Persona 2 Eternal Punishment is by far the most derivative mainline Persona game. It's simultaneously a sequel to Innocent Sin AND Persona 1, and reuses a lot of elements from the former. Despite that, It manages to surpass it's predecessor, and refines and improves a lot of the problems that game had.
Pros: The gameplay in this game, while still not amazing, is significantly better than Innocent Sin's. It expects you to have played Innocent Sin and expects you to take advantage of all the vast myriad of obscure gameplay mechanics and shops available for use. The game stops pulling its punches and gets significantly harder, and the difficulty is much needed. The strategies I was using in Innocent Sin stopped working, and I had to adapt to new strategies, and build team compositions around being able to form proper Fusion Spells. The game still has the tedium and the slowness of Innocent Sin, but it's more entertaining because it expects a lot more of you. Some people call this the hardest Persona game, but I don't know if I would agree. I didn't struggle with it that much more than I did Innocent Sin. I basically steamrolled the entire final dungeon. The difference is, I would say, is that with Innocent Sin I was barely trying and struggled, and with Eternal Punishment I was aware of it's reputation and was trying as hard as possible and still struggled. Either way, if you can go through the game taking the most possible advantage of Fusion Spells and Mutations and Skill Cards, you shouldn't have the hardest time. The story in the game is also great. I love how different it is from every other game in the series, aided by the fact that it has a fully adult cast. I still think I like Innocent Sin's story just a bit more, but Eternal Punishment still has everything great that game had. The characters are still super entertaining, and I especially love how Tatsuya was characterized in this game. Turning a silent protagonist into an actual character isn't something that can be done easily, but it was pulled off flawlessly here and feels so natural. The game's contact system is much improved. It's streamlined from Innocent Sin to be less complicated and I think it works very well to remove some of the tedium of demon contact. The rumor system also returns and is also improved. Rumors are much more varied and control much more. There's a lot to love here.
Cons: The battle system, while better, still has a lot of the flaws of Innocent Sin. In addition, this game takes a bit too much from Innocent Sin. It's justified incredibly well within the story, but a lot of things are reused. Some dungeons in the game are completely original and those tend to be the best and most interesting. Other dungeons take place in the same place as dungeons from Innocent Sin, and as a result use the same visuals and environments, but still contain different layouts, and those are much less interesting. Other dungeons are literally ripped straight from Innocent Sin, with the exact same layout and everything. Those are the ones I really take issue with. It feels like a slog and a waste of time to have to do everything all over again. Again, it's justified well within the story, and it's not too big of an issue, but it was an annoyance I had. Another thing I don't like about this game is it's characterization of Maya. Maya was turned into this game's silent protagonist and while I like that doing so allowed Tatsuya to become his own character, I don't like how much Maya's character had to be reduced. Maya was the emotional core of the group in Innocent Sin, and her trauma and backstory was a major focus of that game. It just feels awkward that none of that is really focused on much anymore, because all Maya says in this game is "...." and "Maya smiled gently" or something.
Overall: This is another must play game, even more so than Innocent Sin, despite being it's direct sequel. It has a lot of the same strengths as Innocent Sin and improves upon its biggest flaws.
Pros: The gameplay in this game, while still not amazing, is significantly better than Innocent Sin's. It expects you to have played Innocent Sin and expects you to take advantage of all the vast myriad of obscure gameplay mechanics and shops available for use. The game stops pulling its punches and gets significantly harder, and the difficulty is much needed. The strategies I was using in Innocent Sin stopped working, and I had to adapt to new strategies, and build team compositions around being able to form proper Fusion Spells. The game still has the tedium and the slowness of Innocent Sin, but it's more entertaining because it expects a lot more of you. Some people call this the hardest Persona game, but I don't know if I would agree. I didn't struggle with it that much more than I did Innocent Sin. I basically steamrolled the entire final dungeon. The difference is, I would say, is that with Innocent Sin I was barely trying and struggled, and with Eternal Punishment I was aware of it's reputation and was trying as hard as possible and still struggled. Either way, if you can go through the game taking the most possible advantage of Fusion Spells and Mutations and Skill Cards, you shouldn't have the hardest time. The story in the game is also great. I love how different it is from every other game in the series, aided by the fact that it has a fully adult cast. I still think I like Innocent Sin's story just a bit more, but Eternal Punishment still has everything great that game had. The characters are still super entertaining, and I especially love how Tatsuya was characterized in this game. Turning a silent protagonist into an actual character isn't something that can be done easily, but it was pulled off flawlessly here and feels so natural. The game's contact system is much improved. It's streamlined from Innocent Sin to be less complicated and I think it works very well to remove some of the tedium of demon contact. The rumor system also returns and is also improved. Rumors are much more varied and control much more. There's a lot to love here.
Cons: The battle system, while better, still has a lot of the flaws of Innocent Sin. In addition, this game takes a bit too much from Innocent Sin. It's justified incredibly well within the story, but a lot of things are reused. Some dungeons in the game are completely original and those tend to be the best and most interesting. Other dungeons take place in the same place as dungeons from Innocent Sin, and as a result use the same visuals and environments, but still contain different layouts, and those are much less interesting. Other dungeons are literally ripped straight from Innocent Sin, with the exact same layout and everything. Those are the ones I really take issue with. It feels like a slog and a waste of time to have to do everything all over again. Again, it's justified well within the story, and it's not too big of an issue, but it was an annoyance I had. Another thing I don't like about this game is it's characterization of Maya. Maya was turned into this game's silent protagonist and while I like that doing so allowed Tatsuya to become his own character, I don't like how much Maya's character had to be reduced. Maya was the emotional core of the group in Innocent Sin, and her trauma and backstory was a major focus of that game. It just feels awkward that none of that is really focused on much anymore, because all Maya says in this game is "...." and "Maya smiled gently" or something.
Overall: This is another must play game, even more so than Innocent Sin, despite being it's direct sequel. It has a lot of the same strengths as Innocent Sin and improves upon its biggest flaws.