What Are The Persona Games Like?

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Man, things move quick in this thread for my slow responses.

Anyway, you can list away. Feel free to share your games of interest.

Given what you've said about your liking of Clamp material, it does surprise me your concerned about Persona. I know a little of Clamp and the things they put out there, and I would say, if you can handle that, Persona shouldn't trouble you too greatly.

Perhaps it's your a little like myself when it comes to trying new things. Which is to say, your horribly indecisive, and you can be interested in something, and then proceed to talk yourself out of it, just in case you make a mistake. This is a struggle, I can well empathize with if so, haha.

That typed, I've started to get better about that over the years. Sometimes I just psych myself up, and then commit myself, and deal with the consequences later. I think in my case, it's probably lead to more successes than failures. Just an example, Chrono Trigger was probably one of the best random punts on a game, I've ever taken. I really wasn't sure it'd be for me, but I spent a few weeks psyching myself up, and went for it. Fair to say, never gonna regret that choice. Anyway, I didn't mean to get into life stories here.

In terms of Persona, they ARE very different in some ways to other things I've played over the years. I really enjoyed in 3 and 4, how the stories deal with some of life's difficulties, and things such as, the self we project to the world, and who we are deep down. I love all that stuff. I think they do a great job of it. On top of that, for my tastes, it strikes the right balance of serious and silly. They have a wicked sense of humour too. When you get going in them, they are completely engaging.

Lastly, do yourself a favour if you have a little to spare, and don't own it already, get yourself Tales of Abyss at some point on the 3DS. Adore that game. If your looking for a fun, unique and enthralling RPG, I would personally say it's well worth your time. I don't think I'm straying into the hyperbolic, to even go as far as to say, it's story even taught me a couple of life lessons.

Sorry, I typed a LOT again there. =x

Okay, here goes: Final Fantasy VI, VII, and IX; Radiant Historia; Pokemon Pearl, Omega Ruby, X, Blue Rescue Team, and Explorers of Sky [my favourite Pokemon game]; Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Dawn of Sorrow; Rune Factory 3 and 4; Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns; Cave Story; Dragon Quest IX [my first fantasy RPG!]; Metroid Zero Mission; Super Smash Bros. Brawl; The Last Story; and Xenoblade Chronicles.
Well, I saw the M rating on Persona 3 and I went like this: Then, after thinking it over, I remembered, 'Oh, yeah, I read Claymore and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and Tokyo Babylon and Chobits and RG Veda! Silly me.'
Yes, yes, I am indecisive about new things too! I take a long time to decide things, which is irritating to everyone around me who wants a quick decision.
Yep, the first time I read Claymore, I opened Vol. 1 and saw the creepy monster thing and I instantly slid the volume back on the shelf and walked away. About five seconds later I came back and kept reading! [This happened about six times, but eventually I made it through the first volume and never looked back!] It was like this:
Most of the games I play have taught me life lessons, especially FFVII and Pokemon Explorers of Sky.
Okey-dokey. I'll go on a quest into Tales of the Abyss...sooner or later.

Sorry for double posting, but I just wanted to point out something interesting. I've been looking at a Persona 3 walkthrough on Youtube to see what it's all like, and I'm at the part where the man in the allyway starts bleeding darkness [or whatever that stuff is; no spoilers, please]. I just realized that the black stuff looks eerily similar to Geostigma from the FFVII movie. Geostigma [for those who don't know] is when part of the Lifestream gets infected by the alien Jenova, and because everyone has a river of the Lifestream inside of them, they get infected too, and if it isn't cured they die a horribly painful death and bleed black stuff. Not only that, the Geostigma affects emotional states and causes depression.

I see there's some series we have in common there. For me, I've played Final Fantasy 1 up to 13. A couple of the spin offs too. Pokemon, I've played every main gen, and have most of the main games. Again played a few spin offs. Pinball and Stadium a little over the comp, Shuffle and Rumble on the 3DS if you count those too.

Out of the rest, I've played and beaten Radiant Historia, and played a bit of both Rune Factory and Harvest Moon. I've spent time playing a couple of Dragon Quest games. I want to say 6 and 9.(No lewd puns intended, just true, haha) I can't remember which, but I remember I did get quite into one of them. It's been ages though. I've only played against the comp on the Smash Bros demo on the 3DS. Though well aware of it's existence of course.

