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Persona Community Thread |OT5| Pull up a chair! [NO PQ OR P4U SPOILERS!]

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P

PK Gaming

Member
I finished reading the Persona 4 official design works the other day, so I figured i'd post some interesting information for you guys.

  • Soejima places a lot of value in the concept of coolness. It's more than just an adjective for him; it's like an important abstract concept. "Like the notion of a widely appealing pattern of design... or something like that." Apparently, the P3 protagonist help solidify Soejima's "coolness" theory. (I'm sorry, he goes onto waaaay more detail, I honestly can't do it justice at all.)
  • His favorite character designs are the protagonist's (Yu Narukami) and Naoto's. He particularly likes drawing the former with a confident smile.
  • Soejima wanted the P4 protagonist to look distinct from the P3 protagonist. He went with a "wild" and masculine look to contrast with the P3 protagonist's "cute" and shy look. The goal was to create a protagonist that was different enough from the P3, while still ensuring that none of the player’s choices would seem too out of the character.
  • The glasses that the Persona users wear were originally supposed to be "literal masks."
  • The protagonist acted as the marketing core of the game (a big part of the game had to due with characters fighting with glasses), so he worked very hard at making him look good with glasses.
  • According to Soejima, P3 had a dark, cool and hard-edge vibe to it, whereas P4 has a friendly & casual atmosphere.
  • Soejima was the one who suggested that Chie should use Kung Fu.
  • While working on P4's setting, Soejima tried to observe townsfolk in rural areas and found that they were pretty much the same as the Tokyo citizens. He actually staked out highschools and observed students walking home from school, but it wasn't very fruitful; all of the students were pretty much wearing modern clothes and texting on their phones. So he shifted his thinking and decided to add a "retro layer" to P4's setting.
  • The databook makes it clear that Kunino-Sagiri, Ameno-Sagiri, and
    Izanami
    are shadows.
    Izanami in particular is based on the myth of Izanagi & Izanami.
  • Adachi was originally
    going to be a red herring in the story, so Soejima made his original design look overtly suspicious.
  • Speaking of Adachi, he
    used to be an elite detective, but a mistake cost him his career. He's actually very good at his job, but Soejima found that people are genuinely talented tend to have quirks/lacking in some areas. He tried to reflect that in Adachi's design; Adachi looks like someone who isn't very concerned with his appearance.
  • On the other end of the spectrum,
    Nametame was portrayed as Adachi's foil. He constantly has a troubled expression, and he is someone of a few talents.
  • Soejima came up
    Magatsu Izanagi because while the protagonist has many opportunities to fight other Personas (in shadow form) he could never fight his own shadow* (He's not being literal here.) The wielder of this Persona is the polar opposite of the protagonist, hence the reason why Magatsu Izanagi looks like the "dark" version of Izanagi.
  • Initially, they were going to use Elizabeth as the velvet room attendant for Persona 4, but they decided against it in order to give events of Persona 3 more significance.
  • Ayane wasn't very popular with the P4 staff, and Soejima had to push to get her into the final game. Ayane is one of his favorite characters.
  • Mitsuo Kubo
    killed Morooka after he supposedly berated him. Mitsuo's original hairstyle was like his shadows.
  • Naoto was originally supposed to be a "short, pretty young male."
  • Soejima designed Izanagi to be as manly as possible. A real "man’s man." He wanted to pour all of that manliness in the protagonist's design, but he felt that would be to cliched, so all of that went. Izanagi provided with him with a chance to go overboard.
  • The significance behind Izanagi's has to do with the fact that in japan, wielding a symbol of manhood. Young men would carry knives to "feel like men." The aspect of youth psychology was reflected in the protagonist's Persona.
  • Both of Naoto's Persona's are male.
  • Teddie's human form was original supposed to be a beautiful girl. They switched over to male after Naoto's gender was changed.
  • Tanaka apparently has a liking for cute boys.
  • It's a safe bet that P5 will feature a female character with a headband. Soejima loooooooooves them headbands.
Click to expand...

Enjoy!
 
C

CorvoSol

Member
His favorite character designs are the protagonist's (Yu Narukami) and Naoto's. He particularly likes drawing the former with a confident smile.
Click to expand...

