After an almost 2 month hiatus of Persona 3 Portable I picked it back up again today! 106 hours logged and finally, I'm almost there. 26 in game days left. I've just made it to the top of the 6th block after defeating the guardians on that floor so now I'm just going to level my party.
I may as well comment on my progress!
So I finished Persona 4: Golden. Mr. Carny finished before me, actually. We're now both playing Persona Q and we're, again, both loving it. I'm doing the P3 path, he's doing the P4 path. I'll end up doing the P4 path at some point, much how I intend to do the Male Protagonist for P3P as well at some point.
I'm at the final story of the Evil Spirit Club, and I'm enjoying the fairly unique game-play. I do have to say, that magic is fairly useless. Physical attacks are so effective in this game. SP is so rare!
Fynn keeps badgering me to get into the SMT series proper with SMT IV. I may do. I'm torn whether to continue my Persona fix and do either the Arena duology or go complete left-turn and consider Persona 2: Innocent Sin.
If you try SMT first, Persona 2 will be a bit less grating after 3 and 4. Can't vouch for Arena cause I haven't played it. But it's a fighting game, not an RPG, so it's something completely different.
Really, SMTIV is amazing and needs more love, so please try it
Okay, okay, I've decided my playing order:
-Persona 3 Portable: Female Path
-Persona 4 Golden
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: P3 Side
- Shin Megami Tensei IV
- Persona 2: Innocent Sin
- Persona 4: Arena/Arena Ultimax
- Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
- Persona 4: Dancing All Night
- Persona 3 Portable: Male Path
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: P4 Side
Playing all of that will take a heck of a long time. By the time I'm towards the end, Persona 5 will be released and me and Mr. Carny will have a PS4, so that actually works well. Playing the Male and P4 paths of 3 and Q are sort of lopped on the end of that, really: if P5 comes out before I've done them, I'll postpone them until I've enjoyed P5.
If I end up really enjoying SMT IV, I'll look into SMT IV: Final and maybe even SMT III, but that's dependent on how much I enjoy SMT IV, really
I think P5 will be coming out sooner than SMT IV: Final, though.
Eh, I'm easy. I'm really looking forward to P5, actually. I've seen the trailers that have come out for it and it looks amazing. What do you think of it, Fynn?Originally Posted by Fynn
Actually SMTIV:Final is getting released in February in Japan, whereas P5 still doesn't have a release date beyond "sometime in 2016". Makes sense due to IVF reusing a lot of content from SMTIV, especially when one remembers it started its life as SMTIV: Director's Cut before being turned into a spin-off.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
I'm super stoked, honestly. I'm glad it's shaking up the formula, since as much as I loved P3 and 4, one more of the same would kinda be pushing it.Eh, I'm easy. I'm really looking forward to P5, actually. I've seen the trailers that have come out for it and it looks amazing. What do you think of it, Fynn?
Also, from what I read about it, it kind of fits a fan theory. In Persona 1 and 2 your main adversary was Nyarlathotep who was kind of a chaotic avatar, believing people would just kill themselves off. In 3 and 4 we had enemies on the neutral side, with death and apathy just reducing everything to zero. Apparently the heroes of P5 fight to be themselves despite authority and social stuff, so I guess that puts them in opposition to law.
If that means nothing to you, Formy, those are the traditional SMT alignments that play a huge part in the series and it's a nice touch that the developers are subtly hinting at this connection
So I've finished Persona Q! And I have to say, having completed the last quarter of the game, it has only risen in my estimations, to be honest.
Major Persona Q Spoilers
What makes Persona Q work is the knowledge you bring along from Persona 3 and Persona 4, but most poignantly from Persona 3. Persona 3's story gets hit with three or so Wham episodes in the space of a term: October has Shinjiro's death (which I think is canon?), November has Ikutsuki's betrayal, and December as the whole Ryuji is Death thing. Basically, the latter half of the game takes a real dive.
Persona Q takes place just before all the crap hits the fan, basically, and because of that, all the character growth and development really stings because of my knowledge of what is to come. It stung the most with Shinjiro. In Persona 3, I don't think he got enough real development, and because he goes relatively quickly, I felt time with him was cut short, despite him bearing the Moon Arcana in my Female play-through. In Persona Q, however, we got to see more of him. He appeared lighter. He's still a fairly aloof individual, but through interactions with others, we really got a caring side from him, be it his cooking orders or his non-reaction towards Naoto's gender. These were great, but it stung because I knew that he would be gone soon, and I have to say that in Persona Q Shinjiro became one of my favourite characters. One thing that struck me is that no-one really jumped on Shinji for his talent in cooking, as opposed to Kanji, who can still barely disclose his hobby of sewing to his close friends.
Other points of development, such as Kanji's mentoring of Ken, and Mitsuru/Yukari's reconciliation, were handled well in Persona Q, but there's the nagging elephant of the room: none of this would stick. I admit, I'm going over a relatively small detail in the scheme of things, but it stuck in my mind.
Of course, the main plot of Persona Q is with Rei and Zen, and thematically, it all worked. I kinda called Rei's fate towards the end of the second labyrinth, and it was patently clear by the end of the third. But while her incessant food habit was annoying at times, the explanation for it (because she was dead, she had a ravenous appetite for life) worked. Really, the last quarter was astounding, and gripping. I particularly liked the enhanced role the Velvet Room attendants had, and I agonised as Margaret struggled to restrain divulging the fate of the P3 Hero from Elizabeth.
Basically, the game works because of hindsight, agonising hindsight. Much like how time is inescapable, the fates of Shinji and the P3 Hero are unavoidable, which makes all the interactions in PQ all the more poignant. If the memories weren't wiped, most of the troubles that occur in the latter part of the P3 story may have been averted.
Basically, I loved it. Definitely one of the best handheld games I've played, and arguably ranks as one of my favourite games in general.
Oh boy, I see you still have a lot of handheld games to play then
Not that I didn't enjoy PQ to bits, but I still think there's better dungeon crawlers out there. The character interactions certainly were the best thing about the game, even if they were a bit flat compared to the rest of the series.
Speaking of, i have jumped into Dancing All Night, and boy, is it addicting as all hell.
If it were completely standalone, I'd agree. I just feel I enjoyed it far more because of all the connections I was making between P3 and P4.Oh boy, I see you still have a lot of handheld games to play then
Not that I didn't enjoy PQ to bits, but I still think there's better dungeon crawlers out there. The character interactions certainly were the best thing about the game, even if they were a bit flat compared to the rest of the series.
Speaking of, i have jumped into Dancing All Night, and boy, is it addicting as all hell.
I guess that is kinda nice, but at the same time, it still felt kinda fanficky to me. Though I'll agree Shinjiro's personality actually benefited from this game. I kinda feel this is what he would behave like if he got to spend more time with the party instead of biting it.
But what they did to Akihiko was downright criminal.
What they did to him in Arena is criminal; what is he doing?!? He's pretty flanderised in Q, but I didn't mind so much.
I haven't played Arena yet and you're making me glad I didn't XD
I am worried about the Akihiko federalization from either game actually because I really liked his character. He was sweet and devoted and his character had some good subtlety to it which you just don't find enough of in some games, I think
Haven't played the spinoffs though so can't comment for certain!
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