The Official Shin Megami Tensei Thread

[Zalriel]

Well, playing the game 3 times might no be SO bad, after the first time I beat the game I can just skip all the cut scenes and get through the game much faster, + I know what to expect.

BTW, I am on 11/06 (very intense scenes) but i was wondering, when Y'all got to this point in the game, how many of you characters persona evolved? right now all i have is Chie and Yukiko (Youske is at lvl 9 so hes set)

I actually made sure to max out all of my playable characters maxed out first ( including Rise) simply for the fact that I knew them at there prime would make gameplay easier. Naturally Naoto was last seeing as they don't become playable for a long time. The only Social links that I didn't max out in time were Temperence ( cuz I never usually care about that link all that much) Tower because of my inability to max out my understanding in time and hanged man, for the same reason as tower. I put off Hanged man thinking I could do it later but damn that kid isn't there as much as I thought he would....

 

[A_Bad_Idea]

Give Chie an Omega Drive and watch her tear TV-land into PIECES. =D Yosuke had a similar dry spell where he never learned any physical skills past Sonic Punch, and his stats were evenly spread out so there was no reason to use his magic if you had Yukiko (who is AMAZING at it), then he suddenly gets Brave Blade and POOF, he's right on the frontlines with Kanji.

If I ever do a second runthrough, I wanna push my stats and see what happens when you're able to talk to Naoto before her dungeon. I wasted a lot of time raising Knowledge because I didn't know I needed it. =\ I also gotta see about maxing Nanako and Dojima's S.Link before 11/28.

Also, has anyone been able to beat the Aiya Rainy Day Beef Bowl Challenge? What do you get from beating it?

 

[Zalriel]

I had all of the Juniors' s.links maxed by the time I got to November and was level 8 with Rise, 6 with Naoto, only 4 with Kanji... Naoto I wouldn't worry about too much since she doesn't have elemental weaknesses anyways (though Norn is a really great persona), but Chie and Yosuke's evolved forms are very useful though since they lose their weaknesses. So you're on track for the really useful party member s.link bonuses.

Honestly, I wasn't going for a max s.link run on my first go-through, especially with 5 related stats to manage. It should be easy as pie on a 2nd run since you probably won't have to spend any time on sidejobs/reading.

Also, what's the deal with Chie going through such a dry spell of skills and then getting zomg awesome? For a long time, all she has are Black Spot and Heat Wave, then she gets God's Hand and its ridiculous DPS with Power Charge.

Sorr for the double post, but damn I know right...She kinda got lame there for s sec and then BAM wicked moves nonstop. I myself always thought of Yosuke as the most useful. He can deal damage heal buff debuff and with his good Agility he can do it all fast. Plus when your crawling Tentarafoo is just so damn useful. He tends to dodge a lot aswell becuase of his agility and his endurance is also pretty high.

lol Yousuke is hig tier XD

 

[mizu-kitsu]

Sorr for the double post, but damn I know right...She kinda got lame there for s sec and then BAM wicked moves nonstop. I myself always thought of Yosuke as the most useful. He can deal damage heal buff debuff and with his good Agility he can do it all fast. Plus when your crawling Tentarafoo is just so damn useful. He tends to dodge a lot aswell becuase of his agility and his endurance is also pretty high.

lol Yousuke is hig tier XD

He is pretty good but I think the top 3 are Yukiko, Teddie and Naoto, I have only had Naoto for a short amount of time but I'm sold... shes NUTZ! But is it possible for someone who is trying to Max all the arcana in there 1st run to max Naoto out? you get her soooooooo late in the game.

 

[ExMachina]

But is it possible for someone who is trying to Max all the arcana in there 1st run to max Naoto out? you get her soooooooo late in the game.

It is. Almost everytime you have a S.Link event with her, it's a level up. No wasted "spending time" scenes. :P

IMO, Naoto is great for crawling because of her instakills/megido skills but not so hot at boss fights... I do agree that Teddie is solid from the beginning to the end (Diarahan at lv49, wtf, and some great full party buffs). But the Juniors blow everyone else out of the water late in the game... for all the reasons already mentioned (2 of them lose weaknesses, Yukiko's huge pool of SP and crazy magic stats, Yosuke getting Brave Blade on top of useful skills, Chie and God's Hand shenanigans).

