Persona 5

sniper_samurai

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy wrote: »

What else carries over? Vaguely, don't need full details

All your equipment, money, social stats, your Persona Compendium and a specific social link ability from each max level social link(must talk to confidant on final day except Morgana to receive it).

johnny_ultimate

Finally got around to finishing this - 80+ hours is a big commitment these days My apologies in advance for the word stew that follows.

In many ways, this is the fullest realisation of a Persona game yet. Mechanically, it has been refined in ways that are sensible and forward-thinking. The Confidant system, with its generous rewards that significantly impact combat, seem like the logical continuation of the Social Link one. Everything is singing to the same tune here - there'll always be a disconnect between the RPG and the dating sim, but this has gone out of its way to make everything feel like everything is influenced or influencing something else. Your everyday choices and preferences feel like you're actually customising your playstyle, which is impressive. The systems are more complex and multi-faceted than they were before, and yet everything is more cohesive and harmonious than it was before.

The UI is a masterpiece - a strong word for a design feature that is usually barely worth commenting on, but this just goes to show why it should: even the loading screens are overflowing with character. Shoji Meguro knocks it out of the park, and the whole game is crafted with truly peerless style and artistic coherence (a few inherited oddball Persona designs aside, late game 'penis in a chariot' for example). The combat is the best the series has seen, and the switch to 'hand crafted' levels has been a long-time coming.

And yet...

For everything the game does well, I couldn't shake a niggling sense of disappointment throughout. I mostly put it down to the game coming across as a variation on a formula. A lot of this is very similar structurally to Persona 4, which itself was similar to Persona 3. But more so than the similarities between the last two games, P5 feels derivative of P4 in a few frustrating ways. Several central characters feel like mere variations on the cast of its predecessor, and unfortunately few (if any) of them are as interesting - especially the leads (come back Chie, Teddie and Yukiko!). Some of the imposed restrictions are frustrating - feels like hours & hours before Morgana finally lets you loose to explore, and even then the flow regularly stops for lengthy story breaks. And much of the overarching narrative is decidedly uninteresting and overwrought.

The game is 'cooler' and chillier than the last two games: a thematically & stylistically purposeful choice (and works well with some of the darker Confidants - the airsoft shop and clinic ones wouldn't have suited the previous games), but one which I think stunts it's charm in some respects. The writing & characterisation isn't as sharp, generally - potentially a casualty of the localisation effort. Inaba was the perfect location for a Persona game - the small town feel really gelling perfectly with the way the game is designed & structured. P5 benefits in some ways for the extended scope allowed by Tokyo, but given you spend a lot of time in a handful of hubs I have to confess missing a setting where the restrictive feeling felt like it had to be that way.

Part of this, I must admit, is being a bit older now than I was back when P4 was released - that game really struck a chord at the time, but TBH I'm sure I'd be more critical if I played it again now given how my own tastes have diverged in the near-decade since. I'm much less tolerant of the anime / JRPG fantasy bull**** that populates this game's final hours (

oh look, an evil God thing

), and even less interested in the unnecessary fan service-y stuff that pops up now and again (any opportunity for a swimsuit sequence, ey?) The game is NOWHERE near as bad as some of its contemporaries in that respect, at least. Someone mentioned above how the length isn't an issue - if anything, the game could have had some fat trimmed, especially in the overlong combat gauntlets that are the last palace or two. And Mementoes, with it's dulling repetition, is truly an overly time-consuming pain in the arse (although thank god for the 'flu season' Reaper trick - made the last stretch less tedious!).

There's a lot of negative points there, true, but I do want to end on a positive note - as, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my dozens of hours with this, and in so many ways it's a genuinely excellent game. My favourite parts of the game are finishing a Palace with lots of time to spare, and spending the remaining dozen days just getting into the routine of 'daily life' and time management - when that works, there's nothing like a Persona game. On my surprisingly affecting last round of Tokyo before the credits, I was reminded how Persona is practically alone in creating worlds that encourage the player to make a real connection with the spaces & the characters involved through repetition - something which almost made me reconsider some of the frustrations mentioned above, and sent the game out on a good positive note (although it has more bloody endings than Lord of the Rings).

I'll almost certainly be back for Persona 6 - but I really hope Persona Team break the mold more next time. They've done it before - here's hoping they can again.

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy

I finished it today, 141 hours.
Overall I really enjoyed it. I'll put of a wall of text on what I thought like JU did. Some stuff I said before of course.

The themes I really liked, I've come across people in the game irl and I think if you kinda haven't you might loose out a bit. The MC was great, loved the design. I liked the majority of the party except Ann and Ryuji. I felt after the first palace Ann lacked a purpose other than fan service, I can nearly imagine the game without her. Rarely used either character after Mokoto joined.

I would have preferred less Mementos, I used to mute it and put on my own music, it was only track I didn't like listening to (can you change it?). It was handy for getting extra Persona for fusing and items so it had its moments.

