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Persona Community Thread |OT2| Burn My Thread

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Levito

Banned
There's a few examples of games that blend linear storytelling and player agency exceedingly well, and I'll use the quintessential example to illustrate my point:Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 2 without a doubt one of the most well written games of all time, if not the most well written game of all time. The wonderful thing about it is despite a large portion of the game's narrative being linear, the game is taking all your actions into consideration. Without spoiling anything(cause I really think everyone at some point should play it), there are 4 endings--each of them determined by your decisions/actions in the game. Not pillar moments like how a Bioware game does it(IE: kill this person to get ending C), but how you traverse and interact with the environment/characters/enemies. You are greeted with an ending purely on how you play, and there is no "canon" ending the over wrights the other.

The great thing about that game too is there's a lot of wonderful environmental storytelling through some of the nightmarish imagery that you'll initially think is just random, then thinking back you'll be all like: HOLY SHIT THAT'S BRILLIANT.

(Yes there are actually 6 endings but the 2 joke endings require subsequent playthroughs and you need to know how to get them beforehand :p )

So yeah, it's hardly impossible to tell a linear, personal, character piece without removing player agency entirely. :D
 

Squire

Banned
There's a few examples of games that blend linear storytelling and player agency exceedingly well, and I'll use the quintessential example to illustrate my point:Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 2 without a doubt one of the most well written games of all time, if not the most well written game of all time. The wonderful thing about it is despite a large portion of the game's narrative being linear, the game is taking all your actions into consideration. Without spoiling anything(cause I really think everyone at some point should play it), there are 4 endings--each of them determined by your decisions/actions in the game. Not pillar moments like how a Bioware game does it(IE: kill this person to get ending C), but how you traverse and interact with the environment/characters/enemies. You are greeted with an ending purely on how you play, and there is no "canon" ending the over wrights the other.

The great thing about that game too is there's a lot of wonderful environmental storytelling through some of the nightmarish imagery that you'll initially think is just random, then thinking back you'll be all like: HOLY SHIT THAT'S BRILLIANT.

(Yes there are actually 6 endings but the 2 joke endings require subsequent playthroughs and you need to know how to get them beforehand :p )

So yeah, it's hardly impossible to tell a linear, personal, character piece without removing player agency entirely. :D

I need to play SH2. I just read a thing this morning about how Ken Levine wants to make a game that tells a linear story, but is still worth replaying. This sounds like what he wants to do.
 

Sophia

Member
I need to play SH2. I just read a thing this morning about how Ken Levine wants to make a game that tells a linear story, but is still worth replaying. This sounds like what he wants to do.

Imagine a Persona or Shin Megami Tensei game like that. Multiple endings based upon your actions with no real golden ending and it not being obvious right away that your actions are influencing the outcome.

Nocturne kind of went that way, and it was amazing, but then Strange Journey and SMT IV dialed it back to the generic Law/Neutral/Chaos endings. :(

But...I get scared easily...

It's not that scary.

For me. You'll be terrified.
 

Meia

Member
There's a few examples of games that blend linear storytelling and player agency exceedingly well, and I'll use the quintessential example to illustrate my point:Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 2 without a doubt one of the most well written games of all time, if not the most well written game of all time. The wonderful thing about it is despite a large portion of the game's narrative being linear, the game is taking all your actions into consideration. Without spoiling anything(cause I really think everyone at some point should play it), there are 4 endings--each of them determined by your decisions/actions in the game. Not pillar moments like how a Bioware game does it(IE: kill this person to get ending C), but how you traverse and interact with the environment/characters/enemies. You are greeted with an ending purely on how you play, and there is no "canon" ending the over wrights the other.

The great thing about that game too is there's a lot of wonderful environmental storytelling through some of the nightmarish imagery that you'll initially think is just random, then thinking back you'll be all like: HOLY SHIT THAT'S BRILLIANT.

(Yes there are actually 6 endings but the 2 joke endings require subsequent playthroughs and you need to know how to get them beforehand :p )

So yeah, it's hardly impossible to tell a linear, personal, character piece without removing player agency entirely. :D


SH2 was a really brilliant game, so much so my friend actually wrote his college thesis about it. :p


Shattered Memories, another SH game, also does this. It got a lot of flack and is a love it or hate it type of game, but that game keeps track of EVERYTHING you do. Funnily enough, the psychological tests you take at specific points in the game also have very little to do with how things go, it's mostly how you play the game itself.


Some of these changes in the game can be as simple as meeting some characters but not others, having characters you do meet radically change based on how you're playing, and then of course how it greatly effects the ending. Seriously, since it's a mostly "walking around and looking at things" game while you search for your daughter, things you decide to look at have a big weight on this. Focus alot on sex or racy imagery? Well, the cop that shows up will look exactly like the cop from the very first SH game, cleavage and all.

The thing that really boggled my mind was that it gives you a psychological reading of you while the credits roll, and if you're playing the game honestly as yourself, holy crap does that thing come close to how you actually are about different subjects.


