buddha0991
Member
nope
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Persona Community Thread |OT9| SPOILER TAGS OR DIE
- Thread starter Dantis
- Start date
MudoSkills
Volcano High Alumnus (Cum Laude)
Finished the game this morning: 98 hours, 95% compendium, 1 waifu.
Straight into NG+, where the plan is mop up trophies, take all romance options, and have everyone spend the entire game in their swimsuits.
Straight into NG+, where the plan is mop up trophies, take all romance options, and have everyone spend the entire game in their swimsuits.
Green Mamba
Member
Every Persona in P2 is a motorcycle though.
Not Spaceghost
Spaceghost
It never dawned on me until now that the Star Athlete in P3 is also the Star arcana...ahahahaha it's so lame I love it.
Wow I forgot how hard P3FES is, holy hell it feels like it's just difficulty spike after difficulty spike. I think it's because the game tends to throw overly specialized bosses at you, like ones that obliterate you if you're not resistant to one specific damage type, and on top of that the press turn function in the game is very not lenient. If you cast magaru and 3 of them are weak and 1 misses then you get no bonus turn, if then you use magaru on two dudes who aren't knocked down and 1 already is then you'll knock 2 down but wake 1 up so you lose your chance at an all out attack.
Game is rough.
Wow I forgot how hard P3FES is, holy hell it feels like it's just difficulty spike after difficulty spike. I think it's because the game tends to throw overly specialized bosses at you, like ones that obliterate you if you're not resistant to one specific damage type, and on top of that the press turn function in the game is very not lenient. If you cast magaru and 3 of them are weak and 1 misses then you get no bonus turn, if then you use magaru on two dudes who aren't knocked down and 1 already is then you'll knock 2 down but wake 1 up so you lose your chance at an all out attack.
Game is rough.
snow in jamaica
Member
Vesta is actually a lighter!
Real talk, I wish it still worked like that. The current system just seems a bit too lenient. Actually, Persona 3 in general has some risk/reward design choices (social links reversing, studying at night while tired might make you tired the next day, etc) that I wish were expanded on future entries rather than downright dropped. When it comes to balancing social life and dungeons, I think they streamlined some systems too much in the social side of the equation. Personally, now that they fixed dungeons, I'd like to see them tackle the social elements on P6. Make it more mechanically engaging/complex.
Not Spaceghost
Spaceghost
You know I actually agree, despite me sounding like I was complaining about it I think it actually works in the games favor, it makes combat a lot more tense and strategic and actually gives you a reason to use single target spells more frequently. Tartarus is downright horrifying when you make a mistake, but what's awesome about P3 is that because there is so little to actually do at night for the bulk of the game (I think only tanaka, the club dude are the only evening social links and the bulk of your evenings are spent doing social stats stuff which max out rather quickly) you're spending a ton of time doing tartarus because the place starts outpacing your XP gain rather soon.
In that regard I think P5s mementos failed really hard, instead of feeling like something you were meant to pick at throughout the game it ends up feeling like somewhere you don't want to be until you've stockpiled as many missions as possible. Part of that is because you can only access it in the afternoon.
You're definitely right about P3 being heavy on risk reward, being able to miss out on some +academics points in exchange for sleeping in class because you're planning on spelunking in tartarus at night is a great dynamic. Reversing social links is also great since it forces you to really think twice before you agree to make plans or heavily invest yourself with another character.
Cannon_Fodder
Member
I still remember the frustration I felt when I first started playing P4 after finishing P3. I loved that Tartarus was only available at night, and the idea that I had to go to the dungeon during the afternoon and miss out on an entire calendar day constantly irked me. I only really got over it when I played Golden a year or two later, haha
snow in jamaica
Member
I'd like for dungeon crawling to take place at night and inside a dream world because it's kind of nuts that this series about the psyche hasn't been anywhere near as surreal as Nocturne.
https://twitter.com/AkasuraXrd/status/860896717335654402
Tag yourself I'm ???
