Current Events > Are Persona 1 and 2 any good?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I don't see anyone talking about them and Persona fans always say start from 3 or 5 (I guess 4 sucked?)

My inner hipster kicks in and instantly makes me curious about the ones no one ever talks about.

I mean with Fallout I get it because 1 and 2 were PC while 3 and 4 were console. But Persona was always console.

No

Persona 1 has arguably the best battle theme in the series
But that's all it has.

It also has by far the best antagonist in the series

https://youtu.be/hrcuIHp4rH0

Persona 1 has this

2 tho fucks
Definitely play it

Nope. 2 is somewhat redeeming with its storyline, but both Original Sin and Eternal Punishment are early JRPG slogs. You'd also think that giving all party members the ability to have whatever Persona they want a la MCs in Persona 3 - 5 is cool, but it actually just makes the game so much grindier.

If you enjoyed P3-5, I'd suggest avoiding 1-2 at all costs. There's a reason why a lot of people say that P3 changed the fundamentals of the series. Because it did.

1 is a fairly average dungeon crawler, as far as I can tell. Maybe you'd like the grid system? I don't think it's worth visiting just for being a persona game.

Not really lol. I played 1 and beat both routes. It's okay, but it's pretty...old

I tried 2 Innocent Sin but I dropped it after 2 hours. The encounter rate in that game is absolutely insane and I didn't have the patience to deal with it at all >_>

I only played the first persona PSP remake and while I enjoyed the game it had some clear archaic design decisions like a stupidly high encounter rate.

i wanna play these but they're a bit too dated for me. I couldn't get too far in 2.

if anything needed a remake, it was these tbh

Xenogears15 posted...

Nope. 2 is somewhat redeeming with its storyline, but both Original Sin and Eternal Punishment are early JRPG slogs. You'd also think that giving all party members the ability to have whatever Persona they want a la MCs in Persona 3 - 5, but it actually just makes the game so much grindier.

If you enjoyed P3-5, I'd suggest avoiding 1-2 at all costs. There's a reason why a lot of people say that P3 changed the fundamentals of the series. Because it did.

P1/P2 are what the series was before they decided to jettison the SMT aspects of the series

They didn't age the best, but 2 at least is definitely worth playing

AnsestralRecall posted...

https://youtu.be/hrcuIHp4rH0

Persona 1 has this

That is a 10/10 song. It's too bad that the PSP version butchered the rest of the soundtrack and atmosphere though compared to the PS1 version.

NeonTentacles posted...

I tried 2 Innocent Sin but I dropped it after 2 hours. The encounter rate in that game is absolutely insane and I didn't have the patience to deal with it at all >_>

This is what I mean by slogs. You will learn to hate battles.

Eternal Punishment is one of my personal top 10 games. I got it summer 2001 and instantly fell in love with the art, adult cast dealing with getting older, and the modern occult vibe.

Revelations is cool but aged really bad. I tried to play it after Eternal Punishment and remember one of the final dungeons where there was literally hours between save points.

I love Persona 3 but have lost touch with the series as it moved on. I feel like it lost something stepping away from the moody and dark settings.

NeonTentacles posted...

That is a 10/10 song. It's too bad that the PSP version butchered the rest of the soundtrack and atmosphere though compared to the PS1 version.

HANG IT ON THE COATRACK

Persona 1 is good if you like retro RPGs. If you play it expecting anything resembling Persona 3-5 you would be disappointed. But I think it's very good for what it is and if you understand what you're getting into. On the other hand, if you already know you're not really into retro RPGs but you are interested to see the gist of what Persona 1 is about, I highly recommend reading the Persona 1 manga. It does a pretty great job adapting the plot. It does change and add things in some places, but I think in other places it explains things even better than the game does.

Persona 2 honestly has pretty bad gameplay, to put it bluntly. You don't play Persona 2 for the gameplay. But with that being said, a lot of people will swear that Persona 2 has the most interesting story in the series, especially part 2 Eternal Punishment (Persona 2 is two games to be clear - Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment).

