Arcadium, put me onto Shin Megami Tensei/Persona, where should I start?

[Cuban Pete]

I dont know how tf Ive been sleeping on this series this long but I downloaded a DS emulator on my phone and started playing Devil Survivor on a whim.... this shyt is for a DS game and it made me catch interest on the mainline series

So Ive been binging videos on YouTube and basically Im stuck between copping Persona 5 Royal or Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (Im interested in PE3 Reload but it just came out and I like the charm behind the P5 characters more).

Ive played JRPGs before, way back in the day tho your typical Final Fantasy PSX entries, Legend of Dragoon, Chrono Trigger/Cross and Pokemon, but honestly havent played a turnbased RPG on a home console in forever...

They say these games are hard as fukk, is this something I should jump into or is it

And which series should I go with 1st?

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

persona 5 royal

 

[xiceman191]

I've only played Persona 4 and Persona 5 royal so I would say play both of those. The stories aren't heavily connected like that so it doesn't matter which one you play first

 

[Cuban Pete]

persona 5 royal

Its easier?

 

[CarltonJunior]

Start with persona 5 royal

It's the training wheels to all this shyt

Once you get thru it, which will take awhile, then work your way down to p4 and then p3

SMT is a different beast, its not for the weak

 

[Cuban Pete]

I've only played Persona 4 and Persona 5 royal so I would say play both of those. The stories aren't heavily connected like that so it doesn't matter which one you play first

Yea Im leaning towards P5 Royal right now but SMT 5 looks crazy and its getting really good reviews. Are the DLCs necessary or nah?

 

[Cuban Pete]

Start with persona 5 royal

It's the training wheels to all this shyt

Once you get thru it, which will take awhile, then work your way down to p4 and then p3

SMT is a different beast, its not for the weak

OK so leave SMT the fukk alone until I beat the Persona series, thats sounds about right from what these reactors on YouTube are saying

Edit: meant to rep you 10 btw

 

[xiceman191]

Yea Im leaning towards P5 Royal right now but SMT 5 looks crazy and its getting really good reviews. Are the DLCs necessary or nah?

I didn't know that persona 5 royal had dlc lol
Edit: Steam version has all the dlc included when you buy it.

 

[Cuban Pete]

I didn't know that persona 5 royal had dlc lol

Theres an ultimate edition psn version for sale that says something about extra personas and costumes, bgm, missions but its like fukking 90 dollars

Also something thats called Persona 5 Strikers but it looks like a musou game

 

[Fatboi1]

Persona games are LONG.
I'd really say start with Persona 4 Golden and then once you finish that, jump onto Persona 5 Royal where the QOL features and visual upgrades can be appreciated more.
After that, SMT3 or V for the "mainline" series where it's much more dungeon crawling focused without the slice of life elements Persona has.

https://www.thecoli.com/threads/official-persona-games-discussion-thread.217619/

You can check out this thread which is from 2014 with discussions about Persona 4 and 3.

Persona 3 Reload would be a nice game to play after you finish Royal.

 

[Cuban Pete]

Persona games are LONG.
I'd really say start with Persona 4 Golden and then once you finish that, jump onto Persona 5 Royal where the QOL features and visual upgrades can be appreciated more.
After that, SMT3 or V for the "mainline" series where it's much more dungeon crawling focused without the slice of life elements Persona has.

https://www.thecoli.com/threads/official-persona-games-discussion-thread.217619/

You can check out this thread which is from 2014 with discussions about Persona 4 and 3.

Persona 3 Reload would be a nice game to play after you finish Royal.

4 Golden is on sale right now, might just do that then. Ppl saying 3 is the GOAT tho and this new version of SMTV is getting 91/100, 5 stars across the board. Ill check the thread and take your word for it

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

I would wait for the inevitable persona 4 remake

 

[Fatboi1]

4 Golden is on sale right now, might just do that then. Ppl saying 3 is the GOAT tho and this new version of SMTV is getting 91/100, 5 stars across the board. Ill check the thread and take your word for it

Each Persona game is thematically different from one another so they're all special depending on what appeals to your taste.
Persona 3(Blue) is about death, depression etc.
Persona 4(Yellow) is about facing the truth.
Persona 5(Red) is rebellion, justice.

I liked 4 Golden the most as it just felt like a very cozy, close knit murder mystery JPRG with heavy social sim aspects that then turns into characters facing their "shadow" selves e.g. truth. Game wasn't very big world wise, but that made it all so much better because it just allowed the characters to shine.

5 was the breakout hit though imo that made Persona become a bigger IP and deservedly so. Game is stylish as fukk, the OST is banging and much needed changes for the gameplay was brought to the series making it the best Persona game functionality wise.

I haven't played SMTV much other than a few hours on the Switch version a few years ago and some hours into the PS2 version of SMT 3. They're much more serious games.

I would wait for the inevitable persona 4 remake

That may be years away. Something about playing 4 Golden and then playing Persona 5 years later was just magical. Like it felt like when FFX came out and you just saw the jump from how the games looked on PSX to PS2.

 

[Cuban Pete]

Each Persona game is thematically different from one another so they're all special depending on what appeals to your taste.
Persona 3(Blue) is about death, depression etc.
Persona 4(Yellow) is about facing the truth.
Persona 5(Red) is rebellion, justice.

I liked 4 Golden the most as it just felt like a very cozy, close knit murder mystery JPRG with heavy social sim aspects that then turns into characters facing their "shadow" selves e.g. truth. Game wasn't very big world wise, but that made it all so much better because it just allowed the characters to shine.

5 was the breakout hit though imo that made Persona become a bigger IP and deservedly so. Game is stylish as fukk, the OST is banging and much needed changes for the gameplay was brought to the series making it the best Persona game functionality wise.

I haven't played SMTV much other than a few hours on the Switch version a few years ago and some hours into the PS2 version of SMT 3. They're much more serious games.



That may be years away. Something about playing 4 Golden and then playing Persona 5 years later was just magical. Like it felt like when FFX came out and you just saw the jump from how the games looked on PSX to PS2.

This video is what made me decide to jump into the series. fukking game is DEEPLY linked to Jungian psychology and here I thought it was a cutesy weabo JRPG



His thoughts on the mainline series are too

Btw thanks for the color coded break down, I had a feeling that 3 would be the bleakest one just from what Ive seen, interesting that 4 is more about confronting truths

 

[tripleaamin]

At this point Persona & SMT offering different experiences despite persona being a spin off from SMT.

SMT you want a tougher gameplay focused experience. Story isn’t a giant focus but games like Nocturne this can be an overlooked aspect.

Meanwhile persona is for story and characters. Since the gameplay difficulty is a joke. But note it has a sizable time commitment.