This is an exaggeration. Didn't it sell something like 200k total? That's good, but not fantastic. Puts it up to like 250k worldwide.
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Persona Community Thread: The Butterfly Effect
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This is an exaggeration. Didn't it sell something like 200k total? That's good, but not fantastic. Puts it up to like 250k worldwide.
When we consider Japan, no, it is not an exaggeration. I don't know about the 200k number, but it was definitely one of the fastest selling fighting games of all time in Japan, and there were several reports about it.
SloaneRisette
Member
Neither have I, but considering I've read the Persona threads on GAF, I already know what's happened more or less, so I have little incentive to go and finish it.
I guess it depends on what you'd consider 'fantastic'. It had strong first week sales and then dropped off completely. 250k is good, but nothing too amazing.
Where's that number from? And is that even bad compared to other fighting games on consoles released in Japan?
It exceeded expectations. Index was quite taken with it and as Noi points out, arcades are still quite viable/profitable in the region.
It will be surprising if they never dip back into the P4A well.
Dantis forgets that we're talking about Atlus/Index and not Capcom. They tend to budget their releases so even a 50k sellthrough would break even.
Plus, 200k in Japan for a home release of a healthy arcade game is nothing to sneeze at. Japan has a very healthy used market, so their sales are very front loaded. Hell, Atlus USA was gloating over having shipped every single copy of P4A in their warehouse, who does that unless you've already turned a profit on the game?
I wouldn't be surprised if P4A made it's money back in arcades alone, let alone everything else they've done with it (merchandising and the like).
Plus, 200k in Japan for a home release of a healthy arcade game is nothing to sneeze at. Japan has a very healthy used market, so their sales are very front loaded. Hell, Atlus USA was gloating over having shipped every single copy of P4A in their warehouse, who does that unless you've already turned a profit on the game?
I wouldn't be surprised if P4A made it's money back in arcades alone, let alone everything else they've done with it (merchandising and the like).
Whenever I hear "fastest selling" in terms of a game, I just always thought of that as PR speak for "but didn't sell enough." Could just be me being a cynical ass though.
One way or another, I HOPE it did good enough for them, because for a company like Atlus, we need them to take more risks, not less. Less means we don't get Eternal Punishment PSP. That Catherine did really well is great, and if Arena did too, all the better.
One way or another, I HOPE it did good enough for them, because for a company like Atlus, we need them to take more risks, not less. Less means we don't get Eternal Punishment PSP. That Catherine did really well is great, and if Arena did too, all the better.
It's not being cynical, it's just being wrong (in this case). Again, those first week sale numbers of P4A (released only 1 week after its Japanese console release) shows sales in Japan from fighting games released between 2008-2012 and it ranks at #3 behind the FF games. It even beat out big names like Tekken 6, BlazBlue, MvC3 and SSFIV.
I don't know about total sale numbers and how they compare to the other games, but this undoubtedly shows that P4A actually was one of the "fastest selling" fighting games.
Nah, when I say PR speak, I'm not saying it's incorrect, it has to be, but it's correct without saying the whole story.
Did it sell faster than other fighting games? Well, they said it, so it's likely. Did it sell that much over enough a time period for it to even matter? That's what I mean when I say "PR speak". That they haven't really supported the game once they threw it out the door is kind of worrisome and tells me "No."
Did it sell faster than other fighting games? Well, they said it, so it's likely. Did it sell that much over enough a time period for it to even matter? That's what I mean when I say "PR speak". That they haven't really supported the game once they threw it out the door is kind of worrisome and tells me "No."
Supermanisdead
Member
Dantis pls. P4A was great. Once it comes to Europe, you will agree!
There's a lot of perspective you're missing of ignoring. They patched P4As online and there was DLC for it, so yeah, it's been supported. Past that, Arc has things to do as does Atlus. If the kind of support that would indicate success to you is a re-release every year or constant balance patching then your expectations just weren't realistic to start. It's a fun crossover that they were happy to see taken seriously on any level competitively, but neither company can afford to babysit it.
