Persona 3

Visual Novel Community Anime/Otaku Discussions
#3

Atlus has ramped up Persona series because of sales both in Japan and US. They are likely moving to make Persona a flagship series. Whether that is good or bad has yet to be seen (could be bad as sometimes flagship series tend to get watered down to suit bigger audience).

However it’s been my belief, and continues to be, that if Japanese game companies want to make inrodes into dating sim games that are more lucrative in Japan, then they will have to do stuff like this (or stuff like Ilussion, but better…and that’s only for the ero market). Dating sims themselves won’t sell, especially when they are Americanized. Companies lose out on those who might buy it for its anime graphics and they can’t get enough people interested to make up for that loss.

Persona 3 has shown that you can have a dating simulation are a core feature of a game and make it sell (in fact arguably increase it sales) in the western (particuarly the North American) market, so long as you’re willing to do so as part of a larger game mechanism, in this case an rpg (and thus because of the copycat syndrome any future stuff will likely be similar merger for foreseeable future as it will be seen as less risky).

Also:

PS1’s Azure Dreams: Another Life
GBC’s Azure Dream (a stripped down, but easier and more stable remake)
Rune Factory Series (more rpgish than HM)
Phantasy Star 3 (i believe…)
PSP: Star Ocean: First Depature (just released this week)
PS2: Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (though not so much as previous games)

#4

Persona 3 is definitely a good rpg, the old classic “fight monsters” stuff mixed with the interesting and funny relationship system. Nevertheless, the plot was awful (after a really good start), and in this kind of games the plot is what really makes the difference. So, I’m just waiting to see if the upcoming Persona 4 will succeed in delivering the same quality of Persona 3, but with a better story…or at least a better ending.

#5

Huh?

On second thought, don’t answer that question. I’m close to the end of The Journey, and then I have to play The Answer. So I haven’t actually beat the game yet. But it seems like a perfectly fine story so far to me, even if the ending isn’t happy (I kind of know what it is, sort of). It fits with the rest of the game.

#6

If you are talking about the original Persona 3, then yes, I would agree with you to some extent.
Some of the social links did leave some “loose ends” so to speak (with certain female characters).
But, I did not have a problem with the overall plot.

However, if you are talking about Persona 3 FES, then I would have to disagree with you.

Enjoy the game Nandemonai, and don’t hesitate to get Persona 4!!!

#7

There are two major problems with the main plot of the game, in my opinion.

[spoiler]First off, the betrayal of Ikutsuki is simply badly handled. He betrays, he somehow manage to capture all the SEES members (and we’re talking about a group of expert fighters, well armed), and then he dies like an idiot ten minutes later. Are you kidding me?

Most of all, anyway, I didn’t like the way the main character gets to kill Nyx. The whole “friendship gives you strength” shit ceased to be a good excuse many years ago, at least for me. I know the whole game it’s about that, but I simply can’t bring myself to like this choice.

Apart from that, I have found the plot quite enjoyable. Even though it doesn’t reach the peaks of Final Fantasy VII, it has some good moments (like the love story between Junpei and the Strega girl, or Shinjiro’s death). It’s just that, in the key moments in which it should have shone, it didn’t.[/spoiler]

#8

Is that spoilers for just the normal part, or for the added bonus dungeon?

It will affect when I can actually read that post ^____^ I’m probably going to beat P3 in a few days – the main game, not the coda.

#9

I own the basic version of the game, so no FES spoilers in my posts.

#10

Well, he DID have help (which you failed to mention). Aigis was not there to be his comedy relief I don’t think.
Not to mention that she was no push over at that point in time. She easily could have killed all the SEES members (except for the hero).
Also, under that mild mannered exterior was a crazed lunatic (Ikutsuki).Who brilliantly orchestrated and manipulated everyone until his breakdown and ultimately his demise.

I agree with you on that point. But from fairy tales to Hollywood its been around because the formula works (ask George Lucas).

Call me a fool ( god knows I’ve been called many things, what’s one more to add to the mix), but that’s how I saw it.

