Atlus Persona 5

[Cromwell]

Because a game whose entire premise is social criticism and commentary is comparable to throwing a tranny into a High Fantasy setting. Right.

Japan is also very comparable to the west.

 

[CyberWhale]

These texts reek of irony TBH.

 

[Malpercio]

Because a game whose entire premise is social criticism and commentary is comparable to throwing a tranny into a High Fantasy setting. Right.

"I-it's fine. Glorous Japan something politics something out games something SJW "

These games are more preachy than your average wester games, it's hilarious how you guys don't care.

 

[Momock]

Because in Japan women trying to work in corporations have actually something to complain about? Unlike in the west where they're just being crybabies?

And it has nothing to do with politics. Stop calling personal issues"politics", people!

 

[Malpercio]

Because in Japan women trying to work in corporations have actually something to complain about? Unlike in the west where they're just being crybabies?

>"It's fine when japan does it"

And it has nothing to do with politics. Stop calling personal issues"politics", people!

Oh I agree. I wasn't really mocking the game, social commentaries are nothing new in JRPG.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Honestly, the game would've benefited from having even more overt political content. I mean, it probably would've been shallow, but it fits the premise very well, and the fact that specific references to Japan's problems are so subdued feels like cowardice on the part of the writers.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Honestly, the game would've benefited from having even more overt political content. I mean, it probably would've been shallow, but it fits the premise very well, and the fact that specific references to Japan's problems are so subdued feels like cowardice on the part of the writers.

Well, in parts the theme felt kinda flaccid. It feels phony to me that the game complains about adults being shitty, but it's written by adults who probably partake in the same status quo that the characters are raging against.

 

[Jick Magger]

That and the message that is ultimately conveyed with a lot of the confidants seems to unintentionally be "Just endure being repeatedly fucked in the ass by society with absolutely no way out, eventually some kid with magical powers will solve all your problems for you."

Well, in parts the theme felt kinda flaccid. It feels phony to me that the game complains about adults being shitty, but it's written by adults who probably partake in the same status quo that the characters are raging against.

To be fair, by the end, the game does reject the idea that all adults are shitty. Haru's confidant in particular emphasizes that dismissing all adults as being inherently untrustworthy and duplicitous is just as short-sighted as adults dismissing teens as being stupid and ignorant of the world.

 

[Jick Magger]

not reading the thread since i haven't finished the game yet, but i gotta say: fuck Morgana with something hard and sandpaper-y

He gets worse. I don't even know what part of the game you're at, but trust me, he gets worse.

 

[Matador]

Good old "It's fine when japan does it".

And then you have two adult faggots chasing, and trying to seduce a high school boy . This game has also politically incorrect content, you can't see in SJW fiction. And the overall themes and characters are more powerful and dramatic than forced left propaganda. Without forgetting is juvenile fiction.

It's funny that you concern so much about our concerns. I thought it was bad to be so so sensitive about leftist content, that we were paranoid, nitpicky, and somewhat racist. And now we accept some leftist views in a game developed by a minority, because overall we consider it compelling, and you are worry about us giving it a pass. Is not a good thing that we are tolerant?


The thing is you are a concern troll, and people like this game because is good, and we are not so fanatic to burn the game for a few statements we disagree on. Not the same thing as forced preachy tranny characters in D&D setting, talking about bigotry.



We consider it funny and interesting unlike SJW crap, like interespecies cringy romance in Dragon Age. And that is without talking about gameplay.

 

[Malpercio]

We consider it funny and interesting unlike SJW crap, like interespecies cringy romance in Dragon Age. And that is without talking about gameplay.

Who would have though that the solution to all of Bioware's problems would have been to move to Japan.

the thing is you are a concern troll

Joined: Jun 14, 2016

 

[Azrael the cat]

Japan has never really given a fuck about progressive shit*.

Someone has never read a manga in his life.



Can you guys imagine if a wester game had lines like this? The Codex and /v/ would riot.

Good old "It's fine when japan does it".

In fairness, I genuinely don't know from that screenshot whether she's about to promote feminism or tentacle rape.

 

[GarlandExCon]

Bitch ass Akechi.

That is all.