There's been multiple indications it was a success though. "Fastest selling" isn't usually PR speak or spin, it's an achievement being pointed out. It's fact or false.
There's been multiple indications it was a success though. "Fastest selling" isn't usually PR speak or spin, it's an achievement being pointed out. It's fact or false.
Precisely. Not to mention that the initial report of it being one of the fastest selling fighting games wasn't reported by Atlus or Index themselves, but by people going through the sale numbers.
Haha, I would be very, very surprised if I felt this way.
It doesn't affect me if they continue the series, but I would prefer that they didn't shift resources (Such as Meguro and Soejima) onto it. I am also concerned that a sequel would further bastardize the story.
buddha0991
Member
Kaneko and Atlus Sound Team are superior assets, but I wont complain.
"I am also concerned that a sequel would further bastardize the story."
They did this when Persona 3 was released.
Kaneko and Atlus Sound Team are superior assets, but I wont complain.
"I am also concerned that a sequel would further bastardize the story."
They did this when Persona 3 was released.
Nonsense, they did it when the first Persona was released! Or back when If... was released!
Kaneko and Atlus Sound Team are superior assets, but I wont complain.
"I am also concerned that a sequel would further bastardize the story."
They did this when Persona 3 was released.
It is concerning how frequently you bring up your distaste for Persona 3 in conversations that aren't to do with Persona 3.
buddha0991
Member
But Sophia, 1 didnt have a story!
And Dantis, I actually like Persona 3, remember I just bought FES on PS3 a few days ago! It still is my least favorite though, and nou
And Dantis, I actually like Persona 3, remember I just bought FES on PS3 a few days ago! It still is my least favorite though, and nou
Despite not loving the how fragmented P4A's story was, I enjoyed it and the Labrys thing was well done, even though I was hesitant at first because she was yet another robot girl. I was mostly okay with the story, however, because of what might come from it in the future, a lot like how I tolerate Persona 1's existence because it lead to P2.
It'd probably be difficult to give a reason for why the cast needs to fight each other again for a P4A2, although I suppose there are ways of writing around that.
SloaneRisette
Member
Honestly, I'd like a P4A2 just for all the new characters we could see. The story would be a bonus, really.
I'd just love to see some characters from the P2 Duology and Junpei/Yukari from P3 at the least (though more characters wouldn't hurt in the slightest).
I'd just love to see some characters from the P2 Duology and Junpei/Yukari from P3 at the least (though more characters wouldn't hurt in the slightest).
Yeah, really, it all comes down to the concept of a Persona fighting game being awesome along with dream matchups and fanservice. The more I think about it, the more P4A was such a great idea. The concept of Personas fighting alongside the player characters is a great one for a fighting game and it was executed so well. Then there's the unique way that each member of the cast fights.
To each their own I guess. It was very much not what I wanted.
What did you particularly dislike from P4A's story? (I assume you saw everything on Youtube) There's really only so much they can do inside the confines of a fighting game.
Everything. Teddie had some funny lines. Everything else was turd.
I've covered it before, I probably shouldn't derail this into my own problems, haha.
cj_iwakura
Member
You have to consider P4A's sales in degrees. 200k+ for Atlus is like a million for most companies.
Yeah, for some reason I'm forgetting, but I feel like this discussion's been had before.
Regardless! What I didn't like was heavy reliance on abusing some of the characters' recognizable characteristics like Yukiko's cooking, Chie's love of meat and Kanji's stupidity.
But it's not like we were on rails in the first place... I wonder if "Persona 4 Golden" will be the last substantial "Persona 4" product.
Put it all into TEC. Always.
cj_iwakura
Member
VIT is broken in P1(I think), it increases most of the stats across the board.
Never mind, it's TEC as said above.
I always like that feature, you can make or break the game as much as you want.
This is one of the many things that I complained about.
And I'm done with P4 at this point. No more Investigation Team. No more Hirata. No more Yasogami Fucking High. If they insist on continuing it, I want it to be post-epilogue.
And if Arena 2 gets announced before P5, I am going to be so fucking mad.
