ("she wanted it", "she was drunk", etc.) or trying to play it off as a joke, or something along those lines. That doesn't really strike me as what P5 is trying to do, though, because it's clearly shown to have deep consequences and Kamoshida is treated by the story as the biggest fuckwad to ever live.

I am admittedly not super versed in this stuff in the context of Japanese culture, but the particular way this game dances around calling it "rape" comes off less like "we don't think what Kamoshida did deserves to be called rape" and more like "there is some external factor that is stopping us from explicitly calling it rape." Maybe it's a CERO rating thing? Persona 5 already took the series from being a CERO B in Persona 3 and 4 (12 and up) to being a CERO C (15 and up). Explicitly talking about sexual assault might've pushed it up to a D.
 
Speaking of Shiho, I was kinda annoyed that she basically gets put on a boss. I haven't done Ann S.Link so admittedly I don't know the whole story, but she would have been a pretty interesting confidant.

This probably won't find much sympathy here but I think Persona 5 is actually really kind of bad. Sure the gameplay and style is all fine, but it's like there isn't any humanity in it. It's all just so formulaic, as in 'this is what anime does, so here you go'.

I was pretty excited for this game entirely due to Persona 4 and a few of the characters and moments in that game connecting with me. It all felt pretty genuine even if it had some elements I disliked, and the emotional high points of the story felt earned and satisfying.

In Persona 5 though it all just came across as hackneyed and almost mechanical. I'm not normally an anime fan so I was just taking it on its own merits for a long period, gradually wondering why the story was so predictable, why the characters all seemed cookie cutter, and it began to dawn on me that oh yeah, this is an anime game. That's why. You can date Futaba because this is an anime game, even though it clashes with the family setup (or because it does - anime does incest things sometimes). Akechi is the way he is because this is an anime. Etc. There isn't really any element of the story that I think positively of, except possibly Sojiro's development throughout the year as Futaba comes into it and he begins to think of you as family.

I still haven't seen the very end of the game - I last left it having just arrived at the depths of Mementos, but overall I'm really disappointed with the game because the story it tells is very poorly written (or translated, whatever) and it feels like a product aiming for a demographic rather than something with actual feeling put into it.

All modern Persona games are pretty "anime", 4 more so, especially most of the "humor".

It sounds more like you are annoyed with the waifus/wish fulfillment elements getting in the way of the story and themes, which I can definitely agree.

The game basically operates under the logic that "It's OK when the main character does it".
 
Just finished P5. As someone who never plays JRPGs, I was pretty shocked at the how much enjoyment I got out of this game. Thought I'd share my thoughts if anyone is interested.

-The presentation was insane. I still can't believe how stylish literally every element of the ui managed to be. I think this was a big reason I got so drawn into the game immediately. From the menus while talking to Iwai/Takemi to the combat ui, everything had me mesmerized. The combat felt super snappy too.

-I thoroughly enjoyed the separated chapters structure of the game. Every dungeon felt extremely important, tense and as though there was so much at stake. It’s crazy, the game starts off with conflict between you and the gym teacher, but escalate in scale to the highest members of society, then society as a whole. I can't remember a game that had such an immense rise in scale but that managed to make you feel like the weight of the world was on you at each individual instance.

-The music was amazing, even after coming from Nier:A. Really loved the jazzy vibe.
A couple moments stood out for me that I haven't seen discussed as much. The mixing of Shido's palace track, “Ark”, with the sounds of Shido's speeches. Got a real sense of energy but a chilling feeling at the same time.
“Rivers in the Desert” also hit me with a ton of emotion, felt so pumped, felt like I was at the climax of a Yakuza game. It felt like the perfect mix between colossal stakes, but intimate song/moment.

-I love that you have to choose how to manage your time at the cost of missed content. I think playing without an s-link guide was the best experience for me. I had to weigh who I wanted to spend time with, because I knew I wouldn't be able to do everything, and it made these moments much more meaningful.

-I didn't really enjoy the mementos. I'm sure it was a sacrifice to allow them to focus on the palaces and subsequently give you an area to farm, but it just felt out of place with how barren it was.

-I won't go to deep on this, but obviously, the representation of homosexuals was bad. Also, many of the anime scenes felt gratuitous. I remember being particularly frustrated in the Futaba dungeon. It opens with an anime scene where the male characters are drooling over Ann from the back seat of the car. Then in the next anime scene, where the gang is descending the pyramid, it focuses on Ann's bouncing breasts for like 10 seconds and I swear they have a bouncing sound effect. I honestly immediately lose immersion and interest when they do this stuff.
The game overall didn't have that much, I dunno what the term is, fan service? But it felt like they backloaded it into all the anime cutscenes.

In all, this was a great experience for me. I'm now in the mood to try and further breach into the JRPG genre with another well acclaimed title. Trying to decide between, SMT: Nocturne, Strange Journey, Suikoden II, Xenogears, Chrono Trigger or one of the other Persona titles.

Also
Makoto best girl
 
i don't even think those elements are because it's an anime game. I just think they're inherent to a game with a protagonist (designed in this standard style).

Like, that's the sort of shit that bugs me in a Bioware RPG just as much.
 
Speaking of Shiho, I was kinda annoyed that she basically gets put on a boss. I haven't done Ann S.Link so admittedly I don't know the whole story, but she would have been a pretty interesting confidant.

She's a pretty significant character in Ann's Confidant, yeah. I don't mind her not being a because it helps sell the idea that Joker isn't the center of the universe. Plus, what could she possibly offer to Joker? Volleyball lessons for a sick new move.
 
Anime is a dumb descriptor really because it encompasses so much.

I think it's more because it embraces it's pop-punk aesthetic too whole heartedly. It's very innocent and naive in the same way it thinks it understand the problems and solutions. Which is fine in a way.
 
Man, uh, Haru on this game got mad rushed. Just beat the game but holy cow that pacing was rough. Felt like a first draft at times.

Only played P4 Golden version, is there any likelihood a hypothetical Crimson version might be able to tweak the scenario enough to give breathing room? I accept that we will always have a Genkidama/Tinkerbell ending, but more time to establish Haru's character and deal with traitorous Akechi would be much appreciated...

(Morgana setting up the only thing approaching a sequel/spin-off hook, I see ya.)
 
Like really, speaking of anime, the game could be better if it actually takes more cues from death note (before it went to shit).
 
What was your final team in the game? Ryugi, Haru and Makoto was my team for the last segment and final boss. Morgana and Ann got some of the least play, Yusuke finally shined when I fought Shido.


Yoshitsune is fucking broken, hassou tobi shat all over the archangels and the Grail's mecha form.
 
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