Still, I actually enjoy using all of the playable chars in this game and it seems like you can succeed with whatever party you prefer, unlike P3 where people would get useless in many boss battles... and there was Koromaru. xD

 

[mizu-kitsu]

It is. Almost everytime you have a S.Link event with her, it's a level up. No wasted "spending time" scenes. :P

Still, I actually enjoy using all of the playable chars in this game and it seems like you can succeed with whatever party you prefer, unlike P3 where people would get useless in many boss battles... and there was Koromaru. xD

Yeah, with there S.link lvl up bonuses most every character can be used (I love the slapping!)

Hay, I hope you weren't insinuating that Koro-chan is lame, he is my favorite P3 character by default (since hes the RedXIII of the game.)

 

[ExMachina]

Nah, wasn't saying Koro-chan was bad, just... odd. I never found a regular place for him on my crawling teams, and then he'd be awesome for certain boss battles because of his lack of elemental weaknesses and resistance to fire. So kind of the opposite situation from the "useless during boss battles" thing with the rest of the cast.

 

[phae]

He is pretty good but I think the top 3 are Yukiko, Teddie and Naoto, I have only had Naoto for a short amount of time but I'm sold... shes NUTZ! But is it possible for someone who is trying to Max all the arcana in there 1st run to max Naoto out? you get her soooooooo late in the game.

I use Naoto strictly for dungeon creeping, and even then I am pretty careful with her, because of her limited SP pool. Her lack of weaknesses is great, she's a solid character, but after you hit like level 80 or so you can do her job better than she can. The same is said for most of the characters, except I think Chie and Teddie depending.

I'm about 80 hours into Persona 4, on December 14th, working on slinks and compendium completions before I plan to beat the game on the last day possible (if you beat the boss before the last day, it forwards ahead, and that is valuable slink time).

I just hope Margaret is a challenging fight, and Izanagi-no-Okami is worth it.

 

[ChaCha]

I own Persona 1,2, 3FES and 4, and have never played any of them.

Do they share any consistancy? Which one would yall reccomend I start on?

why do I own them and not play them? I collect games, and eventualy plan to play all of them. So that gets that question out of the way.

thanks

cha cha

 

[phae]

I'd say 4 or 3FES are your best entry points. In 4 you can control all members of your party, and in 3 the other members are AI controlled.

There is a lot more time management in 4 than in 3FES as you go to the dungeon at night, and you regain SP when you return to the lobby, and things like that. In 4, the dungeon is in the afternoon, where you would normally be doing slinks.

But in 4, the dungeons are smaller, more compact, and doable in maybe 1 or 2 days of diving in. In 3FES it's a constant push up the floors.

 

[mizu-kitsu]

Why not start from 1 and work your way up (I wish I had 1 & 2)

Also, does anyone know if there is a P4 Fusion FAQ like this P3 one:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/932312/44370

I am so bad ay making persona it's sad. I really want to make Yatsufusa of the Hanged Man arcana.

 

[Zalriel]

I own Persona 1,2, 3FES and 4, and have never played any of them.

Do they share any consistancy? Which one would yall reccomend I start on?

why do I own them and not play them? I collect games, and eventualy plan to play all of them. So that gets that question out of the way.

thanks

cha cha

I never got the chance to play 1 (cries in a corner) but to beak down the persona series as a whole...
2 had an overall darker feeling while 3 and 4 seems a bit more fresh because of the whole dating sim/dungeon crawler thing. The story lines in p3 and 4 are still good but don't have the same sophistication that 2 has. If your one for story I would play 2 first to get hooked into part of the megaten franchise. Then you can indulge yourself into the games in order. As for the continuity, 3 and 4 are in the same world seeing as there are a few cameos later in 4. 2 is connected to 1 from info that I have read upon and certain returning characters. However 2 can be a little funky because there were actually 2 games; Persona 2 Innocent Sin and Persona 2 eternal punishment. Innocent Sin being the prequel to eternal punishment...however Eternal Punishment actually takes place in a parallel universe of the same continuity.
We have yet to get a copy of IC to come to America...and will probably never get one =(

On another note, has anyone watched Persona Trinity soul I heard there was supposed to be a second season.

 

[A_Bad_Idea]

There's a similar FAQ on Gamefaqs for P4. In fact, it's very nearly the exact same FAQ with the Persona list updated. The fusion mathematics still work the same way, so just give that a brief read and it should help you a lot. As long as you know the basic formula and as long as you have a fusion chart on hand (thank you handy-dandy instruction booklet), you can do any basic fusion.

