Persona 5 or Final Fantasy XV?

This whole thing is funny because I remember this whole discussion where a lot of people were like really dismissive towards Persona and that it's an obscure, irrelevant series that didn't have its FFVII moment yet. But look at this - SE is now treating P5 as a potential thread to FF smurfing XV

Probably because Persona has a strong following in Japan. MegaTen is actually a bigger franchise over there than here, but I'm sure SE has noticed the series has been catching on with Westerners. Still , I almost feel like this question is geared towards Japan than abroad.

Hasn't Persona fans also been waiting a decade for P5? Since P4 came out in 2008?

I'm amused.

Originally Posted by Ayen

Hasn't Persona fans also been waiting a decade for P5? Since P4 came out in 2008?

I'm amused.

We got a lot of stuff in the meantime though, including Persona Q, the Arena games, Dancing All Night, portable remakes of all the games. Plus, it's not like it was announced seven years ago. That and the fans just don't seem to take the wait so personally

It also helps that fans are aware that Atlus is a small company. The number of staff that has been working on P5 is probably about the same size as the one that worked on the 16-bit era of FFs. So about 20 or so people. Whereas FFXV has a staff probably ranging over 100 if other sources are to be believed, so it's actually reasonable for P5 to be a long wait. Hell the staff even said Catherine was created partly to get the team familiarized with new tech trends with developing for the PS3 for the sole purpose of making P5 later.

-Marathon Persona in the meantime-
...
-Forgot to ask for P3 for Christmas-
...
WAAAAAAAAAAH!

Originally Posted by maybee

I have a feeling that if more people say the Persona series then SE will make FF 16 go down the Persona path. Epsically if the FF XV sales are poor compared to past Final Fantasies and the fanbase hates it.

So, we'd get a Final Fantasy game with turn based combat, character development, and a well written story?

EVERYONE GO SAY YOU'LL GET PERSONA 5 FIRST!

Oh man. I'm so pumped up for Persona 5. I'm digging the red/black scheme so hard! Unf! So hot.

I'll pick up FF after I sink about 80+ hours in to P5.

I'll break down my thought process for anyone interested:

- In the last ten years we've had some great Persona games (Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 4 Arena, I've heard Persona Q is good but have yet to play it).
- In the last ten years Squenix have given us Final Fantasy XII, and a disturbing number of steaming pieces of trout. Like, the only enjoyable games they've made are Bravely Default which I've barely played, and Theatrhythm which isn't really comparable to a next-gen FF title. I literally can't think of anything that's come from them out of Japan that is even interesting to me and FFXV is being made by some of my least favourite people in the company.

So obviously, I will be running straight out to pick up my copy of FFXV.

As far as I know, SMT and Persona are niche, even in Japan. But Persona 4 kinda broke into the mainstream and Atlus is desperately keeping it there in the public consciousness.

Nah, SMT is actually big in Japan

I dunno, you're the only person I've heard who said that.

Being more popular in Japan than here =/= actually being mainstream.

SMT is actually one of the top five RPG series in Japan, the franchise dates back to NES days.

SMTIII was the first breakout hit for the franchise in the U.S. thanks to the extra PR from having Dante of Devil May Cry fame making a cameo in the game. The franchise saw some modest hits with Digital Devil Saga and Devil Summoner. Persona 3 was the big sleeper hit that caught people by surprise and then the buzz from that game helped make P4 become a hit as well. Atlus has gone on record saying Persona is their biggest franchise now, finally overtaking SMT, hence why P3/4 have remakes, directors cuts, ports, spin-offs, and so forth.

The series is still niche abroad, but if you really look at sales numbers then nothing is going to really compete with Final Fantasy and The Elder Scrolls at this point, so most RPGs are basically "niche".

It goes:
Dragon Quest
Final Fantasy




Tales
Persona which is not SMT anymore really
Something else

I dunno what the other top spot is but Tales has always been a distant #3 in the articles I've read.

Originally Posted by Forsaken Lover

Persona which is not SMT anymore really

To be fair, P5 does seem to be bringing back many SMT elements that have been removed from the series.

Honestly, beyond the lack of post-apocalypse setting and the focus on characters, there really isn't anything gameplay-wise that sets it apart from other SMT games in the franchise that isn't just an overhaul of the system. Persona 1 and 2 played differently from other MegaTen games but P3 and P4 are just derivatives of SMTIII from a gameplay standpoint. Persona is basically MegaTen with a heavier focus on characters which is what it was created as in the first place.