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Persona 4 |OT|
- Thread starter U5230
- Start date
I should be getting P4 sometime this week (getting it off of a fellow Gaffer), and I'm wondering, is it possible to play P3 and P4 in tandem? I'm playing P3 right now, closer to the fifth full moon than the fourth (got distracted a little by Devil May Cry 3. Can you tell I just recently acquired a PS2?)
Big Icarus
Member
Himuro said:
Also
most of the central characters in P3 die. Blood soaked dungeons. Human annihilation. Having conversations with the embodiment of death. Goth wristcutters. Etc. Etc.
Shouta
Member
Himuro said:
P4 is a lot more grisly from a physical aspect but I think P3 is a lot darker when it comes to the mental aspects for the cast in general. There`s just a lot more they hammer onto the P3 cast with Code Aegis (I can`t even remember the JP name woof)/The Answer filling in some of the background that was only mentioned.
So Im 54 hours in and in the last? dungeon. I suppose it's the last because Im already well in December. But anyways I just defeated
If I continue on from this in the dungeon will I be able to return to social links? I still have some days left to do so. I know the next boss is
the second miniboss
Adachi
crowphoenix
Banned
Mr YuYu said:
around Christmas, either the 24th or 25th the game will skip to the final day.
Hitlersaurus Christ
Banned
No, just P3 and P4. There were cameos of the P2 characters on a TV show in P3, but it was just a little reference for the fans.Teknoman said:
Oh, Trinity Soul was supposed to be part of P3's world, but P4 kind of retconned a few of the more... questionable things that it brought up. Even without P4 though, TS didn't fit in very well with its "prequel," and the only reference made is the appearance of Akihiko (who can't use a persona in the show).
Red Scarlet
Member
If you want an easy win, just do the pentagon fusion of
. He gets an attack that hits 8 times; I beat that badguy in like 3 rounds with him.
Yoshitsune
Hitlersaurus Christ
Banned
The Kirijo group was a former part of the Nanjou Corporation, yes. However, that's more of a nod to the previous games than anything else, seeing as P1/P2 and P3/P4 have been referred to as different "worlds" before in interviews. I don't think it's in the same way that there were two worlds in P2, but rather that they are different continuities. For example, in the first 2 Persona games, Philemon was responsible for giving characters Personas, and Igor and the rest of the Velvet Room worked under him. In the world of the newer games, Philemon still exists but does not directly influence anything, but rather watches over the heroes in the form of a butterfly. (He is the butterfly in the intro of Persona 3, and the save points in Persona 4.) The Personas themselves are slightly different in the two sets of games as well. In P1/2, they can be summoned at will at any time. In P3/4, they can only be used in th dark hour or other world, respectively.Tamanon said:
While I'm sure you could find a way to fit them into the same continuity, they aren't meant to. I think this is partially because of a change in writing staff (or was it the main director of most of the MegaTen games?) after the PsX era.
Red Scarlet
Member
UC1 said:
If you need experience, go in by yourself. Plus you might have armor that gives you +50% experience, and you can get a weapon in December that gives you +50% experience, and they stack.
Adam Prime
hates soccer, is Mexican
UC1 said:
yeah if you can't finish the game at Lv 80, then you suck at the game. But I assume you are trying to grind to fuse the best Personas, so like someone already said just go in by yourself and stack weapons that give you more exp. Go to the last area of the game obviously to do it, don't bother grinding for hours in the dungeons you've already been through.
momolicious
Member
For the Devil Arcana (Nurse) when you agree to everything she says and then it says "You spent some time with Sayoko", does it really mean what i think it means...?
Cozy left Atlus after SMT3, you can see the overall change in tone of MegaTen games.Hitlersaurus Christ said:
Cozy would've never greenlighted a Persona game with dating sim elements, just doesn't seem his style to me. Also you notice how Atlus is trying to differentiate every MegaTen series into their own thing. Back then, SMT games and the spinoffs played basically the same a with a few difference here and there. Now every SMT series (the big ones, at least) play completely different from each other, there's a lot more variety in the spinoffs too.