Naoto actually isn't that bad in a boss fight. If you have either Teddie or yourself handle buffs and debuffs, you can simply have Naoto do Mind Charge -> Megidola/Megidolaon every two turns for massive Almighty damage. My team is Chie, Naoto and Yosuke, and I can handle crawls and bosses just fine with the same team. If your protagonist has Cool Breeze, or Rise has Healing/Relaxing Wave, this team makes the crawl flawless. For SP-saving purposes, I have everyone use their physical skills (I gave Naoto a Rudra Ring to halve her HP costs, since her max HP isn't too great), and just having Naoto's Vorpal Blade and Chie's Agneyastra makes many fights go down easy even without using Yosuke's or my own skills (unless the enemy is phys-resistant).

 

[phae]

My best friend has Persona 1. I tried to play it and I legitimately could not do so. I love Playstation 1 games, I find them wonderful and think the PS1 was one of the best consoles ever..

But I really could not play Persona 1. It aged that poorly, and the localization was just as bad. If Atlus was to take some time out and rework it, I would give it an honest shot. But when you're dealing with old school localization issues, on top of a very dated RPG, I just lose interest.

I haven't tried Persona 2 (either versions), but I figure eventually I will get off my ass and fix that.

Also 3 and 4 are in the same world yes and there are very minimal cameos from 3 in 4, but you can easily play 4 without having played 3. Unless you really love old school dungeon crawling RPGs that aged horribly and have shit localization then go ahead and start at 1.

If you want something to hook you in better and make you curious as to the former games and how things have evolved, then you should start at 3FES, play 4, then bump back to 1 & 2. I feel that with having played Persona 3FES I appreciate that Atlus has learned from what was wrong with 3, and edited things with Persona 4 to make it even more seamless in terms of good writing, good styling and changing the gameplay elements that were tough to deal with.

With 3 the story is good and the slinks are good but for me they do not feel good ENOUGH. Some people are great, yes, but I personally never really felt any sort of major relation to the characters in 3. Maybe that was the point? I am a little unsure. The people on the team didn't seem too easy to relate to in 3, as well.

Meanwhile you play Persona 4 and personalities sparkle and shine. I know people in real life who seem a bit like some of the people I have encountered in the small town that Persona 4 takes place in. I genuinely wondered about how Yosuke or Naoki was doing. The effects of what happens in game affects the people you share the town with. Small detailing like that makes the game worthwhile and better than 3. This is just an opinion, however. It is different for everybody.

Persona Trinity Soul is Persona in name only and a very bad anime from what I have been told, and that it's a joke more or less. I didn't even bother watching it.

 

[Zalriel]

I wouldn't call the series a joke by any means and its not just persona by name. The anime takes place 10 years after the events of persona 3 and even adds Ahkihiko some time mid way through. It starts off slow, much like P3 and P4 both do, and continually leaves questions, distrust and suspense as to what is really happening as do most of the persona games do. Give it a chance, if your a fan of persona I think you would like it.

Oh and as for crawling, I think with the right setup any character can be used for whatever. I know I had this Throne when I was at the mid 50's that basically let me never have to worry about mp in the slightest. He had invigorate 3 and spirit drain from succubus and regenerate, mind charge, hama boost, hamaon and Agidyne. Regardless of who you use, its always been much more important of when you use certain people. Persona has always been a rpg in which it was always a good idea to not leave anyone behind in levels because everyone is good at what they do.

 

[ExMachina]

Best P4 resource on the 'net:

http://persona4.wikidot.com/

Though I do think the chart/FAQ on GF is easier to read when trying to figure out fusions.

 

[A_Bad_Idea]

Persona has always been a rpg in which it was always a good idea to not leave anyone behind in levels because everyone is good at what they do.

Well, it's because everyone is good at what they do that you can safely pick your favorites and leave everyone behind. My Yukiko is still level 24 and I'm near the end of the game, simply because she doesn't exactly fit into my game plan. Don't tell me you didn't utterly neglect Koro and Ken in P3? =P

 

[Zalriel]

no I didn't I used the in my game plan because it was nice having characters with no direct elemental weaknesses also to lighten the load on my main characters mp by using mudo/hama skill during crawling. Plus Koro is just to cute =o

 

[phae]

Mm I watched like one episode honestly. But all the bad reviews really, really mean I am not going to watch any further.

 

[Rigil]

Yoooooo so who can hook me up with the Books that this series is based on?