Ah! That's why his regular portrait bugs me. In all of the in battle shots the protag has this amazing smirk going on, but like, in his menu shot he just sorta has no expression and so that particular piece has always seemed weird to me.
 
S

Swedesu

Member
buddha0991 said:
So PersonaGAF, what is your favorite game you played this year? It does not have to be released this year, but one you played. Me? My favorite is Phantasy Star Online 2!
Click to expand...

The Last of Us without a doubt.

Danganronpa was also pretty cool and Ever 17 is the best visual novel I've ever read.

Etrian Odyssey IV might also make this list if it keeps on being as awesome as it is right now.

EDIT* And the Souls series of course, but mostly Demons and DaS 1.
 
M

Marche90

Member
buddha0991 said:
So PersonaGAF, what is your favorite game you played this year? It does not have to be released this year, but one you played. Me? My favorite is Phantasy Star Online 2!

tr9WDI0.png
Click to expand...

Released this year: Dangan Ronpa

Any year goes in: Project Diva F. Holy shit, I might have a problem with this one: more than 40 hours sinked in, platinum'd and I still keep going in for more.
 
L

LX_Theo

Banned
  • Speaking of Adachi,
    he used to be an elite detective, but a mistake cost him his career. He's actually very good at his job, but Soejima found that people are genuinely talented tend to have quirks/lacking in some areas. He tried to reflect that in Adachi's design; Adachi looks like someone who isn't very concerned with his appearance.
  • Ayane wasn't very popular with P4 staff, and Soejima had to push to get her into the final game. Ayane is one of his favorite characters.
  • Teddie's human form was original supposed to be a beautiful girl. They switched over to male after Naoto's gender was changed.
Click to expand...

These certainly strike me as the most intersting.

Adachi being
a really talented guy who got stuck in the boondocks because of a mistake came across really subtly. I can't say I would have guessed the talented part based on how he does things. He came off more like a careless detective (then again, that was part of his act to leak things to the IT, I suppose).

I'm also not surprised about Ayane. She does come off as the sort of character you'd have to have a specific person really vying for to get in the game.

As for the thing about Teddie... That explains a lot.
 
D

DryEyeRelief

Member
A lot of love for Dangan Ronpa. That game was quite a rollercoaster.

PK Gaming said:
His favorite character designs are the protagonist's (Yu Narukami) and Naoto's. He particularly likes drawing the former with a confident smile.
Click to expand...

That's interesting. In my opinion, I thought Naoto was one of his weaker designs. It might partially be due to just how the Yasogami uniform looks, but Kanji/Yosuke/Protag still look pretty distinct.
 
A

abrack08

Member
buddha0991 said:
So PersonaGAF, what is your favorite game you played this year? It does not have to be released this year, but one you played. Me? My favorite is Phantasy Star Online 2!

tr9WDI0.png
Click to expand...

For games released this year, Dangonronpa or Infamous Second Son. I would lean towards Danganronpa, I was disappointed with the length/amount of content in Second Son (though overall I think it's a really great game). For older games, I replayed Peace Walker right before MGS Ground Zeroes came out, still love that game.


PK Gaming said:
I finished reading the Persona 4 official design works the other day, so I figured i'd post some interesting information for you guys.



Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Interesting stuff! Especially about
Kunino-Sagiri, Ameno-Sagiri, and Izanami being shadows
, and Adachi being an elite detective. I'm pretty sure there was a line in the game along the lines of
"I made ONE mistake and got sent out here to the boonies!" but him being a great detective didn't really come across... Then again he was bored in Inaba and trying to cover his tracks, so I guess that makes sense too
 
H

Hot Coldman

Banned
Levito said:
Trying to get Lotus Juice thing going again. Inorigo contacted a Skullgirls developer that does a lot of Persona art, trying to put together an episode to talk about Soejima and Kaneko's art. Think we asked every artist in PGAF but got turned down every time. :(

Kind of not sure what to do next yet though TBH.
Click to expand...

