Persona 5 (PS4, PS3)

[winb83]

No padding in these games.

I beat 3 and 4 in less than 65 hours and that's including grinding. The main stories were nowhere near that long either. My longest playthrough on any JRPG was Xenogears at about 70 hours and the main game was about that long.

 

[winb83]

Its about as long as the Trails stuff...?

In saying that, I won't be able to get to this anytime soon.

Trails of Cold Steel was long as hell because I did all the presented quest. Come to find out there were hidden quest that you had to seek out so I was a few points short of maxing my grade out. In Cold Steel II I got all the students and that was it. I still haven't finished the epilogue of that one and seeing as how there is no plot significance to it and PS4 means no save transfer I probably won't.

 

[Fatboi1]

It's people talking about this game is almost 200 hours. Screw that I'll give it about 60. When I became an adult with a full time job 60 hours is my limit on what I give a game. I prefer 30-40 tops really. I find most games can't really go past 40 hours without a bunch of repetitive task and major padding.

The fastest I seen someone beat the import is 85 hours but the guy said he skipped all the non voiced text lines and stuff. Another guy beat it in 133 hours but said to knock 50 hours off because he streamed it and translated as he played. I'm at the final boss i believe and I'm 143 hours in. I like to explore and look around, talk to NPCs and shyt so I take a much longer time. It's not 200 hours long on average, that's just extras+completionist.

I wouldn't say the game has major padding but then again if you played Persona before i guess you might consider the down time between the end of a dungeon and the next one "padding" since you know there's a date to look forward too. I thought the pacing was mostly excellent since there was something new always happening. LOL @ 40 hours. Son, at 40 hours you'll probably be at your 3rd/4th dungeon at most. This game is legit longer than 3/4 because the dungeons here aren't mazes/randomized. These are actual places with things happening so dungeons are longer and the overworld has way more stuff in it.

 

[Fatboi1]

Import review from someone who beat it in 133 hours:

As I posted, I finished Persona 5 on Saturday night. I played on Hard and clocked in at 133 hours. The inflated play time is due in large part to the fact I streamed 95% of my play time and I translated as I did that. So you can knock off like 50 hours from that.

There’s so much to talk about in the game that it’s hard to figure out where to start. I think the first thing is the fact that it is one of the most polished games I’ve ever played. The development team took their experiences with the two prior Persona games and really refined their ideas to bring out the best in them. The game that it reminds me of greatly is The Witcher 3. Both games present the best each respective series offers and the amount of effort and thought put into them is very much apparent.

The gameplay is absolutely the best the series has to offer so far. They’ve added a lot to combat to make it a much more enjoyable experience. Of the things they added, I feel like Baton Touch is the game changer. It in essence gives the game a feel a little closer to Press Turn while still being One More. You’re able to give other members the ability to take action after a down. It gives attack and healing bonuses too so making good use of it really opens up how you fight. When you combine this with the new elements and spells, there are a lot more things to consider as you play than before. It’s not only in combat that gameplay is improved though. The game has two types of dungeons so you have something whether you’re a P3 or P4 fan. In addition, the Cooperations (Social Links in previous games) provide a ton of benefits outside of just persona fusion bonuses making them all useful to playing the game. They’ve even polished this aspect out by laying out Cooperations in a much more even manner meaning that you’ll have things to do both at night and during the day. You won’t have to do everything during the day.

They also show how much they learned on the story and characters front. In my opinion, this is the best Persona game for both of those. The story is well written and well plotted. It never drags and never fails to be engaging. One that really struck out about the writing is that it feels like the writers grew up and knew the problems with the previous games. Persona 3, which I adore, definitely has an edge or overdramatic feel to a lot of its writing. Persona 4 leans too much on its tropes. In Persona 5, it feels natural and the interaction between the cast and their actions in the story feel much more real, for lack of a better word. The thematic elements, messages, and imagery remain consistent and on point throughout. The game is also dark. Persona 3 is dark but in a very abstract way (imagery, mood, etc) where Persona 5 is dark because it’s very tangible and heavy. The first story in the game will surprise a lot of people that play it.

Persona 5’s characters are in a place similar to the writing. They’re not overdramatic as Persona 3 nor are they overly trope-y like Persona 4. It really takes the strengths of both prior games and combines them. The characters have their own individual problems they deal with but they aren’t weighed down by them. Their interactions feel natural and their chemistry is really good. There are few canned gags/routines but is used with restraint. It also really helps that the Cooperations also manage to really flesh out the character’s overall arc through the game while still being fun at the same time. This can be said of the non-party member Cooperations as well. They flesh out the characters amazingly well, much better than the previous games, and are still feel fun. Their integration into the main story is very well done to boot, creating a much more cohesive product.