Tag yourself I'm ???
He doesn't wear them in the menu art either.
It seems it's just for fashion reasons which is a little weird but whatever. He looks good with them *shrug*
It seems it's just for fashion reasons which is a little weird but whatever. He looks good with them *shrug*
snow in jamaica
Member
I like Doppelganger's affinities.
The best thing is the game distinguishing between one-handed swords and two-handed swords.
CrimsonFist
Member
.
jesssssssusssssssssssss
There is an interview with Meguro and SOejima on glixel.com
and one particular answer makes me very sad:
Mr. Meguro, Persona Live concerts are incredibly popular in Japan. What would it take to bring a Persona concert to North America?
Meguro: I think there's a lot of things that go into performing a live concert in the US or Europe, but I don't think Persona has the fame or popularity overseas to attract an enough of a crowd for a concert. If there was more hype online and greater overseas sales particularly if Persona 5 sold more copies I'd be happy to bring the live concert overseas. I, personally, would love to do it.
:[
and one particular answer makes me very sad:
Mr. Meguro, Persona Live concerts are incredibly popular in Japan. What would it take to bring a Persona concert to North America?
Meguro: I think there's a lot of things that go into performing a live concert in the US or Europe, but I don't think Persona has the fame or popularity overseas to attract an enough of a crowd for a concert. If there was more hype online and greater overseas sales particularly if Persona 5 sold more copies I'd be happy to bring the live concert overseas. I, personally, would love to do it.
:[
Lol Meguro you sly dog. He must be salty because Persona 5 lost to BOTW in NeoGAF's hype list. If only it got first place.
Maybe there would be more online hype if Atlus didn't impose those ridiculous streaming and screenshot restrictions.
Mediking
Member
Thanks for sharing the link to the interview. I freaking LOVE Soejima!!! I love Meguro too but Soejima's character design style is so good to me.
Interviewer:Given that Persona 4 is a PS2 game, the jump production quality between it and Persona 5 is immense. Was it a tremendous workload for you?
Soejima: Yes, of course. Not only for myself but for the whole team. At the same time, the level of detail and realism that's possible for the PS4 is that much greater, so in this way, it is much more rewarding. With Persona 4, I didn't have as much control over the tone or feel of the visuals. For this project, I had to have a very clear vision of what I wanted, or else I would end up with a very mediocre drawing. So, I feel I spent a lot of time and energy and a lot of trial and error trying to figure out how to develop an efficient working process.
Didn't P5 sell better in the west?
CrimsonFist
Member
Japan is a far smaller location with a much higher concentration of fans who could attend. A concert in London isn't going to be accessible to the majority of people in the west.
Cannon_Fodder
Member
Speaking of sales, is it weird that Atlus USA hasn't released any PR about P5's sales in the West? I remember them putting something out for Catherine (describing it as their best launch ever) but I can't remember when that was released relative to that game's launch. Or did I just miss something?
CrimsonFist
Member
They released PR about it shipping 1.5 million copies worldwide.
Cannon_Fodder
Member
I thought that was Atlus Japan? I guess it makes sense that they'd both release that statement though. Thanks, but I guess I was expecting more bragging or something, haha.
CrimsonFist
Member
It was Atlus Japan, then Atlus USA sent out a translated version.
Mediking
Member
Where is Atlusprime...? :/
Has the new Atlusprime even made it out to here yet?
New PR man seems much quieter than past ones. Might be that he's just getting used to the role.
Cannon_Fodder
Member
Seems pretty likely. Plus, with the number of E3 mentions I'm seeing on my twitter feed, I'm thinking right now is a pretty hectic time for games PR people. Must be especially tough at Atlus, getting that EOV announcement ready (I hope).
In lieu of more Atlus USA sales talk, I'm looking forward to NPD results. Nier of all things charting last month was really cool, so I hope to see some P5 love.
