Persona 5 (Feb. 14)

[Andy]

I'm about 25 hours in. I'm enjoying it, but I'll share some gripes or difficulties I've had with the game.

Because I'm new to the series, I looked around for pointers (e.g., Kirk Hamilton's tips at Kotaku). My mistake. I got overwhelmed with all the stuff there is to keep track of -- all the different personas, confidantes, arcanas, affinities, different attack types, combining personas, the scheduling ... not to mention the books, the tests, the jobs, mementos, etc. ... all the stuff. I talked about my sense of confusion at GAF, and they advised me to not worry about all that, just do what I felt like doing. I've enjoyed it more since.

For a while, I was annoyed with the game, because it wouldn't let me off the leash. I wanted to wander the city, talk to people, stock up on stuff, make lockpicks, work to earn money, etc. -- you know, all the usual things I'd do in an RPG -- but the game wouldn't let me. It kept moving me from one scene to the next, ending my evenings early, making me go to sleep when I didn't want to, not allowing me to roam, etc.

Eventually I figured out that this was not an open world RPG, but rather a game that kept you on a string for a long time, then let you off for a limited time, with a deadline to get to the quest. That makes sense -- if you had unlimited freedom, you'd be able to cheese the system and over-level. But the lack of freedom was frustrating for a while. I've learned that a big part of Persona is just time management -- choosing how you will spend your limited time before the next deadline.

I suppose playing Persona after Horizon didn't do Persona any favors. I miss the fluid animations and movements of Aloy. Movement in Persona feels very clunky in comparison. And after the beauty of Horizon, the graphics of Persona are pretty underwhelming. I don't mean the visual style -- that is there in abundance -- I just mean the level of rendering. Also, I miss the wide-open nature in Horizon. Everything here is dungeons or narrow city streets. I feed the plant in my room every once in a while, and that's about it for nature.

Anyhow, now that I've made the adjustment to the type of game it is, I think I'm more in the groove. Still enjoying it. Just wanted to share those gripes/hurdles as a new Persona player.

 

[BUSTERMAN]

Hey Andy, I was in the same boat as you. I went from Horizon to Persona 5 and I'm new to this series. It was a shock to my gaming system too. I was overwhelmed by all its mechanics but the game does a really good job of easing you into something new. You'll still be given helpful tips 60hrs into this epic story.

You're certainly not wrong about its controls. I still battle against it some 80+ hours into it. Its all about time management in this game.The game forces the player to make decisions knowing you won't be able to do all that you want. As you would expect this makes almost every decision you make for any part of the day extremely important. When you start to unlock the unique perks Confidants give you'll come to appreciate who you spend your time with more. The perks you unlock make combat even more fun giving you really useful abilities to conquer Persona negotiations easier or doing more damage after a successful ambush attack against a Shadow.

The charm and personality of the story and characters triumph over any gripes I have. I think it helps a lot that I love anime since this is very much like a anime complete with anime cut scenes woven into its storytelling. I took a chance on this game just off its flashy presentation since I'm a sucker for pretty colors and bright lights, lol. But its been a helluva a fun ride and I'm dreading coming to the conclusion since I've grown attached to certain characters. But saying goodbye isn't for some time now ( I think) so I'm going to continue to enjoy the hell out of this game. I hope you do too!

 

[Andy]

Thanks, Busterman. Appreciate the input. The hassles I listed above are things I'm coming to accept and overlook -- or just realize that's how the game is (vs. what I expected). I think the whole setup is interesting -- invading someone's psyche to root out their twisted desires. And I do like the characters and story.

I dialed the difficulty down to easy, because I was finding some of the dungeon combat frustrating. I was going through my limited supply of potions way too fast, and I didn't have a good feel for the combat. Maybe I'll turn it back up later, if it starts to feel too easy, but for now it's helping me enjoy the game.

 

[BUSTERMAN]

Thanks, Busterman. Appreciate the input. The hassles I listed above are things I'm coming to accept and overlook -- or just realize that's how the game is (vs. what I expected). I think the whole setup is interesting -- invading someone's psyche to root out their twisted desires. And I do like the characters and story.

