tell me something about smt: Persona

[JKTrix]

There's a difference between games published by Atlus, and games developed by Atlus. The Shin Megami Tensei games are actually developed by Atlus, and most of the other games they bring out in the US are not. Good thing the series that Riviera comes from falls on the 'still really good' side of the non-Atlus-developed stuff.

Riviera is developed by Sting, and is the first in their series of "Dept. Heaven" games. This series in particular wants to focus on creating 'original' gameplay experiences, so essentially there isn't anything out there that is similar, gameplay-wise to Riviera. Since you played it on the PSP (it was out on the GBA first), you can check out its sequel: Yggdra Union (which was also on the GBA first and just got re-released on DS in Japan). Continuing on, the 4th episode in the Dept. Heaven series (but the 3rd released game) Knights in the Nightmare was released in English for the DS earlier this year. Knights is certainly my favourite one so far, and all 3 of those games are quite different from each other.

If you want something 'like' Riviera, those would be your best bet, since it's from the same series of games.

As for Persona, the 3rd and 4th games are a little different from the first two. Persona 1 (which I assume you have your sights on, on the PSP) does not have the relationship system, and the method of recruiting demons is more akin to the core SMT franchise where you have to negotiate with them first. In Persona 3 and 4, you get new demons by drawing them from cards.

The real reason I really like Persona (and other SMT games) is the customization offered through the recruitment of demons, and the strategy required in combat that most RPGs do not have to this degree. This is a game that you can not get through by just mashing 'Fight', no matter how strong you are. There are enemies that are not only impervious to a certain kind of damage, but will absorb or even reflect the damage back on to you. There's a chance that you can be wiped out from a simple random encounter if you are really unlucky and have the 'wrong' customization set up. On the other hand, if you do have yourself set up well, you can breeze right through a battle.

I also dig the spell vocabulary, which is mostly consistent between the games. Agi, Bufu, Zio, Zan/Garu, Hama, Mudo, Dia...

If you're looking for something with Japanese voices, I think you're severely limiting yourself. It is a nice touch for those of us who have that kind of taste, but those games are rare. Riviera & Yggdra Union could get away with it on the PSP because they are graphically simple games (ported from the GBA) that have the space left over on the disc. I'm sure Atlus would do it more often if they had the space, but oftentimes they don't. I think most of NIS's 'graphically simple' games on PS2 (Soul Nomad, Makai Kingdom, Disgaea etc) include Japanese voices, so you can look into those too, though those don't have as strong of a recommendation from me.

There's another game NIS is publishing in February for the Wii and PS2 called 'Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love'. It's a strategy RPG that also features some relationship-building, and it's going to come on two discs--one with English voices, the other with Japanese. A good way to get around the space issue, but don't expect to see things like that happening often. I don't have a personal recommendation since I haven't played it myself, but I have played its more recent offspring Valkyria Chronicles and that's enough to get me interested. This might actually be your best bet for a 'game that's like an anime', since there are a lot of 'anime people' behind this game.

If you are just into 'Japan Stuff', then I would also highly recommend the Yakuza series. The 2nd game is all in Japanese, and it has a decent summary of the first game. So if you can find it, that's a good one to pick up for your PS2. And if you ever get a PS3, the 3rd Yakuza game (also all in Japanese) comes out in March.

Back on the point though: Persona is awesome. #4 is perhaps awesomest, #1 is also pretty cool.