CrimsonFist
Member
Might hear some more sales talk on Friday too, when SEGA publishes their financial results for the year.
Mediking
Member
Literally the ONLY time I can remember Will aka new Atlusprime even speaking on GAF is when thread was that thing about either the DLC thing or the streaming thing. Other than that...? 0. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
It's not that big of a deal but I do miss how Hardin would interact with us and answer questions without a problem (usually).
Cannon_Fodder
Member
Oh, that's good to know. Thanks.
I'm not sure where's the best place to ask this, but I'll try here:
I'm nearing the end of P5 (currently 12/24) and it's making me a bit nostalgic for P3/P4. I have FES and P4 for the PS2, but I've never played P3P or P4G. I was eyeing the Vita for a while, but I've never been a fan of handhelds and the price was always off-putting.
However, I just noticed the PSTV is currently $60, which isn't bad at all. A 16GB memory card is still an additional $50, though. So, anyone have experience playing these two games on PSTV? Can I get away with just using internal storage? Are the P3P/P4G additions worth buying a PSTV over? I'd love to hear an opinion or two.
I'm nearing the end of P5 (currently 12/24) and it's making me a bit nostalgic for P3/P4. I have FES and P4 for the PS2, but I've never played P3P or P4G. I was eyeing the Vita for a while, but I've never been a fan of handhelds and the price was always off-putting.
However, I just noticed the PSTV is currently $60, which isn't bad at all. A 16GB memory card is still an additional $50, though. So, anyone have experience playing these two games on PSTV? Can I get away with just using internal storage? Are the P3P/P4G additions worth buying a PSTV over? I'd love to hear an opinion or two.
TheGamingBox
Banned
buy a 4GB memory card and buy persona 4 golden physically probably cheaper than buying a 16GB memory card
eyeball_kid
Member
P3 definitely makes you pay attention to the mechanics so you can get a all-out attack, but I find P5 to be much harder (granted, I'm playing on Hard). In P3 if you knocked down an enemy, they would have to take a turn to recover before they could attack again. This was very helpful in situations where you needed to heal or add buffs/debuffs. But in P5, a knockdown offers no such benefit -- shadows can recover+attack in one turn. I don't really like that change because once you get into dire situations there's very little room to avoid wiping.
Agreed.
Does P5 not have reversible links? I've met a couple characters so far where Morgana says, "Be sure to accept this person's invitations until you gain their trust", which I took to mean that a reversal would happen with the link if I ignored them.
btw, I've played P3 twice and never knew that sleeping in class had a benefit! I never once chose that option.
Genuinely curious as to what songs from P5 they'll play at the concert.
Here are the givens:
Life Will Change
Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There,
Last Surprise
Rivers in the Desert
Likely, but not certain:
Whims of Fate
Beneath the Mask
Blooming Villian
Keeper of Lust
Ending Credits theme that I haven't heard yet
I wish we'd get a remix, but we won't:
Days When My Mother Was There
Layer Cake
Butterfly Kiss
A live remix of Rivers in the Desert should be incredible, since the main problem with that song was the lackluster instrumentation around it.
Here are the givens:
Life Will Change
Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There,
Last Surprise
Rivers in the Desert
Likely, but not certain:
Whims of Fate
Beneath the Mask
Blooming Villian
Keeper of Lust
Ending Credits theme that I haven't heard yet
I wish we'd get a remix, but we won't:
Days When My Mother Was There
Layer Cake
Butterfly Kiss
A live remix of Rivers in the Desert should be incredible, since the main problem with that song was the lackluster instrumentation around it.
Not Spaceghost
Spaceghost
Yeah lol I only noticed the sleeping in class benefit when I had maxed my academics out and I was like "fuck it lets sleep through this so I don't have to skip as much dialogue" and it said "your condition has improved to great!" It's pretty neat.
