Persona 5

[Azure Sen]

I have to amend my above post because I just finished Palace #4, but Futaba has quickly grown on me since joining. It probably helps that there's a long string of pretty funny events after she joins, that she's got a cute design, and that her Persona is everyone's favorite eldritch tome as a UFO. I also have to say, I'm amazed at how good the Sun Co-Op is turning out to be. Toranosuke has turned out to be surprisingly complex and sympathetic, and he's probably in the running for my favorite non-plot important Co-Op.

Some gameplay notes so that I can keep the spoilers to a minimum:

-I didn't know this, but you can read books at Leblanc's counter if you check the bookshelf next to the phone. That would have been nice to know a while ago.

-I really would have liked it if the game managed the Mementos quests better, since it's possible to start quests before the section of Mementos they're in unlocks, resulting in wasted days, especially if you're doing Moon.

-Speaking of annoyances, the chat system is one of those things that's good in concept, poor in execution. Not that it isn't helpful to know exactly when every S. Link is available, but they tend to border on pestering if you're not focusing on them, and when they're available doesn't always mean a rank up is possible, which is kind of what I wish Atlus had gone with.

-Also good in concept, poor in execution is the game reminding you that there are S. Links to start. It's handy for completionists, but the game doesn't recognize when you can't start an S. Link vs. when you haven't (see also: Hanged Man, Star), or when you just don't want to start one for whatever reason.

-An event I just did reminded me of a good point, namely I'm sick of Atlus's "not actually a choice" choices. I don't mind the flavor ones too much since they don't affect things, but to use as an example stuff like making you waste a week in P4 helping Yosuke for a pittance of S. Link points with three characters, one of which doesn't even need S. Link points to progress, and a handful of money you could get from one Midnight Channel run, even if you tell him no. Or being forced to participate in every game's version Operation Babe Hunt even if your protagonist is dating someone because Atlus has run out of ideas of how to fill the time between the actually good and creative parts of the story.

But none of these things are dealbreakers in any way, more like minor annoyances I feel the need to get off my chest.

Edited April 8, 2017 by AzureSen

[Thane]

12 minutes ago, AzureSen said:

I have to amend my above post because I just finished Palace #4, but Futaba has quickly grown on me since joining. It probably helps that there's a long string of pretty funny events after she joins, that she's got a cute design.

That explains why one of my recommended videos on YouTube is just a thumbnail of her butt. That girl needs to buy a bigger swimsuit, which is odd considering how small she is.

13 minutes ago, AzureSen said:

 I'm amazed at how good the Sun Co-Op is turning out to be. Toranosuke has turned out to be surprisingly complex and sympathetic, and he's probably in the running for my favorite non-plot important Co-Op.

I'm super interested in his Social Link; can't wait until someone starts doing it so I can see it. It's a bit hard to read in Japanese so I'll wait until someone uploads it in English.

[Ebony]

1 hour ago, AzureSen said:

I have to amend my above post because I just finished Palace #4, but Futaba has quickly grown on me since joining. It probably helps that there's a long string of pretty funny events after she joins, that she's got a cute design, and that her Persona is everyone's favorite eldritch tome as a UFO. I also have to say, I'm amazed at how good the Sun Co-Op is turning out to be. Toranosuke has turned out to be surprisingly complex and sympathetic, and he's probably in the running for my favorite non-plot important Co-Op.

If we're going non plot important social links, I think so far my favorite might actually be Temperance. It's also insanely useful so far.

[Thane]

Damn, that Sun Co-Op was great, and I particularly liked the final one. It's probably my favorite Co-Op in the game so far that I've read.

[Caster]

Been playing almost nonstop since I have no life and I'm nearing in on the end.

I've really been enjoying this game a lot. I like the entire cast, even if Ryugi has been annoying me as of late, I still don't mind him so much.

I'm especially enjoying the plot so far besides some of the hiccups now and then.

I've enjoyed all the confidants in this game, although I wish I hadn't had to push some to the side, like Hierophant and Sun, but I'll do them on another playthrough.

I decided to romance Futaba and I thought that was pretty good.

Overall I'm really enjoying this game, probably already prefer it to P3 and 4 especially.

Just got to finish up this schoolwork so I can keep playing, haha.

Edited April 9, 2017 by Sophie

[Radiant head]

still in the exposition set up phase, but this game is incredible so far.  really angry too. 

rip my life

[Water Mage]

A bit of a non-spoiler talk, but was anyone else suprised by Morgana being the main healer? I thought that would be Ann. Actually, I thought Ann was going to be Yukiko 2.0 in terms gameplay, but she's actually rather underwhelming in battle. In fact most female party's member seem to be rather underwhelming in battle. Or am I using them wrong?

