Persona Series

[DJ Spinoza]

There are more expensive collector's versions, but it seems like the steelbook is the standard physical release for now.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Anyone else starting the game right from the drop? I'm going in now, and opting for Hard difficulty instead of my typical Normal/Medium default. P5 Vanilla was never too challenging for me, and I'm feeling like I should try to ramp things up for this go around.

 

[Commander Clueless]

My copy is downloading now. Pretty stoked to jump back in to this game.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

It looks like the reviews are really hyping it up. I'm digging it so far. The linearity of the early story is still a bit of a drag to me at times, but there are some changes and especially in the early part, it makes it exciting to get back into it.

Probably not a better style of quarantine game for me, although I would like to pick up FF7 when it's out.

 

[samabam]

I spent all available free time since 0:00 on the 31st at Persona 5 Royal. Still am only up to 4/15 in the game (the beginning really drags and even in homeoffice I dont have that much free time). So far I dig the changes that I was able to see, more animated portraits, one scene with a new character, it seems like the dialogue in game has been reworked a bit and the combat (the new way guns work especially) has been overhauled just enough to feel a bit different.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Lots of good new stuff I've seen already, especially with palace and combat stuff. Only at the end of palace one too.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

On gameplay changes / small tweaks (not a story spoiler):

Spoiler

I just ranked up Ryuji to 2 and the new abilities are a nice touch. He allows you to continue negotiating with an upbeat shadow if it fails... I like this because in vanilla P5, shadow negotiation was always one thing that had me caving and going to a guide.

Confidants also call you on the phone now too it seems, which is nice because it makes answering questions and ranking up feel a bit less stilted.

 

[robertmac43]

For someone who is completely new to the series, will the new version of Persona 5 be a good spot?

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I will partly defer to others because the only other one I've played is "vanilla" P5, but I'd say absolutely, yes. There are small references and easter eggs to the other games in the series, but the story is entirely self-contained, so there's no worry on that front.

P5 is cheaper and I am definitely biased, but P5R is worth paying the full price for IMO. I'm ~15 hours in and the sum total of the changes is a really nice step up so far. Unless money is really an issue, then it's worth paying 50-60 for P5R now over 10-20 for P5. I'll let others comment on the older games in the series – I have a desire to try and play them (but I only own a Ps4), but I think P5R is an outstanding game if you are interested in picking up a JRPG.

Not sure how much you've read, but I think the biggest general obstacle is getting used to all of the variables and particular aspects of the series. The system has an informative tutorial as you begin the early stages, but it's a lot of information to take in. The pace can drag a bit and I think P5R does a solid job of making this part of the game more organic. It's still a bit of a time sink, so I think it's probably smart to start it when you have 2-3+ hours to sink, but this is an RPG and we're in a pandemic... (I've averaged about 5 a day, which is nowhere near necessary and probably less than a lot of die hards. But 2ish is probably necessary for getting going in the early stage, and it really opens up after 5 or 6).

I don't really know how that compares to the other games in the series, although from all I've read, the basic aspects are similar in the different games (personas, confidants, social stats, etc).


I have a general comment so far, not directly connected to this reply. Again, it has no real story spoilers but it's about a difference between P5 and P5R so I'll put it in tags just to be safe:

Spoiler

Even some of the minor ways to vary the pace and presentation are really nice. The arc is still very familiar, but the way it's delivered has really been stepped up IMO, and some of the gameplay things are nice changes of pace- for instance, just a minor one, but there was a classroom question shown from another angle where I helped Ann answer a question. This breaks the rote monotony of the trivia/classroom question scene, and I was able to get a charm boost.

 

[samabam]

if Royal is preferable over 5 Vanille comes down to how the later parts of the vanilla 5 story are handled. Spoilers for Persona 5 Vanilla:

Spoiler

In Vanille 5 Akechi does not survive or at least reappear after the seventh palace, in Royal he is now a Confidant to be done manually, so probably he will be available in the 3rd trimester. I'll be curious to see how this is handled, his arc felt quite satisfying as it was in Vanilla

 

[tealhockey]

For someone who is completely new to the series, will the new version of Persona 5 be a good spot?

I think so. The game really eases you in, you still have 'tutorial' type things for much longer than any other game I've ever played and the amount of thought/love put into the game to improve on an already great game in P5 is really something else

 

[DJ Spinoza]

On my play through of P5, I didn't really make the best use of personas and fusion, beyond the obvious stuff like trying for strong ones and elemental variability, etc. On my P5R play, I'm aiming to change this, and maybe eventually even try to get the whole compendium, but I have one pretty 101 type question.

Bracketing the idea of fusion and inheriting skills, it pretty much makes sense to just continually register your personas to the compendium, right? In the sense of them leveling up with you in battle... there doesn't seem to be a downside to it, I guess except some rare case where you have them unlearn a skill that you'd want in fusion later in the game. Is this the right way to look at it?

 

[tealhockey]

On my play through of P5, I didn't really make the best use of personas and fusion, beyond the obvious stuff like trying for strong ones and elemental variability, etc. On my P5R play, I'm aiming to change this, and maybe eventually even try to get the whole compendium, but I have one pretty 101 type question.