Honestly I didn't find P5 to be as hard, I am comparing both of these games normal modes of course. P3 FES on normal is much more challenging than almost anything P5 threw at me. The main challenges of P5 are the SP conservation challenge but having full party control makes conserving SP a bit easier, especially when you get things like "baton pass" for all your characters and the ability to swap out team mates mid fight. SP isn't actually a huge issue in P3 since it refills every time you go back to the lobby of tartarus - so when you get enough party members to not really have to worry about tiredness you can go on for a long time. The challenge of P3 comes from the plentiful minibosses, some are really easy others are probably harder than the bosses that follow. Hell there is that one boss that spams sexy dance, magarudyne and garudyne, so there is a strong chance that the only way you'll finish that fight is if you make a persona that's resistant or null to wind and bring Yuka-tan with you lol, there aren't really many encounters in P4 or P5 that require you to go that in depth just clear something like a miniboss on just plain old normal mode.
Really the miniboss in the 4th palace
Mot
the arch angels
But there is an alternative possibility here, that i'm just abysmal at P3
CrimsonFist
Member
"P Sound Bomb"
P4D was advertised as "P Sound Action"
P4D was advertised as "P Sound Action"
A Dead Diehard
Member
Get that PSTV. It's a really handy and inexpensive machine.
The fact that it's been discontinued is all the more incentive.
Also, "Bomb" implies more than one reveal, right?
Or is that just wishful thinking?
StarSketch
Banned
Oh god damn it
I was like "They wouldn't announce a game at one of these concerts right?"
And then I remembered what happened with P5's first PV
That concert was also called Night of the Phantom
Goddamn it.
I made a similar post last week, here's what I think:
Certainty:
Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There (Intro)
Beneath the Mask (Daily Life)
Last Surprise (Battle)
Life Will Change (Heist)
Rivers in the Desert (Late Boss Battle)
With the Stars and Us (Ending)
Could happen:
Tokyo Daylight (Daily Life)
Awakening + Will Power (Persona awakening+battle)
Keeper of Lust (Mid Boss Battle)
Blooming Villain (Boss Battle)
Jaldabaoth
The Days When my Mother was There (4th Dungeon)
The Whims of Fate (6th Dungeon)
Huge maybe:
Phantom (Main Menu) - I could see it as an intro to a short medley after the first couple of songs
Tokyo Emergency (Daily Life)
Layer Cake (Weapons Shop)
Butterfly Kiss (Clinic)
Confession (Talk)
Sunset Bridge (Realization)
Price (3rd Dungeon) - I could see this be part of some medley like they did with P4 Arena tracks
Life Goes On (Exams)
Alleycat (Reflecting) - This is wishful thinking. But the piano at 2:10 is soooo good.
Whats Going On (Light Conversations) - More wishful thinking but they've done this kind of track live before. The percussion are just too good.
Sure, but seeing as they have these "P5" seats and combine the other two games in "P3-P4" seats, I think about half of it will be P5, with the other half being the absolute most popular of those five other games, or a medley in the case of P4A. So I'd think around 10 songs from P5.
Persona Super Live 2015 had 24 songs. I think all vocal tracks are in, except maybe for Whims of Fate, and then a few others like Tokyo Daylight, which was performed at the Electone Concert.
CrimsonFist
Member
I'd expect it to be focused on P5 and mostly ignore the spinoffs though.
P4A and P4AU give them a way to put Heartful Cry and Battle for Everyone's Soul (and thus the staple Poem for Everyone's Soul) in the concert and have them be pretty short. If we look at the last setlist and remove what has no chance, we're left with these 15:
Dance! - Hirata Shihoko
Break Out Of - Hirata Shihoko Lotus Juice
Maze of Life - Hirata Shihoko Yumi Kawamura
Mass Destruction - Lotus Juice Yumi Kawamura
Burn My Dread - Lotus Juice Yumi Kawamura
Pursuing My True Self - Hirata Shihoko
Your Affection - Hirata Shihoko
Fog
Laser Beam/Deep Breath - Lotus Juice
P4A P4AU (Heartful Cry, Battle for Everyones Souls, etc.)