I dunno if you tackled this already, but with all this #Miiquality stuff going on, you ever considered an episode about how Persona tackles sexuality and the like? Kind of as a follow-up to the "mature" episode, perhaps (though admittedly I've still got that to listen to). Might be a bit heavy, but could be something meaty.

I'm always available as a guest, course. :p
 
M

Marche90

Member
The P4 design notes are extremely interesting! I wonder how the game could have turned out if we had gotten the original designs of Teddie and Naoto.

Hot Coldman said:
I dunno if you tackled this already, but with all this #Miiquality stuff going on, you ever considered an episode about how Persona tackles sexuality and the like? Kind of as a follow-up to the "mature" episode, perhaps (though admittedly I've still got that to listen to). Might be a bit heavy, but could be something meaty.

I'm always available as a guest, course. :p
Click to expand...

I think they did one already. It was one of the first episodes and Shidoshi was a guest in it, iirc
 
K

kewlmyc

Member
buddha0991 said:
So PersonaGAF, what is your favorite game you played this year? It does not have to be released this year, but one you played. Me? My favorite is Phantasy Star Online 2!

tr9WDI0.png
Click to expand...

Even though I played it first last year, DanganRonpa.

Actually, it's the only game that was released this year that I have beaten. Everything else is backlog stuff.
 
M

Moonlight

Banned
PK Gaming said:
  • Ayane wasn't very popular with P4 staff, and Soejima had to push to get her into the final game. Ayane is one of his favorite characters.
  • Naoto was originally supposed to be a "short, pretty young male."
  • Teddie's human form was original supposed to be a beautiful girl. They switched over to male after Naoto's gender was changed.
Click to expand...
Pretty neat stuff!

Can't help but wonder how much more I'd have wound up liking Naoto if she were actually a guy. I'm gonna assume, then, that the Teddie crossdressing stuff was a reference to what was originally intended, at least.

buddha0991 said:
So PersonaGAF, what is your favorite game you played this year? It does not have to be released this year, but one you played. Me? My favorite is Phantasy Star Online 2!

tr9WDI0.png
Click to expand...
Danganronpa, definitely. Totally enthralling experience.
 
S

Squire

Banned
PK Gaming said:
I finished reading the Persona 4 official design works the other day, so I figured i'd post some interesting information for you guys.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Thanks PK! Soejima is a smart guy.

This just dawned on me:
Teddie's Alice costume is a nod to Alice, but specifically the Alice that consistently appears in SMT games. If I'm not wrong, they added Alice to P4 with Golden. I'm guessing when Teddie was still a girl the Alice design was her normal look and the reference was very much intentional.
 
G

Green Mamba

Member
Considering how weak Ayane is compared to the rest of the cast it's not surprising it was pretty much the work of one guy's persistence.

Inorigo said:
Thanks PK! Soejima is a smart guy.

This just dawned on me:
Teddie's Alice costume is a nod to Alice, but specifically the Alice that consistently appears in SMT games. If I'm not wrong, they added Alice to P4 with Golden. I'm guessing when Teddie was still a girl the Alice design was her normal look and the reference was very much intentional.
Click to expand...

Alice (the Persona) is in the original Persona 4.

EDIT: An interesting thing I think you missed PK--the protagonist was designed to look especially good in glasses because you hardly ever see his face graphic without them.
 
C

Chet Rippo

Member
Inorigo said:
Thanks PK! Soejima is a smart guy.

This just dawned on me:
Teddie's Alice costume is a nod to Alice, but specifically the Alice that consistently appears in SMT games. If I'm not wrong, they added Alice to P4 with Golden. I'm guessing when Teddie was still a girl the Alice design was her normal look and the reference was very much intentional.
Click to expand...

Alice is a persona in vanilla P4.
 
A

Acid08

Banned
buddha0991 said:
So PersonaGAF, what is your favorite game you played this year? It does not have to be released this year, but one you played. Me? My favorite is Phantasy Star Online 2!

tr9WDI0.png
Click to expand...
Dangan Ronpa prolly. Really liked P1 and ALBW too. Oh, and Gravity Rush was a nice surprise even if it wasn't the most polished game ever.
 