 

[Tick Tock Crocodile]

 

[Tick Tock Crocodile]

Spoiler

Just got up to the 'present' so we're closing in on the end, I think? Akechi's betrayal, much like his character, did nothing for me since they made it so painfully obvious that he was a villanous fuck from the very beginning and went out of their way to make him a mysteeeerious figure (read: undeveloped Mary Sue). Going by his mini-backstory dump in Leblanc that one time, I'm betting his motivations are going to boil down to basic daddy issues (speaking of, the bald villanous fuck better not be his dad, I swear to fucking God). They seem to have been pushing some kind of Light Yagami/L rivalry between him and the PC, what with all the PC dick-sucking on his end, but I'm not feeling it, and I'm really sad the traitor you're on the look out for from the beginning was someone so obvious and so impossible to give a fuck about.

 

[Tick Tock Crocodile]

Spoiler

did i just sit through these two motherfuckers alone in a room doing a play-by-play explanation of their entire evil plan right from the beginning

Spoiler

i miss Adachi

Spoiler

ohohohohoho look we knew about Akechi all along it's just the truth serum made you forget that (AND ONLY THAT)

no. go fuck yourselves.

 

[Jick Magger]

Yeah, the game can be hellishly overwritten at times, especially near the finale, where the writers felt the need to explain in intricate detail each and every single plot revelation and twist that just occurred right in front of you.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

That and the message that is ultimately conveyed with a lot of the confidants seems to unintentionally be "Just endure being repeatedly fucked in the ass by society with absolutely no way out, eventually some kid with magical powers will solve all your problems for you."

This bothered the hell out of me. The game would go on about the will of rebellion, and yet all these people would just sit there and passively take it up the arse from some asshole or another. Or worse, you'd go magically brainwash people for the most petty reasons imaginable, like them cheating at an online game. I actually dropped the little kid confidant when it expected me to go brainwash his mother, because it literally felt wrong to do that, especially given that their problem could've probably been solved with an honest conversation.

Spoiler

Just got up to the 'present' so we're closing in on the end, I think? Akechi's betrayal, much like his character, did nothing for me since they made it so painfully obvious that he was a villanous fuck from the very beginning and went out of their way to make him a mysteeeerious figure (read: undeveloped Mary Sue). Going by his mini-backstory dump in Leblanc that one time, I'm betting his motivations are going to boil down to basic daddy issues (speaking of, the bald villanous fuck better not be his dad, I swear to fucking God). They seem to have been pushing some kind of Light Yagami/L rivalry between him and the PC, what with all the PC dick-sucking on his end, but I'm not feeling it, and I'm really sad the traitor you're on the look out for from the beginning was someone so obvious and so impossible to give a fuck about.

Spoiler

Yeah, they decided the whole plot twist and interrogation framing device were worth ruining Akechi as a character. I think it would've been much more interesting if they played him straight as a foil to Joker and played up the moral ambiguity of the Thieves' actions. Story could end with Shido being taken down, and Akechi subsequently capturing Joker, also avoiding all the ending bullshit.

 

[Tick Tock Crocodile]

Spoiler

Akechi just seems so wasted. I was praying that they were in fact playing his justice!! thing straight and that his plan was like, blackmailing his way on to the team so he would have an opportunity to bring justice to Shido (that *one* asshole he just couldn't catch through normal methods?) and then, afterwards, the Thieves themselves. Something like that? But the utterly cartoonish moustache-twirling SIU Director and co. didn't exactly fill me with hope for it.

It's weird to me how black-and-white P5 is considering the fact that you're basically going around rewiring people's brains. Actually, maybe it's the other way around - maybe because the protagonists are doing something actually morally questionable, they portrayed all the antagonists, major and minor, as being literally Hitler so as not to get in the way of the 'we're heroes' vibe?

 

[Tick Tock Crocodile]

Done and dusted. I was gonna go on a rant, but turns out there's already a post which summarises most of my feelings very well -- most of the complaints I'd add, I think, boiling down to the way the group is (or isn't) allowed to mesh in this game.