[Radiant head]

i haven't gotten that far yet, but from what i've read, she's basically mitsuru but with fire (ie not really a healer but great magic nuke), which sounds pretty good to me.  my party will probably be ryuji, ann, and either morgana or makoto.  i think yusuke has some edges over ryuji, but at this point it just feels awkward to drop a character who was so integral to the early game setup.  

but yeah this game rules.  thematically, it's really cynical and angry about society, which is perfectly up my alley.  the non-visual novel aspect of the game (dungeons, etc.) have been massively upgraded from 3 and 4, which makes it easy to recommend this game to my friends.  it's interesting to experience this game because so much of it is familiar if you've played the last two, but extremely different at the same time. 

also i'm digging the lupin iii parallels here.  the mc is almost literally arsene lupin.  his guardian looks like jigen, and one of the party members is goemon.  only missing fujiko, though ann/carmen comes close. 

Edited April 10, 2017 by Radiant head

[Corrobin]

Ann is more of a Fire Mitsursu, improved by the fact that you can control her and prevent her from doing stupid things (performing a status spell when you really need a Dia/rama/rahan).

Makoto is the jack-of-all-trades: Decent phsyical attacks, solid Nuclear magic, decent healer (Doesn't learn the Patra line or Salvation, and learns most spells later than Morgana), and the owner of the (Ma)Rakukaja spells.

Haru might seem like a Psychic mage with attack reflectors in Tetrakarn and Makarakarn, but she's the only party member who learns Gun skills.

[Azure Sen]

At the fifth palace, which is kind of starting to seriously annoy me. It's longer than the other palaces by quite a bit, not helped by the game itself being inconsistent as to how much progress you've made (at what is maybe the second-to-last safe room, discussing it with the team had them say we were only half way through, but as soon as I left the Palace without making any further progress Morgana then said we were almost done). The enemies also seem much less varied compared to the other dungeons, making it feel like more of a slog, and the scarcity of SP items is starting to become a real problem as SP costs get higher and SP pools barely increase. While I am still immensely enjoying the game, I do think a certain level of technical polish is missing from it, between this and other factors.

13 minutes ago, Corrobin said:

Ann is more of a Fire Mitsursu, improved by the fact that you can control her and prevent her from doing stupid things (performing a status spell when you really need a Dia/rama/rahan).

Or you can completely make her forget status effects (which I'm going to do, as Matarunda and Dekaja > Dormina and Tentrafoo and she needs the slots for other skills).

[Corrobin]

41 minutes ago, AzureSen said:

Or you can completely make her forget status effects (which I'm going to do, as Matarunda and Dekaja > Dormina and Tentrafoo and she needs the slots for other skills).

I'm not saying this point isn't valid, but in SMT, status effects can be pretty effective. I've had Ann completely shut down random encounters with hard enemies with a single Tentarafoo.

[Ebony]

I'm... okay I'm near endgame.

I have to say, this is bar none my favorite Persona game. It's just way too fun.

I'll be doing another run since I wasn't able to 100% get all links. That being said, I made Makoto my gf. Smart choice, she's adorable.

[Thane]

24 minutes ago, Ebony said:

I'll be doing another run since I wasn't able to 100% get all links. That being said, I made Makoto my gf. Smart choice, she's adorable.

I really like Makoto, but I found her Co-Op to be really lacking.

Clearly, Toranosuke is the true waifu of this game.

[Ebony]

I found her Co-Op fine. I don't mind naive characters like that, but not taken to as extremes as Mitsuru.
I'm going to give her bonus points to the fact it's the first Priestess social link i care about.

[Thane]

3 hours ago, Ebony said:

I found her Co-Op fine. I don't mind naive characters like that, but not taken to as extremes as Mitsuru.
I'm going to give her bonus points to the fact it's the first Priestess social link i care about.

Priestess Social Link

Spoiler

Her part was just fine. However, Eiko and her boyfriend were so exaggerated and predictable that I found no enjoyment in reading their dialogue, and that took up pretty much half her Co-Op.

I think Sun and Hierophant so far have been the best - Sojiro's really growing on me, though maybe that's because he reminds me of Dojima a bit. 

Futaba is an odd one, half of what she says and does makes me cringe and the other half is really entertaining. 

Something that does bother me is how everyone tells Glasses-kun he's special and a good listener. That's nothing new in games like these, but I feel like it goes overboard.

Glasses-kun: Fuck off, Akechi.

Akechi: Haha, that's hilarious! I truly feel like we share a special connection and that I can tell you everything. Thank you for the stimulating conversation!

[Konnor97]

I like Akechi. He has that charisma where even if I may not totally agree with him, I still like listening to him.

Mishima on the other hand, I finished his rank 7, so it seems like he's getting better, but wow these past couple ranks.

