Another of my bucket list games, though I decided to treat the Persona 2 duology as one game.
It is definitely a less complex and dynamic game compared to those that follow it, but Persona 2 has some interesting stuff going on under the hood. The fusion system and Persona team-negotiations are a lot of fun to mess around with, but Persona 2's most interesting mechanic is probably its "rumors." As part of the story, rumors that gain enough traction start to manifest in reality, which culminates in some pretty crazy, world-ending stuff. However, you can also manipulate rumors to your advantage. Hear about a shop offering powerful items at a discount? Head over to Kuzunoha Detective Agency (yes, those Kuzunohas) and they'll begin spreading it for you until it becomes real. This is sometimes required to advance the story but is mostly used to influence more minor elements of the world to become beneficial to you, such as opening new shops or causing certain demons to appear. For as interesting as this is on paper, it's not as fleshed out as it could be, and after a while you'll mostly find yourself using rumors to refresh inventory in shops. I can't help but feel a more open-ended game could use a system like this to better effect.
Persona 2 also predates the Press-Turn battle system that would come to define the larger Shin Megami Tensei series, so it's a lot more straightforward, not as punchy, and less effective at communicating whether or not you're really nailing an enemy's weakness. You can execute combo attacks between party members, and after a certain point in the game this becomes almost a prerequisite for dealing damage to bosses. It at least gives you something to actually engage with, because outside of combos, the combat is pretty barebones.
So yeah, I have a few criticisms. But this game also has Maya. Maya is the best! Do not under any circumstances get into a vehicle Maya is driving, I am deadly serious about this, you will get passed away
It is definitely a less complex and dynamic game compared to those that follow it, but Persona 2 has some interesting stuff going on under the hood. The fusion system and Persona team-negotiations are a lot of fun to mess around with, but Persona 2's most interesting mechanic is probably its "rumors." As part of the story, rumors that gain enough traction start to manifest in reality, which culminates in some pretty crazy, world-ending stuff. However, you can also manipulate rumors to your advantage. Hear about a shop offering powerful items at a discount? Head over to Kuzunoha Detective Agency (yes, those Kuzunohas) and they'll begin spreading it for you until it becomes real. This is sometimes required to advance the story but is mostly used to influence more minor elements of the world to become beneficial to you, such as opening new shops or causing certain demons to appear. For as interesting as this is on paper, it's not as fleshed out as it could be, and after a while you'll mostly find yourself using rumors to refresh inventory in shops. I can't help but feel a more open-ended game could use a system like this to better effect.
Persona 2 also predates the Press-Turn battle system that would come to define the larger Shin Megami Tensei series, so it's a lot more straightforward, not as punchy, and less effective at communicating whether or not you're really nailing an enemy's weakness. You can execute combo attacks between party members, and after a certain point in the game this becomes almost a prerequisite for dealing damage to bosses. It at least gives you something to actually engage with, because outside of combos, the combat is pretty barebones.
So yeah, I have a few criticisms. But this game also has Maya. Maya is the best! Do not under any circumstances get into a vehicle Maya is driving, I am deadly serious about this, you will get passed away
4 Comments
That rumor system sounds fantastic as an idea. This is one of those games that never got a UK release back then until the PSP remasters, i'll play it one day.
Never came out here either, I used an English translation patch to play the game. The team localizing Eternal Punishment wanted to do Innocent Sin but lacked the time and resources. People sometimes attribute the Nazis playing a role late in the game as being one reason why it never came out here, but it seems like it was more of a logistical thing. It's kind of funny that we got it for the PSP but then we also did not get the PSP port of Eternal Punishment.
Atlus has always been like this.
Atlus has always been like this.
Ah I thought they all got released state side, I stand corrected!
LordDarias
1 year ago