I've read Cave Story is meant to be good. Also been curious about Last Story, but I think that was Wii only, so while I have one, I never got it, as I've not used mine in forever. I did play some Metroid on the Wii back when I really played with mine. So I see the appeal. Xenoblade is something I see and hear a lot of people love. I've never quite found out why, but I have noted Xenogears is available on PSN, so who knows maybe one day I'll give it a go. I won't go out of my way to list other stuff I've played, already talked a lot about yours. >.>

Anyway, while I can't comment on manga, I can say Chobits is an anime I've seen in it's entirety. If that's any yardstick, I can't remember anything worse than you'd find there in Persona 3. Plus I also know, that the manga versions of things tend to be more, intense, to begin with. So I might be wrong, but I really get the vibe that if you like the game in general, whatever adult content that's there isn't going to scare you off.

I've seen a small few other bits of Clamp stuff, and it's enough to know what I typed previously, in my reply before this one. Fair to say they aren't shy about, adult themes.

Being indecisive is a horrible thing. Often I want to make a decision, I get mad at myself, I try to force it, and I still take hours to do so. Only way I've found to get any better at it, is to consistently push myself, psych myself up, or involve alcohol, lol.

On life lessons, Abyss isn't the only game to have taught me life lessons, just in the case of Abyss, it taught me a couple of big ones. It's hard to describe, but they are important ones. One of them I still need to get a lot better at, the other, has been a real help to me for a while now. It's rare I ever come across those sorts of life lessons, so it's really stuck with me. (I can't go into what, as that would spoil things.)

Lastly, it really has been too long since I last played Persona 3. I'm drawing a bit of a blank on your second post. I'm not really in a serious game playing frame of mind at present, but it is a game I want to come back to eventually.(I got most of the way through it previously, but still need to beat it some day) I hate being ill, it really gets in the way of my gaming. .-.

Oh, P.S: Great idea to watch a little on Youtube to get a feel for the game a bit. I did that before I got Radiant Historia myself, if I recall.

^Yay! It's so nice to make gaming friends! Epic! FFVII is obviously my favourite Final Fantasy [ ]. I give Radiant Historia a perfect 10; it's so awesome. Lewd puns? I guess it's better I don't know. Cave Story is fun, but frustrating for me because I'm not good at platformers or fast-decision making [which is why chess-like battles are my forte!] The Last Story is phenomenally good, especially the battles and how it's a deconstruction of most fantasy RPG stereotypes. I only like Xenoblade Chronicles because I like exploring everywhere. The interesting thing about Chobits is that in the manga, the persocoms don't become sentient; they are, according to the characters, definitely not sentient. Yet for all that, Chi seems completely sentient. Is it just because she has a human voice and appearance? Is it how her eyes actually look soulful? Who knows?
I usually obsess over the choices available and then get completely stuck.
FFVII has taught me about family and what true heroes are and not being alone anymore and what relationships are really like [courtesy of Cloud and Tifa], and so much more. The funny thing is, I went backwards; I watch Advent Children Complete [in Japanese; I also translated the whole thing myself because I was mad at the subtitles being wrong], and then played FFVII.
I actually have a theory about the Persona summoning. When the characters shoot themselves, they actually die and the Personas revitalize them [like that butterfly that often seems to show up in the opening parts of Persona games].
I often check out games on Youtube before buying them. Oh, and guess what? I have a Nintendo Power issue with a gorgeous giant picture of Radiant Historia's cover in full colour. I want that as a poster.

I laughed so much when I saw this video!

I don't really get to talk at length much these days, let alone about stuff like this, so I'd agree with you there.

I'm not sure what my favourite Final Fantasy is anymore. At one time I might have had an inclination towards a specific one, but as time has worn on, I guess I've just grown to appreciate all the ones I enjoy. I can tell you growing up, I played 7, 8 and 9 quite religiously. I used to know a lot about a number FFs, but I've gotten a bit rusty over the past few years. I can still drop some facts, and know a good bit of music from the game. Certain ones I can probably name, and more beyond that I could at least say where it played.

I used to play them a lot more, but in part I chose to move on a bit, just so I could play other things, and expand my video game horizons. There are some FF's I still want to beat that said. 5 immediately comes to mind. I really like that game, just for one reason or another never gotten through to the end on a save. The job system in that game is so addictive once you get going.

It's been a long while since I last played Radiant Historia, but I do remember it being a good game, with interesting use of the decisions you make. Stocke always kinda reminded me a little of Vash from Trigun.(In terms of how he looked that is. Maybe that's just me though, heh.)