On the sound front, the music is absolutely fantastic. Their decision to go with jazz as the main influence was absolutely perfect. There are a ton of great tracks and I think it’ll hold up much better than the prior games in the long run. However, what I really want to praise is the voice acting in the Japanese version. Most VAing in Japan is pretty standard stuff. It all really blends together after a while. Persona 5 avoids this by having their cast really step it up. There’s a lot more emotion and nuance to the VA work than what I’ve seen form other titles. When combined with the writing, the VA work really makes some scenes have a real impact to them. Even for the veteran actors in the group, it’s just a whole other level of work in this game.

I’ve heaped a lot of praise on the game but I do have a few problems with the game. The graphics could be a little better, particularly the textures. It’s pretty good overall and oozes style but the signs and the like are really awful looking. Another problem is that the shop menus and the party menu are overdesigned at times, reducing the overall usability. They look great but there are sometimes too many things flying around or it’s annoying to read because of the layout. Some of the sound effects that play when you press buttons or do some things are also really annoying as well. The game also as few problems due to the structure. It’s not a huge deal but it’s something that obviously needs to be fixed at some point down the line. Later characters don't get as much interaction time with the cast reducing their overall presence and impact when that shouldn't be the case.

In the end though, that stuff is sort of minor. The game itself manages to nail everything else. After beating the game, I feel that the game is good enough to make it on my top games of all-time list pretty easily. It’s so good that it actually makes me a little worried about whether or not they can live up to the expectations they’ve set for themselves if and when they decide to do a Persona 6.


Light Spoilers from here on. If you know who’s in the cast, then you can read these. Just my thoughts on them in general.

I didn't post the spoilers. no point.

 

[Grand Conde]

I really hate people that use the expression 'game changer'.

 

[Fatboi1]

I really hate people that use the expression 'game changer'.

Y?

 

[Grand Conde]

Just bullshyt ass 21st century office speak.

 

[Fatboi1]

Just bullshyt ass 21st century office speak.

well it is a game changer

 

[firemanBk]

@Fatboi1 please tell me they got rid of the whole "your relationship isn't ready to advance" bullshyt. I want my social links to advance every time I see them. I had multiple days in P4G where I had nothing to do cause it was raining and all my social links were saying the same shyt. They needed to add more social links so you can't max them all out and your stats in one play through but get rid of that weak shyt

 

[Fatboi1]

@Fatboi1 please tell me they got rid of the whole "your relationship isn't ready to advance" bullshyt. I want my social links to advance every time I see them. I had multiple days in P4G where I had nothing to do cause it was raining and all my social links were saying the same shyt. They needed to add more social links so you can't max them all out and your stats in one play through but get rid of that weak shyt

If they were like that you'd be done with them very early in the game though but they don't advance every time. When they do advance there is other benefits besides just an aracana level boost.

There's more activities and there's night time social links so there's always something/somewhere to go so the rainy day/no social links to do issue in P4 is irrelevant in 5 since the weather doesn't really play into the story. In P4G rainy days were the best days to go into dungeons. I've only maxed out like I think two ranks in 5 so far and one of them is just a social link that happens automatically throughout the story.

 

[Styles]

It's people talking about this game is almost 200 hours. Screw that I'll give it about 60. When I became an adult with a full time job 60 hours is my limit on what I give a game. I prefer 30-40 tops really. I find most games can't really go past 40 hours without a bunch of repetitive task and major padding.

Pretty much agree with this verbatim. 30-40 hours is the sweet spot for RPGs. Main reason I can never fukk with the trails of the sky games, because with all the sequels and shyt its pretty much a 200 hour investment. Also can't even go back to Witcher 3 even though it's a top 3 game I've ever played.

This a little disappointing. I know P4 took me about 60 hours so I assume that's about the length of this game with the rest being sidequest and social link fluff.

 

[Responsible Allen Iverson]

 

[Action Mike]

Lmao the joke sounded funnier in my head. I ain't hating just fukkkin around.

I'm actually pretty hype for this game now . Especially after FFXV failed to deliver to my own personal expectations.

fukk ffxv

this game better deliver

 

[Fatboi1]

Average time is about 80 hours. It's longer than 3 and 4. I'm at 140 hours because I'm a slow burner. If you taking 200 hours to beat the game then that's just your choice. personally 30~40 hours for JRPGS is cool if the game has sequels and new iterations coming out every year or two but for a game like Persona?? gimme a long ass game. There hasn't been a new mainline persona since 2008 for cryin out loud. Persona is crack, the longer the better.

I'd be pissed if the game was over in 30 hours average. The structure of these games suck you in that the long playcount doesn't feel long. The calendar system helps with that I think as it becomes more of a time management thing.

Also, I'm hearing some cats got the game already in US. It's out in NY.

 

[Fatboi1]

1 review
95/100

https://i.imgur.com/6XE33yX.jpg