I dialed the difficulty down to easy, because I was finding some of the dungeon combat frustrating. I was going through my limited supply of potions way too fast, and I didn't have a good feel for the combat. Maybe I'll turn it back up later, if it starts to feel too easy, but for now it's helping me enjoy the game.

Yeah, the whole idea behind the Metaverse being a means to change someone's twisted desires is really fun. Its a playful way to tackle mature themes as well which is what makes the story so fun to be a part of. I turned the difficulty down to easy at the beginning since I didn't know what I was doing but then turned it back up to normal once I got better at the game. But I've been thinking of going back down to easy since dying can wipe out quite a bit of progress that has to be repeated in a palace. Although, ever since I dedicated Morgana to be my dedicated healer things have been going a lot more smoothly. I'm sure you'll find the balance in difficulty that works for you.

 

[Viktor]

Sounds like I had a good idea of mixing up some different games in between my Horizon and Persona playthrough.

 

[Andy]

Btw, for those of you who don't read sales threads, good news - Persona was #2 on NPD for April (behind only Mario Kart, beating out Zelda), which was very impressive. I heard it debuted five times stronger than Persona 4.

I've been thinking of going back down to easy since dying can wipe out quite a bit of progress that has to be repeated in a palace. Although, ever since I dedicated Morgana to be my dedicated healer things have been going a lot more smoothly. I'm sure you'll find the balance in difficulty that works for you.

Yeah, this game can really spread out the save points, sometimes. It's part of it being a JRPG, I suppose, but it's one reason I turned it down to easy. It bugs me when I have to replay stuff, if it lasts longer than a couple minutes.

I don't have a good feel for how to best strategize with my party yet. I've got Morgana free-wheeling, Ann as healer, and Ryuji under my control. Lots of variables to play around with. Half the time I'm just experimenting and seeing what happens.

 

[Andy]

Feel like I'm finally hitting a groove with the game. Feels good, like I'm finally "getting it." It took a while.

I did try shifting back to Normal for a while, but I got stomped in a dungeon battle and lost about 20 minutes of progress. It surprised me, because I had been doing well up to that point, including against what seemed like much tougher enemies. Then suddenly I was wiped out, flat on my face. I'm going to keep it on easy for now.

I like how the "dungeons" are all different. Lots of creativity.

 

[BUSTERMAN]

Feel like I'm finally hitting a groove with the game. Feels good, like I'm finally "getting it." It took a while.

I did try shifting back to Normal for a while, but I got stomped in a dungeon battle and lost about 20 minutes of progress. It surprised me, because I had been doing well up to that point, including against what seemed like much tougher enemies. Then suddenly I was wiped out, flat on my face. I'm going to keep it on easy for now.

I like how the "dungeons" are all different. Lots of creativity.

Things can take a turn for the worst really quickly during battles. Its turn based with a nice twist that makes it so the enemy can't have a turn if you keep hitting them with the spell that they are weak to (1 more). But its a double edged sword since the enemies can do it to you as well. And in the later game I'm finding that the enemies are using more defuffs and status effects to really hurt my team. It keeps the battles fun since you really have a lot to think about managing both damage dealing and mitigation.

I love the dungeons as well. The bosses are so well done. So crazy and over the top.

 

[Andy]

... (1 more). But its a double edged sword since the enemies can do it to you as well.

Yeah, that's what happened. I wiffed a couple of times, and then they strung together the hits like the Beatles -- strike weakness, 1-more, strike weakness, 1-more... First round knock out.

 

[Dno69]

I've tried turn-based games over the years and could never get into them. But the praise for this game makes me think that I should at least rent it to see if something clicks.

 

[Andy]

I've tried turn-based games over the years and could never get into them. But the praise for this game makes me think that I should at least rent it to see if something clicks.

I don't like turn-based fighting, and I don't have any real interest in anime, but I ended up being drawn in. It took me about 25 hours before that happened, though, so I'm not sure you'll get there in a rental period.

I had to make some adjustments. I've never played another game that was structured like this one. It's much more story and character/dialog-focused than I expected. It also has a lot of unique mechanics that it took time to get used to. It took me a long time before I fell into the game's rhythms.