Andrefpvs

Andrefpvs

Member
Lotus Juice interview on Ustream right now!

I wrote down this answer on how he got involved in Persona.

Lotus Juice: "I wanted to do something new. I was kinda sick of the Hiphop scene in Japan, it was always kinda the same. Shoji Meguro sent me a few CDs, and I really got into Mass Destruction (or maybe Burn My Dread -Last Battle-), and they some lyrics already written.

So I did it, he loved it, I loved it too."

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/eltot...&utm_medium=social&utm_content=20140509112916
 
Andrefpvs

Andrefpvs

Member
Lotus Juice: "Shoji is one of the most clever people I've ever met. The music he creates is so original, and at the same time it's catchy, melodramatic, it really grabs your heart. It's just... new. His music feels new. He's a busy guy; I think he's working on something..."

"I lost four songs because my MacBook died :("

"I wasn't really into Games and Animation, but I loved reading manga. In fact, I'm reading Fullmetal Alchemist right now *proceeds to show a volume of the manga*"

"But I played Persona 3 five times. Last time to prepare for the movie"

"I grew up in New Jersey, New York, I was a basketball player. Hip-hop was just natural, I just loved it. It came natural for me. But I actually don't listen to hip-hop nowadays, it sucks! *laughs*"


btw, I'm only writing these down for the people who miss the live interview.
 
K

kewlmyc

Member
I surprised so many people here don't have the P4 Official Design Book. The P3, P4, and P4A design books have a lot of great information in them.
 
D

Dantis

Member
buddha0991 said:
So PersonaGAF, what is your favorite game you played this year? It does not have to be released this year, but one you played. Me? My favorite is Phantasy Star Online 2!
Click to expand...

Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, by a country mile. Amazing game.

Chet Rippo said:
Not really, she just comes off as a whiny pissant.
Click to expand...

Harsh!

kewlmyc said:
I surprised so many people here don't have the P4 Official Design Book. The P3, P4, and P4A design books have a lot of great information in them.
Click to expand...

I was just thinking the exact same thing! They're worth looking into purchasing if you're a fan of the series.

DryEyeRelief said:
That's interesting. In my opinion, I thought Naoto was one of his weaker designs. It might partially be due to just how the Yasogami uniform looks, but Kanji/Yosuke/Protag still look pretty distinct.
Click to expand...

This is an unusual opinion, I think. A lot of people seem to like Naoto's design, but not her character.
 
A

Acid08

Banned
kewlmyc said:
I surprised so many people here don't have the P4 Official Design Book. The P3, P4, and P4A design books have a lot of great information in them.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the P3 book especially. Really loved reading their explanations for the controversial choices in that game.
 
K

kewlmyc

Member
buddha0991 said:
Judging by this topic, plenty of people will have both Danganronpa and Danganronpa 2 on their goty lists lol.
Click to expand...

To be fair, Danganronpa, Titanfall, and Dark Souls II are the only games that released this year that I've played. My backlog games include Odin Sphere and SMT IV (why is everyone so unlikable and extremist), both of which I haven't finished.

After watching DR2, I can already guarentee that'll be my GotY, unless Evolve, Xillia 2, PQ, or P4AU knock me off my feet.
 
S

Swedesu

Member
kewlmyc said:
To be fair, Danganronpa, Titanfall, and Dark Souls II are the only games that released this year that I've played. My backlog games include Odin Sphere and SMT IV (why is everyone so unlikable and extremist), both of which I haven't finished.
Click to expand...

Isabeau is your girl bro and Neutral is the only path you should take, it's so much better than the other ones.
 
V

Venfayth

Member
buddha0991 said:
So PersonaGAF, what is your favorite game you played this year? It does not have to be released this year, but one you played. Me? My favorite is Phantasy Star Online 2!
Click to expand...

251621-h1.jpg


Lots of people have complaints about this game, but I have complaints about those people. Mostly that they're bad, or they don't actually play games. I'd say 95% of complaints come from people in those two categories.

The rest might be true, the game has some flaws, but by and large it is mechanically an improvement over the previous Souls games for many reasons, which in turn makes it a ton of fun to play.
 
