What Are The Persona Games Like?

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Well, the title says all. Any suggestions, guys? [Keeping in mind that I only have a PSP, 3DS, DS, and Wii...]

I find the Persona games very fun myself. In terms of gameplay they are pretty traditional. With a battle system, that should feel easy to get into the swing of, if you've played any other RPGs in a hurry. So you'll find things like all manner of equips and items. Not to mention HP, SP, treasure chests, boss fights, dungeons, strengths and weaknesses, so on and so forth.

This next paragraph may or may not give a bit of Persona 4 away, so if you wanna gloss over it, I'll understand. Though I did my best to keep it ambiguous:

In my opinion one of the games strengths is the story. For one example, Persona 4 has a theme of being true to oneself. It also shows that failing to do so, can lead to consequences, for you and those around you.(This was my take on it at least) I've played that one most of the way through, and I really loved that particular theme. The idea of having the you, that you project to the world, and your true self. As well as how people deal with it. I think that's a really relatable concept.

Outside of all that, I can only talk for Persona 3 and 4 really. In terms of those, you play as a mysterious, unknown outsider, freshly arrived to a new place of residence, starting at a new school to boot. They find themselves in a position where strange events are going on, and it's up to you to help resolve them. All the while, still leading some of the day to day life of a high school student in a Japanese setting.

As well as this, the main character also discovers they have the talent of using Personas.(Hence the name) Personas, are various entities, who help their wielder become stronger. Most Persona users can only control one Persona, making them strong, but still somewhat limited in battle. You however have the ability to use multiple Personas, and change them at will. Making you pretty noteworthy, as well as very powerful. If that was a little much, just think of them as summons, like in Final Fantasy. Only in this case, your the only one who can use more than one.

On top of that, as you progress, eventually you can find new Persona's from fighting Shadows, and as you level them up, they learn new and more powerful skills. Some are fairly weak, but, it's not to say they're useless necessarily. As you can fuse them together with other ones, to create new and stronger Personas. It's slightly complicated, but I find it to be fun to seek out the various Personas, and the process of fusing them to make stronger ones, ect, is kind of a rush when your into it.(Leveling them up too)

In between all story, and the fighting of shadows and the like, you lead the main characters day to day life to some degree. Which is to say, after the scene is set, you roam around your new residence, attending school, visiting the waterfront, shops, and talking to people.

Which leads me to another big factor in Persona. Your bonds with others. While there's a lot of people you can't do so with, there are a number you can have friendships, or even eventually relationships with in the game. These include the other main characters(new found friends you make upon arrival), and a few others too. However, these bonds aren't just for fun, they serve a purpose too. As you build them up over time(by hanging out, picking good responses, ect), they begin to help you become more powerful. As your social links increase, you can make more varied and powerful kinds of Personas.

As if that wasn't enough to keep you busy, you have a set of skills for day to day life. Things like courage, knowledge, as well as others. These are all able to be increased, by doing various tasks in the world around. Eg. Knowledge can be increased by studying. What's more, is that there are instances where, if your lacking in these key skills, it may prohibit you from advancing certain social links and the like. To give another example, you may lack the courage to talk to someone as you would desire. So, maybe you want to learn more about what's going for a specific character, but if try to find out, you can't pick that, as you lack the courage required.

Of course, all of this takes time. Hours and days pass as your playing along, so while not as intensely as in certain games, you do have to manage your time a little carefully. Which seems not too bad, until you remember you have to fight monsters, go to school, and take the occasional exam.

Overall, I found them to be amazing, engaging, funny, and well thought out games. Seeing as you have a 3DS and a PSP, you do have some options available. There's Persona Q on the 3DS however, having not played 3 or 4, I'm not sure I'd recommend that off the bat. I do know however, Persona 3 was released on the PSP, and I would definitely recommend that as good game, as well as one to see if it's your kind of game.

Sorry for the length of my response, and if I provided way more information than you needed.(You may already know a lot of that, apologies if you do) I'm beginning to wonder if I took your title a little too literally. =x

^No need to apologize at all! Thanks for providing so much information! *You know you play too many video games when you see the word Persona as Pokemon* I'll definitely check out Persona 3.

Oh. Wait. They're rated Mature. I guess I have to wait awhile.

I love the Persona games that I've played, which include 3 and 4. If you've ever played a traditional turn based JRPG and liked it you may like this. It's very conventional in its gameplay in battles, in that you take turns and there's an elemental rock-paper-scissors at play. Additionally it's quite challenging. The main combat gameplay mechanic of note is you have the ability to recruit things called Personas and you summon them in battle, and you collect these and later on can fuse them together to make new ones with the abilities of the old ones. If that sounds like Pokemon, it's not really that far off from it, except you have a party rather than 1v1 in combat. If you don't like these sorts of games, the combat can get repetitive however over time.

Most of the originality of the Persona series happens in the parts of the game other than its combat. The setting is uniquely modern and Japanese, unlike the hundreds of medieval fantasy or sci-fi/cyberpunk settings JRPGs often use. There's an anime aesthetic which for me often is grating if it's done poorly, but it uses it well for the most part (there are still some anime irritations ie. the token 'cute' child-like character that you will want to punch in the face). You have a number of places you can go to in the 'overworld' where you're encouraged to meet people, get involved in events and develop relationships with various NPCs. This feeds back into the combat gameplay where depending on how much you've developed relationships with various NPCs, it will strengthen your Personas in combat. This part of the game reminds me most of Japanese visual novels where a lot of the gameplay is driven by text and you'll occasionally get prompts to make choices to characters that will affect your relationship standing with them, or have the opportunity to impress them or help them if you've made the right choices in the past or have the prerequisite skills.

