Out of Context Screenshot Theater #695 + Persona 5 First Impressions (Minimal Spoilers) · 3:53am Apr 5th, 2017
So like many of you, I got Persona 5 today. I kinda got a late start playing and only played up through 4/10 Evening (the second time you get to save); haven't even gotten to the first dungeon yet. I'll get back to it a little later in the night/early tomorrow, I just needed a break after the first hour of the game because *whoo*...yikes.
I just want to briefly share my first impressions, because I've already tweeted about this a little bit, but I want to get some stuff off my chest that can't wait until Friday's gaming blog. Since I've only gotten my feet wet, there's not really anything spoilery here, but...how much of this you do or don't read is up to you.
Right, so...the first thing I have to comment on is the overall tone of Persona 5, and how vastly different it is from P3 and P4.
Persona 3 had a serious but not oppressively serious mystery-science-fiction-anime feel to it. Even when things were at their most serious, the game's mood was never overwhelmingly heavy or oppressive, although it got pretty bleak at points.
Persona 4, well, that's the fun one. It's a serial murder mystery, sure, and it's got no shortage of dark, heavy themes, but at no point does it ever lose its sense of fun and whimsy. That, I feel, is the main reason everybody loves P4 the most.
And then there's this asshole game.
The first hour of Persona 5? Beats you up, steals your money and your phone, kicks you in the ribs, and then takes a piss on you for good measure. In short order, you are introduced to one judgmental asshole after another, all of whom hate the Protagonist without even actually knowing him simply because "he has a bad reputation" and "he has a criminal record". Nevermind that his "criminal record" is manufactured and the only "offense" he's committed is protecting a woman from being raped by a drunk asshole, he's been branded as a social stigma and a pariah, so everybody hates him just because they're supposed to hate him. I seriously do not like a single character introduced in the first two days of the game except the lawyer chick.
I am hoping--PRAYING even--that the characters introduced to date, ESPECIALLY the homeroom teacher, wake the fuck up over the course of the game. Because right now, I just want to punch all of them in the face.
So anyway, yeah, the emotional and social atmosphere of Persona 5, at the beginning of the game, is oppressive and toxic. That aside, the visuals are slick--as expected--and I'm looking forward to more thorough exploration as I dive back into the game.
The voice acting...it's nothing to write home about so far, to be honest. Especially the VA playing the homeroom teacher. I honestly think she's sleepwalking through her line readings. She doesn't even really bother to emote or act for most of her lines, she just hurriedly mumbles through them. I'm not quite to the point where I want to switch to the Japanese audio track yet, but I have installed it.
I do like that the game begins in media res. That was a neat touch.
Last thing I'll say right now: since the in media res prologue reveals the MC's thief handle is "Joker", I changed my original plan to name my MC "Kaito Kuroba". Instead, I named him "Kaito Hidari". Let's see who all sees what I did there. 
Further Persona 5 commentary will be restricted to Friday's weekly gaming blog.
I know right? Absolutely everyone so far in P5 is a complete dick!
Still, it's a good game so far. I'm looking forward to delving into it more.
"What the hell kind of dealer did Fluttershy set me up with?"
Huh, I named him Kiryu Kaitou, so roughly Dragon Phantom Thief, or something to that effect. Also, while it may just be a coincidence, with the fact Philemon once more appears as a blue-ish butterfly, am I the only one thinking Joker, and the whole rumors thing, might be a nod to Persona 2?
I kind of like some of the VA´s, especially the one for....that bastard who shall not be named but I want to murder right now. He has this cocky, condescending, and somewhat sleazy tone.
Dude, stop hogging all my frankincense and myrrh
4484253 I mean, it kind of makes sense. If you, as a person, are ever to revealed to have some sort of criminal record then you´re basically screwed. For one, the chances of employment would drastically lower
"Following Heisenburro's Guide to Special Drugs was a bad idea!"