Bracketing the idea of fusion and inheriting skills, it pretty much makes sense to just continually register your personas to the compendium, right? In the sense of them leveling up with you in battle... there doesn't seem to be a downside to it, I guess except some rare case where you have them unlearn a skill that you'd want in fusion later in the game. Is this the right way to look at it?

I'm not an expert but that was my thinking. Especially because I shuffled out some of them to have space for confidant synergies I wanted to be able to summon them at the level I got them to later. There's probably a downside like you mentioned as far as getting a certain type of set-up going but I have no idea how that would work

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I'm not an expert but that was my thinking. Especially because I shuffled out some of them to have space for confidant synergies I wanted to be able to summon them at the level I got them to later. There's probably a downside like you mentioned as far as getting a certain type of set-up going but I have no idea how that would work

Thanks, yeah having them for confidants was one thing I also mostly ignored in P5, so I wanted to both mess around more with fusion and carry as many different types as I can this time.

It also seems like any skill that you'd really want to make sure to keep would come later in the game, and there's always skill cards. I guess there are important skills to have at certain moments of the game, but so far I'm finding what they give you to be pretty generous. So it seems like default practice to make sure to register any personas as they level up.

I'm loving Royal so far, although I have a habit of sometimes having turn-based games on pause or the menu screen for 10-15 minute chunks while I'm playing. I'm already hovering close to 30 hours and am just in the second castle, so I'm pretty confident I will push 150 hours without much trouble.

 

[Commander Clueless]

I recall hitting the 125 hour mark in my original P5 playthrough, although I used to spend hours fusing.

I'm just getting started on P5R (my latest Frostpunk playthrough absorbed most of my time since this thing released) but I'm already digging it. Wouldn't be surprised to hit the 150 mark myself, although knowing what I'm doing (at little) this time around might shorten that.


Still amazes me this game came out of nowhere (at least in terms of my personal field of view) to become one of my favourites.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Yeah, same for me on that front. I'm giving some thought to the best way to get the older games in the series. PS2's seem pretty cheap, but I think the simplest solution would be to get a PS3 and buy them all digitally.

I think my P5 playthrough was around 130 hours. There was a point where I spent a lot of time grinding through Mementos, so I'm really intrigued by the positive comments about the new dynamics they've put in there, even though I am hoping not to really do any grinding at all.

The only question for me is whether I'll do NG+ or not. I love the game, but even in quarantine I'm not sure if I'll want to do 100+ hours and then more.

 

[tealhockey]

Yeah, same for me on that front. I'm giving some thought to the best way to get the older games in the series. PS2's seem pretty cheap, but I think the simplest solution would be to get a PS3 and buy them all digitally.

I think my P5 playthrough was around 130 hours. There was a point where I spent a lot of time grinding through Mementos, so I'm really intrigued by the positive comments about the new dynamics they've put in there, even though I am hoping not to really do any grinding at all.

The only question for me is whether I'll do NG+ or not. I love the game, but even in quarantine I'm not sure if I'll want to do 100+ hours and then more.

I wonder if they would remaster P3/P4 in the new generations with the amount of attention P5 brought the series or if they will just get to work on P6

 

[Commander Clueless]

I wonder if they would remaster P3/P4 in the new generations with the amount of attention P5 brought the series or if they will just get to work on P6

I wouldn't mind giving P3 a go. I went back and played P4G after P5 and it was a blast.

I'm guessing right now they are likely focused on the new SMT...

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I don't precisely know how it's laid out but I think they are distinct teams within Atlus focusing on different projects... I am interested in Scramble but I think it would make sense to give Persona a rest for a bit or focus on the crazy long haul of #6 rather than more spinoff games. I'd definitely be into a remaster of an older one, but everything I read makes that seem unlikely.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

I'm not an expert but that was my thinking. Especially because I shuffled out some of them to have space for confidant synergies I wanted to be able to summon them at the level I got them to later. There's probably a downside like you mentioned as far as getting a certain type of set-up going but I have no idea how that would work

There's no downside to registering personas, they want you using it. It's good for taking out personas of a certain arcana that you don't have so you can quickly advanced the corresponding confident quicker if you have their arcana Persona in your 'deck'.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Anyone else finding themselves wishing that the hangouts could also be mini-games, or is it just the Yakuza series fan in me talking? There's definitely some bloat already in these games, but even in a more structured way, having some mini-games would add some diversity into the story parts of the game.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Anyone else finding themselves wishing that the hangouts could also be mini-games, or is it just the Yakuza series fan in me talking? There's definitely some bloat already in these games, but even in a more structured way, having some mini-games would add some diversity into the story parts of the game.

They added darts, billards, and one in the Thieves Den, that I know about so far. That's on top of the batting cages.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

They added darts, billards, and one in the Thieves Den, that I know about so far. That's on top of the batting cages.

Ah, maybe I just haven't explored enough yet. I have unlocked / hung out with darts and billiards but they were auto-events.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I would have greatly preferred it if they put any time at all into improving Okumura's palace. The boss fight actually seems worse.

 

[The Macho King]

I would have greatly preferred it if they put any time at all into improving Okumura's palace. The boss fight actually seems worse.

I liked it. First challenging battle all f***ing game.