Was it succesful? Yes. Who can argue otherwise really, I think Persona 4 is their best selling game ever. I do think SMT4 would turn people heads as opposed to "hey looks interesting, might try it." like the franchise was before. Heck even Atlus USA, who barely bothered with the games before, is bringing every single SMT game since SMT3. There's a brand awareness that wasn't there before, I think it was a pretty good move of Atlus USA to make SMT a 'brand' instead of just series.
I was watching the P2 bonus disc vids, with the interview with Cozy and Kaneko. I thought to myself "man these guys were Itagaki before Itagaki" stylish outfits, sunglasses, cigarettes in hand. They looked like rockstars.
Adam Prime said:
LOL, if I had some more items that restore SP, it'd be piss easy. As it is, once Yukiko runs out, my main character quickly runs out also, and I can get real close but end up wiping out. It's not exactly hard, but I didn't bother saving Soma and I haven't bothered with the collect-a-thon S.Links or missions. It's probably just a matter of grinding a little bit to get money, and then buying more equipment. Wasted all my money fusing personas towards the end.
Red Scarlet
Member
UC1 said:
You can find lots of MP-restoring items in the dungeons, and depending on how high the S-Ranks are with party members, they may give you items in dungeons that restore SP. If you have the fishing set, I think the Guardian fish completely fills up a character's SP. There's a couple of healer Personas you can make, some need to have an S-Link maxed, but certainly you can get stuff like Diarahan or Mediarahan from Personas that aren't maxed S-Link only.
If you need money, the easiest way IMO is to go to a non-random floor and just get gold monsters to appear. 4F of
Heaven
Just beat
Some (basically) endgame thoughts:
Overall, great game and one of my favorite jRPGs in recent memory, but it definitely felt rushed near the end.
Adachi's second form
Some (basically) endgame thoughts:
I really have loved this game, but damn did I hate the way that it ends. I know that I have another dungeon left, but I really felt that Adachi's motive was incredibly stupid. For a game that is based around a mystery concept, you think they could've come up with something better than "ooh, I just wanted to kill people for fun!". Yes, he was being possessed, but even then that seemed to come out of nowhere. I think it's great that he was the killer and the way he went about tricking Namatame, I just think his motive, even with the possession, was incredibly simplistic.
Also, why does Adachi have a Persona? Why does he become possessed in the first place? How much of it was his doing? Are these questions that are ever answered in the final dungeon?
I also didn't appreciate that burning questions, such as the origin of the Midnight Channel, where thrown into a small part of a endgame monologue. That's the kind of stuff that might have deserved its own discussion and revelation because it is so central to the plot. It almost felt like the developers threw that on at the end because they realized they hadn't answered the question due to being too caught up in the climax.
Also, why does Adachi have a Persona? Why does he become possessed in the first place? How much of it was his doing? Are these questions that are ever answered in the final dungeon?
I also didn't appreciate that burning questions, such as the origin of the Midnight Channel, where thrown into a small part of a endgame monologue. That's the kind of stuff that might have deserved its own discussion and revelation because it is so central to the plot. It almost felt like the developers threw that on at the end because they realized they hadn't answered the question due to being too caught up in the climax.
Overall, great game and one of my favorite jRPGs in recent memory, but it definitely felt rushed near the end.
Hitlersaurus Christ
Banned
First off, ivy, you DO know that the plot continues in the last dungeon, right? Several of your questions are answered there.
I won't spoil the things that will be explained later for you (so to answer your last question, yes), but I'll answer some of your other points.ivysaur12 said:
First of all, Adachi was not possessed. He became infested with shadows to form the final boss you fight, but that's all. Ameno-sagiri is explained later, but it simply manifested itself through Adachi. His actions were entirely his own until he changed. As for his motive, I think that was the point. Adachi wasn't some nefarious supervillain or even a very sympathetic character. He was just a normal human being. He was bored and bitter, and a bit on the nutso side, but he had no real reason for his actions aside from entertainment after the first two. I think that makes him a bit more believable.
