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[I collect VHS tapes]

tried P3R, my very first Persona game

to build social links I feel like I have to be a simp when talking to females, always providing some cringe answer

and for the guys I'm expected to encourage and cheer them on, regardless of how stupid the shit they're saying is

unless I'm missing something, there is a clear right/wrong answer to level social links, and you are required to basically support the character you're talking to no matter what sort of nonsense they're going on about

do people actually enjoy this aspect of the game? are all the Persona games like this? it seems like the game could be dramatically improved by removing all this crap

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

whoops wrong forum can you move it EviLore sry

 

[WhiteWaterM00se]

No, it is bad.

Edit: My reason it is bad, is because it can take over half the game. That seems extreme, and not a worthwhile feature. Subsequently, i didn’t enjoy the full school house version of FE:3H either. If it would have streamlined the school aspect it would have been better.

 

[AJUMP23]

I have never seen them as interesting.

 

[Fbh]

Nope, that's one of the main reasons I prefer the core SMT games. They are all about the great combat and demon fusing mechanics without all the social highschool crap.

I don't really get the appeal of the social links, the side stories aren't even good. I can't remember a single side story from P5 despite playing it for dozens of hours.

 

[skeebs]

Nope, that's one of the main reasons I prefer the core SMT games. They are all about the great combat and demon fusing mechanics without all the social highschool crap.

I don't really get the appeal of the social links, the side stories aren't even good. I can't remember a single side story from P5 despite playing it for dozens of hours.

All this

 

[Madflavor]

I thoroughly enjoyed P3-5, but moving forward it seems I need to treat socializing purely as a mechanic to enhance my personas, not to develop a meaningful relationship. Because these games all seem to end the same way. The MC either dies, or just fucks off back to their hometown, instead of staying with his girlfriend and the greatest group of friends he's ever had.

 

[Sakura]

Well I certainly don't play Persona for the boring ass dungeons, so yeah I do like the social sim aspect.
I'm not sure why it would make you feel like a "cuck" when you are basically just saying whatever the girls want to hear so that you can get into their pants (and then you end up dating all of them), kind of seems like the opposite of cuck behaviour.
You also don't have to do social links if you don't want to. I usually just ignore the characters I don't like.

 

[Coconutt]

Yes but I prefer it in Metaphor Refantazio. It's the same system but metaphors cast are not high schoolers, more general adult themes.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

The social aspect of Persona games always felt Off-Topic so this thread is in the right place

 

[Dirk Benedict]

I used to love the social aspect of Persona, but as I grew up... mmm.. it's become more monotonous, if anything? They really need to flesh things out more and create situations where your choices add to the game in a meaningful way, and not just additive toward a Specific Ending.

 

[R6Rider]

Nah. I gave both P4 and 5 a try, but fell off them fairly quickly.

SMTV was something I gave a try recently when I realized there was a demo and immediately got hooked. Bought the game after the demo ended.

 

[RavageX]

I enjoyed it in Persona 4. Not so much in the others Ive played but 4 felt more like a detective drama for a bit, so maybe thats why I liked it more.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

What else is there to enjoy in those?

 

[LectureMaster]

I feel like I have to be a simp

Simp? What you talking about. I am the king of the world!

 

[Rawbutt Jellybean]

It feels more awkward the older I get. Back in my early to mid 20s playing P4G on Vita I could enjoy it since I wasn't that much older than the characters in the game. Now in my 30s though, it feels weird when so many romance options are teenagers.

 

[Grizzled Ghost]

GAF member baffled that insulting everyone doesn't make them like you more.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

What else is there to like in Persona? The procedurally-generated dungeons? The static rock-paper-scissors gameplay with the cheap moves from the bosses?
Granted, it’s not that great. Not even the social interactions managed to keep me playing Persona 3 with its atrocious main dungeon and its story where absolutely nothing had happened after 30 hours. But they absolutely helped P4 and P5 flow.

 

[xenosys]

I don't mind them. Persona 5 was my first Atlus game, so everything felt novel and fresh at the time from the art style to the UI to the gameplay systems, but once you've played one Atlus game, you've basically played them all. Even Metaphor, which is less high school and more high fantasy, still uses a lot of the systems used in the Persona games, but tweaked in a way to suit that game better.

I can see why they're niche games.

 

[Radical Dreamer]

For me it depends only if cast is great - really loved any social interactions in Persona 4, liked them in Persona 3, but Persona 5 was a total let-down for me when it comes to cast od characters so these things wasnt that memorable for me.