4484264 Yes, but usually people ask what the hell you did before just rushing to judgment about you. In this case, nobody seems to care about the details, just "he's trouble. He's a criminal. He was expelled. Don't get involved with him," It's a scathing commentary on Japan's culture of stigma and shame.
I mean, do you REALLY think that teacher would be acting like such a total bitch if she bothered to ask him what he did and got the truth about it? Because his life has been destroyed for doing the only decent thing he could have done.
4484269 I'm playing Persona 5 myself,,,Say goodbye to any social links from me as I make Yu Narukami (My Protagonist) make any.
4484269 Yeah, like isn´t there a stigma around calling the police? Like you´re meant to solve problems yourself or something?
But that is true. I mean yeah, people might talk if said person showed up and they were on probation or something, but yeah, at least one person would ask like ¨Did you really do X or Y?¨ Granted, the person who MC pushed away to stop the attempted rape appeared to be some sort of politician, so it is possible he could have finagled with the extent of the crime.
Starlight: "...of course."
4484277 By sandwiches, do you mean regular sandwiches or what they mean when they talk about sandwiches in How I Met Your Mother?
4484282 ...yes.
I haven't had a chance to play it yet, my copy arrived today but alas, I can't touch my PS4 for another week. I will say, based on what I read about Persona 5s theme, the idea of everyone looking down on you makes sense. Even if it does sound horribly unpleasant to play through.
Also, shame to hear the Teachers VA is so meh. She did a decent job as Yukari back in Persona 3, so it's weird to hear she's not that good in this dub.
4484275 Yeah, I got the impression that everything that's happened to the MC is massively tarted up as being gigantically worse than it is because the would-be-rapist is an Umridge-type asshole.
4484301 I think the voice director is to blame for a lot of this. VAs have to follow the VD's...D's. If the VD has a VD, s/he makes everybody else sound like they have a VD and want to GTFO ASAP for some Rx.
I have about the same amount of progress
And I agree I wanna punch every last one of those a holes right in the face especially the principle and that a hole gym teacher
4484301 Maybe she´s suffering from Apathy Syndrome? Or she´s one of those teacher who just hates her life?
My friend is gonna flip when he finds out the teacher is played by one of his waifu´s VA´s.
4484307 I wonder if that dick will appear in this game again? I´d love to steal from him
Damn toasters.
Also, since I don't have a PlayStation, I watch the story on YouTube. Haven't gotten too far, but I can see why P4 is a favorite. Yosuke is hilarious. Starting the story in P4 Dance All Night, but am barely an hour in. HOW DO YOU PUT ELEVEN HOURS OF STORY INTO A GAME ABOUT DANCING?!
Still, as long as Persona has a good story, it is a good game. The gameplay is like several other RPGs, but the story sets it apart. From what you've seen so far, I would safely assume that P4 is the best, at least until P6 comes out. Which might happen before Trump leaves office.
What is Kamen Rider?
....to this day, Trixie can't figure out how Sweetie Belle managed to burn her peanut butter crackers...though needless to say, she's now made a habit of keeping her pyrotechnics as far away from the makeshift kitchen as possible...
The game is visually amazing, but man, they did not waste any time in having the story bend you over a table and sodomize you with a rake!
or
4484320
Hah...you're gonna be in for severe disappointment with P5 then, given Atlus' little moratorium on videos of this game... Also, thanks for the little bit where you told me stuff I already know, I guess...
4484400
I'm just waiting to see how long it is until someone has a phone slash camara recorded full playthrough up. I mean, disabling the sharing feature on the system only removes the easy way of doing things but as the folks at Feed Dump said this is 2017, there are so many ways around this little lock it's kinda pointless.
As for the actual image... some obvious drug joke. Not really got anything for this one.
4484424 Yeah, but getting around Atlus' Content-ID C&D threat is going to be a little trickier. Not that people won't try, obviously.
I'm about 5 hours in and I will totally agree. The beginning of this game is so different from P3 and P4. Those, you're just treated awkwardly because you're new. Here? Everyone, and I mean, everyone but your party members hate you. They're all mean! I have never seen a beginning of a game be so mean-spirited!
