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Persona Community Thread |OT8| Coming Winter 2014

FluxWaveZ

Member
Ultimately, what I've seen from people who have played both is that people tend to prefer P3's ending to P4's. It's something close like 60%, anyways. I think it's the same for those I've seen who've played P2 and P4, but I don't know about P1.

I'm going to make a random poll I made on another forum once, and the results of this will determine whether I freak out or not (or confirm certain suspicions): http://www.poll-maker.com/poll403010xf7eb4641-15

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PK Gaming

Member
if it actually did that then maybe, but all it did is made me laugh it the amount of narrative hoops they jumped through to try and get to that point

You're free to see it that way, but
I don't think memory loss/gain is worth harping on. MC's passing on is the big picture here. It just feels like you can't reconcile that fact.
 
Wow Persona 3 cutscenes look really dated.

Like, the gunshot is just one frame, I don't really know what to feel about that.

Conveniently I could also watch the awakening scenes of the P4 anime and the P3 Movie, the awakening in the Movie is miles better. I do think that the Persona 4 Awakening looks a bit cooler in the game though.
 
You're free to see it that way, but
I don't think memory loss/gain is worth harping on. MC's passing on is the big picture here. It just feels like you can't reconcile that fact.
not really, I hate the concept but if its done right its fine but not preferable, it just wasnt in 3. I could give examples of when its done right but just naming names is huge spoilers
 

Sophia

Member
Obvious Persona 3 major ending spoilers in this post, of course! Burn your dread if you get spoiled!

the memory loss is explained poorly and still doesn't make perfect sense, just because the dark hour doesnt exist anymore doesnt logically immediately affect their memories of it. Why is the dark hour tied to memories at all? it was only tied to being aware of it as it was happening. P3P sortve ties it to memories with the people lost in it but thats about it. the bolded is just the most contrived thing ever, Some weird excuse to how his body and mind was hanging around without his soul, it was poorly thought out as a way and force the ending scene on the roof

Time is based off one's perception of it, and as the Dark Hour is a hidden hour of time, if one can't perceive it, then it doesn't exist. This is noted by Akihiko after rescuing Fuuka that Natsuki won't remember anything ("Don't worry, she's not like us, so she won't remember any of it."), and is also a key plot point in the drama CDs. In regards to the bolded, the Persona universe doesn't really have a "soul" in the sense that you're thinking of. It's more like a presence (sometimes called a wave) that generates an energy source, one's life force and though that one's identity. He used up most of his life force to create the seal, but kept just enough around to hang on to keep his promise. This is why he's noted to be extremely tired several times during the ending. It's not just narration either. Characters even note it if you talk to them during the final days that he appears sick/tired. Rest assured tho, he does die on the rooftop, and he's not literally in two places at once even if his lifeforce is. If it's still confusing to you, think of it as how Igor describes it when you get a game over in The Answer: "As proof of one's life, there exists the danger of death. This proof exists as a flame, painfully burning one's life away."

I actually agree (to a slight degree) about the memory loss being explained slightly poorly. It can be easy to forget some of the details that explain it during the course of the game, especially if the player doesn't bother to check out everything. The game makes it pretty clear that Mitsuru remembering the contradictions in her father's death is what brought about the return of everyone's memories. In the bad ending, where they made no promise to meet up on graduation day and their memories (save Aigis, who appears to be unaffected by Nyx due to her mechanical nature) are wiped clean completely, Mitsuru experiences no contradiction and thus does not remember anything. Aigis herself still has the memories, but she makes no attempt to act on them (and thus cause a paradox) during the bad ending.

Wow Persona 3 cutscenes look really dated.

Like, the gunshot is just one frame, I don't really know what to feel about that.

Conveniently I could also watch the awakening scenes of the P4 anime and the P3 Movie, the awakening in the Movie is miles better. I do think that the Persona 4 Awakening looks a bit cooler in the game though.

They're not dated. They were bad to begin with. The cutscenes are horribly compressed on the disc, and even if they weren't, they don't look good anyhow. The new FES cutscenes are miles better, but they're still compressed all to hell... :\
 

_Ryo_

Member
P3 has the better ending.
Also better social links (mostly) because I think their arcana matches their personalities more.
Also the dungeons have better fighting mechanics
team mates can fight and lvl up on their own, weak monsters run away from you so you know they arent worth your time to fight, you get skill cards (these were added to p4g)
P3P has FMC who is actually a better written character than both Yu and Yuki, you can romance males as well...


