Persona 5 Royal [PS4]

[wakka]

It really is such an awesome game. I don't even know what you guys are talking about with the special Royal stuff

I played it ages ago now, not long after it came out.

[importaku]

->Open Spoiler<-

That boss battle at the end of Mementos is the final boss of Persona 5 - it's only in Royal (and if you meet the true end criteria!) that the game continues on into the next year. This is why I'm trying to steer folks from buying vanilla!

But very glad you enjoyed it so much, man! As before, I can only pick minor holes in it and only really when weighing it against some of my absolute favourites that are totally different in tone (what's up, Shin Megami Tensei IV).

Ah so that's why that boss felt like the final one, i totally forgot about the fact royal adds new content. Now on playthrough number 2 hoping to find more secrets this time on things i missed out on as my stats were not high enough. Time to try going for more personas too as i missed a hell of a lot as i went along but i never expected to find one that looks like a dick LOOL when i first saw it i was like whaaaaaatt!!!

I really have to give this another chance, even though the idea of a 130 hr playthrough that only shows you part of the game is a bit daunting. The premise has always intrigued me but I admit I threw in the towel after 7 hours of treacle-slow tutorial.

So which other classics does it join in your RPG Top Five, Importaku?

Over the years i have played so many RPG's that i'm kind of burned out it takes one pretty special to get me interested. With persona you shouldn't really focus on the amount of hours you'll spend as to be honest you have so much to do and loads of fun that you don't notice the timer racking up. Certainly persevere with the tutorial once the game has finished laying down the rules the story will grab you, even when i wasn't playing i ended up thinking about the story.

As for my top 5, the current order is.....

1) Persona 5 royal: dont think this one is gonna get knocked from the top spot any time soon

2) Ninokuni DS/PS4: the DS one is superior for the puzzles but i loved playing through a more graphically pretty remaster too for the exta story that continues after the DS game ends.

3) Dragon quest 11: this one totally blew me away the battles were so enjoyable plus it has sylvando worth it for that alone lol. A very pretty game too they really went all out with the enviroments.

4) Keroro RPG: another stunningly fun DS RPG game that has a really cool flashy battle system as it uses the LIMBS system from the tales of series. The story is really fun as it takes the piss out of all the typical RPG tropes as it frequently breaks the 4th wall plus you can summon Namco characters from other games as your attacks. Plus you battle using cosplay of all things it's bonkers lol.

5) Wonder project J: this one i have loved for a long time & there really isn't anything like it. It's a weird one as it's not really a RPG in the same way as most games as raising Pino makes it more of a simulation game but it is still a RPG game at it's heart. Still have my original cart but nowadays i play it on my sfc mini.

[Golgo]

^ Thanks for the list - shame (for me) the most quirky ones are in Japanese! I'm not much of an RPG connoisseur - I think Super Mario RPG is a great RPG.

[Golgo]

Went back to it. 50 hours and 3 bosses in, and here for the long haul. I bounced off it first time I played a few years ago as I was treating it as an actual game, but now I've adjusted my mindset and started approaching it as a lengthy anime serial with gamey sections and it's proving immensely enjoyable. The way the story, character and enemies interweave is mesmerizing in its complexity, even to the extent of classroom lessons that pick up the psychological themes of the current mission. The character depth and back stories are so well done, as are the ways friendships develop, and the way literally every activity and choice feeds into some kind of stat boost makes the time-limited nature of the gameplay bearable (I was worried that being time-limited to a choosing a few activities per day would prove frustrating in a Majora's Mask kind of way, but it really isn't).

[Golgo]

Quick questch for Persona experts here:

I'm moving up on the fourth boss now and I had a bit of a peek into what I need to do to unlock the extra 'Royal'-exclusive dungeon (as I was aware of some specific requirements). Turns out it involves making with the friendlies with three confidants/characters that I don't much like. So, is it worth skewing my interactions towards them to unlock the extra dungeon, rather than spending the finite amount of in-game time I have interacting with the characters I actually enjoy? I'm a bit torn here, as I'd like to squeeze the max out of my playthrough and it's a game I definitely won't be playing again (it's really great, but just too big).

[fuse]

Good call checking on this, I looked almost too late and had a total panic trying to fulfil the conditions - I tried to post some warnings about this earlier in the thread from back when I played it, even.

But yeah, you definitely want to shoot for the true ending - it's a lot more than just a dungeon you'll be missing out on. If it helps at all, going down this path does give you more opportunities to spend time with the confidants you actually want to spend time with, too.

[Golgo]

Good call checking on this, I looked almost too late and had a total panic trying to fulfil the conditions - I tried to post some warnings about this earlier in the thread from back when I played it, even.

But yeah, you definitely want to shoot for the true ending - it's a lot more than just a dungeon you'll be missing out on. If it helps at all, going down this path does give you more opportunities to spend time with the confidants you actually want to spend time with, too.

Thanks, I'll do that then! Now I just have to knuckle down and start spending some quality time with that annoying ponce with the briefcase.

