Shin Megami series PS2

[Cain]

So, whilst deciding not to get a 360 yet I figured MegaTen needed a thread. Not the mmo, but the ps2 titles.

Which ones are the best? Are they severely lacking in the cinematics department? Are they all so similar that if you played one you've played most of them? Are they really worth the 30 dollar price point over just getting the 19.95 persona 3 FES and waiting for 4 to drop?

[Kaden]

There are a lot of similarities between P3 and P4, but those are all mechanical similarities. Yes you still fuse persona, yes you still battle with a party of four, yes you still invoke the abilities of these magical dudes living in your head and yes you basically run around a dungeon fighting bad guys and getting to the big bosses (Yeah, I know P4 has separate dungeons but, in terms of game mechanics, there's not a whole lot of difference).

You also still have to deal with the calendar and fitting social links, stat raising, dungeon crawling, and persona fusing into all of that.

Persona 4, instead of making a lot of changes, added a whole lot from Persona 3. More tangible benefits from raising social links, more scripted events involving character's you've gotten to know and, in my opinion, a more developed and diverse cast of supporting characters. Stats play a much bigger role in dealing with people, since some dialog choices depend on how high a particular stat is and having more of them to raise makes them feel more important.

Having said that, it probably sounds like you should jump straight to P4, but without having played Persona 3, I don't think those additions would help as awesome as they actually are.

Really, Persona 3 is an awesome game in its own right. The story is great, the combat is a lot of fun (sometimes a little frustrating), and the whole playing-one-day-at-a-time calendar aspect is waaaaaay more fun than it sounds. Honestly, when I first played P3, I was thinking "wtf... do I really have to go through each individual day?!" It's totally awesome, though.

So now I'll answer your questions directly.

Which ones are the best? Neither, really. The game mechanics are similar enough that the story will probably be the deciding factor.

Are they severly lacking in the cinematic department? Nah. Most of the events are done in real-time, which is nice for consistencies sake, and their cutscenes are animated (cartoon animated, that is). I definitely didn't care about the absence of bump-mapping or bloom filters or ultra high-res texturing.

Are they all so similar that if you played one you've played most of them? No. The storylines are not even close to the same. Yeah, you're a kid who can summon all kinds of persona. That's where the similarities end. And, really, you could play through one of them a dozen times and get different experiences just based on the personas you fuse and level and the teams you use.

Are they really worth the 30 dollar price point over just getting the 19.95 persona 3 FES and waiting for 4 to drop? My suggestion is to pick up FES and play it while waiting for the price to drop. FES is absolutely worth $20, and I still think P4 is worth every penny of the $50 I paid for it.

[Cain]

Thanks Kaden. Whenever I find FES I'll pick it up (or order, but gamestop has it on back order).

[Kaden]

The actual FES part of P3:FES is crazy hard. At least compared to playing P3 on normal.

[Cain]

Started it. Amazingly cinematic game so far. Day 18 right now.