Never More - Hirata Shihoko
Kimi no Kioku - Yumi Kawamura
Time to Make History - Hirata Shihoko
Light the Fire - Hirata Shihoko Lotus Juice Yumi Kawamura
Reach Out to Truth - Hirata Shihoko Lotus Juice
Bolded are the safe bets. Those make 3 tracks each for the P3/P4 singers, + whatever else they keep from the rest of those songs (or bring back from past concerts). Considering the last two concerts with the band had 24 songs, and Music Box had 29 songs, I think it's safe to say we have at least 10 tracks from P5 and 10 tracks from P3+P4.
CrimsonFist
Member
My guesses for live P5 tracks:
1) Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There
2) Beneath the Mask
3) The Whims of Fate
4) Life Will Change
5) Last Surprise
6) Rivers in the Desert
7) Hoshi to Bokura to
I'd guess they'll probably do a few instrumentals, too, like how they often do I'll Face Myself or Fog. So for those:
8) Blooming Villain
9) Either Willpower or Keeper of Lust
10)
(final boss)
1) Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There
2) Beneath the Mask
3) The Whims of Fate
4) Life Will Change
5) Last Surprise
6) Rivers in the Desert
7) Hoshi to Bokura to
I'd guess they'll probably do a few instrumentals, too, like how they often do I'll Face Myself or Fog. So for those:
8) Blooming Villain
9) Either Willpower or Keeper of Lust
10)
Yaldabaoth
Reanimatoin
Member
So i decided to leave it a few weeks after beating the game before I posted my thoughts on it. For one reason, to avoid honeymoon syndrome where the new thing is automatically the best thing ever, and secondly so that I could genuinely think about what I thought of the game rather than going on gut reaction.
That being said, here we go. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRETY OF PERSONA 5 FROM HERE ON!
That'll do for now. I have more thoughts but its 3.30am here and I havent posted here since the JP release (my spoiler bunker was fucking airtight). But yay, back to posting in gaf again I guess. Look forward toarguing discussing with you all.
That being said, here we go. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRETY OF PERSONA 5 FROM HERE ON!
This game is fucking great! Big fucking shock, I know, whoda thunk it?
So lets break this thing down into sections;
story, characters, audio, gameplay.
STORY:
One of the things that I most appreciated about P5 is the way the story is presented to you. The fact that the story is told in medias res and gives each smaller story a definitive start and ending all the while just feeding you tiny pieces of the bigger picture is the BEST. Ive seen some people complain about the pacing of the game in the later stages, or say that the game seems to drag at points, but personally,
not a single minute in this game felt rushed or sluggish.
Getting onto the plot and themes of the game,
just as P4 came into my life at a time where I was unsure about who I wanted to be, P5 has come along at a point where I have been just rolling on day by day without thinking,
just letting life carry me along rather than actively making a difference for myself. So naturally, just like P4 before it, this game hit me with a very relevant message for the point of life I'm in right now.
With the exception on the 3rd palace,
I loved how personal all of them felt to the characters. It's clearly something they learned from P4 and it's expanded upon and implemented really well here. Ann and Ryuji in the Castle, Yusuke in the Museum, Futaba's Tomb, Haru in the Space Sweatshop, Makoto and Sae in the Casino, and MC and Akechi on the Ark. And while Mementos itself felt extremely lackluster (I get the themes, its just zzzzzz) the post Mementos dungeon (prison) is a really strong one in my opinion.