I'd have liked another palace, there was a few times were days were controlled and couldn't do anything

around the time Haru comes in

. I had 2 S/L on 9 that I couldn't finish as neither would meet close to the end game, it was really disappointing so I had very few maxed by the end. I also couldn't find some of the S/L and they wouldn't text because I hadn't enough of a skill so I kinda forgot about them.

Gameplay wise it's my favourite to play, works really well, I like the social links extras coax you more to focus on them. The itemizing Persona and random fusion on the network was really cool, I often got higher level Persona.

End game stuff

I thought the end boss was only okay, I just felt like something was missing towards the end. I did like the stuff with the Velvet Room a lot though.
I had thought you'd get something from Akechi doing thd goodbyes, if cognition can effect the real world I'd thought you'd like imagine him. I think I'm just bitter about how little gifts I got :pac:.
Even though I'd two girlfriends because I didn't Max the S/L I had to spend Valentine's was Ryuji, what a bummer... not one kiss after saving the whole world lol jkjk.

If they do a Persona 6 I'd like maybe a university setting instead of a school, a bit older. Or maybe being the teacher? I'm not sure what other setting to use to make the gameplay work as it is now.
I don't mind the school setting but I'd like a change up.

noodler

I despise that the game can't stick to its own deadlines.

Interested Observer

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy wrote: »

I finished it today, 141 hours.

Holy ****, I finished it in less than 80. What were you doing for 141 hours??

I don't think the game needed another palace tbh. I thought it needed to be paced better or something but by the end I'd had enough of palaces.

I had a funny time with the game, if I did a writeup like the ones above it would almost certainly be based on the stuff that frustrated me, those things stick out a lot more than what it did well in my mind, but obviously I played through the whole thing so obviously enjoyed it.

nix

Interested Observer wrote: »

Holy ****, I finished it in less than 80. What were you doing for 141 hours??

I don't think the game needed another palace tbh. I thought it needed to be paced better or something but by the end I'd had enough of palaces.

I had a funny time with the game, if I did a writeup like the ones above it would almost certainly be based on the stuff that frustrated me, those things stick out a lot more than what it did well in my mind, but obviously I played through the whole thing so obviously enjoyed it.

Did you skip all the side quests? The only way i can see it taking 80hours is if you just stick to the main quests and skip all other content/realtionships.

OR if you played it on the easier difficulty settings.

Interested Observer

nix wrote: »

Did you skip all the side quests? The only way i can see it taking 80hours is if you just stick to the main quests and skip all other content/realtionships.

OR if you played it on the easier difficulty settings.

I was playing on easy yes. But I maxed out most of the social links, I never just went to bed if there was something to do.

nix

Interested Observer wrote: »

I was playing on easy yes.

Well there ya go, easy is a cake walk in the park compared to normal/hard. You level up much faster on easy, and you take less damage and monster do less damage.

Did you get all social links ? Its possible to miss some by never meeting them

noodler

Only at the end of Palace 2 and its the guts of 30 hours already.

The cover system is infuriating.

Did people let the AI act on their own or take control?

I feel like the editing was better in 4. The translation too, the amount of fairly nonsensical conversations for example.

Story feels weaker even if the new perspective is interesting. As always bosses are a challenge and dungeons have a tendency to KO you when you least expect it.

johnny_ultimate

nix wrote: »

Did you skip all the side quests? The only way i can see it taking 80hours is if you just stick to the main quests and skip all other content/realtionships.

OR if you played it on the easier difficulty settings.

I finished it in ~80 hours too on normal, and that was going after a good chunk of the side quests and confidantes (well, whatever was possible playing the game normally without chasing 100% completion). Personally don't really know how I could have played for dozens of more hours unless I was trying to collect all Personas or something. I may have cut out a few hours with the

rainy day reaper trick

, but that just shaved off a little bit of grinding

johnny_ultimate

noodler wrote: »

Did people let the AI act on their own or take control?

Take control for sure.

I feel like the editing was better in 4. The translation too, the amount of fairly nonsensical conversations for example.

Story feels weaker even if the new perspective is interesting. As always bosses are a challenge and dungeons have a tendency to KO you when you least expect it.

Yep, it's definitely a few notches below Persona 4 IMO in all but stylistic polish and a few quality of life improvements. The translation came in for a lot of grief, and definitely the characters IMO lack the charm and, well, character of P3 and P4 - not sure if that's there in the Japanese original, or consequence of a less colourful translation. The story takes ages to get into gear, and then overplays a lot of the later plot points.

Game could easily have been pacier and stronger with one or two dozen hours of stuff shaved off.

nix

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I finished it in ~80 hours too on normal, and that was going after a good chunk of the side quests and confidantes (well, whatever was possible playing the game normally without chasing 100% completion). Personally don't really know how I could have played for dozens of more hours unless I was trying to collect all Personas or something. I may have cut out a few hours with the

rainy day reaper trick

, but that just shaved off a little bit of grinding

I dont actually remember specifically what slowed me down in comparison to you, i just filled out my days making sure i improved stats throughout the days or improved some relationship. I done mementos for every 2-3 quests for it i got until they got sparse towards the end.

