Apr
9th
2020
Persona 5 · 3:08am Apr 9th, 2020
Was thinking of looking for a game to download maybe, FF7, Spider-Man, but I've also seen people really love the Persona series. Was looking it up on Wikipedia and TV Tropes, talking to Albinocorn about it...
Reading on TV Tropes how the series liberally employs disturbing imagery and horror elements. This makes me unsure, because I am rather squeamish at times and I don't do horror or disturbing imagery. I am not one who likes to be scared or takes it well.
Found a particular scene on YouTube about a particular character holding a press conference.
I am mildly sad and mildly relieved to say I don't think Persona is a good idea for me.
Dude, I just started playing Persona 5 and I can say, this is Jojos bizarre adventure but a high school drama.
5239084
I've never seen that show.
I wouldn't really say it's scary. There is certainly some dark imagery but its all stylized so I can't imagine anyone finding it very scary.
If you're uncertain just watch a video of the first hour to get a good idea of what the game is like. Its one of the best JRPGs I've ever played and it definitely shouldn't be skipped.
5239093
I did watch a video. I wish I'd not.
5239096
OH! I just realized which scene you probably watched and yeah that's probably the worst that it gets. Most of the game is pretty lighthearted in between the darker story moments.
5239098
I've also read about a boss who snacks from a chalice of female torsos, and apparently characters rip their faces off when using their special attacks or something?
5239099
Haha well yeah there is some dark imagery but like I said its highly stylized. This isn't Resident Evil levels of gore or anything. As long as you can handle some very brief moments of blood you should be good.
Like I said it's better to watch the first hour to get a good idea of the games tone, the scene you saw is late into the game like the final 3rd.
5239101
Well, the original P5 is cheap, coin toss says do it, and you reassure me it isn't that bad... I think I'll look at giving it a shot next week. Last question is, can I follow the story okay without having played the prior games?
In terms of disturbing imagery, Persona 5 is the worst of 3-5, with 4 having very little. 3 doesn’t have much either, but I’d argue the story gets to be the darkest of the three by far (5 tries to do more dark stuff, but I’d argue it overdoes it and becomes comedic or boring). I’d also argue 5 has the weakest writing and story in the series, but damn if it isn’t stylish (and has the most anti-frustration features).
As far as the grotesque imagery in 5 goes, it’s really just a handful of bosses. They try to be shocking and push the envelope a few times with violence and creepiness, but I find it overdone to the point where it crosses over into boring. The bosses can take awhile, but they’re RPG bosses, so it’s mostly staring at repeating idle and attack animations.
If you do want to give the series a shot and really want to avoid grosser imagery, I’d recommend trying 4 (Golden on Vita adds a bunch of stuff and anti frustration features, but also some of the additions arguably hurt the story, the PS2 version should be on PS3 and PS4), then see if it’s worth branching out into 3 and 5.
Persona 1 and 2 though, those fall much more into SMT territory and can be a lot more disturbing. Probably best to avoid those two.
5239109
Yeah, they take place in the same world, but are basically completely independent with some very small cameos thrown in.
I’d recommend going straight for Royal Edition if you go for 5. Adds a ton and basically obsoletes vanilla 5.
5239109
Its basically like final fantasy, abilities and item names are shared for the most part and the character Igor is always in them but the story is otherwise self contained.
But definitely get Royal it adds new content and a ton of QoL improvements.
5239114
Yeah seems I mistook the price, must have been looking at some deluxe edition because it was over 100 dollars. 60 is fine.
I've not ever dove into the Persona series, but since it deals with the inner darkness of people, I could imagine it can be pretty fracked up.
If you're open to suggestions, Platinum Games put out an collection with both Bayonetta and Vanquish out recently. Both are superb examples of Platinum's mastery of fast paced 3rd person action (brawling in Bayonetta's case, shooting in Vanquish's case). Or, there's Nier: Automata, which is a surprisingly introspective game on the nature of humanity through the eyes of a pair of androids.
5239109 To be fair the Persona games has always utilized dark elements into their stories. I mean in Persona 4 there were victims being hung from electrical posts, and in 5 there are some darker moments aside from Okumura's Nightmare Fuel (As I like to call it.).
Persona 5 is a great rpg that utilizes many dark themes, symbolism and lots of character development. Yes there is some nightmare imagery, but the scene you mentioned is the worst it gets and if you got through that you should fine (and for reference that scene is supposed to shock everyone in-universe too). When it comes to darker stuff the game usually avoids actually showing it to you and rather uses visual metaphors in the dungeons (which represent the hearts of the villains). Even Shiho's suicide attempt early in the game you barely see anything and the ingame model they use when you do is completely bloodless and unharmed.
Regarding the other stuff you mentioned, the eating female torsos thing sounds much worse than it is. No blood, no chewing, the things barely resemble female torsos (and the one that does is just lying in his open mouth for a few seconds and then awkwardly falls out and lands in the chalice again as part of the attack animation, which looks hilarious if anything). Also for context, the bosses are resembling the deadly sins.
Same goes for "ripping off their faces". This sounds much worse than what actually happens. Just watch this scene where the main protagonist awakens to his powers. This is the worst these types of scenes get.
And even then they only use blood during their first awakenings (and not even all of them). After that they can just casually take them off without issues.
What I ultimately am trying to tell you, is that you should give this series a try. I randomly tried Persona 5 out and became so hooked I played it nearly a week straight with barely any breaks and am now a big fan of the series. (Even if P5 is still the only main game I played) I mean, there's a reason people went crazy when Joker got into Smash.
Press conference? You mean the Okumara one?
Related question about the Persona series, it seems like the kind of game I’d enjoy but it’s also got so many games and I don’t know the degree that they’re tied to each other or can be picked up individually?
5239164
Yeah, I think I'm gonna download it next week. Take the weekend to TRY to work on my next "Lore of Final Fantasy" video that no one will watch. But yeah, I'll check it out, everydaygamer convinced me.
5239288 One of the aspects of the game is the Personas. They are based on various mythology and fiction.
5239266
They are only tied together in terms of the personas, items and the character Igor. In terms of the story, they are completely self-contained with little to no references to other entries. So you do not need to have played the previous games to understand or enjoy 5.
5239288
I did watch your Final Fantasy Lore video.
Anyways, I'm glad to hear that. Did I mention that Persona 5 is one of the most stylish games out there. Trust me, you won't regret it. I definitely didn't and right now I'm playing the updated rerelease (more like remake despite being in the same console generation).
Speaking of, I would recommend you to go straight to Persona 5 Royal, which adds many gameplay and story additions and tweaks, if it wasn't for the fact that it literally released just last week. Vanilla P5 is, of course, still a great game in itself and probably much cheaper to get now. Just keep in mind that after playing P5 you might be tempted to still get Royal anyways.
I'll always be willing to help if you need (though I admit that Albinocorn is probably the better person for that considering he's been a fan for much longer). And as a fair warning, Persona games are massive and require big time investments, like 80 hours minimum.
And last but not least, can you see the girl that's currently my Fimfic avatar? That's Makoto Niijima from Persona 5. She's best girl, you will love her.
Why does Persona get me to write so much?
5239421
Thank you, I just meant in general no one watched it. Been two and a half months and barely 200 views