Dammit ive talked myself into wanting a persona 3 definitive version. Add more social links, jobs, and weather.

That said... Persona 4 is amazing but Persona 3 just... I dunno. It gave me the feels, man. Also p3 movies are much better than 4's animes...
 
The Golden Animation has the coolest awakening, clearly.

It was super sad to see that they dropped most of the New Game + shtick after the first two episodes.

P4GA shoudl've been more like this

fd5cfe3e022eb0767756026e7efffbfe.jpg

and less like this
 
Why all the marie hate?

Not really hating on her, I kinda like her in Persona Q but if I had to choose between another batch of "Bonds and Memories™" or "Narukami destroying everone on his path because he's a literal god" I'd pick the latter.
 

Sophia

Member
Why all the marie hate?

Marie in the Golden anime goes from being a slightly decisive character to being a Marie Sue who steals entire scenes from characters. This includes scenes she was never even present for in the game itself.
 
Dated or just plain bad, P3's cutscenes have a special place in my heart. They really capture that otherworldy vibe of the Dark Hour, and have style in all of the places you should have animation frames.

P4's (and hopefully P5's) have both style and animation, but there's just something special about all those still frames and crazy shadows.
 
but that picture of marie is so cute
P4GA Im sure is a mes, I havent watched it and don't plan on it

P4GA isn't that bad if you cherrypick some of the episodes, the christmas episode is fun in my opinion and there are also the
Adachi
episodes which cleared up some problems that I had with the original game, for the rest there are some good moments here and there but the main bulk is kinda bad.
 

FluxWaveZ

Member
Dated or just plain bad, P3's cutscenes have a special place in my heart. They really capture that otherworldy vibe of the Dark Hour, and have style in all of the places you should have animation frames.

P4's (and hopefully P5's) have both style and animation, but there's just something special about all those still frames and crazy shadows.

I agree with this.

And, alright, the poll is at 10 votes (which is the limit I was waiting for), and I'm at least glad most of us aren't crazy (though it was close with 5 for P3 and 4 for P4). Poor animation quality or not, the concept of Persona 3's awakening blows Persona 4's out of the water. I was so disappointed when I saw how lame Yu Narukami's was coming immediately from P3. Even Aigis' was better than his. The trigger for his is a floating tongue enemy? Really? There was no urgency, no impact... There was no style, while the scene for P3's had a very deliberate and interesting composition to it.

The little we've seen of Persona 5's protagonist's awakening immediately demolishes everything about Yu's.
 

PK Gaming

Member
Ultimately, what I've seen from people who have played both is that people tend to prefer P3's ending to P4's. It's something close like 60%, anyways. I think it's the same for those I've seen who've played P2 and P4, but I don't know about P1.

I'm going to make a random poll I made on another forum once, and the results of this will determine whether I freak out or not (or confirm certain suspicions): http://www.poll-maker.com/poll403010xf7eb4641-15

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Ooh boy

P3's awakening is obviously the GOAT. It's held back by its poor animation quality, but as far as atmosphere, direction, and music go, it pretty much nails everything. The build up before he actually pulls the trigger is especially great. The heartbeat, the wavering in his eyes, the sweating, the hesitation, the overall tension... it's all so good. The movie version does a few things better (Animation quality and Makoto's expression after he pulls the trigger) but it's longer and more drawn out, and it misses few of the things that made original special.


P4's awakening is pretty damn great. It's more succinct and tighter than P3s. The animation is obviously better and the musical progression is pretty much flawless. I especially like Yu's jubilant demeanor after he flips the card over, and this shot is godlike. Nowhere near as tense as P3's, but it's still pretty good.


Even though I prefer 3, both of them are really great. There's this inhuman quality that Yu and Makoto after immediately summoning their Persona that immediately sticks out for me.


The Answer's awakening is alright. It has tension and the animation is pretty good, but there's just way, way too much talking (and the dialogue is kind of cheesy) The lack of music is bummer and I don't find Metis to be all that threatening. Aigis's summoning of Orpheus itself is also pretty boring. It lacks the quirks that made Yu and Makoto's awakening stand out.
 