And by the time i got to the second last dungeon, i just mostly bee lined towards the end. That was around the 100hr mark and even then it took another 20-25hours to complete.

I didnt have a difficult time completing any dungeons, might have hit a few bumps which took a few attempts to kill a boss. And then the odd unexpected death which set me back a good bit. That reminds me, i hated the save system, fecked me over a few times..

And all the NPC's you can grind relationships with, i done a good bit of all, i think i missed out on one though,

the politician guy

but i was passed the point of not arsed when i found that out.

I also didnt attempt to collect em all with regards to the persona's, feck that

Interested Observer

nix wrote: »

Well there ya go, easy is a cake walk in the park compared to normal/hard. You level up much faster on easy, and you take less damage and monster do less damage.

Did you get all social links ? Its possible to miss some by never meeting them

I met everyone and had all but two maxed out.

megaten

It took me about 90 hours and I completed most of the social links. I didn't really bother with stuff like the baseball minigames though.

nix

megaten wrote: »

It took me about 90 hours and I completed most of the social links. I didn't really bother with stuff like the baseball minigames though.

Easy mode?

noodler

I can see he appeal of an easy mode to make it shorter but the best thing about this series for me is the boss challenges.

I struggle to make the same dent I did during the snow days!

megaten

nix wrote: »

Easy mode?

Nope, but I had already beaten P3P and Persona 4 so I have a good handle on how the games work.

Mr.Fantastic

I finished it around the 90 hour mark on normal. Maxed out the majority of confidants aswell. Got to Kawakami to 9

after you had to leave school so couldn't get her to 10

.

I would love to go replay it but dunno if I could devote that time again to it. Great game to be fair and was my first persona really enjoyed it, semi-addictive. Felt relief when it was over.

megaten

It's hard to know if I'd play it again. Maybe when the inevitable re-relase happens but I don't know if I'd be bothered unless their was a way to start from a new game+ save so I don't have to bother maxing out skills again.

Mr.Fantastic

megaten wrote: »

It's hard to know if I'd play it again. Maybe when the inevitable re-relase happens but I don't know if I'd be bothered unless their was a way to start from a new game+ save so I don't have to bother maxing out skills again.

Pretty sure NG+ keeps your skills , end game items, personas and any confidant that was maxed out gives you an item that give you access to their level 10 abilities.

megaten

Mr.Fantastic wrote: »

Pretty sure NG+ keeps your skills , end game items, personas and any confidant that was maxed out gives you an item that give you access to their level 10 abilities.

I know, I meant to say I probably wouldn't play a re-release with new content unless it supported new game+ saves from the original.

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy

nix wrote: »

Did you skip all the side quests? The only way i can see it taking 80hours is if you just stick to the main quests and skip all other content/realtionships.

OR if you played it on the easier difficulty settings.

Someone told me it took them 60 but syill dunno how and they did better in social links.
I sometimes left my on went for dinner or someone called and couldn't get to a save so left it on. My other plays usually took 90 with breaks.
I dunno mine went so long, might have been compendium stuff too.

MilesMorales1

I'm at 24 hours 30 minutes only just got

Makoto

It's hard to build up some stuff when its hard to get Guts.

sniper_samurai

MilesMorales1 wrote: »

I'm at 24 hours 30 minutes only just got

Makoto

It's hard to build up some stuff when its hard to get Guts.

Guts is built up by doing the burger challenge iirc.

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy

sniper_samurai wrote: »

Guts is built up by doing the burger challenge iirc.

You can get some by studying, I'd save before hand but it only goes up if it's noisy or studying in the restaurant and having a coffee, raising the social link with the doctor works too
https://www.polygon.com/persona-5-guide-walkthrough/2017/4/11/15251242/how-to-raise-guts

noodler

On dungeon 3.

God its not even July yet (in game) I don't remember 3 and 4 being quite this boring!

I said it before but did the translator take a holiday? The dialogue is atrocious, non stop repetition by all characters in all situations.

Retr0gamer

noodler wrote: »

On dungeon 3.

God its not even July yet (in game) I don't remember 3 and 4 being quite this boring!

I said it before but did the translator take a holiday? The dialogue is atrocious, non stop repetition by all characters in all situations.

Yeah it's a massive step back from the quality you expect from Atlus. I don't know what the hell happened there.

Cina

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Yeah it's a massive step back from the quality you expect from Atlus. I don't know what the hell happened there.

it's probably the most polished, rounded and brilliantly crafted JRPG I've ever played.

Do you think some day you'll play a game you actually like or will you just be miserable forever?

megaten

Cina wrote: »

it's probably the most polished, rounded and brilliantly crafted JRPG I've ever played.

Do you think some day you'll play a game you actually like or will you just be miserable forever?

I enjoyed Persona 5 but the summer months definitely had pacing problems. Not as bad as Persona 3 where almost nothing happens until the end but its still an issue.

Sparko

Argos have this for 29.99, think I might bite.