pkt-zer0 said:
Doubt it, both statements.
Those statements were about the entire MegaTen universe, not Persona 3. About Persona 3 i said it was a worthy adition, not the best MegaTen game ever (that's SMT2, IMO). And it is a worthy adition: The idea of the characters having a life and responsabilities outside "adventuring" is one of the most interesting things of the Magical Realism / Modern Occult genre and it was pretty cool to see it explored, in gaming, outside Dinamic Novels and P&P RPGs. The way the social links were implemented into the game, mainly the part about them unlocking or empowering Personas, was very "in character" with both the themes of the Persona series and the inspirations behind it all. And having to throw a balancing act between all the "dating sim" elements was a nice change of pace from the dungeon crawling, and again an exploration of elements of the genre that computer games rarely dare explore, at least in such a spotlight, outside Dinamic Novels and, yes, Dating Sims of the Magical Realism / Modern Occult inclination.
So i reckon that Persona 3 isn't "THE greatest RPG ever", but it actually is a pretty good one following both it's genre in ways little explored by gaming and at the same time the MegaTen tradition of being unique, trying things out, and experimenting with uncommon elements and ideas - And at the same time is a better game than most crappy things in that list, by FAR. And also in the Codex list... but that's just me. Since the other MegaTen tradition is mixing and matching elements of previous games and see what comes out the gene machine (the fusion system and the diplomacy system being two examples of elements that have been explored, refined, and experimented with in most games set somewhere in the Metaverse) i can't wait to see what they will do with those ideas in new MegaTen games, since they were pretty well received.
And basicly, any "Best RPG ever" list that doesn't include every single MegaTen game since SMT is lying :wink:
pkt-zer0 said:
I haven't played any of the main series SMT games (yet),
Begin with SMT: Nocturne, since it breaks from the original SMT1&2 storyline, some saying it is a rewrite with modern sensibilities and storytelling in mind and others saying is kind of a prequel that's not really a prequel... or something. It is polished and refined without being "MegaTen lite", as the Persona series is usually refered to. If you, as you should by being in the Codex, totally HATE Dante, of Devil May Cry fame, get the original (and harder) edition instead of Maniax, or wait for a bit: I do not know if there are plans to release the super-mega-special edition, or whatever it is called in moonspeak, of the Maniax version in the West, but it removes what little Dante there was and rewrites the "True Demon" extra storyline/path/ending with Kuzunoha Raido, from SMT: Devil Summoner fame, in place of him.
I would say Raido is a lot more charismatic than the other guy, but then we are talking Dante here... So too are my shoes.
[Edits] Fixed some things, broke others.