The characters are done well, and are really the game's best strength, as they're written well enough to make you really care about them by the game's end and sorry to leave them.

In my opinion the walking around and talking to people to develop relationships is the best part of the game and sometimes when playing these games I feel like I'm doing combat to get back to the 'good parts' of the game. I'd really like to see the developers try something different for the combat system in Persona 5 or at least make it tie into the social side of things more, like they did in Persona 4 Golden with additional buddy attacks. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy the combat, just that sometimes it doesn't vary it up enough to justify the long stretches of it.

If you were asking for a recommendation I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Persona 4 Golden, but since you don't have a Vita but you do have a PSP, I'd go for Persona 3 Portable, which includes gameplay tweaks and additional content on top of the original Persona 3. It doesn't include 3D exploration in the overworld or FMV, but IMO those don't really add that much to the game.

Oh, I'm sorry. It didn't even register in my head that might be a problem. Yes there is some mature content in there. I'm trying to remember if either 1 or 2 were Mature or not. I've not played those, but I think they're also on PSP. I want to say so, but I'm not 100% on that. Just did a quick google, and both of those appear available on PSP, and appear to rated as Teen. So maybe that helps you there.

Unfortunately I've not played 1 or 2, so I can't give you an informed opinion on them, but as far as I know 2 is good, and I would guess 1 was, otherwise why did it manage sequels? Haha.

I'm so sorry though, I didn't think age would be an issue. Certainly when it's not, or less of one, Persona 3, in my opinion is definitely worth a shot.

I hope someone else can help inform you about the first couple of games. Maybe inform me too. As I've been curious about them before.

Well, I checked online, and the M rating also says '17+'! So that might work! I'll check out the first three games and see which one looks most interesting. Also, how scary are these games? I'm really not good with horror stuff...

Glad you might still be able to give them a play.

I'm not really into horror and the like myself, so if I'm anything to go by, I wouldn't say there's anything too bad in there. Certainly not that I saw in 3 and 4. Can't type on the others. Struggle to think of much that scared me or the like. Maybe the odd thing you might find a bit creepy, or whatever, but unless I'm forgetting something, I'd say your fine on that front.

^That's a relief! The only genuinely scary game that I have played is probably Castlevania Symphony of the Night, and most of that game is fine. So, are these games also like Rune Factory and Harvest Moon in that you can pair up your character with another? Also, how is the weirdness level? I mean, are the demons and stuff totally bizarre or just strange, and so forth?
I just learned that the 'demons' are actually yokai [a generic term for mischevious spirits] in the Japanese version, so that makes me feel a bit better about the whole thing.

Not sure what the most scary game I've played is. The only stuff I've really played in that sort of genre, is er games like, Resident Evil and a bit of Silent Hill. Certainly nothing like those games have in these though.

They aren't quite the same as a Rune Factory or Harvest Moon.(Your in luck, as I've played both of those series, so I know exactly what you mean I think) There's no getting married or the like. You can go out with someone though. You can also get in trouble if your a bit of a love rat, and get caught playing the field too, I should add, haha.

As far as I remember, consequences can even include your social link with that person going into reverse, and you have to make it right. I want to say that was a thing in 3 and not so much in 4, but my memory is trash on that one. A reversed link, I want to say can effect your abilities to fuse and make Personas.

Outside of all that, being super close with someone can lead to special scenes.(Some of which I recall being a little riske. Nothing too adult, but say, seeing them in different clothing. Eg. Maid outfit. If I'm remembering rightly on the character I'm thinking of.)

Interesting you should mention the weirdness level. Yeeaaah... They have plenty of that in the games. Definitely going to have some very, interesting, and surreal experiences. I'm not just talking about the demons here either. Even so though, I have to admit, I do kind of like that about the series. Not afraid to be different.

Last edited by Midvalley on 08 Apr 2016, 9:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You should start with Persona 3. It's a brilliant game, with the best RPG story I've seen since Final Fantasy VI.

I've played Persona 1, but I had a much harder time with it.

I'm honestly not sure if I want to play M rated games. *shrug* It's now a tie between getting a Persona game or getting Castlevania Aria of Sorrow.

That's a choice that's up to you. If your not ok with it, and would sooner wait to play games of that rating, then there's nothing wrong with waiting.

Personally I know my choice in that position, but it's not my place to say unless I'm asked. It's your decision, not mine.

If your not, there's still Persona 1 and 2 available to try. I don't think I can talk on Aria of Sorrow. I believe I played it's sequel on the DS, Dawn of Sorrow. That was pretty good as I recall.

^I think I'll wait. I have Dawn of Sorrow, and now I want to get Aria.

I started Persona 4 recently and I am liking it. I haven't seen anything bad in it so far but I am not that far in. Can't see it getting darker than the FF games though.

^Really? VI, VII, and IX can get quite dark at times...I guess the only thing that's making me leery about getting either Persona 3 or 4 [can I even get 4, since I only have a PSP...] is the sexual stuff. Blek.