Atlus SMT: Persona games?

[Jasede]

Persona 4 was such a good game when I played it that I am really looking forward to 5. 3 was kind of bad, though.
4 is good because assuming you are mentally retarded and can get into Japanese faggotry, it actually sort of takes you seriously. Its characters are likable, there are many "realistic" moments and it just in general makes you feel like you are hanging out with friends.

An experience that, no doubt, many a Codexer didn't get during his childhood.

 

[Damned Registrations]

:foreveralone:

How does 4 compare to 3 combat/character building/dungeon crawling wise? I Gave up on 3 because I felt like I had almost no control over my party in or out of combat, and the only interesting things to find in the dungeon were enemies that appeared randomly and usually ran away before you could kill them. All the fighting, both bosses and random encounters, felt like a chore for me. And I like pointless fights. I went through like 80 floors of the ancient dungeon in Lufia 2 for shits and giggles and played a bajillion characters in ToME 2.3 that each probably killed over 2000 monsters.

 

[Jasede]

Persona 4 is considered an improvement over 3 in every regard.

* character building
You still don't get much control over how your character develops: the main focus is in fusing new and stronger personas for your main character, using whichever one is appropriate for the situation. You don't get to change your party members' personas. This is unfortunate, but if you could the game would be too easy, I believe.

* combat
You get to chose everyone's actions in a fight. If you are feeling particularly masochistic, there is to option to go back to the Persona 3 "STOP TRYING TO CAST CHARM HEAL ME YOU DUMB BITCH ARGH WHAT ARE YOU DOING" scheme.

* dungeons
Dungeons are more varied in design. There aren't any points of interest other than chests, rare chests and rare monsters, but they are mercifully short, look very good, have a lot of variety and typically very good music. There is much, much less dungeon crawling - the focus is markedly on the story and the boss and mid-boss encounters.

The story is really good as far as anime and video games go - take that as you will. What really makes the game is its mood, characters and ... charm. Everything is spirited, everything is energetic and cheerful without being too juvenile. It's refreshing. Such a change of pace from the forced melancholy or forced creepy happiness of most Japanese offerings: this game's mood feels eerily believable.

 

[Jacob]

I always thought of P4's light yellow interface as their take on western games' brown filter color.

Okay, it might not be their intention, but it sure gave me the bleak and realistic atmosphere those western games are trying to do.

 

[Branm]

I dunno they always seemed sort of like dating sims...The next one coming 5 also looks like nothing special tbh...

 

[Bohrain]

Persona 4 was a Japanese conspiracy to make people think wearing glasses is cool but thankfully I saw through it.