One of the things ive seen thrown around about P5 is that its a less emotional game than 3/4, and while I understand this train of thought, Im going to slightly disagree with it. I wouldnt say that its a less emotional game, but rather the emotions that it conveys to you are wildly different to the other games. P3 was all about depression and melancholy and overcoming them, P4 was about self happiness and dealing with unwanted emotions like envy, boredom and grief. The emotions that P5 conveys more than anything are anger, excitement, apprehension and a wanting to change perception. Now these are all super strong in P5, the game definitely doesnt have as many tear jerking moments as 3 or 4, but that doesnt mean its less emotional. Plus, its nice to have an ending that is just sweet, rather than bittersweet.
Onto the finale. Its been 3 weeks since I beat the game and Im still SUPER FUCKING HYPED over that ending! Fighting the 4 archangels and then summoning Sataniel, the giver of choice and free will, to SHOOT GOD IN THE FACE! MMMMMMMMMYESPLEASETHANKYOUVERYMUCH! I dont even care if its just my inner 13 year old screaming out, this is one of my favourite gaming moments of the past decade!
Characters: I really, really like this band of dorks. And i love the fact that their main stories were told in the main story rather than their s.links. The links definitely helped further them in terms of who they are, but you got to know so much about them through the course of the main tale rather than needing to find it in side stories, which is something that was sorely missing from P4, its pretty much going back to the P3 way of developing party members, which in my opinion works better.
Admittedly, Yusuke and Haru are the two that didnt really stand out amongst the rest. But I didnt even start Haru's link, so that may change. Yusuke though....I dont get the appeal. Its like they tried to make him a weirdo but didnt go far enough, so he just comes off as...well...off. I dunno, maybe I'll warm more to him on playthrough 2.
As for the confidants, the majority of them are fantastic. Its pretty much a persona standard now, but the side stories in this game are great. From the more grandiose ones like Kawakami to the more subdued ones like Tora. I didnt finish all of them, but the ones I did, I was really pleased with. Also, its kinda sad seeing people crap all over Devil, because I thought that was an awesome one with GOD FUCKING AWFUL bonuses. Speaking of the bonuses, how good is it to get something other than an xp boost from doing them? Imagine putting this on links from 3/4, people might not despise Kenji so much.......who am I kidding, he's still the worst.
Audio:
Its been said countless times in here but the OST is top fucking tier, there's just not enough of it! The highs are super high and they just leave you wanting more. The dungeon themes are sooooo good, compared to 3 and 4, theyre a world apart, Whims of Fate might be the most fun dungeon theme of all time!
That being said, there are low points. The incredibly dull mementos theme being one. But the bigger disappointment is the final boss theme, not because its bad, but because its 1/3 of a good song. The first minute of that song seems like it should build to something huge.....but it doesnt, it just loops. Still Rivers, Last surprise and Life will Change (mainly the instrumental version) are all fucking godlike!
So, I'm not going to hark on about the localisation, we all know its flawed, to the point where certain lines make literally no sense whatsoever (that heavy rain one.....whut?) but overall, it didnt hurt my experience.
What I will say, is the voice acting is on point! Ryuji, Morgana, Makoto being standouts in my opinion. Its the level of acting that you expect from these games, regardless of how...odd the script is at times. The actors took what they were given and gave us the best they had, and it is great!
But again, there are a couple of...not so great performances. Get Smoked kid is easily the worst voice in the entire game, bar none. The only other one that particularly stood out was Haru. Shes not terrible, but its very inconsistent with what I heard. Again, I never did her confidant, so she may be great in that, I dont know.
Gameplay:
So this is the new standard for turn based combat, right? It used to be FFX/ToCS system, but honestly this whole deal of having no real menus to scroll through just makes everything flow so much smoother. Everything is instant and snappy, and considering that turn based combat is notoriously slow paced, its a breath of fresh air.
Positive changes, being able to switch party members mid dungeon, hell even mid BATTLE is something that is looooong overdue. Technical attacks being implemented make status effects actually useful for once! Light and Dark damaging skills instead of just IK attacks, thank christ because the IK attacks are still worthless. Baton pass being added gives the tactics a whole new flavour to it, youre not reliant on MC to hurt everything all the time anymore.
