Together RPG - Persona 3 - 2/1 - 4/1

[Stark]

For this Together RPG we will be playing Persona 3 from the Shin Megami Tensei series of RPGs.




Persona 3 is basically a relationship management game with a dungeon crawl aspect where you engage in RPG combat. Combat consists of your character actually attacking the enemy or using a Persona that has magical abilities. New Personas can be gained by drops from enemy encounters or by fusing two or more Personas to make a new one.





You can either join us on the original version on PS2, check out the expanded FES edition also on PS2, or the P3P version on PSP (available digitally on PS Vita). The FES edition adds some DLC called "The Answer" and the Portable edition includes the option of a female protaganist and some harder difficulty modes.

[Stark]

I'm playing the P3P version on Vita and it's giving me some serious flashbacks to Persona 4 Golden (which I loved.) I'm not too far yet, I think I just started May and I've been to level 15 in the Tartarus.

[Markies]

So, Me and Shin Megami Tensei games have had an interesting relationship...

I played Persona 1...and eventually quit after like 60 hours.
I played Persona 2...and eventually quit after like 80 hours.
I played Nocturne....and eventually quit after like 10 hours.

They all seemed super grindy, VERY difficult and extremely complex with little explanation.

Despite this, I am very interested in the Shin Megami Franchise. I have heard raving reviews about Persona 3 and 4.

Is this game recommended for somebody who has had a tense relationship with the Franchise? If not, then how about Digital Devil Saga or Devil Summoner?

I want to like the Franchise, but.....it is hard. Very hard.

[MrPopo]

If you're turned off by things being a bit grindy (get one more level to unlock that ability, fuse one more demon to have the right resistance) then I don't think any game in the series is for you. Persona 3 & 4 are 80-100 hours long (split between dungeons and dating sim-esque stuff), DDS and Devil Summoner are shorter but no less grindy. They all are very difficult and like to punish you through weaknesses; understanding how to exploit those systems are key in every SMT game.

[Stark]

I feel like P4 is one of the easier ones out of the ones I've played. SMTIV is brutal, so is Devil Summoner.

[Exhuminator]

I feel like P4 is one of the easier ones out of the ones I've played. SMTIV is brutal, so is Devil Summoner.

I'd be interested in your take on Nocturne.

[Stark]

I feel like P4 is one of the easier ones out of the ones I've played. SMTIV is brutal, so is Devil Summoner.

I'd be interested in your take on Nocturne.

I've not played it yet, but I do plan on it at some point, I love these games. I take it that it's really hard?

[Exhuminator]

I take it that it's really hard?

A lot of people say it's the hardest SMT. I don't know if it is or isn't, as I haven't beaten a lot of games in the series. I've only beaten Nocturne and Soul Hackers, so my SMT frame of reference isn't broad. That said, Nocturne was easily the most amazing JRPG I've played in the past decade.

[Xeogred]

This is very lame, but the contemporary settings of this series have always been a subtle turn off to me I think (probably the same case with Earthbound and some others). Like, I require an RPG to be in a completely different world setting, either medieval fantasy or sci-fi.

I have some friends that get annoyingly goo goo gaga over Persona 4, but I think I might just try out 5 sometime when it releases and see what I think.

SMT has always interested me more because it looks purely sci-fi.

I guess I don't know much about 3, other than I hear it's grindy as hell and "hard to go back to" according to some fans if you play the later games. But I tried playing some of 4 awhile back, and just remember weird school stuff and got bored pretty fast.

[Exhuminator]

I get all kinds of conflicted about Persona, to the point of just being silly about it.

Part of me says "you should start with the first game and play through", but then I look at Personal 1 and 2 A/B, and am not enthused. Then I remember that no one really seemed to give a damn about Persona in a broader sense until 4 came out. Many people jumped on the series with 4, and love solely it. So I wonder if I should just start with 4. But there are those who say 3 is totally great, and even better than 4. Some say you can only love 3 if you play it before 4. Just diverging opinions all around. I find myself wanting to play 3 on PSP, just for the convenience, but it doesn't have FES, which I want to play through. So that means playing it on PS2 instead. So I came to the conclusion; I should just start with 3 on PS2, then do 4 on Vita, and 5 on PS3. I guess. Like I said, silly.

In a schadenfreude way I always loved reading when people started with 4, and then went to try Nocturne later, and were utterly devastated by the difficulty dichotomy.