 

[MudoSkills]

Yes but I prefer it in Metaphor Refantazio. It's the same system but metaphors cast are not high schoolers, more general adult themes.

It's not exactly the same system. The story progresses every time you spend time with someone, regardless of what you answer - the only difference is that you get some MAG if you say the 'right' thing.

Having a Persona of a matching arcana and making sure you pick the right answers feels like busy work. In the original release of Persona 3 you were never really intended to max all links (and they could reverse or break if you spent a long time ignoring anybody, or said the wrong thing) but after that it has been more heavily pushed towards. I also don't understand people who play the whole game with a guide to maximise their time - you might as well watch it start to finish on YouTube.

 

[Da1337Vinci]

I love my waifus.

But seriously the social aspect allow for better immersion and sometimes even somewhat of a good side story.

Persona is shounen with slice of life filler stuff.

 

[mistuhcahlos]

I love them all. Also in Metaphor.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Yup, it’s part of the charm. They are hit and miss though

 

[Hudo]

Simp? What you talking about. I am the king of the world!

You miss all the shots you don't take.

 

[Bernardougf]

tried my P3R, my very first Persona game

to build social links I feel like I have to be a simp when talking to females, always providing some cringe answer

and for the guys I'm expected to encourage and cheer them on, regardless of how stupid the shit they're saying is

unless I'm missing something, there is a clear right/wrong answer to level social links, and you are required to basically support the character you're talking to no matter what sort of nonsense they're going on about

do people actually enjoy this aspect of the game? are all the Persona games like this? it seems like the game could be dramatically improved by removing all this crap

Always wanted to try Persona because it looks fun and cool.. but I just loathe the social aspect of it.... so its a big nope for me unfortunately as with every game I just cant fuck off with any social obligations

 

[SoraNoKuni]

I like them, a lot of times it's rather interesting.
Other times it feels forced and filler-esque.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I thoroughly enjoyed P3-5, but moving forward it seems I need to treat socializing purely as a mechanic to enhance my personas, not to develop a meaningful relationship. Because these games all seem to end the same way. The MC either dies, or just fucks off back to their hometown, instead of staying with his girlfriend and the greatest group of friends he's ever had.

I always thought that was intentional and symbolic.
You have a group of friends growing up, and when you become an adult each one goes his/her own direction and you lose contact with people.

 

[Punished Miku]

No, it's horrible and actively makes me hate the games. At least with SMT I can just grind battles and not be caught in an endless loop of pointless filler dialogue. If you want 60% of your game to basically be a visual novel I'm fine with that, but the writing needs to be a hell of a lot better. If you're having a conversation in the game and the story isn't progressing in any way and nothing is really happening, then it should be deleted. Persona, more than anything, needs a aggressive editor. If all you have left is a 10 hour game at the end, that's fine. Just keep what is not a complete waste of time and make it good.

 

[Madflavor]

I always thought that was intentional and symbolic.
You have a group of friends growing up, and when you become an adult each one goes his/her own direction and you lose contact with people.

Yeah when you hit 30+, have a full time job and a family, not when you're 16 and still in school.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Yeah when you hit 30+, have a full time job and a family, not when you're 16 and still in school.

That's why I said symbolic.
The developers making the game aren't teenagers.

 

[UnrealEck]

I've only played P3 (finished) and P5 (non-Royal and didn't finish it)

I did like those aspects but they became way too frequent. It became the most part of the game and felt like a box ticking exercise where I was just doing them for stat increases.
What I like about P5 is that its dialogue and story tackles more mature issues and isn't as cliche as a lot of JRPGs. It really stands out. But the social stuff wore thin just due to the volume of it.

 

[PeteBull]

You miss all the shots you don't take.

 

[Madflavor]

That's why I said symbolic.
The developers making the game aren't teenagers.

I know you said symbolic, but the characters themselves are still kids. Doing it once is one thing, but the trend of the games continuing to end this way has grown tired on me.

 

[riko]

I enjoyed it in Persona 4. Not so much in the others Ive played but 4 felt more like a detective drama for a bit, so maybe thats why I liked it more.

100% this for me too. Started with Persona 3 but 4 was the series peak for me. The detective drama vibe made the social bits more interesting 5 was a fun game but the story dragged IMO.

I will say Persona 3’s OG release was a lot better than 3 Reloaded for social. If you got answers wrong or ignored friends you’d actually break social links. They made it way easier in Reloaded (combat too) and it made the game really drag IMO.