[Golgo]

Just got through the fourth boss

->Open Spoiler<-

(Furtaba's mother)

. What a low point that was. A truly boring boss, repetitive attacks always in the same order/interval (x2), long and drawn out battle. It really exposed for me the first time just how basic and stilted the combat is beneath all the flashy style. Basically: find the elemental weakness through trial and error, then spam the heck out of it. If there's no elemental weakness

->Open Spoiler<-

(as in this boss)

, then get to grinding. In the end I set one character to auto-heal/buff and the others to attack and left them to it. Got back into the story after that and forgave it a bit, but I really hope the combat moves evolve in the second half of the game.

Is combat in the SMT series any more dynamic/complex? I'm curious, as I may try SMTV later this year, but probably not if it's broadly the same elemental combat system as this.

[chopemon]

I played the SMT3 remaster and the combat is essentially the same. It is way more difficult so you have to use status ailments more but it's generally the same. I can recommend Persona 5 Strikers though. The dungeons are way less like puzzle mazes and while the combat is elemental based, there are way more options for how you approach it so the combat is over quickly and the game keeps the pace up.

[fuse]

Is combat in the SMT series any more dynamic/complex? I'm curious, as I may try SMTV later this year, but probably not if it's broadly the same elemental combat system as this.

At a high level there's a load of similarities between SMT and Persona battle systems, in that it's turn-based, and they all draw from the same pool of monsters, skills and spells. The immediate big difference is in party makeup: Persona has human characters who are bound to one particular persona, and its only your main character who can summon different ones, whereas in most SMT games it's just your main character fighting as themselves, and the rest of the party is made up of summoned monsters. When you hit challenges in the game, rather than just outright grinding, you're much better off fusing new demons that suit the elemental properties of the area you're in / boss you're struggling with.

I don't know exactly what the system will look like in V, but in IV the 'Smirk' status meant that hitting weaknesses (or: having yours hit) was even more crucial. Turn up with the wrong setup and things can go downhill very fast. Away from the battle side of things, the biggest difference Persona offers is the whole life management / day planning thing, which although is definitely one of its charms, has not changed a lot between the past few games. For what it's worth, SMT V is probably my most anticipated game right now.

[Golgo]

Just got through the

->Open Spoiler<-

school trip to Hawaii.

I understand the premise here was to make a joke about something exciting/anticipated that turns out to be disappointing and boring. But to waste player time on this lame joke across many days (including days in the build up) felt like a piss-take. An utterly pointless piece of padding in an already overlong game. Annoyed me.

[wakka]

Yeah, I know what you mean @Golgo. My thoughts on that:

->Open Spoiler<-

I interpreted it as an part of the game's design as an authentic playable anime. The beach OVA is a longstanding tradition, and it's always a lighthearted side story that doesn't progress the main storyline or have much in the way of stakes.

That said - I think the beach sequence speaks to two of the problems with Persona 5. One is what you point out - duration and a lack of respect for player time. In an already long game, a lengthy diversion that doesn't really go anywhere is not necessarily welcome.

The other is its slavish conformity to genre norms. They set out to make a playable anime and, boy, did they. It would have been nice to see some more subversion of generic expectations, a little bit of Doki Doki Literature Club in there, and the beach segment would have been a perfect opportunity to deploy it.

For me, Persona 5 is very much Persona 3 and Persona 4, but MORE. The same stuff, but with everything delivered in a much bigger portion. It's why I don't like it quite as much as I did 4, which felt like a much more compact, refined experience.

I do hope that with the 6th game they're a little more adventurous, personally. Although I'll play it either way and I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun.

[Golgo]

Thanks for the explanation in terms of series conventions, [MENTION=5490]wakka[/MENTION]. Persona 5 Royal is my first Persona so I guess I'm getting the full-fat version straight off the bat! I'm still really enjoying the story and characters, but I don't think I'd go for a 6 if they didn't focus it down a bit. I'll probably give it a break for a few weeks now as the last three nights of gameplay have been comprised of an almost entirely passive watching of anime.

[wakka]

I meant that the

->Open Spoiler<-

beach

stuff is an anime tradition, sorry, rather than a specifically Persona one - didn't make that clear I don't think!

Just by the by, once you've finished this one and if you fancy more Persona down the line (not for a good while I'd imagine!), I can thoroughly recommend 4. It's better paced and structured, and significantly shorter at ~70 hours. The best way to play is the Vita version, Persona 4 Golden.

[Golgo]

Ah OK, I get it. Thing is, then, now that I think about it, they further bloated the playtime by observing this anime tradition twice in a row.

->Open Spoiler<-

Once at the end of the summer holidays with all that business with Futaba, then once again immediately after the holiday's end in first week of school, both of them with a long build up and the same schtick of chasing and failing to pick up hot girls in bikinis.

Ah well, I'll bear P4G in mind. I'm also looking forward to getting Strikers, as it happens.