Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series

[OL]

Fucking THANK GOD.
I was so worried that this game wasn't going to be released abroad of Japan, since we're now so incredibly late in the PS2's life cycle. But it's coming out in December.
This news just made my day. I knew Atlus wouldn't let me down. I love those motherfuckers.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/35889.html

I just hope they release it in a kickass special edition like they did with Persona 3 (P3 came with a hardcover artbook, a cd soundtrack, and a great-looking box to hold everything in). The end of that trailer for P4 says "bonus disc included", but who knows what that means?
No matter. I'm just happy I'll be able to get the game itself.

[Dorian]

This game makes me drool more than anything that's coming to XO and PS3 in the foreseeable future.

[OL]

Hell yeah.
With the exception of Fallout 3 on PS3, the games I'm most looking forward to at the moment are on PS2; Persona 4 and Yakuza 2.

[HappyKillmore]

Can i be stupid and say i've never heard of Persona ?

[Kenny]

Yeah, what the hell is this? Some JRPG?

[OL]

Persona is an offshoot of the Shin Megami Tensei series, which generally deals with demons in a modern-day (or futuristic) Japanese setting.
I've never played Persona 1 and 2 (though it's a fucking life goal of mine to eventually get my hands on them), but Persona 3 was brilliant. For me, more than any other game I've ever played, P3 effectively emulated the feeling of playing an anime tv series. It was incredibly unique from other JRPGs in that the game progresses over the course of a single school year, in which you go to classes during the day (which improves your characters' stats) and you explore a demon-infested dungeon called Tartarus at night. It's general setup is very different from other RPGs, and the game feels very fresh as a result.
The Shin Megami Tensei series (known as the Megaten series for short) has always had great games, but they've never been particularly popular enough to have the same kind of production values as, say, the Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest series. But apparently, as far as I've read, Persona 3 was a huge hit in Japan, and Persona 4 is going to be all the better because of it. It still won't quite be of the same production value as those bigger-named RPGs, but it's certainly going to be a bit of a step up.
And Megaten is my favorite series of JRPGs, so I'm super-psyched for any new game related to it.

If you want to know more, here's Hardcore Gaming 101's (excellent) article on the Shin Megami Tensei series. It covers all of the games in the series (minus Persona 4, which isn't out yet).
It's a good read.
http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/ ... egaten.htm

[HappyKillmore]

Persona is an offshoot of the Shin Megami Tensei series, which generally deals with demons in a modern-day (or futuristic) Japanese setting.
I've never played Persona 1 and 2 (though it's a fucking life goal of mine to eventually get my hands on them), but Persona 3 was brilliant. For me, more than any other game I've ever played, P3 effectively emulated the feeling of playing an anime tv series. It was incredibly unique from other JRPGs in that the game progresses over the course of a single school year, in which you go to classes during the day (which improves your characters' stats) and you explore a demon-infested dungeon called Tartarus at night. It's general setup is very different from other RPGs, and the game feels very fresh as a result.
The Shin Megami Tensei series (known as the Megaten series for short) has always had great games, but they've never been particularly popular enough to have the same kind of production values as, say, the Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest series. But apparently, as far as I've read, Persona 3 was a huge hit in Japan, and Persona 4 is going to be all the better because of it. It still won't quite be of the same production value as those bigger-named RPGs, but it's certainly going to be a bit of a step up.
And Megaten is my favorite series of JRPGs, so I'm super-psyched for any new game related to it.

That does actually sound quite good, i have some spare cash at the moment, might pick up a copy of 3. Now that i think about it, i have played Digital Devil saga around my friend's house before, and that was quite fun.

[OL]

If you're going to get Persona 3, look for "Persona 3: FES".
It was recently released as a budget title (only 30 bucks), but with a lot more content than the initial release had (it actually has a whole new 30-hour epilogue to the main story).