#11

Yea, but I believe this was also suppose to be a kind of psuedo-lesson that it’s also better to make friends than keep onself shut away given the emo feel of the game.

#12

Except that she’s weak to Lightning, Akihiko and Ken were both there, and at that point in time (I can’t remember for sure anymore) I think I might have had the Abbadon persona (Null Strike/Slash/Pierce) meaning Aigis literally could not have so much as scratched me since all her moves are phys. The Orgia mode isn’t THAT awesome.

But lots of games pull stuff like that (give someone powers when they’re an NPC that aren’t available for use when that same character is a PC).

This kind of thing goes all the way back to Chrono Trigger. I always wanted an ending where your party personally beats the entire Guardia army to a bloody pulp. There’s only a couple hundred of them … you can SO take that many weaking human troops.

#13

As I understand it, the entire game is about the will to live. Like Igor says in the ‘game over’ monologue he gives: “Even though life is but a journey to the grave, it must not be undertaken without hope.”

The people who get called into the Dark Hour have a death wish. You find random people in town midway thru the game talking about how nice it would be to contract Apathy Syndrome, because it means all your problems go away forever and it isn’t even your fault. You see an NPC over the course of weeks go from a random salaryman NPC, to getting laid off and pretending to his family he still has a job, to being despondent, to being one of the Lost.

Even your party members, all of them have death wishes (possibly excepting Fuuka, who got dragged into it by being forced into Tartarus). Way I see it, it works like this: people who simply want their suffering to end become the Lost. People who have a death wish, but also have the force of will to keep going regardless of what they might want, become Persona users.

So it makes perfect sense to me that the game will end by using your Social Links to … well, whatever does happen at the end. (Still not quite there yet, but I knew that part of it already).

#14

What are you talking about? Don’t you remember that cutscene? That’s exactly what happens. She’s there to play the straight man while Ikutsuki tells The Funniest Joke in the World.

#15

That misses the 3rd and and 3rd subtype, those who know about the dark hour and live through it, but cannot summon persona naturally (the subtype being those who can force them out like Strega).

#16

Any confirmation on Tales of Symphonia/Abyss? I have a friend who played Persona 3 and wanted some non-Persona, non-h, titles (in English) with the RPG and social aspect (the latter being more important, but i don’t think he wants a visual novel).

#17

The stories are good, and the battles are actually fun. Some nice characters as well. (Jade from Abyss comes to mind with all his sarcasm.) They have some social bits I suppose, if you consider the random conversations that take place, but that’s about it. Though nothing on par with Persona 3 in regards to social aspects.

#18

That’s what i kind of thought. He is really looking for a game with the social interactions like Persona but with some other gameplay attached. He doesn’t seem to want a visual novel.

#19

Well, there’s the Growlanser games, which involve character interactions and they’re strategy RPGs

#20

The Growlanser Generations pack has two titles in it, both of which I enjoyed.(Dual Darkness was my favorite out of the two.) I’d completely forgotten about them being ‘social’ to an extent. Again nothing on the scale of Persona 3, but you -do- get different endings with the characters. (Both males and females.)

Some other obvious games would be Baldur’s Gate 1&2 or Planescape: Torment for their social elements.

Ar Tonelico supposedly has some social aspects, though I can’t confirm that as I haven’t personally played it yet, though it’s in my back log. (The second one is due out in Jan as well.) Radiata Stories is built around a rather large social system, so that might be worth looking into.

#21

The “endings” in Growlanser managed to actually annoy me more than anything else. They’re just too short. You get hardly any payoff for getting the girl you want, since it’s like 2 minutes worth of cutscene that really wasn’t that interesting. Persona 3 did much better (much much better) on just about every aspect.

#22

Ar Tonelico fits the bill. It’s nowhere near as good as Persona 3’s badassery, but it’s a good game, and the social aspect is quite strong.

You could also look at Fire Emblem titles, but the social effects are minimal in most of those.