I currently have in my possession Persona 3: FES. I have never played a Persona game; the high school setting has always been somewhat off-putting for me. I'm playing DQVIII right now and life's been kinda tough lately so it might be a while before I finish it but once it's completed I'm contemplating popping the Persona 3 disc out of its case for the first time.
Why should I do this? Alternatively, why shouldn't I do this? I'm usually kind of 'augh' when people make these sorts of topics and I apologize if that's your reaction but I really want to know. Board 8 tends to hold the series in very high esteem and I'd like to know why. Try to avoid spoilers if possible; just give me a canvas of rationale.
-- Sir Chris Police ~Ace Detective in Homicide~ http://img.imgcake.com/Jeffzeropngus.png "Thanks Punny!"
Because you'll be bullied into doing it anyways. I basically avoided it at all costs but finally cracked. Now I'm struggling with the fact my disc is not working and I don't know why. The whole project has become a failure.
the series has pretty good plo, bothin the social links, which are basically you hanging out with peole you meet and geeting to know them and a good overall plot
the other half of the game islike a hard dungeon crawler with a pretty good amount of personal customizability in terms of abilities.
im not really a big fan of the dungeon in P3 because its pretty bland comparatively, but its still worth playing because theres really nothing quite like them and you kinda have to play it to understand why it works.
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http://img.imgcake.com/grouchwardsdvpngyj.png The grouch and the Zangoose.
1. Well, for starters, you avoided two awful games that came before it and you don't have to deal with several BS things Vanilla was riddled with, so that's a decent start.
Sorry to hear that, Chrono. I hadn't been keeping up for obvious reasons so I didn't realize your disc was all wonky.
Social links sounds kind of interesting in an "I've never played anything like that before" sort of way. And I'm glad to hear I skipped some questionable things wtih Vanilla!
-- Sir Chris Police ~Ace Detective in Homicide~ http://img.imgcake.com/Jeffzeropngus.png "Thanks Punny!"
People like the Persona 3 and 4 because they have one of the best turn-based battle systems around, great characterization and interesting plots, and a unique setting and game mechanics like Social Links and Persona Fusion. And awesome music. Aside from that, they're extremely well-polished and two of the greatest JRPGs out there.
That said, if you're trying to play Persona 3 to 'take a break' from DQVIII because it'll take you too long to finish THAT game...that's not exactly the best idea. P3 and P4 are pretty damn lengthy.
1. The characters are great 2. The music is great 3. Plot is interesting, the school setting is the typical anime crap at first, but it is very interestingly juxtapositioned with the dark, overarching demon monster plot stuff. The fantasy and reality mix together surprisingly well, especially because the characters are very believable and natural. 4. Combat is very bland, but somehow addictive. The main draw is the personas that you can build and customize, it's basically pokemon with more of a focus on breeding. 5. Graphics suck
Thanks for the explanation, Hero. And the further statements from everyone else. Graphics sucking doesn't really bother me -- I'm the kind of guy who's still floored by Yuna's dance in FFX and will always be floored by Yuna's dance in FFX, but if a game doesn't have a dances-on-water Yuna I'm still down with it. My favorite game is Xenogears, after all.
That said, if you're trying to play Persona 3 to 'take a break' from DQVIII because it'll take you too long to finish THAT game...that's not exactly the best idea. P3 and P4 are pretty damn lengthy.
Oh, naw, I intend to finish DQVIII first.
-- Sir Chris Police ~Ace Detective in Homicide~ http://img.imgcake.com/Jeffzeropngus.png "Thanks Punny!"
Chrono1219 posted... So far for me, when you're not training, or an event P3 is a dating sim where there's no H content.
See, I'm not so sure I'd find this entertaining in the least. But there are so many damn people I generally trust about these things telling me to give it a whirl so I guess I can hope I come out with a separate opinion.
-- Sir Chris Police ~Ace Detective in Homicide~ http://img.imgcake.com/Jeffzeropngus.png "Thanks Punny!"
I found a lot of the Social Links genuinely interesting, and didn't really feel like I was playing a dating sim. I've never played a dating sim, but I don't think that is what it would feel like. There's, like, no focus on your during everything. It's all about the other characters and you are just some bro they hang out with and occasionally feed them some advice.
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snowpork http://i56.tinypic.com/qy721s.jpg BlAcK_TuRtLe slapped all other Guru brackets.
That doesn't sound so bad at all, Zazi. Hopefully I come to a similar conclusion about things.
So I get to hump everything... well if I'm going to be playing something with dating mechanics I might as well make it as laughable as humanly possible, I suppose.
-- Sir Chris Police ~Ace Detective in Homicide~ http://img.imgcake.com/Jeffzeropngus.png "Thanks Punny!"
That was the best part. I remember romancing the nerd girl until she screwed me, at which point she just kind of hung out in the hallway forever, going 'Hey, want to go do something?'
No way, I can't get any more social points with you, hoho
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We are thought, and reality, and concept, and the unimaginable
I actually just finished P3: FES (as you know XD) and I can attest to its addictiveness. I logged about 140 hours, and that's before New Game+ or the followup chapter (The Answer, as opposed to the main game which is The Journey). A lot of that was the dungeon, but I really enjoyed the combat even if occasionally some of the AI was dumb as a brick. And you don't actually have to spend that much time there if you don't want to. I just got obsessive over fusing the cool high-level stuff.
I wouldn't say the game was dating sim-esque at all, personally. Some of the social links end up romantic, but it's less than half of them, and since you'd have to pull some shenanigans to finish every link, you could just avoid some of the romantic ones if you really wanted to. And I find most of the social link characters to have very interesting stories with a lot of care taken to flesh them out and make them cool.
The PCs are awesome too, of course, I liked them all except one, and I was just sort of indifferent to that one.
And don't be afraid of the level 77 Tower persona. It's terrifying, I know. But be strong.
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EB: well you see, the explanation is perfectly simple and scientific. EB: it was because shut up. shut up is why.
When I say dating sim I do not mean you like romance people. I mean the format is extremely similar. Do something in the morning, do something in the afternoon, do something at night to build stats or relationships (social links) with some events tossed in there. Oh and school, when did game developers decide it was a good idea to put learning into games?
From: Veola | #007 1. Well, for starters, you avoided two awful games that came before it and you don't have to deal with several BS things Vanilla was riddled with, so that's a decent start.
1.) Ryoko; pffffhahahahaha what 2.) People who explained things; pffffhahahahahaha thanks 3.) Chris; yeah, true, but it was already over with that seal of approval shenanigan
-- Sir Chris Police ~Ace Detective in Homicide~ http://img.imgcake.com/Jeffzeropngus.png "Thanks Punny!"
If you get bored or frustrated with 3 at some point, don't rule out trying 4 at a later point. I had to force myself to finish 3, but 4's one of my all time favourite games. I feel they learned a lot from the mistakes they made in 3.
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Praise the Black Turtle, Game of the Decade Guru Champ. (Well, I never promised creativity, did I?!)