[HappyKillmore]

If you're going to get Persona 3, look for "Persona 3: FES".
It was recently released as a budget title (only 30 bucks), but with a lot more content than the initial release had (it actually has a whole new 30-hour epilogue to the main story).

The FES version was never released in Europe apparently :( . Persona 3 is still full price too, £25 still.

[Neo Matrix]

Actually, FES hasn't released yet, according to GameSpot it's out on October 17th. The original only released a few months ago if I remember correctly.

[Gingefners, The]

And just over a year on I'm going to bump this topic because I've almost completed this game and it's really fantastic. It's been years, probably Shenmue actually, since I played a game that I loved (not counting yearly updates of games I loved before) and I loved this. It's reignited my passion for games, for now at least.

It's not perfect, it has flaws that at time annoyed me a lot but thinking about it I only got annoyed because everything else was so good. The characters are fantastic, the writing is fantastic and shockingly genuinely funny... I could go on but it's very late and I'm very tired. Now off with me to try find more Shin Megami Tensai games to steal more hours away.

[OL]

Glad you've been converted.
Be warned that the other SMT games don't usually have the same production values or light sense of humor that Persona has. But Digital Devil Saga 1+2, SMT: Nocturne, and Devil Summoner 1+2 are all still great. Same style of "weakness-based" RPG gameplay all around, which is one thing I love about the series as a whole.
I'm currently playing Devil Survivor on the DS, and it's got a semi-Persona feel to it (the characters being more anime-style, for example).

[Riku Rose]

I'm playing this at the moment and love the whole school part but don't like the TV world. The writing is brilliant and just want to see more of it. I'm on the second dungeon and really having a hard time wanting to play it. I really want to love it but the dungeon part's are holding me back.

[Gingefners, The]

That was the exact same problem with me. I'm guessing they meant for the interaction with people to aid to the tv world sections but instead tv started getting in the way of me scoring with chicks. I still ended up loving it despite that and as I went on started to like the cycle and the new stuff you learned in the dungeons. Now my only flaw is the battles can become pretty repetitive.

Also, OL, do the other SMT games have characters with depth and personality like in Persona 4? If they had just some of that it'd be more than enough to have me sold on them.

[OL]

To an extent.
The Devil Summoner games certainly have the personality, I think, though they don't have any voice acting at all (which may ruin it for you; I'm fine with it, but I know a lot of people take umbrage with that fact). They're both essentially detective stories based in 1920s Japan, and the writing was made to reflect the quirkiness of the time (meaning yeah, it's occasionally pretty funny).
The characters in the Digital Devil Saga games start off entirely stoic and personality-less, but begin to gain their personalities back through the course of the games (this is intentional; it's a part of the story, rather than a product of bad writing, and it works really well). DDS is a pretty dark series, though, so with the exception of one character, it's not very funny or bouncy like P4. It's generally more apocalyptic and serious.
The characters in Nocturne probably have the least character, though the story is still pretty enthralling, when it actually shows up. Of all the SMT games I've played, this one is the single most hardcore as far as level-grinding RPGs go. And it's fucking difficult. Actually, despite its amazing apocalyptic atmosphere and great character designs, I'd recommend this one to you least of all. I'd say it should solely be reserved for someone who really want to level grind and work on stats and killing demons. It's fucking hardcore as hell. I love it, but it's not for everyone.

I'd say your best bets would be to play either Persona 3 on PS2, or Devil Survivor on the DS. P3 is pretty much just like P4 with its social elements and all, while Devil Survivor is a strategy RPG which uses a similar "anime highschoolers fighting demons" backdrop, which of course means the story and characters are great.

Also of note, they're going to release the remake of the first Persona game on the PSP later this year. The original western release of Persona had an unfortunate localization (changing characters up so they feel more American and whatnot), but this PSP version will be faithful to the original, which means it'll probably be kind of similar to P3 and 4.
It's certainly one of the big ones I'm looking forward to.