P4's awakening is pretty damn great. It's more succinct and tighter than P3s. The animation is obviously better and the musical progression is pretty much flawless. I especially like Yu's jubilant demeanor after he flips the card over, and this shot is godlike. Nowhere near as tense as P3's, but it's still pretty good.

Are you seriously telling me you prefer Izanagi's 5-second "test run" summoning to Thanatos' rampage?
 

FluxWaveZ

Member
Are you seriously telling me you prefer Izanagi's 5-second "test run" summoning to Thanatos' rampage?

No, PK obviously said the opposite in his post, thankfully.

There's not a lot of stuff that will make me think like this, but I can't help but figuratively look wide-eyed at anyone who would say that P4's awakening was better than P3's. It's an absurd thought to me. Even the vast majority of the Giant Bomb forums (ground zero for the P4 Endurance Run and the other forum I mentioned) agreed that P3 was better, and I think most even voted for P3FES over P4.
 

Really? Because

P4's awakening is pretty damn great. It's more succinct and tighter than P3s. The animation is obviously better and the musical progression is pretty much flawless. I especially like Yu's jubilant demeanor after he flips the card over, and this shot is godlike. Nowhere near as tense as P3's, but it's still pretty good.

sort of implies that you are.

Also I meant to point this out but didn't: P3's cut-scenes had way better animation than P4's did.
 

Sophia

Member
Really? Because



sort of implies that you are.

Are...are we reading the same thing? The last line of the very thing you quoted twice, he says it's nowhere near the P3 one. o_O;

Also I meant to point this out but didn't: P3's cut-scenes had way better animation than P4's did.

P3's animated cutscenes were so bad in quality the studio who made them didn't even wanted to be credited in the game's credits. >_>;
 
Are...are we reading the same thing? The last line of the very thing you quoted twice, he says it's nowhere near the P3 one. o_O;

No, he says it's not as tense. That's a world of difference. One quality isn't the overall experience.



P3's animated cutscenes were so bad in quality the studio who made them didn't even wanted to be credited in the game's credits. >_>;

They make P4's cut-scenes look like DEEN/Stay Night
 
Are you seriously telling me you prefer Izanagi's 5-second "test run" summoning to Thanatos' rampage?

I admit I kinda do because I see Thanatos bursting out of Orpheus as less "holy shit that's cool" and more "oh shit, that can't be good".
P4 kept it nice and simple with a guitar solo and going straight into the first battle.

Incidentally, I wonder if people who generally prefer P4 over P3 are the ones who played it first?
 

FluxWaveZ

Member
I admit I kinda do because I see Thanatos bursting out of Orpheus as less "holy shit that's cool" and more "oh shit, that can't be good".
P4 kept it nice and simple with a guitar solo and going straight into the first battle.

Incidentally, I wonder if people who generally prefer P4 over P3 are the ones who played it first?

Even people who were exposed to P4 first and love it more than P3 have said they preferred P3's awakening scene over P4's. An isolated case like this has nothing to do with which game one played first; it's simply judging the scene by itself, and I have this weird pity for anyone who can look at P4's awakening and honestly go, "Yep, that's better than Persona 3's."
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Well, it's not like what you're saying isn't true, but I still disagree.

ZxJUgK8h.jpg

I'm gonna guess this is a bad attempt at changing the official sub to "You may be right, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna put up with your shit".


Also, P2 (EP)'s awakening strikes a huge nostalgic chord for me, even if it's not very flashy.

Persona. Persona! CALL YOUR PERSONA!
 
Incidentally, I wonder if people who generally prefer P4 over P3 are the ones who played it first?

Not true for my case. P3FES was my first foray into Persona, and P4 is the superior game for me.

Also, lol, the animation in P5's "awakening" > P3 and P4's. But, that's what happens when you have an actual quality studio (Production I.G.) and budget to do the animation.
 
Not true for my case. P3FES was my first foray into Persona, and P4 is the superior game for me.

Also, lol, the animation in P5's "awakening" > P3 and P4's. But, that's what happens when you have an actual quality studio (Production I.G.) and budget to do the animation.

Interesting. Is that largely from a gameplay perspective, or does that include story and characters?
 
I'm gonna guess this is a bad attempt at changing the official sub to "You may be right, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna put up with your shit".