Some of that stuff is expanded upon in the end. However, even after all I've said, I have to agree that it felt a bit rushed at the end. Just not for all of the same reasons you described.
If you're talking about killingUC1 said:
Izanami
when you "finish" her first form, don't use any spells. Do whatever you can to regenerate SP in the few rounds before she changes to her true form.
I personally found that fight really annoying, but the gimmick with her when she's nearly dead is pretty easy to avoid if you are prepared by debuffing her hit rate with Debilitate and buffing your dodge rate with Masukukaja.
So I just truly beat the game.
Fantastic game, and one of the best PS2 RPGs (which is saying something). Definitely in my top 3 or 5 RPGs from last gen. It's too bad that there were some lingering storyline issues that had a bad aftertaste.
The ending was definitely better, but I thought the gas pumper was weak. It would have been different if he (or she, I guess) had been present at least once or twice throughout the game in slightly hinting but really ambiguous ways. At least the Midnight Channel was given *some* screen time, but still, it felt like a bit of a throw away. But is it just supposed to be a coincidence that the television anchor and Saki were on the Midnight Channel before Adachi threw them in? That's extremely terrible storytelling.
I was also disappointed that Adachi's Persona was only mentioned when I had to talk about details in Junes, and wasn't really answered in the main game's storyline. Also, if Izanami gave the MC and Adachi Personas, where was Namatame's Persona, and how come he was able to summon a shadow (or was that supposed to be his Persona? If it was, I don't understand why Namatame wouldn't summon the giant peace baby like Adachi summoned his Persona). Actually, almost EVERYTHING with Adachi was a huge disappointment. His motive: laughable. Izanami pulling the strings somewhat remedied this, but it still doesn't change the fact that he was killing... just because he liked it.
I was also disappointed that Adachi's Persona was only mentioned when I had to talk about details in Junes, and wasn't really answered in the main game's storyline. Also, if Izanami gave the MC and Adachi Personas, where was Namatame's Persona, and how come he was able to summon a shadow (or was that supposed to be his Persona? If it was, I don't understand why Namatame wouldn't summon the giant peace baby like Adachi summoned his Persona). Actually, almost EVERYTHING with Adachi was a huge disappointment. His motive: laughable. Izanami pulling the strings somewhat remedied this, but it still doesn't change the fact that he was killing... just because he liked it.
Fantastic game, and one of the best PS2 RPGs (which is saying something). Definitely in my top 3 or 5 RPGs from last gen. It's too bad that there were some lingering storyline issues that had a bad aftertaste.
ArcticDonkey
Member
Not really, at level 80 you should be fine. Maybe make sure you have debilitate to make the last few battles go smoothly.inner-G said:
Hitlersaurus Christ
Banned
Tamanon said:
Yeah, I knew from the beginning that SOMETHING was up with the gas-station attendant. I mean, when you shake hands the controller rumbles and everything.
Red Scarlet
Member
ronito said:
I'd say probably not, since only the ones you have gotten to rank 10 show up at the true ending, so it's either 10 or they won't show up anyway.
archnemesis
Member
No, I completely missed one of the social links (daycare) and still got the true ending.ronito said:
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
Well, I finally beat the game with the True Ending. It took me a little longer since I had a couple of lengthy hiatuses from the game due to real life issues, but here I am actually beating a game for once.
My final save time was 82 hours and 48 minutes. Had my main team (MC, Yukiko, Yosuke an Kanji) around 80-84 at the end. I maxed out 10 Social Links, which isn't too bad for my first time playing the game, I think.
I did wind up switching my party to manual control for my final attempt at the last boss after having used AI control the entire game. Dying with the boss at a sliver of health on my previous attempt because Yukiko was an idiot and didn't use Mediarahan finally sent me over the edge.
My final thoughts:
This is without a doubt one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played. From the story to the characters to the gameplay to every little nuance, it was an amazing ride. Even though it took me over 80 hours to beat, it feels like it was less than half that simply because of how much of a blast I was having.
