Persona

Tell me a little bit about this series, I've never played it. What kind of themes and influences do they have? Are there any particular games I should skip?

Yes. Skip 3 and 4.

Do they have some David Lynch influences? I read somewhere that they do.

Why both of those?

start with p3p and then go to 4

1 and especially 2 have interesting stories, but really lacking battle systems and generally simple and repetitive gameplay.
3 and 4 have hugely improved gameplay, fun "life simulation" aspect that make the games less monotone, but the more mainstream anime vibe can be divisive

you mean start with P3FES

Don't listen to this guy. Play FES and then play P4G. You can skip 1 and play 2 if you're interested.

The games overall have Jungian psychology themes. Skip 1.
3 is kind of a Greek myth retold with modern Japanese teens. It contains a lot of symbolism from Greek myth.
4 is more of a contemporary story with more "realistic" and grounded characters (though I guess it's subjective depending on your experiences in highschool). It's themes are about truth, acceptance, and coming to terms with everyday life.
I haven't played much of 2 but from what I played it isn't that good story of gameplay wise.
Imo 3 and 4 ste equally great works of art.
Though ignore weebs, and faggots who try to devalue these games any way they can. Just play them and try to keep in mind that there is more beyond the surface.

P3FES is the most Cumbersome and Actively Obtuse game I've ever played. It's playable, and sure it's not that hard to use tactics, but it's just not fun.

Play Persona 3 Portable, It fixes everything wrong with FES, and the Advantages FES has over Portable aren't worth the annoyance.

Ignore this waifufag.

Nothing I said had anything to do with waifus.

>P3FES (PS2 revised edition)
Pros:
- 3D environments and cutscenes
- Added side story

Cons:
- Companions are AI controlled
- Lots of running around

>P3P (PSP version)
Pros:
- You can control your companions
- Faster paced

Cons:
- 3D environments only in dungeons, no cutscenes. The game is more like a visual novel
- Missing side story

>Tell me a little bit about this series, I've never played it.

Oh, okay, this sounds like a genuine query, I'll just-

>What kind of themes and influences do they have? Are there any particular games I should skip?

Oh, nevermind it's just bait.

Why do you say it's bait?

>P4G
Is that only on PSP Vita? No way I'm buying a Vita just for that, even if I like Persona 3.

It should be noted that The Answer was really bad, and not really a Pro for FES.

You can control your companions in FES too

You should skip your own existence and fuck off back to playing fallout or whatever you little faggot

You could also get a PSTV for it, which is like $20-40 depending on if it's on sale. But still, the original is on PSN, so you'll be absolutely fine getting the original experience on your PS3.

Not your Wikipedia article

P4G isn't objectively better than the PS2 version.
Several tweaks make it much easier, and I'd say the Marie stuff overall hurts the experience

When you come to Los Angeles you can suck my cock.

Vanilla P4 and P4G are just as playable. You won't miss much by playing P4 and not P4G (the biggest addition to P4G was a new NPC, commonly regarded as the worst character in the series) P3P is honestly the only playable version of Persona 3 though.

It can be. Besides, seeing a clash of ideas and opinions is far more interesting.

I honestly almost wrote that there
Not to a degree I want

>P4G has very hard mode
>it's somehow much easier
Marie wasn't the only thing that was added, you know?

>P3P is honestly the only playable version of Persona 3 though
You're a faggot. Literally the only thing it has over FES is controllable party members, which isn't a big deal. Yeah, it would be nice, but if you're moving from P3 to P4, it'll just seem like a natural evolution in the series anyway. You get used to it. P3P loses tons of its atmosphere for its other shit.

Basically OP, play P3FES first, then when replaying the game someday, try P3P. It's a fine game, but better off after having played FES first.

Okay, the normal difficulty is much easier.
This is honestly very subjective, but I always judge a game by its normal difficulty, and I think the one in PS2 version is a better experience

Yeah and shitty added cutscenes that made the cast look shallow, and were just anime troupes executed badly. They could've done it better. Look at the original "gang" scenes. The school trip was hilarious and extremely relatable (that scene where they got drunk was a trip down memory lane).

And the new MC and Slinks.

>all the other games had direct party control
>except P3
>atlus realized their mistake and went back to it

>>>>>evolution

Honestly, if you're going to play post P2, it goes

P3FES to P3P(For FeMC) then P4Golden.

Really no reason to play original P4.

I can't stop farting, man.

Adachi more than makes up for it.

>Literally the only thing it has over FES is controllable party members

That's a pretty big reason, and there was no reason from them to take direct party control away from you when Persona 1, IS, and EP already had direct party control, so that makes no sense as "a natural evolution."

The little "atmosphere" lost in P3P is definitely worth not having the annoyance of using tactics. Battles are the meat of the game, and having them both be annoying and have little satisfaction (There's nothing rewarding in learning the Tactics system, it just becomes easy and annoying, the worst combination) in doing them detracts from the experience in a large way.

Yeah, he is a great villain and representation of the opposing philosophy the game wants to tell us. I find it depressing how no one gets the message. They either become a weeb obsessing over this game or the opposite. Never does a person actually learn from it. Or maybe they did and that's why they aren't posting on Sup Forums.

His social link?
Maybe I'll pick the game up since I dropped the ps2 version a few years ago

lmao, Persona is childish as fuck, the lyrics express all the adolescentcore themes

Persona
>Dream of a butterfly, or is life a dream?
Don’t wanna wake up 'cause I’m happier here

Persona 2
>I can't heal
If I keep on running away from my own fate
Night and day gotta fight on everyday
To the place of my final destiny
I don't care
If it's not what we expected
Nothing's gonna stop me

Persona 3
>Oh, I will run...
burning all regret and dread...
And I will face the sun -
with pride of the living...

Persona 4
>Lies come in many forms and some look like truth
But we won't let that confuse me and
You, we found a way to see what's right for ourselves
We found our truth in someone else,

Persona 5
>Why does nobody want change?

Because he's meming you.

The way they present their themes is mature. Just because it's for teenagers doesn't mean it isn't mature with it's message. And that's just the themes directly told to you kek.

Any game release before P3P bc those skill inheritance rule are tedious.
>Inb4 "I enjoy pressing 2 bution simulator for good skill set"

The Velvet Room in the Persona games is a lot like the Black Lodge in Twin Peaks, but otherwise I don't see anything particularly Lynch about them.

The Velvet Room is sorta like The Black Lodge from Twin Peaks, and both TP and Persona are influenced by tarot... can't think of much else beyond that. P4's murder mystery I guess?

Actually I take that back, there's also the whole duality theme present in both of them.