Interesting is a good way to put the story it's actually just complete and utter random bullshit nonsense

Xenogears15 posted...

but both Original Sin and Eternal Punishment are early JRPG slogs

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/6/9/AAdSdwAAEj75.png

err

I don't think you understand what he means

Guns_of_Verdun posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/6/9/AAdSdwAAEj75.png

err

Weird, I really remember P1 being a hell of a long game. I was young when I played it, so that may have had something to do with it. It was probably all the battles and Persona management for every character. Also, the story kinda sucks.

You cannot tell me that 2 wasn't a slog, though, especially wince you had to play two games to get the full story (which is great, but still).

TC where did you get the idea that 4 is bad? It still holds up pretty well actually. Maybe it's just cause it was my first, but I still prefer the cozier atmosphere that it had compared to 3 and 5.

Honestly TC, if you want other good SMT games, give Digital Devil Saga 1-2 a try if you haven't already. Those games rock, and 2 has one of the best battle themes of all time. Because Shoji Meguro is a great composer.

Irony posted...

I don't think you understand what he means

I haven't played any Persona game so I don't know the lingo

1 is rough, 2 might have the best plot in the series

Kircheis posted...

TC where did you get the idea that 4 is bad?

That everyone says start with 3 or 5

No one said start with 4

So I assume it's worse than 3 and 5

BignutzisBack posted...

1 is rough, 2 might have the best plot in the series

Y'know, this is a good way to put it

Xenogears15 posted...

Honestly TC, if you want other good SMT games, give Digital Devil Saga a try if you haven't already. Those games rock, and 2 has one of the best battle themes of all time. Because Shoji Meguro is a great composer.

Yeah, Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 are awesome. Definitely my favorite SMT games outside the Persona games

Anyone telling you to skip 4 is not a fan lol. It's the most talked about Persona game.

Personally, Persona 4 Golden is still my favorite and is a Top 3 game for me

--Zero- posted...

Anyone telling you to skip 4 is not a fan lol. It's the most talked about Persona game.

I only hated the soundtrack because fuck Jpop. AND THAT BATTLE THEME WTF. But it is a very good game in its own right; especially the story. I honestly like it more than P3.

--Zero- posted...

Anyone telling you to skip 4 is not a fan lol. It's the most talked about Persona game.

Second most.

Guns_of_Verdun posted...

That everyone says start with 3 or 5

No one said start with 4

So I assume it's worse than 3 and 5

It's probably because 3 and 4 are kind of equally accessible, so it's assumed you can play both. 4 adds some quality of life things, so it's less jarring if you do them in order. And 4 references a handful of things in 3 (moreso than 5 references anything in 3 or 4).

1 is good to get into if you are a retro style lover and can stand old grindy rpgs 2 was an improvement to 1 but was split into 2 parts but i still liked it cuz of being able to play 2 protags and the age gap and tone of the 2 so yeah it's worth a try but as other here have said be prepared to face an insane amount of enemy encounter rate as per the old retro SMT was known for

Guns_of_Verdun posted...

That everyone says start with 3 or 5

No one said start with 4

So I assume it's worse than 3 and 5

nah that's just because with 3 you're starting at a low point gameplay-wise so there's no way to go but up, and 5 is the most beginner-friendly. Plus 4 has the best cast so that's a nice thing to leave for last

I wouldn't say they're very good, and especially if you're looking for more P3-5 kinda games.

They're much closer to old SMT games than P3-5, so if you're not interested in straight out old school dungeon crawler RPGs avoid them. Even if that doesn't put you off, there can be some fun found in them but I wouldn't expect to be wowed.

Guns_of_Verdun posted...

That everyone says start with 3 or 5

No one said start with 4

So I assume it's worse than 3 and 5

3 is the start of new-Persona and 5 is the most modernised so the most accessible.

4 is excellent it just doesn't stand out as a starting point.

Guns_of_Verdun posted...

That everyone says start with 3 or 5

No one said start with 4

So I assume it's worse than 3 and 5

4 has more interesting characters than 5 and mostly better social links than 3, where only a few of them stand out as being particularly good. IMO 3 has some of the worst social links if anything. 4 is also less punishing than the PS2 versions of 3, which makes it a lot easier to get your feet wet if you've never played an SMT or Persona game before.

Eh they feel closer in tone to SMT, but I feel the writing is far worse than the more well known Persona games. Probably why Persona has eclipsed its parent franchise at this point.