Spoiler

A fireworks festival where we just get caught in the rain and moan? A trip to fucking Hawaii where we can't decide what to do and moan? A school festival day where, guess what, we sit on our asses and moan? This might just be nostalgia goggles talking, but I feel like the P4 gang would have done something with all of this. I get that the Thieves are literally wanted criminals and so this game is necessarily ***darker and edgier***, but still. These people don't act like a group of teenagers, or a group of friends, for that matter - everything, whether it be Social Links, or hangouts, or celebrations, or IM conversations, ALWAYS centres around our being The Phantom Thieves, our work as The Phantom Thieves, our ***popularity*** as The Phantom Thieves. A group of people who didn't fit into society's boxes found a new one, and it becomes their entire identity, and makes their interactions all business, essentially. The intimacy just is not there.

Leaving these guys felt nothing like catching that train away from Inaba, away from those guys, and I don't think it's entirely down to me now being a jaded and bitter fuck. I'll sure as hell be playing P4 again to verify.

I'd also talk about Morgana more but I feel I'd devolve into complete meme spam were I to attempt it.

 

[Vorark]

So is it a case of style over substance? I'm a big fan of P3 (loved the doom and gloom feel), it was so refreshing at the time. Thought P4 was a letdown and from what I've read here and in other places, P5 doesn't fare much better.

 

[Jick Magger]

The game has the opposite issue from Persona 3 in regards to pacing. While Persona 3's plot basically stops after its introduction and only really starts up again about 30 or so hours in, the first half of Persona 5 is basically all story with some very brief opportunities inbetween to interact with the world. It gets especially bad at around May with the introduction of the second target, where there are a few days-long stretches where the game introduces a whole bunch of new characters, plot threads, and gameplay mechanics, while forcing you to sit through minutes and minutes of cutscenes of people talking to one another, followed by you going home and all your friends in your chat group reiterating what you just talked about, capped off with Morgana telling you that he doesn't feel like doing anything else today, so you should just go to bed, because you're not allowed to do anything without Morgana's express permission. Since this game has probably the strictest time-management in the series, with several confidants/social links not being available to you unless you meet certain stat requirements, the lengths that the game will go to in order to artificially reduce your personal time can be deeply infuriating (the worst of which being times where the game will force you to stop progressing midway through a palace due to some bullshit plot contrivance and force you to waste another day or two completing it). The game only truly begins to open up at around the end of the third confidant, which is roughly the halfway point of the fucking game. The game reminded me a lot of MGS4, that's how bad the story to gameplay ratio got at times.

And yes, the game is ridiculously overwritten. It loves to spend entire paragraphs explaining to you things that could easily be exposited in a few sentences, then have your cast of characters text one another later just to ensure that you 100% got what was being conveyed. It makes the game feel incredibly bloated and feeds in to the pacing issues I just mentioned. There are gigantic swaths of dialogue that could have easily been cut out or otherwise trimmed (i.e. they could have removed almost all the text conversations you have with your group of friends without it impacting the story at all) and the game would've benefited greatly from it.

I'll be a bit nicer in regards to combat and say that it is very much a one step forward, two step back affair. They added a few new mechanics as well as some from the other SMT games (like the persuasion system), the shared experience probably being the my most appreciated (one of my biggest issues with the other games was that the lack of shared exp encouraged you to just pick one party and stick to it). The new palaces were a welcome change of pace from the godawful dungeon layouts from the other two games, but they went and shot themselves in the foot by adding Mementos, which is just a repeat of the randomly generated dungeons from the other games, only even more visually ugly, boring, and despite the suggestion otherwise, by no means optional. As for the gameplay itself? It's still just SMT for casuals. Once you get your SP management down, either you instantly win all your fights, or an enemy exploits your weakness and immediately kills you, it'll rarely go any other way.

 

[Jick Magger]

Also, as others have said, the main cast of friends are the dangerous combination of uninteresting and lacking in chemistry. About the only thing that seems to keep them together is their connection to the phantom thieves and the MC. Beyond that, it feels as though they only barely tolerate one-another's presence, with a majority of their interactions consisting of complaining about their current situation, mocking one-another for little-to-no reason (Morgana is the worst offender, which contributes greatly to him being such a loathsome character), and coming up with excuses to avoid having to interact with one-another. To put it bluntly, they just don't gel together like the Scoobies or the SEES crew did.

as others have said, the recurring theme of people being completely helpless and ineffectual by themselves until you come along and save them with your magic powers doesn't really make you feel all FIGHT THE POWA; you feel more like a wandering therapist.

