I still need to finish Raidou...
Yeah. Despite being introduced to both Persona and the SMT series in general through P3, I still really think the pre-3 content is awesome. I enjoyed the hell out of Innocent Sin and now I'm warming up to P1, and I really wish these games were acknowledged more since it has been confirmed they all take place in the same continuity. Still hoping that PQ2 has Persona 2 characters in it. I can see what you mean when it comes SMTIV, and while I mostly agree, I also feel kinda differently. I was pretty much playing I and IV in tandem and everything in IV seemed like a natural progression of the stuff from I, with the more human aspect being something that really only helped drive the points made by the series home - not to mention it was something already present in Strange Journey. I hope I'll get to play Nocturne soon, but looking back on IV, it was a hell of a good game and one I felt was really worthy of being a main SMT game, even if some of its elements strayed from the original vision from SMT. Even a series with such a fixed, firm identity like SMT will naturally evolve overtime, and I think that's a good thing. I know there's a fan translation of Devil Summoner in the works. But since it's being made by the same guys that are doing the fan translation of PSP EP and that takes priority (and still has no set release date), I'm not holding my breath. It's a shame since I've come to really enjoy the Devil Summoner continuity and hope to get my hands on the Raidou games again one day so I can enjoy it to its fullest.
I can see the Persona Up of SMTIV after going through Nocturne and SMT1. There was definitely a heavier focus on characters and story conflict that runs counter to what I have always felt was a series that maintained an emotional detachment between the cast and narrative. I just disagree with the angry fans that it was a bad thing to make this change. I think DS1 falls into that category of being so wonky, that Atlus knows they couldn't just port it, they would likely have to do some serious modding on it like they did with Persona 1. It has not aged as gracefully as other games and most fans consider Soul Hackers to be superior in most ways. PSP EP not getting released out of Japan was definitely a missed opportunity, and one I'm still a bit miffed about as well since it had the better new content. It's not helped that I found it to be the better of the two games, and the PSP port of IS ended up putting in a lot UI features from EP in it. I'm mostly annoyed because it likely killed interest in the earlier games. I would still love for P2 and even p1 to get more in-game nods and expansions with the Persona franchise.
I'm probably still the most upset that we didn't get the PSP version of Eternal Punishment. And we Europeans don't even have the PSN rerelease to fall back on. Also, Soul Hackers made it here, but not the original Devil Summoner? Why? Tbh, I never felt like IV Persona it up, really. What I read of Final points to that being the case there, but IV felt like a full SMT game through and through. I get the feeling many fans here didn't find it Persona-esque enough, considering the backlash it had for not being Persona 4 again
True, but let's face it. Shin Megami Tensei isn't terribly popular in the West which is why SMTIV and Final tried to Persona it up a bit to the anger of the more die-hard fans. Catherine did well in the West, which surprised everyone.
I sure hope not. But considering SMT II and if... on iOS haven't received English localizations yet, I'm still kind of worried I'll probably have to skip on some of the more interesting Atlus titles
Actually, before Persona 5 shattered the record, Catherine was actually one of Atlus' best selling titles. I really wouldn't be surprised if they at least re-release it later. I mean it's even a DLC costume set for P5, so I wouldn't be worried about it being forgotten.
Catherine is the one game I really wanna play but am pretty convinced I'll never get the chance to since I missed the PS3 generation and don't plan to get one, and I don't think Atlus considers it enough of a success to port it to newer consoles or PC. So no Catherine for me Which is a shame since my wife was pretty interested in it independent from me and we could have played it together.
That's cool. I've been replaying Breath of Fire II lately and getting back into fighting games a bit thanks to a youtube series. I've been debating about a new playthrough of Catherine as well since my entry for it on my list.
Yeah, I've noticed. But I'm level 17 now so I'm getting there. All my base personas are now maxed, so I'm now wondering if I should return them, but then again, I should probably keep them around until my other personas grow some. I'm now in the SEBEC building, and I haven't returned to the school yet, so I still don't have Reiji In other news, I've been rereading the Witchers and aside from the first two books being short story collections deconstructing fairy tales and fantasy tropes, I've noticed that the series really has an interesting take on destiny. As in, destiny is very much a real thing in here, but it's never as easy as it is in usual fantasy where "you have to save the world and you will succeed because it was foretold", rather it has a way of screwing with everyone's plans and is in many ways a quantifiable force that people try to - and often succeed in - influence to their advantage. Doesn't stop the main character from thinking destiny is a load of bulltrout.