I tend to be not much good with that super fast reaction stuff either on the whole. Certainly if it starts getting complicated too. If I have time to think about something I tend to do a lot better.

With Chobits, I can't talk for the manga, however...(Spoilers ahoy)

I tend to over think a lot, so it really lends itself to indecision sadly. Sat there thinking about all the different possible outcomes to something. I irritate the heck out of myself sometimes with that. I've gotten a little better about combating it though, as I mentioned before. By other people's standards, that might not be saying much.

Interesting you watched AC before playing 7. Having experienced both, I would say 7 is more what I'm about than AC. I know the newer stuff regarding 7 does have it's fans however.

Are you good with languages, or just have a natural heritage anyway?

I'm not sure I can offer too much on your Persona theory. It's probably something I'll have thought on, but not for a long time. Off the top of my head, I'd maybe throw out, it's kind of symbolic. One could argue, that the person themselves, are a Persona of a kind. There can only be one active Persona in someone, so one must yield for another to take control. The gun is the means. I swear there was some story that pertains to that whole business, but my memory is just drawing a blank.

I'm not really one to Youtube stuff before I buy it usually. Normally I might check out what the buzz is, and reviews first though. Not so much official ones, but peer reviews. Official ones tend to be bound by this and that, or paid for positive reviews, ect. I don't have too much trust in some of the industries media. Not say peer reviews are always going to be spot on. I just use them as a loose guide.

That typed, I do find myself exposed to a lot more new games than I used to be. I watch a lot of gaming content on Youtube these days, so naturally people do let's play's and the like of new games. As a result, I end up being more in the loop about what's fresh out.

I wonder if it would be possible to get that Radiant Historia cover blown up to poster size somewhere. I don't know myself, but I'd be surprised if no one offers such a service. Besides that, have you ever looked for posters online?

Lastly, that video of Aigis, definitely matches up with my memories of her.(Which is no bad thing)

For whatever reason, I bought FF!-IX and Tactics, but now thinking it over, I really only need to keep VI, VII, and IX. Oh, and have you heard of the 'Squall Is Dead Theory?' It's rather interesting.
Radiant Historia is great, if only because your actions directly affect the story. I wish more RPG games were like that.
Yes, the anime changed that part of the manga. I sometimes feel that the characters definitively claiming that Chi and Freya aren't sentient is sort of a kick in the teeth.
To me, AC is the completion of Cloud's story. I have been picking up Japanese quite easily, and I love Latin and Irish Gaelic as well. I've even invented my own language for my fantasy novel.
Now that Nintendo Power is gone, I often have no idea what's what with games these days.
Oh, yeah. I didn't even think of looking online.
Aigis actually acts kind of like me, in that sometimes I'm unintentionally blunt/honest.

I have come across the theory about Squall being dead. I don't personally buy into it, but it's still interesting all the same. It's not entirely implausible, as there are bits of the story that could be interpreted openly, or as odd.

I never knew if the manga went a different route with Chobits, just guessed it maybe did.(As it's fairly common for anime and manga to branch off from each other) I really enjoyed it's anime either way.

Personally I find AC a bit too removed from the original Cloud for my tastes. However, that's just my opinion on it.

You read like your quite a polyglot.(Think I'm right in using that word) I'm a little envious. Does learning them just seem to come easily to you?

Even though it's been a while I do remember Aigis fondly. Seem to remember numerous situations like the one in the clip you posted.

I've been completing a video game declutter, and since I'm getting rid of my most violent games, buying Persona 3 just seems hypocritical, so for now I'm playing Harvest Moon and Rune Factory.
^By the way, do you have a favourite Radiant Historia or Persona 3 character?
Here's my list so far:
Radiant Historia:
Stocke, Raynie, Eruka, and Aht

Persona 3:
Female Protagonist, Yukari, Aigis, Fuuka, and Koromaru

That's fair enough.

As for favourite characters, let's see...

I think for Radiant Historia, I remember liking Marco, Stocke, and Rosch off the top of my head there.

With Persona 3, I've always been a big Shinjiro guy. Mitsuru was probably one of my favourite ladies in it. I think both 3 and 4 have pretty likeable casts myself. Lots of characters to enjoy.

^I find it funny that Rosch is supposed to be 20, but he looks like he's 40.

So, what do you think your Persona might be?