You already were, for all intents and purposes, a wandering therapist in the other games' social links. You'd walk up to a person, get them to open up about their issues gradually, and then help them to to either move on or try to improve themselves from the experience. The issue with P5's confidants is that you're not a wandering therapist for most of them (as others have noted, the best Confidants in the game tend to be the ones were you don't have to resort to brainwashing people to solve someone's issue), you're instead a glorified fairy god mother here to save Cinderella from her wicked step-mother by brainwashing her in to compliance. Hell, as Cowboy noted, there are a few times where the game demands you resort to brainwashing somebody in order to resolve a situation that could easily (even preferably) be settled by a simple discussion, like with the Tower and Star confidants, basically robbing those characters of their agency and telling them that only YOU, with your magical power of manipulation, are capable of solving their life problems for them.

Not only does this break the message the game is trying to get across (None of these characters are actually being encouraged to stand up against the system or make a stand against injusticee, you're just hitting a magical reset button and making their problem go away), but it has a lot of disturbing implications (You know how you should stand up to some guy cheating at a stupid arcade game for babies? Brainwashing).

 

[Vorark]

Spoiler

you feel more like a wandering therapist.

Ha, you got a good laugh out of me! I don't mind it but solving people problems just by the power of magic is... ehhh. P4 at least made people face their "trueselves".

suddenly the targets are being selected on the basis of who'll net you the post retweets.

What, is there a twitter thingie in P5?

The main cast's development is pretty much confined solely to S. Links, which have no effect on the main story -- this is a larger issue than it was in P4, IMO.

Oh no, this was one of my many beefs with P4. I remember the Dojima S. Link in which he was all nice with the PC, only to later in the game fallback to being all business, felt completely out of place. To this day, I still think P3 was the only one to pull it out better (even more so in the girl route in P3 Portable).

Oh, and the mascot character this time around is fucking insufferable.

Koromaru best dog ; liked Teddy a lot though.

If I knew what your exact complaints were in regards to P4, I could probably elaborate more, but those are some of my complaints just on the 'feeling' side of things.

My problem with P4 was that it felt very "let's positive thinking" and reminded me too much of Scooby Doo, without the charm. It was more like your run of the mill JRPG with all the "let's be friends!!1!one!" However, the quartet Naoto, Kanji, Rise and Teddy somewhat saved the game and made me play until the true ending (wtf was that, the big bad evil was the gas boy/girl all along? I rolled my eyes so hard at the time.)

P3 just clicked with me. You've got a bunch of people together who, initially, do not care much about each other but are stuck in the same situation. I think it pulled the development better and I so loved the overall theme of memento mori. The ending was perfect too (which The Answer in FES almost ruined.) Mind you, this was a breath of fresh air in 2007, when I was ready to let go of JRPGs. I let the opening loop so much that I'm not sure how my PS2 didn't overheat at the time. Replayed the girl path in P3P and enjoyed the game even more.

Good thing I didn't buy a PS4 solely for this game.

Edit - About the translation, you're not the first one I've heard such complaints. Is Atlus USA going downhill? I always thought they were a bit overrated...

 

[Vorark]

Paging Tick Tock Crocodile

Persona 5 is a game for the current times, indeed. Disappointing.

Good on P4G (only played the original P4) if Adachi's motivations were properly explored, his "coming out" came a bit left-field. The idea of facing your true self, your inner fears was an excellent hook in P4. I still remember Naoto's dungeon, it was one of the best parts. My problem with P4 is that I disliked half the cast in a game which heavily emphasizes the "let's be friends!" theme. Didn't care much for the Scoobie Doo angle either because random people disappearing only got urgent when Nanako was kidnapped.

In P3, humanity as a whole was its own evil, embodied by Nyx. And before that moment you got the dude who manipulated you in order to destroy the shadows and later turned Aegis against the party (completely forgot his name), Strega, Mitsuru's father. And what about characters like Shinjiro, Ryoji and the PC him/herself? I got chills during the final battle in that game, even more so when you finally face Death -- I was hit right in the feels.

Later I played Nocturne and it, along P3, ruined "modern" JRPGs to me; the only JRPG I would call original I played afterwards was The World Ends With You. However, it never had the same impact.

Anyway, if we ever get a P4G PC port or a Vita emulator, I'll be sure to give it another chance.

Btw, thanks for indulging my curiosity about P5.