He singles out an actor who's handsome and been doing a lot of movies or whatever recently who has done nothing wrong, but clearly if he's in the spotlight now, he's doing something shady. Also because if you guys get this actor, the Phantom Thieves will totally get some good publicity. So he sends you the guy's name to take care of him, but Mishima pulls out soon after. Then he wants you to steal the heart of some guy he went to middle school with because he picked on him sometimes. After asking that of you he asks if you guys are planning on stealing his own heart. Afterwards, the team goes to Mementos (without taking time) and finds Shadow Mishima, and he talks about how he's been using the phan-site and the Phantom Thieves the entire time just to prove he's not a zero, riding off your group's coattails. He's pretty much just in it for the popularity and self-gratification, even though his name isn't out there as the manager of the phan-site.

You confront him afterwards and he apologizes and says he'll stay as the manager of the site because that's the thing he's best at doing, but it's only rank 7 so it feels like there's gonna be something else before the end of this.

[Water Mage]

2 hours ago, Konnor97 said:

I like Akechi. He has that charisma where even if I may not totally agree with him, I still like listening to him.

Mishima on the other hand, I finished his rank 7, so it seems like he's getting better, but wow these past couple ranks.

  Reveal hidden contents

He singles out an actor who's handsome and been doing a lot of movies or whatever recently who has done nothing wrong, but clearly if he's in the spotlight now, he's doing something shady. Also because if you guys get this actor, the Phantom Thieves will totally get some good publicity. So he sends you the guy's name to take care of him, but Mishima pulls out soon after. Then he wants you to steal the heart of some guy he went to middle school with because he picked on him sometimes. After asking that of you he asks if you guys are planning on stealing his own heart. Afterwards, the team goes to Mementos (without taking time) and finds Shadow Mishima, and he talks about how he's been using the phan-site and the Phantom Thieves the entire time just to prove he's not a zero, riding off your group's coattails. He's pretty much just in it for the popularity and self-gratification, even though his name isn't out there as the manager of the phan-site.

You confront him afterwards and he apologizes and says he'll stay as the manager of the site because that's the thing he's best at doing, but it's only rank 7 so it feels like there's gonna be something else before the end of this.

 

 About Mishima,

 

He does act self-centered in some parts, but remember he's the Moon Arcana. Think about what all the Moon Arcana characters have in common, and what the Moon Arcana means. It explains a actually.

Also, a bit of a spoiler question, EDIT: Forget the spoiler question, I already got my answer.

 

To those that know the story, confirm something for me. That Igor we keep talking to is a fake, isn't it? Don't tell me why or who, just tell me if he's a fake or not. Because he really giving this strange vibes. And it's not just his voice. And there's was one very incriminating detail at the beginning, that gave me the idea he's a fake.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Water Mage

[Interdimensional Observer]

12 hours ago, Radiant head said:

the non-visual novel aspect of the game (dungeons, etc.) have been massively upgraded from 3 and 4, which makes it easy to recommend this game to my friends.  it's interesting to experience this game because so much of it is familiar if you've played the last two, but extremely different at the same time. 

As an SMT fan, I'm interested in Persona, given the shared gameplay. However, I can't get over the high school/dating sim elements in P3 and P4. I used to be able to tolerate it in Luminous Arc and whatnot, but now I really can't. Persona 1 and 2, which are a little more serious have no dating sim aspect it seems, but appear to be quite dated in gameplay (though I'm enjoying Soul Hackers right now, also called out as being dated, and cleared SMT 1 iOS three times). And I can't get over the Hitler use in P2 either (I abhor the masses' obsession with the Nazis). I was considering PQ given I like EO as well, but one look at the images on the 3DS eShop turned me off (maybe if it goes on sale for 9.99 I'll buy, but not any higher- also, can I turn off the voices in the game?).

Oh well, guess this is a series I'll just have to look on from a distance without ever touching.

Edit: I have beaten TMS though- with generous button mashing during conversations and a skipping of every cutscene, even the FE theme one. The gameplay was the game's redemption. And I forgot to say I enjoyed Devil Survivor 2 (plot and gameplay were good- the Fate Level chats were very much tolerable for the most part), despite my profile pic being taken from there. I also tried to get into RF, but only ever completed the first and Frontier.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Interdimensional Observer

[saisymbolic]

For those curious as to why everybody was a douche to you at the beginning of the game (because I truthfully just thought everyone were assholes at first), I found this comment on YT that explains it well:

Spoiler

"In Japan, societal harmony is considered a virtue in and of itself. Japanese culture is very hierarchal and somewhat nationalistic, teaching respect for authority and societal reputation while discouraging individuality for the sake of a greater, stronger whole. While this alone is not evil, this strict cultural system is sometimes used to cover up the deeper problems the Japanese society faces including corruption, personal feelings and stress. The comfort zone generated by this pervasive cultural system is partly responsible for the apathy of Japanese citizens, who are often too used to an infrastructure running like clockwork and too concerned with personal problems or goals to care about society as a whole, which they see as the government's (i.e. someone else's) job. For example, the protagonist (Akira Kurusu) is derided in the beginning mostly because he is seen as disruptive to an established order, not because he committed a crime. People dislike him mostly for his potential to upset a daily routine or societal appearance (i.e. the "comfort zone"). In conclusion, societal order is necessary for civilization to an extent, but if it is taken too far, it could destroy individual societal values within people."

