R-E-P-E-T-I-T-I-V-E
Persona series overall is letdown, but P3 is actually a waste of a masterpiece, and I'll explain why.
Narrative structure: Its ending shines. I completely kneel for the last 10 hours of the game, Burn my Dread is one of the COOLEST final battle themes I've ever listened (the lyrics, oh my God), and all the meaning of the journey was top. I love how, for example, how P3 deals about facing fears, and living each day as if it were your last.
HOWEVER, the entire beginning and half-game are terrible (except for the Aragaki scene middle game). The stories of Persona games are NOT bad, but they are kind of destroyed by its own structure. They are not long stories, but the structure makes it long, bullying the pacing of the games. You have 90 hours games that could be 30 or 40, but due to you needing to live every single day of the month, farming points, seeing useless social link or characters, and discarding your time instead of investing in more things to improve what is going to come (or just skip all that), the series insist that you need to grind useless no matter what. Because of this, I genuinely find impressive anyone who completes a Persona game without finding it a tiring journey, as Persona is the most repetitive series I've ever consumed. Not only that, also its worldbuilding is too simple (still efficient), and the story overall is shallow, as it's not of the interest of the creators diving into a well deep and explored narrative. It has good moments and very good connections, but the construction of the scenes are very flawed and superficial (I still remember the grotesquely bad script of Fuuka's persona presentation).
Characters: with very fun interactions, the characters are cute, cool and stylish, but they can't sustain this structure for most of the time. They're not deep and they're not incredibly well developed. They are, de facto, good characters, some unique and ones that I really like, but this does NOT carry a story for 80 hours or more. There will come a time when everything will be a record played again. Repetitive. Also, I'm already tired of saying Persona protagonists are completely bland (making a slight exception for Amamiya Ren), but I don't even care anymore.
Gameplay: The gameplay that exists is that you climb a tower with 200 floors identical to each other to kill mobs. With the exception of this defect, it's fun. Okay, serious now, the battles are very interesting. The battle system is one of the strong points of Persona games.
Soundtrack: Unique, beautiful and fantastic. A very beautiful mix of elements such as rock and jazz to create compositions that anyone in the world could familiarize themselves with in just one listen. I love Persona soundtracks. For anyone who have complained about the remix, go fuck yourself. In Reload version, the songs were better and cleaner than in the original versions. And even if you didn't like it, you're a fool for complaining. The original soundtracks already exist, the new ones give a new perspective and fresh air for those who want it to have that air.
The Art Direction continues to astound, consistently elevating the Persona series with its stunning visual presentation. Since Persona 5, it has showcased a breathtaking artistic vision that truly makes the game shine. Paired with its exceptional soundtrack, the art direction are the heart of the series.
For all that, this franchise could be much better than it actually is, but I know that will never change. The flaws will continue, and I will always be complaining, because it'll never get there. I know Atlus is like the RGG studio that likes a bit of a comfort zone, and won't change their games much.
In short, Persona is a series that is destroyed by its own exhausting structure that seems to want to suck you in at all costs, but still it's overall a fun experience with a good message.
I tried gaslight, but when a game is objectively mid, not even my gaslight can help it.
Persona is the biggest collective delusion I've ever seen, I find it unimaginable that the majority of people acclaim this series and don't point out any flaws, not even the elitists or people that know how to write good reviews. It's unbelievable to me.
Persona series overall is letdown, but P3 is actually a waste of a masterpiece, and I'll explain why.
Narrative structure: Its ending shines. I completely kneel for the last 10 hours of the game, Burn my Dread is one of the COOLEST final battle themes I've ever listened (the lyrics, oh my God), and all the meaning of the journey was top. I love how, for example, how P3 deals about facing fears, and living each day as if it were your last.