Though I think the homeroom teacher is intentional, mainly because anytime they show her talk, she's talking about not wanting to be around you!
4484400 Happy to help!
That was sarcasm, by the way.
Trixie's first time smoking a bong is the same for everyone.
I did hear that the game is overly dark, even more so than P3. But I am surprised by the comment on the VA's cause usually they do a good job picking people out.
That being said, does the lawyer chick ever yell, "OBJECTION!"?
Also, I noticed that P2 reference.
4484570 It's not the VAs' fault, it's the ADR and Atlus Japan. The way voice direction was handled for the localization was apparently ordered by Atlus Japan, who seems to have learned nothing from Bandai's Love Hina fiasco of a decade hence.
if you think everyone in the game is an a**hole, wait until you meet the gym teacher, unless you already have, then ignore this.
Well I am about 12 hours in and just beat the first dungeon. And I can say that it lightens up quite a bit. Sure many of the adults are assholes but that's the main theme of the game. Rebellion. Also this may be subjective but I thought the homeroom teacher's voice acting was intentional. Her character is a worn down and bitter teacher stuck in a school she dislikes. I will say that they really improved the combat and how you gain personas.
I like to think this was intentional. But yeah, getting my blood boiling over this labelling BS (don't have a PS3/4, and getting none in the foreseeable future, so... screw it)
"So, maybe borrowing that recipe from Akane Tendo was a bad idea."
I've played through dark beginnings, like say the world is about to end, but this game is just depressing. its not like games haven't been unsubtle about moral messages before, but this is almost literally dropping anvils on your head. Its a radical message for Japan, so maybe that's one reason its so heavy-handed, but that doesn't make it enjoyable. What makes it worse is that its set in Tokyo, if this was some random fantasy world I'd almost say its evil empire background already (though that may be the intent given the game's themes). Its a little bit jarring, compared even to the fictional location of P3. P4 was always lighter by comparison (to earlier Persona games, much less Shin Megami Tensei), but this is really on the opposite end. I miss the relatively neutral Catherine setting by now.
Its still a great game, really stylish and so much character in just the menus and transition screens, but I'd say P4 will definitely remain my preferred game over this (I bought a PSTV just so I could play Golden on a TV).
I'd blame the director/Japan over anything else, as that teacher's voice actress has plenty of other big roles, so I seriously doubt its lack of skill on her part. Actually, I'm glad I don't hear Yukari when she speaks, so that's good at least.
I gotta say, they did a good job with how it starts. I literally hate EVERY ADULT I see in this game so far.
I've been playing religiously myself. Already on the second dungeon. Great fun honestly.
Since the way the "Name the Protagonist" screen was presented to me and the NPCs were clearly not playing by the law, I gave an obviously fake name.
Nanashi Kusanagi.
I blame Akiba's Trip for the former part and Shirow Masamune for the latter part.
I'm up to the part where the mechanic for "putting the party on a time limit" is introduced. It's nothing as dire as having to face a powerful shadow on that specific date or Causing Japanese Eve to come to the conclusion that what humanity desires is a world of silence because you failed to rescue someone from the TV World, but more personally affecting.
Don't worry, MM, you'll eventually meet people who won't hate you before getting to know you.
Honestly the VA for the Japanese version of the teacher isn't much better. But the teacher does get better (And after the Maidwatch event. Makes a whole lot of sense for her to sound like that). But comparing Japanese to English. They did a pretty good match (only in 7/1 atm).) although the dialog in the Japanese version did have some better moments, that I feel were lost in translation.
As for them waking up. Well, yeah. Lots of them do. And yeah, it's dark. But other than the Hanged Man in the Japanese version most of his Confidants are pretty good especially the Sun Arcana which was always good towards MC, as well as Death, Devil, Tower, Fortune and Hermit (well other than the whole thing she does when first introduced.). Star isn't that bad either.