See I never feel comfortable leaving everything else low, like I'm gonna regret it later.
From the little I read trying to understand how it works I read that TEC was the thing. Maybe. No one seemed to ever agree.
I don't like it because games rarely ever explain it or what the stats mean or how they will affect your character in the long run.
Everything but luck.
I always thought it was pretty straightforward.
St = Strength (physical attacks)
Vi = Vitality (more health which is always a good thing)
Tec = Technical Skills (more SP/higher damage with specials)
Ag = Agility (increasing the probality of dodging attacks)
Luck = (Higher chance for Crits and lessens the probability of being affected by status effects)
Oh double post. whoops.
Part of the reason why they went with the reliance on character traits is because there isn't much of a story to tell. It's a sidestory, plain and simple. About the equivalent of one story arc in P3/P4 or four drama CDs. They really should have just condensed it down to the four mandatory story modes (P4 team, Shadow Operatives, Labrys, Elizabeth)
I agree with all of this.
I feel like the excessive monologues and individual stories were there to pad the length, plain and simple, so that they could say "See! It's as long as a JRPG!".
Hell, I probably said this before in the other community thread, but I would have been perfectly fine with condensing it into a single story mode chapter like a straight up MK9 situation of jumping from character to character and a potentially more dynamic experience.
I like the inner monologues giving us an idea of the individual characters' thoughts, but it's not enough. Being able to say that the story mode is 20-30 hours long as a bullet point is all fine and good, but there wasn't actually much going on and if it could have been a shorter but richer experience, then I would have preferred that.
cj_iwakura
Member
It's one enjoyable P4 story(way too spread out), and four amazing P3 ones.
BB's story is overall far better done, as every character gets a totally unique arc(ending on Hazama and/or Mu aside).
That's the thing, it wasn't straight forward about it. It just dumped you to a skill list after a battle you didn't even control.
And even with that basic knowledge, I still have no idea what to do because I have no idea how the skill system even works.
manuals are for chumps
I know, its Persona 1, so I guess I can't expect too much.
Disagree. Before I saw it, I remember saying "I don't see how they could make a good story around this premise", and I absolutely feel like I was right.
I'd have rather had a nonsensical DOA5-style story than what we got. It tries so hard to be serious and it just makes me roll my eyes.
I agree about having it done like MK9. Specifically for the P4 cast, as there's very little to tell there.
The P3 stories are on the whole a lot better. Yu's story mode has nothing outside of his interactions with Aigis and Elizabeth, and Yukiko and Chie's story modes just go over the same content as Yosuke, except without any character development. Kanji's story mode just 100% side-stuff/hilarity.
The most surprising story mode was Teddie's tho, seeing as how a good portion of it was serious and pretty well done.
He's quite right tho. The four P3 characters on the whole have much better story modes than anything among the P4's cast. I've said this before, but it feels like the game has more to do with Persona 3 than it does Persona 4.
cj_iwakura
Member
The one nifty thing about P1 that only P1 has is that everyone gets a melee and a firearm.
Ace of Spades: why are gamespot people on giant bomb streaming naruto
Omi: budget cuts at CBS
Omi: quiet night tonight, eh?
Ace of Spades: yep
Omi: I'd chat more, but I'm working
Princess Sophia:
Princess Sophia: Too quiet
Princess Sophia: we need Dantis in here
Dantis entered chat.
Ace of Spades: so yea i turned on giant bomb
Ace of Spades: WHAT
Omi: LOL
PersonaGAF is magical.
Omi: budget cuts at CBS
Omi: quiet night tonight, eh?
Ace of Spades: yep
Omi: I'd chat more, but I'm working
Princess Sophia:
Princess Sophia: Too quiet
Princess Sophia: we need Dantis in here
Dantis entered chat.
Ace of Spades: so yea i turned on giant bomb
Ace of Spades: WHAT
Omi: LOL
PersonaGAF is magical.
cj_iwakura
Member
There's a good dose of comedy in the game, but I enjoyed the seriousness, so YMMV. Experiencing a story mode through youtube really isn't indicative of much.
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