This game is flawed with gameplay, however it is part 2 of one of my favorite stories of all time. The cast is amazing and they all feel realistic, and even by the end of the story I was learning more about them. This game has a heavy focus on Psychology; especially Jungian psychology and the workings of the human mind. The themes and messages are genuine and build on what was explored in Innocent Sin. if you can get past some dated elements, This game has a lot of great messages regarding humans and our world.

If you finished Innocent Sin, you owe it to yourself to play this game. I played the PSP version of Innocent Sin and the PS1 version of Eternal punishment, and I have to say, Eternal Punishment was a significantly better experience overall for me. The combat in this game is actually pretty good, I don't know why it was changed for the PSP release of Innocent Sin because it's way better in the original PS1 version. The story and characters are still just as great as Innocent Sin's but all the mechanics still feel the same aside from the combat system. I found the game to have good amount of difficulty without requiring grinding, but the joker boss fights can get really annoying with a really obnoxious move called old maid. I have one major problem with this game which is that there are a few enemies in the game that can cast a spell that halves your money, I've lost 3/4 of my money in a single random encounter which is absurd, it just leads me to savescumming and negotiating to not lose all my money in case I mess up. I also want to talk about how much I love this game's throwbacks to the first Persona, they're all done really well. It's very similar to its predecessor, but I think it's better almost across the board and it's super satisfying to see the end of the story.

En cierto sentido el juego se siente mas como una versión expandida de P2 IS solo que con una historia diferente, pero la verdad, si bien jugablemente ambos juegos son en esencia iguales, el solo hecho de que los enemigos hagan mas daño que en su predecesor hace que la experiencia sea mucho mas satisfactoria a la larga.
No se si sea una cuestión de que la versión de PSP de Innocent Sin (Que fue la que yo jugué) haya cambiado el daño que te hacen los enemigos o que, pero en ese juego varias veces era totalmente factible usar el auto-battle y ganar sin ningún problema, cosa que en Eternal Punishment no sería posible a menos que te pongas a grindear como un obsesivo.
Dicho eso el grindeo nunca me pareció excesivo o indispensable para superar el juego salvo por un jefe en concreto, no digo que sea completamente viable pasarte el juego sin subir niveles ni cambiar tus personas, pero con lo que acumules de solo explorar los dungeon deberías estar bien en cuanto a los niveles de tus personajes, cosa que no es tan así para conseguir cartas para invocar personas, pero la verdad si tenes claro cual persona queres conseguir no te debería tomar mucho tiempo conseguir las cartas que necesites.
Dicho eso, si queres jugar esto es muy seguramente porque ya te terminaste Innocent Sin y queres saber como termina la historia.
En cuanto a esto ultimo la verdad mi única queja sería que el convertir a Maya en una protagonista muda me pareció un total desperdicio, pero fuera de eso, y para no dar spoilers, dudo mucho que la historia te vaya a decepcionar si te gustó la de Innocent Sin.

The best persona game, period. Its themes of struggling to integrate with society as an adult speak much more clearly to me then the stories of later entries in the series.
on top of that, there's some of the most challenging and rewarding gameplay in the franchise. everyone in persona 2 can use every persona, so having the right set up of personas is critical to success in boss fights, which will more than likely fuck your shit up if unprepared. The translation is wonky at points, as most of the spell names are very literally translated, but compared to revelations: persona its night and day, as there's no censorship or Americanization here. all in all this is one of my favourite JRPGs of all time and a contender for one of my favourite games period.

This game is flawed, it's a 90's rpg with a rather questionable translation and a clunky UI compared to IS's remastered and newer Persona games.

Even though this game might be difficult to get into, as you progress through it you will find yourself inside an story of getting into adulthood, overcoming you and your past, and admitting your sins, and embracing the future, whatever it might be and no matter how painful it is. It's a very niche but nice experience that if you like Megaten or the Persona series you need to experience.

Also the combat might be the hardest from its series, you have to select the personas for your party carefully and be prepared for everything, but it feels rewarding once you get the hang out of it, and demon negotiation is nice too.

Overall a flawed 90's rpg that I still love so much but I can't exactly describe to you why further than this

Oh where to start with this title. I'll keep it short like usual. Persona 2 Eternal Punishment is a game that I really adored a lot about such as the music, art direction, and gripping narrative. By the end, I grew very attached to all of the characters in my party. However, the game has one gargantuan issue that holds it back which is the gameplay. While not exactly bad by any means, Persona 2's combat is grindy and frustrating.

Ultimately, am I giving Persona 2 Eternal Punishment a lot of slack for poor gameplay? Yes. But that just goes to show how high quality every other aspect of it is.