S

sackboy2197

Member
Now that I think about it, I'm positive my game of the year is The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. The fact that it is not out yet doesn't matter.
 
S

SpacePirate Ridley

Member
Persona 4 golden and Danganronpa has been the best for me in 2014.

PK Gaming said:
I finished reading the Persona 4 official design works the other day, so I figured i'd post some interesting information for you guys.



Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Thanks PK, I already knew some of this, but other are new to me. Love the part of Soejima trying to inspire from real life and said, fuck it, this is boring, let's go with retro.
 
C

CrazyTank940

Member
buddha0991 said:
So PersonaGAF, what is your favorite game you played this year? It does not have to be released this year, but one you played. Me? My favorite is Phantasy Star Online 2!

tr9WDI0.png
Click to expand...

Well I guess I should boil it down to what I did play this year. Skullgirls Encore, Gundam Full Boost, Yaiba (ugh), Cel Damage HD, and JoJo's. Not a whole lot, but from that I'll go with Gundam, easily.
 
R

Red The Hunter

Member
Kinda late on some this but though I would comment on it anyway.
tumblr_mypm0k1ipC1qd62wro1_1280.jpg
Click to expand...
Dantis said:
Well that explains that then, I guess.

It's a neat style for sure, though not one I can particularly admire. It's too simplistic for me, I think. Feels like it lacks precision.
Click to expand...

Jintor said:
I don't think it lacks precision at all! Or maybe it's better to say it approaches precision from a different angle. I'm all about flow anyway. But to call it simplistic is a misnomer. I think it's the kind of style where the complexity leads a casual viewer to conclude that it's simplistic. The amount of colour theory that goes into each piece for instance is amazing. You don't really know until you've tried to actually make one of those kinds of pieces...
Click to expand...

Looking at this I do quite like it, it very much pops, the black against the colors helps this by creating a great contrast to the colors, along with the colors actually complimenting each other, with no one color overpowering the whole picture. I wouldn't say it greatest thing ever, but it's very well done. Though I would agree with Jintor, it's precise, but in a different way.
Lollipop Dave said:
I'm not a fan of the Cucumber Quest stuff, but everything else I like

tumblr_n4s9169UBd1qd62wro1_500.png


I just hate anthropomorphic animals.
Click to expand...
I do like those portraits of the Sailor Scouts, very adorable.
As for the anthropomorphic animals, I can respect that, it's not everyone's cup of tea. I like drawing them because of how fun they are to draw.
buddha0991 said:
So PersonaGAF, what is your favorite game you played this year? It does not have to be released this year, but one you played. Me? My favorite is Phantasy Star Online 2!

tr9WDI0.png
Click to expand...
Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 though I'm still going through 2, it's been a great experience playing those games, as it has a cool and very interesting story
Levito said:
Trying to get Lotus Juice thing going again. Inorigo contacted a Skullgirls developer that does a lot of Persona art, trying to put together an episode to talk about Soejima and Kaneko's art. Think we asked every artist in PGAF but got turned down every time. :(

Kind of not sure what to do next yet though TBH.
Click to expand...
An episode about Kaneko and Soejima art would be interesting. funny thing is, I'm actually thinking of doing an artist book on him for this art class I'm taking. Since I very much like his demon designs, as he has a very unique style to how he approaches drawing these mythological beings from various mythologies.
 
P

PK Gaming

Member
Green Mamba said:
Considering how weak Ayane is compared to the rest of the cast it's not surprising it was pretty much the work of one guy's persistence.



Alice (the Persona) is in the original Persona 4.

EDIT: An interesting thing I think you missed PK--the protagonist was designed to look especially good in glasses because you hardly ever see his face graphic without them.
Click to expand...

Right

I tried to summarize to the best of my ability, but I definitely missed out on content. I'll give it another read through and see if I can add more info.
 
W

we.are.the.armada

Member
PK Gaming said:
I finished reading the Persona 4 official design works the other day, so I figured i'd post some interesting information for you guys.
Click to expand...

<3 PK

  • Ayane wasn't very popular with P4 staff, and Soejima had to push to get her into the final game. Ayane is one of his favorite characters.
<3 Soejima
 
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