 

[Arsic]

Well I certainly don't play Persona for the boring ass dungeons, so yeah I do like the social sim aspect.
I'm not sure why it would make you feel like a "cuck" when you are basically just saying whatever the girls want to hear so that you can get into their pants (and then you end up dating all of them), kind of seems like the opposite of cuck behaviour.
You also don't have to do social links if you don't want to. I usually just ignore the characters I don't like.

Yes I too like role playing to bang underage girls in a video game.

They can totally remove the social crap and the games would be all the better for it. They become chores and are filled with padding. It can usually break down to 3-4 hang out sessions but they will stretch it out for 10+.

 

[cormack12]

I like it more than super long identical dungeons though

 

[MagnetoWasRight]

You're confusing simp with pimp.

 

[struggler_guts]

It's my FAVORITE part of those games, but I feel like they do need to flesh them out way more.

And for the ONE adult game they put out the social links don't lead to romance like wtf

 

[HRK69]

Yes

 

[rubik's dude]

I'm currently playing P3R on Peaceful and skipping social links entirely. It's my first Persona game and I have no interest in doing the social aspects at all as they seem cringe to me too, sticking exclusively to the main story.

It hasn't been fun. This is clearly the wrong way to play the game, because I got as far in Tartarus as I could my first time through, until I hit the first border on F22. I've been sleeping early every day, skipping all the side content to get to the next main story point, which didn't happen for ~3 more weeks.

It's clear the main story takes a back seat to the side content.

 

[Metnut]

Mostly. Having to guess the right responses is the worst part about it though.

 

[InterMusketeer]

I like it. I want to learn about and interact with the characters. That's kind of the point. And it greatly improves the pacing and variety of the game. Sitting in those dungeons for hours on end or fusing personae for extended periods gets boring. Social links function as a breather. But I do think the mechanic has gotten a bit predictable and stale.

 

[Lokaum D+]

The social aspect is only good If the characters are interesting, P3 has the most bland characters ever in that regard, 4 and 5 are the kings

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

I hate it. It might’ve seemed innovative at first, but then you realize it’s just a game where you have to pick the option the other person likes the most. And if your primary way of character development is by having people standing still and yapping pages and pages of dialog, you failed as a writer.

Really wish they’d make something more similar to the first 2 Persona games with no life sim shit + dungeons that weren’t just some random shit in a different dimension. Especially P2 Eternal Punishment where it wasn’t high school drama.

 

[diablos991]

The social and calendar aspect are the worst part of the game and the leading reason I get exhausted prior to completing a persona game. I would love if there was a way to mod these out.

 

[Spiral1407]

Yeah, but only in P3/P4. Its one of the reasons I finished those games but dropped SMT Nocturne halfway through.

P5 has it too but its clearly not a big focus anymore. You can't even join a club last time I checked. The combat more than makes up for it though.

Yes I too like role playing to bang underage girls in a video game.

They can totally remove the social crap and the games would be all the better for it. They become chores and are filled with padding. It can usually break down to 3-4 hang out sessions but they will stretch it out for 10+.

You control the buttons you press. The romance stuff is optional after all (except for OG P3).

And I feel like removing it would just turn persona into a shorter, easier and shittier version of mainline SMT. A better solution would be to expand how impactful the choices are. OG P3 with its social link reversals was a good starting point.

 

[Punished Miku]

Really wish they’d make something more similar to the first 2 Persona games with no life sim shit + dungeons that weren’t just some random shit in a different dimension. Especially P2 Eternal Punishment where it wasn’t high school drama.

Demonschool is supposedly coming out this year. I'm not expecting it to be flawless or anything, but definitely has the look of P1 and P2. I plan on getting it so I'll let you know if it sucks I guess.

 

[Arsic]

Yeah, but only in P3/P4. Its one of the reasons I finished those games but dropped SMT Nocturne halfway through.

P5 has it too but its clearly not a big focus anymore. You can't even join a club last time I checked. The combat more than makes up for it though.


You control the buttons you press. The romance stuff is optional after all (except for OG P3).

And I feel like removing it would just turn persona into a shorter, easier and shittier version of mainline SMT. A better solution would be to expand how impactful the choices are. OG P3 with its social link reversals was a good starting point.

If you think Chie and I aren’t clapping cheeks you’re wrong.

She’s getting it.

 

[Edmund]

I just want to fuck all the girls in persona so I kinda enjoy it lol.