Turning the difficulty down to Easy definitely helps me enjoy the turn-based battles. That gets a little old for me, in the dungeons. I'd just as soon blow right through them.

For me, here's what appeals: the little stories, getting to know the characters, and the art. I like the general theme ("misfit" characters take on corrupt authority). My inner teenager likes that. The voice acting is surprisingly good, too.

 

[Andy]

The game is wearing on my introverted personality, though. I've got 6 people in my group, always talking, always wanting my attention. STOP TEXTING ME!! They always want to get together and do stuff. Not to mention all the other characters and all their chatter and all their needs. If this were real life, I would be exhausted and grumpy, and I would be throwing my phone in the lake.

 

[Frozpot]

The game is wearing on my introverted personality, though. I've got 6 people in my group, always talking, always wanting my attention. STOP TEXTING ME!! They always want to get together and do stuff. Not to mention all the other characters and all their chatter and all their needs. If this were real life, I would be exhausted and grumpy, and I would be throwing my phone in the lake.

Is it GTA 4 levels of annoying?

 

[Andy]

Is it GTA 4 levels of annoying?

Well, it's more prevalent, but it's also more central to the storyline. GTA's cell phone calls were mostly just typical Rockstar filler.

Here's a description of the last day I lived in Persona 5, to give you a sense of it. Keep in mind there is little or no "space" between these events. I'm not walking around doing stuff in between; the game is transporting me directly from one to the next.

- Subway chatter on the way to school
- School hall chatter
- Hallway conversation with Confidant 1 and 2 ("Confidants" are significant people in the story, often team members)
- Confidant 1 pulls out phone and has chat convo with Confidante 3, 4, and 5.
- Meanwhile I have a talking cat in my backpack
- In class, talk from teacher
- In middle of class, phone rings and I have conversation with Confidants 1 - 4
- After class, 3 IM's from 3 different Confidants, each of whom wants to do get together and do something different. One wants to hang out in the mall, one wants to go to the gym, and a third is a girl who wants to visit the Red Light District. I'll bet you can guess which one I picked.
- What happens in Shinjuku stays in Shinjuku
- Return to shop where I live, immediately get text from confidants, have convo with 3 of them
- More talk from the cat in the backpack
- Shop owner wants to teach me stuff
- I get an IM from another confidant who wants to get together at a bar
- Go to sleep, at which point I'm transported to another reality and talk with another confidant there

Then the next morning, wake up, talk to a guy, get IMs from another guy, get together as a group to discuss things, go back to the shop to discuss everything some more with the gang, etc.

It's just a little much for an introvert like me. I can tell the game was designed by extroverts who find this sort of constant chatting fun and exciting. Me, I'd rather get a tooth drilled. But it's a videogame, so it's not really annoying.

Anyhow, long answer to a short question, but the conversations are all central to the storyline, and they all contribute to both stat boosts and to getting to know the characters better, so no, it's not annoying in the GTA sense.

 

[CFogle21]

It's just a little much for an introvert like me. I can tell the game was designed by extroverts who find this sort of constant chatting fun and exciting. Me, I'd rather get a tooth drilled. But it's a videogame, so it's not really annoying.

That made me laugh. I'm the same way.

 

[Andy]

Well, unfortunately, I think I'm going to put Persona away. I did make it 50 hours, so there was a lot of good in it -- the art style, the level of creativity, the characters, some of the themes they tackled, the boss battles, the inventiveness of the castles/dungeons. But ultimately, it is a game built by extroverts for extroverts, and I'm an introvert. I found it tiring (just like I do in real life) to go from one social interaction to the next to the next to the next, without any breaks in between. People were constantly calling and texting, constantly wanting to talk and do stuff together. That relentless socializing felt tiring and irritating to me, even in a videogame.

Anyhow, it is a game made for people who have personalities that are very different than mine. I'd have stuck with it, if I enjoyed the turn-based combat more, but although it was ok, I didn't find the TB combat all that interesting (I set the game to Easy so I could breeze through it).

Lots of stuff to recommend the game. Like I said, I played it for 50 hours, which is more than most complete games last. Lots of good here. I just found that it didn't fit my personality very well. Which was weird, because I've never had that experience in a singleplayer game before.