 

[Azure Sen]

9 hours ago, Thane said:

Clearly, Toranosuke is the true waifu of this game.

Toranosuke/Joker is my OTP.

5 hours ago, Thane said:

Something that does bother me is how everyone tells Glasses-kun he's special and a good listener. That's nothing new in games like these, but I feel like it goes overboard.

I've really only got those vibes from Akechi

Spoiler

and given how blatantly the traitor he is, he's probably just being a suck-up. Like, seriously dude, at least the other co-ops waited until higher ranks to spill their tragic backstories, after protag had earned their trust. Spillin' that at Rank 3, to some dude you've barely interacted with on top of everything else? Stop being so obvious.

Anyway, me complaining about stuff time again: I really don't like how the game rushes you to finish the Palaces. With Palace #5 it feels like it's gotten even worse, as you have to pass through a dialogue tree just to get any Co-Op progress done because how dare you want to take your time when you have three weeks to steal a target's heart. Maybe P4 did the same and I just don't remember because there hasn't been a run in recent memory where I haven't cleared every dungeon in a day or maybe it's just more obvious because of how more longer and complex Palace #5's been compared to every other dungeon, but it's still an issue.

It's unfortunate that I keep finding issues to bring up, but Palace #5 is the point where the game's technical and design flaws are becoming harder to overlook, at least for me.

[Thane]

2 minutes ago, AzureSen said:

Toranosuke/Joker is my OTP.

"Haha, don't be silly, Glasses-kun, there is more than one way to use our silver tongues..."

3 minutes ago, AzureSen said:

I've really only got those vibes from Akechi

Nah, I know of several others who explicitly point that out. Again, it's not unexpected in a game like this and it's certainly not the first time it's happened in Persona, but I found it a bit off nevertheless.

I'm nearing the end of the walkthrough. It's a solid story so far, but it does have a few hiccups here and there, and I feel like the Co-Ops didn't quite live up to Persona 4. But I'll give a more complete write-up of my thoughts later.

[Water Mage]

32 minutes ago, Thane said:

"Haha, don't be silly, Glasses-kun, there is more than one way to use our silver tongues..."

Nah, I know of several others who explicitly point that out. Again, it's not unexpected in a game like this and it's certainly not the first time it's happened in Persona, but I found it a bit off nevertheless.

I'm nearing the end of the walkthrough. It's a solid story so far, but it does have a few hiccups here and there, and I feel like the Co-Ops didn't quite live up to Persona 4. But I'll give a more complete write-up of my thoughts later.

Soeaking of which, where are you watching the walktrough? I though videos and streams after 7/7 in the game were banned.

[Thane]

Just now, Water Mage said:

Soeaking of which, where are you watching the walktrough? I though videos and streams after 7/7 in the game were banned.

The guy's called ShackD on YouTube. The chap's smart; the dungeon gameplay videos are locked to his playlist, so they won't appear if you just search for them. The rest of the episodes are simply titled "Confidant Guide". I don't know if it's a bulletproof setup he's got going on, but I can watch high quality videos free of any comments without issue.

[Water Mage]

22 minutes ago, Thane said:

The guy's called ShackD on YouTube. The chap's smart; the dungeon gameplay videos are locked to his playlist, so they won't appear if you just search for them. The rest of the episodes are simply titled "Confidant Guide". I don't know if it's a bulletproof setup he's got going on, but I can watch high quality videos free of any comments without issue.

I see. That's actually kinda clever. But I wonder how long this ban will last. I can why understand why they did it, but at the same time, it's rather silly. It kinda reminds of the reason why Sakurai said that there wouldn't be a story mode on Smash Bros 4. 

 

[Thane]

3 minutes ago, Water Mage said:

I see. That's actually kinda clever. But I wonder how long this ban will last. I can why understand why they did it, but at the same time, it's rather silly. It kinda reminds of the reason why Sakurai said that there wouldn't be a story mode on Smash Bros 4. 

I've seen many streamers stream past it anyway, both on Twitch and YouTube. It seems that so far, Atlus threat was just empty. Maybe they realized how much bad publicity it would give them after people flipped out.