I was originally planning to take a sizable time off before playing the game again, but I don't know right now. I might wind up starting my second run fairly soon. Although I have that copy of Dragon Quest VIII that I've been holding off on until I beat this, so I'll probably have a go at that first.
In closing, though, I must reiterate how amazing this game is. The combat was enjoyable and challenging, and actually made me think a hell of a lot. The social linking and time management was wonderful, as well. The soundtrack was most certainly top notch. The story was engaging, providing tons of twists and turns at all the right moments. On top of that, the writing was great. There were plenty of laugh out loud funny moments that always seemed to balance out the deadly serious moments. What struck me most about the story was the maturity and depth, however. Other games can keep their 'gritty' stories with bald space marines and the colors being a contrast between black and gray. For all the bright colors, exclamation marks and high school students, Persona 4 had one of the most engaging stories I've seen in a video game in quite some time. It didn't just entertain me, it actually made me think. Rather than presenting the player with shallow 'moral choices', it presented the actual person in all of us with moral dilemmas to think about on our own time. The in depth look at how people act and feel was also very profound, and extremely well handled. But where the game really shone, in my mind, was in the cast. The characters were all very well fleshed out and engaging. Any one of them could have been the character of the game in another game, but here they were all one part of a much larger whole. Although I had my favorites, there is no character I can point to as actually being a poor character. I feel like that says a great deal.
Finally, I want to thank Atlus for the amazing translation and localization of this game. The script was top notch, and all of the voices were completely perfect (ignoring "Aha! Is this our chance?" and "Our enemy is down! We must strike!", which I'll write off as early flubs from before the actors got completely comfortable with the characters).
So, tl;dr: Persona 4 is fucking amazing.
My final save time was 82 hours and 48 minutes. Had my main team (MC, Yukiko, Yosuke an Kanji) around 80-84 at the end. I maxed out 10 Social Links, which isn't too bad for my first time playing the game, I think.
I did wind up switching my party to manual control for my final attempt at the last boss after having used AI control the entire game. Dying with the boss at a sliver of health on my previous attempt because Yukiko was an idiot and didn't use Mediarahan finally sent me over the edge.
My final thoughts:
This is without a doubt one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played. From the story to the characters to the gameplay to every little nuance, it was an amazing ride. Even though it took me over 80 hours to beat, it feels like it was less than half that simply because of how much of a blast I was having.
I was originally planning to take a sizable time off before playing the game again, but I don't know right now. I might wind up starting my second run fairly soon. Although I have that copy of Dragon Quest VIII that I've been holding off on until I beat this, so I'll probably have a go at that first.
In closing, though, I must reiterate how amazing this game is. The combat was enjoyable and challenging, and actually made me think a hell of a lot. The social linking and time management was wonderful, as well. The soundtrack was most certainly top notch. The story was engaging, providing tons of twists and turns at all the right moments. On top of that, the writing was great. There were plenty of laugh out loud funny moments that always seemed to balance out the deadly serious moments. What struck me most about the story was the maturity and depth, however. Other games can keep their 'gritty' stories with bald space marines and the colors being a contrast between black and gray. For all the bright colors, exclamation marks and high school students, Persona 4 had one of the most engaging stories I've seen in a video game in quite some time. It didn't just entertain me, it actually made me think. Rather than presenting the player with shallow 'moral choices', it presented the actual person in all of us with moral dilemmas to think about on our own time. The in depth look at how people act and feel was also very profound, and extremely well handled. But where the game really shone, in my mind, was in the cast. The characters were all very well fleshed out and engaging. Any one of them could have been the character of the game in another game, but here they were all one part of a much larger whole. Although I had my favorites, there is no character I can point to as actually being a poor character. I feel like that says a great deal.
Finally, I want to thank Atlus for the amazing translation and localization of this game. The script was top notch, and all of the voices were completely perfect (ignoring "Aha! Is this our chance?" and "Our enemy is down! We must strike!", which I'll write off as early flubs from before the actors got completely comfortable with the characters).
So, tl;dr: Persona 4 is fucking amazing.
Red Scarlet
Member
Make some cool Personas.