It kind of boggles my mind that more games don't do this. You'd think it'd be an easy thing to do, but I can't really think of ones beyond these two examples that do this. @_@
 

Gazoinks

Member
Despite being an enormous wimp, I really need to play SH2 as someone invested in the potential of video game storytelling. Why do horror games always have to have the best environmental storytelling?
 

Meia

Member
Despite being an enormous wimp, I really need to play SH2 as someone invested in the potential of video game storytelling. Why do horror games always have to have the best environmental storytelling?


Because the environment itself is kind of the only way a horror game can scare you, since there's no actual danger to yourself. The environment HAS to be a character in it's own right. Good games realize this, and it's something that modern SH games have really forgotten.


I never get scared playing one, but then I turn the game off and realize that for all intents and purposes I live in an area that closely resembles a lot of these locales(heavily forested area, fog not uncommon, etc).
 

dkoy

Member
Guess I know what game I'll be playing after exams are over. Got the SH HD collection around last year but never got very far
because I'm stupid and need a guide to know where the fuck I need to go and how to solve puzzles : (
 

Levito

Banned
Oh and this needs to be said: DO NOT PLAY THE HD COLLECTION. It's a completely broken port.

The only way you should experience it is on the good ol' PS2, which I know will be a huge barrier of entry for some people.

I need to play SH2. I just read a thing this morning about how Ken Levine wants to make a game that tells a linear story, but is still worth replaying. This sounds like what he wants to do.

It's funny, so many of the problems Infinite has were solved in SH2--Over a decade ago. SH2 was waaaaay ahead of it's time.



EDIT: Shattered Memories has some great ideas but holy fuck is it a boring game.
 

Trigger

Member
Guess I know what game I'll be playing after exams are over. Got the SH HD collection around last year but never got very far
Oh and this needs to be said: DO NOT PLAY THE HD COLLECTION. It's a completely broken port.

XBMjaTZ.gif
XBMjaTZ.gif
XBMjaTZ.gif
 

Meia

Member
I loved the pointless wandering. The adventure elements were so much fun!


I do agree with this too. Silent Hill in SM was it's own character to explore, which is how a game featuring that town should be(lord knows it was in the early SHs before the series went off the rails). It also showed that you don't necessarily need combat to have tension or to have a game, as the basic FLEEING for you life segments were great and you genuinely dreaded when one might appear. Too bad the hiding mechanic was totally broken though.


Then again, considering how divided opinions are about the game, maybe Levine has something of a point in that Infinite had to be "lawl shootbang".
 

cjkeats

Member
Is there a set of these, or just the MC?
Nope, jus this one. The artist uses it as their pixiv profile image. If they're are others, they haven't uploaded them.
Oh and this needs to be said: DO NOT PLAY THE HD COLLECTION. It's a completely broken port.

The only way you should experience it is on the good ol' PS2, which I know will be a huge barrier of entry for some people.
Very pleased I still have my PS2 copies of 2 and 3. Never played 2 to completion cause it took forever to find it, but I loved 3. I got that when it came out, 2 was hard to find at that point.
 

Caladrius

Member
My GOTY for this year that is not a new pokemon game (though only even generation installments ever get that distinction) is probably either SMT IV, Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I couldn't get a lot of Games this year due to family-induced financial problems, but I liked all of the ones I could get and the standings are very close because of that.

In case you were wondering.

Pokemon X & Y
SMT IV = New Leaf
Project Diva -f- (Technically last year but since its rerelease came out in North America this year whatevs)
Fire Emblem Awakening
Saint's Row IV

My GOAT is...
Paper Mario, not TTYD (which is still very good) but the first one.
RIP ;_;

Also Persona 5 should have a midway plot twist where the entire town is consumed by shadows, forcing you to kill off your old friends in a desperate struggle for survival.
 

Trigger

Member
;_;

How is it broken? depending on how bad a port it is I might just drop it then. Otherwise i'll push through

I never played the HD collection, but I do recall there being a patch for some tech issues (freezing, stuttering, etc) on the PS3. I don't think they ever patched the 360 version.

Also Persona 5 should have a midway plot twist where the entire town is consumed by shadows, forcing you to kill off your old friends in a desperate struggle for survival.

You're joking, but I wouldn't mind something like this in a Persona game. We don't really get to see disasters much in the series. The pesky heroes always save the day.
 

FluxWaveZ

Member
You're joking, but I wouldn't mind something like this in a Persona game. We don't really get to see disasters much in the series. The pesky heroes always save the day.

I don't know if that's particularly what I want out of Persona 5, but I've always been intrigued at the idea of a Persona game using Zero Escape or Battle Royale concepts, and following a potentially darker path like (P4 Spoilers) "The Final Hour" implies. It's an idea I'm intrigued to see if they explore further in P4A2 a bit.
 

dkoy

Member
Also Persona 5 should have a midway plot twist where the entire town is consumed by shadows, forcing you to kill off your old friends in a desperate struggle for survival.