The only real negative I found is that the turn order after an ambush is fucked if you dont kill in your turn. Because it doesnt move the enemies turn, it adds a new turn with you at the top and the enemies at the bottom, meaning if you dont kill them on your turn, the enemy might get 2 turns in a row.
Oh, and one last thing. The final boss is too easy. Now I dont know if this is because I was playing on normal, but all of the status effects the final boss inflicted, apart from hunger, never triggered. I was just able to act as normal even with the status inflicted. So as for how to fix the final boss? Easy. Status effects always trigger once inflicted, the body cannot take damage so long as an arm is active, because otherwise you just use ma-whatever to hit everything with no negative repercussions, this makes the body die super fast and the arms are a non issue, and give the arms more strengths, they all have one element that they dont take damage from, but everything else hits as hard as normal, give them one element to be weakest to, one to be normal to, one to absorb, one to reflect, and the rest just do minimal damage. Some might say this would make the boss too hard or grindy, but its the FINAL BOSS, it ought to be a challenge, right?
So lets break this thing down into sections;
story, characters, audio, gameplay.
STORY:
One of the things that I most appreciated about P5 is the way the story is presented to you. The fact that the story is told in medias res and gives each smaller story a definitive start and ending all the while just feeding you tiny pieces of the bigger picture is the BEST. Ive seen some people complain about the pacing of the game in the later stages, or say that the game seems to drag at points, but personally,
not a single minute in this game felt rushed or sluggish.
Getting onto the plot and themes of the game,
just as P4 came into my life at a time where I was unsure about who I wanted to be, P5 has come along at a point where I have been just rolling on day by day without thinking,
just letting life carry me along rather than actively making a difference for myself. So naturally, just like P4 before it, this game hit me with a very relevant message for the point of life I'm in right now.
With the exception on the 3rd palace,
I loved how personal all of them felt to the characters. It's clearly something they learned from P4 and it's expanded upon and implemented really well here. Ann and Ryuji in the Castle, Yusuke in the Museum, Futaba's Tomb, Haru in the Space Sweatshop, Makoto and Sae in the Casino, and MC and Akechi on the Ark. And while Mementos itself felt extremely lackluster (I get the themes, its just zzzzzz) the post Mementos dungeon (prison) is a really strong one in my opinion.
One of the things ive seen thrown around about P5 is that its a less emotional game than 3/4, and while I understand this train of thought, Im going to slightly disagree with it. I wouldnt say that its a less emotional game, but rather the emotions that it conveys to you are wildly different to the other games. P3 was all about depression and melancholy and overcoming them, P4 was about self happiness and dealing with unwanted emotions like envy, boredom and grief. The emotions that P5 conveys more than anything are anger, excitement, apprehension and a wanting to change perception. Now these are all super strong in P5, the game definitely doesnt have as many tear jerking moments as 3 or 4, but that doesnt mean its less emotional. Plus, its nice to have an ending that is just sweet, rather than bittersweet.
Onto the finale. Its been 3 weeks since I beat the game and Im still SUPER FUCKING HYPED over that ending! Fighting the 4 archangels and then summoning Sataniel, the giver of choice and free will, to SHOOT GOD IN THE FACE! MMMMMMMMMYESPLEASETHANKYOUVERYMUCH! I dont even care if its just my inner 13 year old screaming out, this is one of my favourite gaming moments of the past decade!
Characters: I really, really like this band of dorks. And i love the fact that their main stories were told in the main story rather than their s.links. The links definitely helped further them in terms of who they are, but you got to know so much about them through the course of the main tale rather than needing to find it in side stories, which is something that was sorely missing from P4, its pretty much going back to the P3 way of developing party members, which in my opinion works better.