Not as such, that picture is just a joke.

That said, it's technically more correct than Crunchyroll's liberal interpretation of the line.
 
Interesting. Is that largely from a gameplay perspective, or does that include story and characters?

The whole package. Everything about P4 > P3 for me.
Well, okay, I probably will consent that P3 has a better final boss encounter (but it's mainly because of "The Battle for Everyone's Souls").
It's my personal GOAT.
 
The whole package. Everything about P4 > P3 for me.
Well, okay, I probably will consent that P3 has a better final boss encounter (but it's mainly because of "The Battle for Everyone's Souls").
It's my personal GOAT.

Yeah...
Mist and Genesis are cool and all, but Battle for Everyone's Souls is on another level.

I understand if someone doesn't like it. But saying it's forced is completely wrong

Hm... Is there a difference between "forced" and "manipulative"?
 
Of course I'm gone when a P3 discussion comes up

Sophia and Flux pretty much summed up what I would have said. P3's themes of
life and death, knowing what to do with the life you have, and understanding that death is inevitable
all fit in with the game and its ending.

Please don't kill me for taking shots at a sacred cow.
I understand if someone doesn't like it. But saying it's forced is completely wrong
 
No remix will ever be as good as the totally original,
.

Also Manipulative is not Forced, as manipulation gives the false sense of freewill..

That is also a really good song.

Maybe
the dialogue you have on the last day with your S-links
counts as giving a false sense of freewill?

Probably, the fact that it isn't just one long cutscene is baffling to me.

Regardless of what happened in the end, I think it was vital that it was playable.
 

Sophia

Member
P4GA was ruined for me when Marie took Rise's singing scene

Yeah I mean. I disliked Marie's social link in the game itself, but I wasn't outright hating on the character. Her dungeon + related story were decent enough. It was when the Golden anime came out and went full on forcing her into scenes where she did not belong that she started to become a problem. Some real borderline Mary Sue territory. Ultimax and Persona Q have thankfully dialed her back a bit (and made her likable in a few spots!)
 

Dantis

Member
I couldn't give a hoot about the awakening scenes, but P4's ending is leagues better. P3's is still great, but P4's is probably my favourite game ending ever.

And yes, I played P3 first.
 
I couldn't give a hoot about the awakening scenes, but P4's ending is leagues better. P3's is still great, but P4's is probably my favourite game ending ever.

And yes, I played P3 first.

I liked both, but P3's brought alot of my emotions out and i was very attached to its characters, so it's been my all-time favorite since i first finished it
 

CorvoSol

Member
P4's ending is better because
I already beat FFX

In P3 the reason
people forget
is because you
are gonna die, and teenagers are always afraid people will forget them when they're dead. Themes.

Izanagi's awakening is cooler than Orpheus'. Izanagi is cooler than Orpheus.

Thanatos is tainted by affiliating with worst Velvet Attendant Ever Elizabeth.

Elly is fucking incredible and her personas are cooler than everybody else's and she's a better character and has a better awakening and ending and final boss fight and social link and jpop ED and stats and design aesthetic and motif than the rest of all filthy plebs.

#EllySona
 
I couldn't give a hoot about the awakening scenes, but P4's ending is leagues better. P3's is still great, but P4's is probably my favourite game ending ever.

And yes, I played P3 first.
I hate having to qualify this...people love to bring it up (though it hasnt really happened in this thread).

I played P3 before P4, and I played FF6 before FF7, and I played starcraft 1 before starcraft 2...
 
Yeah I mean. I disliked Marie's social link in the game itself, but I wasn't outright hating on the character. Her dungeon + related story were decent enough. It was when the Golden anime came out and went full on forcing her into scenes where she did not belong that she started to become a problem. Some real borderline Mary Sue territory. Ultimax and Persona Q have thankfully dialed her back a bit (and made her likable in a few spots!)

:(

Marie is possibly my favorite part of P4G... Her SLink Lv 8 always get me to tear up. And her boss battle is freaking epic. The best version of I'll face myself.

But yeah, I didn't care much about P4GA because there was basically no story. It was just to show the new stuff in Golden. Except for the Adachi episode. That one was awesome.
 
Marie felt like more of a one-note trope to me than an actual character. The way they put her in the story was pretty contrived too. My least favorite addition in Golden tbh
 
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