Pumpkin
is an EoFF Legend
Pinkasaurus Rex

That was awesome!

Just came back from a walk. Give me a sec and I'll keep you company

As I wrote my last entry on the list, I remembered there's this sidequest in P3 where you encounter a skinny cat at the beginning of the year that you can feed. Later on he disappears and you think something happened, but then it comes back all fat and happy At least that's how I remember it. Some details may be off.

Persona started as a spin off of the SMT games. However, while the SMT titles deal with the grand cosmic battles between the demons and such, Persona is all about man's conflict with himself. It's a study of psychology and how certain concepts influence and change us. The first three games in the series (Persona 2 is actually two games) are a bit closer to the SMT games. They're just as well written, and they're themed better in my opinion, but they didn't age well, nor did they differentiate themselves enough from the SMT titles.

Persona 3 was what granted the series its own unique identity, and I adore those games. It cuts out the demons and such almost entirely. The primary enemies are Shadows. Literally the negative emotions and repressed feelings of mankind given form. You fight them with Personae, the masks that people wear to face troubles. Both psychological concepts pioneered by Carl Jung. The games do a masterful job of analyzing psychological issues, with each game taking a certain focus to study.

As I said, Persona 3 is the study of death, and how it impacts people.

Persona 4 is a study of desire and self-deception. It has a much lighter tone overall, and some things are far better designed. The dungeons, for example, are actually a literal step into the psyche of people you're rescuing. Even though they follow the same basic format as the Persona 3 dungeon, this ties them into the game much better.

The upcoming Persona 5 looks to be analyzing feelings of being trapped in one's life, and I am so looking forward to it.

You might want to play them in order, because Persona 3's dungeon will probably feel like a step down after Persona 4's. But there is a lot to do in both games. Don't rush, and don't be afraid if you miss stuff. Pick your favorite people to talk to in the life simulator, and work on their stories. You can always experience others on another play through.

It's not that sort of dark. The dungeon design in Persona 3 is relatively uninspired. You're basically given a maze with randomly patrolling enemies that you work your way through, that changes its layout each time you go into it. While the tone and design of the dungeon are dark, fitting to that format means that there aren't a lot of horror type elements within the dungeon, so you might be fine with it.

Where it is dark is in themes, tone, atmosphere, and writing. Persona 3 is a game about death, and coping with death. I'll try not to get too spoilery, but every party member you have is touched in some way by death, and as you play through and talk with them, you see how they come to terms with it, how it changes and drives them as a character. It analyzes what death means, both to individuals, and to humanity as a whole. Because it analyzes death so well, it also analyzes life, and what life means in the face of the inevitability of the end.

It is truly a masterpiece of writing, but just be aware that it does handle these issues, so there will be times when it is VERY depressing. It has moments that put Aeris's death or anything I've seen in Majora's Mask this far to shame.

That said, it does also have some very well done lighthearted moments. It's not pure darkness and despair the whole time. It has a very, very nice tonal progression, shifting between light and darkness, while getting slowly darker overall until the end.

I need to shut up before I just tell you everything. Play the game. Play the PSP version if you can, and play as the female main character (slightly better writing in her story). Just don't be afraid to play on Easy and realize that the mechanics may be a bit annoying at times.

I LOOOOOVE FFV!!!

Updated my list, yo

It's a visual novel on the Vita. It also has an anime adaptation. It's really awesome. I'll tell you more about it once I have more time

That's a shame Maybe someday though!

I just mognetted you, so... Yeah.

Also, have you heard of Dangan ronpa?