Admittedly, Yusuke and Haru are the two that didnt really stand out amongst the rest. But I didnt even start Haru's link, so that may change. Yusuke though....I dont get the appeal. Its like they tried to make him a weirdo but didnt go far enough, so he just comes off as...well...off. I dunno, maybe I'll warm more to him on playthrough 2.
As for the confidants, the majority of them are fantastic. Its pretty much a persona standard now, but the side stories in this game are great. From the more grandiose ones like Kawakami to the more subdued ones like Tora. I didnt finish all of them, but the ones I did, I was really pleased with. Also, its kinda sad seeing people crap all over Devil, because I thought that was an awesome one with GOD FUCKING AWFUL bonuses. Speaking of the bonuses, how good is it to get something other than an xp boost from doing them? Imagine putting this on links from 3/4, people might not despise Kenji so much.......who am I kidding, he's still the worst.
Audio:
Its been said countless times in here but the OST is top fucking tier, there's just not enough of it! The highs are super high and they just leave you wanting more. The dungeon themes are sooooo good, compared to 3 and 4, theyre a world apart, Whims of Fate might be the most fun dungeon theme of all time!
That being said, there are low points. The incredibly dull mementos theme being one. But the bigger disappointment is the final boss theme, not because its bad, but because its 1/3 of a good song. The first minute of that song seems like it should build to something huge.....but it doesnt, it just loops. Still Rivers, Last surprise and Life will Change (mainly the instrumental version) are all fucking godlike!
So, I'm not going to hark on about the localisation, we all know its flawed, to the point where certain lines make literally no sense whatsoever (that heavy rain one.....whut?) but overall, it didnt hurt my experience.
What I will say, is the voice acting is on point! Ryuji, Morgana, Makoto being standouts in my opinion. Its the level of acting that you expect from these games, regardless of how...odd the script is at times. The actors took what they were given and gave us the best they had, and it is great!
But again, there are a couple of...not so great performances. Get Smoked kid is easily the worst voice in the entire game, bar none. The only other one that particularly stood out was Haru. Shes not terrible, but its very inconsistent with what I heard. Again, I never did her confidant, so she may be great in that, I dont know.
Gameplay:
So this is the new standard for turn based combat, right? It used to be FFX/ToCS system, but honestly this whole deal of having no real menus to scroll through just makes everything flow so much smoother. Everything is instant and snappy, and considering that turn based combat is notoriously slow paced, its a breath of fresh air.
Positive changes, being able to switch party members mid dungeon, hell even mid BATTLE is something that is looooong overdue. Technical attacks being implemented make status effects actually useful for once! Light and Dark damaging skills instead of just IK attacks, thank christ because the IK attacks are still worthless. Baton pass being added gives the tactics a whole new flavour to it, youre not reliant on MC to hurt everything all the time anymore.
The only real negative I found is that the turn order after an ambush is fucked if you dont kill in your turn. Because it doesnt move the enemies turn, it adds a new turn with you at the top and the enemies at the bottom, meaning if you dont kill them on your turn, the enemy might get 2 turns in a row.
Oh, and one last thing. The final boss is too easy. Now I dont know if this is because I was playing on normal, but all of the status effects the final boss inflicted, apart from hunger, never triggered. I was just able to act as normal even with the status inflicted. So as for how to fix the final boss? Easy. Status effects always trigger once inflicted, the body cannot take damage so long as an arm is active, because otherwise you just use ma-whatever to hit everything with no negative repercussions, this makes the body die super fast and the arms are a non issue, and give the arms more strengths, they all have one element that they dont take damage from, but everything else hits as hard as normal, give them one element to be weakest to, one to be normal to, one to absorb, one to reflect, and the rest just do minimal damage. Some might say this would make the boss too hard or grindy, but its the FINAL BOSS, it ought to be a challenge, right?
That'll do for now. I have more thoughts but its 3.30am here and I havent posted here since the JP release (my spoiler bunker was fucking airtight). But yay, back to posting in gaf again I guess. Look forward to
Ordered. Thanks!