HOWEVER, the entire beginning and half-game are terrible (except for the Aragaki scene middle game). The stories of Persona games are NOT bad, but they are kind of destroyed by its own structure. They are not long stories, but the structure makes it long, bullying the pacing of the games. You have 90 hours games that could be 30 or 40, but due to you needing to live every single day of the month, farming points, seeing useless social link or characters, and discarding your time instead of investing in more things to improve what is going to come (or just skip all that), the series insist that you need to grind useless no matter what. Because of this, I genuinely find impressive anyone who completes a Persona game without finding it a tiring journey, as Persona is the most repetitive series I've ever consumed. Not only that, also its worldbuilding is too simple (still efficient), and the story overall is shallow, as it's not of the interest of the creators diving into a well deep and explored narrative. It has good moments and very good connections, but the construction of the scenes are very flawed and superficial (I still remember the grotesquely bad script of Fuuka's persona presentation).
Characters: with very fun interactions, the characters are cute, cool and stylish, but they can't sustain this structure for most of the time. They're not deep and they're not incredibly well developed. They are, de facto, good characters, some unique and ones that I really like, but this does NOT carry a story for 80 hours or more. There will come a time when everything will be a record played again. Repetitive. Also, I'm already tired of saying Persona protagonists are completely bland (making a slight exception for Amamiya Ren), but I don't even care anymore.
Gameplay: The gameplay that exists is that you climb a tower with 200 floors identical to each other to kill mobs. With the exception of this defect, it's fun. Okay, serious now, the battles are very interesting. The battle system is one of the strong points of Persona games.
Soundtrack: Unique, beautiful and fantastic. A very beautiful mix of elements such as rock and jazz to create compositions that anyone in the world could familiarize themselves with in just one listen. I love Persona soundtracks. For anyone who have complained about the remix, go fuck yourself. In Reload version, the songs were better and cleaner than in the original versions. And even if you didn't like it, you're a fool for complaining. The original soundtracks already exist, the new ones give a new perspective and fresh air for those who want it to have that air.
The Art Direction continues to astound, consistently elevating the Persona series with its stunning visual presentation. Since Persona 5, it has showcased a breathtaking artistic vision that truly makes the game shine. Paired with its exceptional soundtrack, the art direction are the heart of the series.
For all that, this franchise could be much better than it actually is, but I know that will never change. The flaws will continue, and I will always be complaining, because it'll never get there. I know Atlus is like the RGG studio that likes a bit of a comfort zone, and won't change their games much.
In short, Persona is a series that is destroyed by its own exhausting structure that seems to want to suck you in at all costs, but still it's overall a fun experience with a good message.
I tried gaslight, but when a game is objectively mid, not even my gaslight can help it.
Persona is the biggest collective delusion I've ever seen, I find it unimaginable that the majority of people acclaim this series and don't point out any flaws, not even the elitists or people that know how to write good reviews. It's unbelievable to me.
2 Comments
@Kuon Thanks. I really like the last 10-15 hours of Persona 3, if the game had that pacing since the beginning I would forgive a lot of problems
Everything in Trails seems to work, even when it copies things from other franchises (like Persona's social links). Maybe a friend of mine and I feel that Trails is ideal, being the best way to build a story in our opinion.
I'm slighty interested in Persona 2, ngl. You're the second person that recommend it to me. I'll see what I'll do. For now, I'm gonna replay P5R with a friend to see if I can like it more
Everything in Trails seems to work, even when it copies things from other franchises (like Persona's social links). Maybe a friend of mine and I feel that Trails is ideal, being the best way to build a story in our opinion.
I'm slighty interested in Persona 2, ngl. You're the second person that recommend it to me. I'll see what I'll do. For now, I'm gonna replay P5R with a friend to see if I can like it more
NatsumeAi
1 month ago
After getting into Trails I've lowered all my Persona scores because I've found those games to be much more my thing so far. The silent self-insert protagonists get on my nerves nowadays, so it's nice to remember that there are JRPG series that have main characters that are actual characters. Have you played Persona 2? It's an outlier compared to 3, 4 and 5