Gameplay wise? Total skip. Compared even to other JRPGs of the time they were questionable. Compared to 20 years of the genre and they are nearly unplayable without the QoL changes that have happened.

--Zero- posted...

Anyone telling you to skip 4 is not a fan lol. It's the most talked about Persona game.

4 is the worst in the series, I don't blame them for telling others to skip it

Was thinking on making 2 my first persona game as someone that's only played smt3,4,5, and the 3ds soul hackers. How comparable would it be to those? I'd assume soul hackers but I've never seen 2 gameplay.

I just hope it's nothing like the haunted mansion from SH

it's closer to both soul hackers and SMT 3 it's story is loose as those with most of your time being spent in grinding and going thru dungeons tho it's early version of talking to demons shows it's age compared to those two but still passable better then SMT 1&2

jasten posted...

but I feel the writing is far worse than the more well known Persona games.

BignutzisBack posted...

2 might have the best plot in the series

hmm

persona 1 is pretty fucking bad, but persona 1 psx has one of the best osts in all of megaten so be sure to give it a listen

persona 2 (eternal punishment moreso than innocent sin) has an amazing cast, pretty great plot, and fantastic ost that's marred by god awful gameplay

the demon negotiation in both games is somehow worse than it was back on the super famicom

One of them is "literally Hitler", but I forgot which one.

So here's the thing with Megami Tensei as a series. It was basically a bunch of old school Wizardry style DRPGs with monster collecting as their big draw (and modern setting with cyberpunk elements). Starting with 2 and the later Shin Megami Tensei games it started featuring post apocalyptic themes a lot. Shin Megami Tensei If... was basically an alternative SMT without the post apocalyptic setting and instead a high school setting and it also had a primitive Persona style system (you still summon demons but you also have one that is tied to your stats but the system is awful and requires dying to upgrade it). If is basically the first Persona game (you can even get costumes from it in Persona 5), but it is still a DRPG and has minimal story.

Persona really upped the story and now you had a party of characters that equip demons (Persona) rather than demon collecting. The PSP remake tries to make it feel more like Persona 3 style games with the new music, but it's still a DRPG. You will be in labyrinth dungeons for most of the game. That's the gameplay loop, no social links or school events or anything like that. Persona 2 really upgraded the story aspect and the characters are starting to become real characters and the school is more than a backdrop. Really good set of games in my opinion, but still DRPGs. Persona 3 is the shift from a DRPG to something else, what most people think of as Persona now.

At this point Shin Megami Tensei is the DRPG series and Persona is its own thing, though the new Soul Hackers is largely a DRPG as well.

Guns_of_Verdun posted...

hmm

Persona 2s story is okay but like the rest of SMT, it doesnt try to be subtle and comes across as Im 14 and this is very deep.

P3 did a dark story much better and P4 easily has the tightest of the narratives, especially with Golden shoring up the hole near the end. P5R is closer to P2 in terms of quality has some interesting concepts but the writers forget that subtlety is better than hitting you over the head with things.

I always laugh at people who say either P2 is great when it's so edgy it has friggin' Adolf Hitler wielding the Spear of Longinus in it.

Number090684 posted...

I always laugh at people who say either P2 is great when it's so edgy it has friggin' Adolf Hitler wielding the Spear of Longinus in it.

Dark and tragic = true mature storytelling to far too many people. Its amazing how much mediocre to downright shit writing is forgiven because its true art.

Persona 1 is pretty bad in my opinion, the combat system with positioning strives to be more complex, but really it mostly favors ranged attacks with only a few exceptions. It's a bigger hassle to move your party around than to go for a "size fits all" setup. The story and characters are really weak, and age doesn't really excuse it when stuff like Chrono Trigger had already released.

Persona 2 IS and EP is slightly better in terms of gameplay, but still rather average at best with terrible encounter rates. Some of the characters are among the best in the franchise, however I'd argue that the story is more so convoluted than deep. The narrative is solid when focused on the characters and their past, but a mess of real life occult/conspiracy theories otherwise.

As a whole 4 > 5 > 3 > 2 (both) > 1. The modern trilogy has my favorite gameplay loop in gaming, excited that Metaphor, the new game by the P3-5 leads, seems to keep it.

Persona 2 duology is still my favorite story in the persona series.