What happens to all your S.Links? Do they all reverse or something? lol

I never played the HD collection, but I do recall there being a patch for some tech issues (freezing, stuttering, etc) on the PS3. I don't think they ever patched the 360 version.

Well it's a great thing I bought the 360 version >.> If it's just tech issues and nothing is wrong with the actual gameplay/story then I'll just push through.
 
I don't know if that's particularly what I want out of Persona 5, but I've always been intrigued at the idea of a Persona game using Zero Escape or Battle Royale concepts, and following a potentially darker path like (P4 Spoilers) "The Final Hour" implies. It's an idea I'm intrigued to see if they explore further in P4A2 a bit.

HOLY SHIT.

That was awesome. I never knew about that! Whoa.
That was a really good scream too!
 

Cheska

Member
I tried playing through Downpour and had to stop. I'm such a freakin' baby when it comes to horror games. It's also probably one of the reasons why TLoU isn't my GOTY..
 
I tried playing through Downpour and had to stop. I'm such a freakin' baby when it comes to horror games. It's also probably one of the reasons why TLoU isn't my GOTY..

TBFP did a great LP of it, and Homecoming. Here's the playlist if you want.

E: And to contribute myself, I beat Silent Hill 2 as my first game in the series this week. It was good. I had people watching me play it which was different. They got frustrated and GameFAQ'd a lot on where to go.
 

Caladrius

Member
You're joking, but I wouldn't mind something like this in a Persona game. We don't really get to see disasters much in the series. The pesky heroes always save the day.

I was?

I don't know if that's particularly what I want out of Persona 5, but I've always been intrigued at the idea of a Persona game using Zero Escape or Battle Royale concepts, and following a potentially darker path like (P4 Spoilers) "The Final Hour" implies. It's an idea I'm intrigued to see if they explore further in P4A2 a bit.

I think that's definitely what they're going to go for. They have the perfect antagonist to pull the shift with and I think nobody
except maybe Miyamoto and Cage
would waste the opportunity to do so.

What happens to all your S.Links? Do they all reverse or something? lol

The social links and Persona attached to every Tarot aside from the fool are frozen and will grow no further. You have to forge new Persona from the strength of your heart and the memories of your friends alone.

Okay I'm not sure the Idea gels too well with the "fostering bonds" principle of Persona and wouldn't want to see it in a main series game for that reason but I think that would be a cool idea for a spinoff.
 

Gazoinks

Member
What an odd pair.

I need that alpaca dating sim.

Those dolls are great.

I read an LP of that alpaca dating sim, the translation is glorious Engrish. It also has a weirdly dark bad end for such a fluffy (har har) story. Why does Japan like alpacas so much?
 

cjkeats

Member
Every time she would say that, she would miss. That's why you only use Yukari for healing.
I love the sound she makes when she misses. Such a bummer sound.
Those dolls are great.

I read an LP of that alpaca dating sim, the translation is glorious Engrish. It also has a weirdly dark bad end for such a fluffy (har har) story. Why does Japan like alpacas so much?
They're fluffy.
 

EMT0

Banned
I can't believe I bailed on both SMTIV and P3P in favor of grinding me some awesome Pokemon via breeding. But damn, I did it. And I'm lovin it. I miss the waifus and cool designs already :p
 
I can't believe I bailed on both SMTIV and P3P in favor of grinding me some awesome Pokemon via breeding. But damn, I did it. And I'm lovin it. I miss the waifus and cool designs already :p

I'd rather beat the last 10% of Nocturne than breed Pokemon. The grind to cool ratio is too skewed towards boredom. IVs suck. Friend Safari good.
 

Moonlight

Banned
I dunno, breeding Pokemon kinda scratches this weird part of your brain. Probably what I expect I'll be doing the most in Pokemon once I'm through with the game.
 

Sophia

Member
Breeding Pokemon for perfect IVs is silly. The whole IV system is silly and probably should have been replaced.

Breeding for the sake of getting lots of rare Pokemon to trade is fun tho. Nobody expects a Charmander or Fennekin in Wonder Trade! :D
 
Breeding Pokemon for perfect IVs is silly. The whole IV system is silly and probably should have been replaced.

Breeding for the sake of getting lots of rare Pokemon to trade is fun tho. Nobody expects a Charmander or Fennekin in Wonder Trade! :D

Yeah the breeders are nice and generous offsets to the starter, easy-to-catch pokemon all over Wonder Trade.

Actually me and some friends have been doing 4 player multi-battles with 3 wonder traded pokemon each. Rules are to get them all at the same time right before the match, and TM/HMs are allowed, though HMs make it yours if you don't hang next to the move forget-er.
 

Dantis

Member
Just finished Splinter Cell Blacklist. Good gosh that was the definition of mediocre. Some hideous writing, also.

Is SMTIV's OST ever going to come out? This is kind of ridiculous.

They've been a bit weird with OSTs lately. The P4 Animation OST never came out except for the as a pack in with the JP Limited Edition DVDs.
 
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