Is it better to start with this game, or with Shin megami tensei ?

[Eowyn113]

I don't know Persona / SMT universe, is it better to begin playing with this game to catch the mecanism, or it is better to begin with Shin megami tensei III Nocturne ?

BTW thank you Atlus
PS3 price is nice and I think mods will be available for those who are criticizing this

[Shin Enzyme]

P3/4/5 are all independent titles in a similar vein to Final Fantasy (shared demons, mechanics, a couple of recurring characters).

I'd say that P3P might not be the best place to start as it's rather dated and has more visual novel elements replacing real world exploration, P4 is still an excellent game but is also rather dated and P5 is ofc course the latest Persona game.

As for the criticism, P3P and P3:FES differ in a number of major ways and mods would not cover it, there is sadly no "definitive" P3 like there is with P4 (Golden) and P5 (Royal)

[Eowyn113]

It may seem weird but I like to play in chronological order so I wanted to play persona 3, then 4, then 5...
I'm old enough to be alright with "dated" games ^^'

I already have Shin megami tensei III nocturne and I've heard that this game's mechanisms are kinda difficult go get so I was wondering if playing a persona game first would be recommanded.

[WhitePhantom]

Persona is generally easier to get into than main SMT games and made for a wider audience especially when you get to P4 and P5.

[ffrasisti [ARG]]

If you can play fes on ps3 do that

[Blair Fujin]

if it's between p3 and smt3, then I'd say p3 is easier to get into, it's combat is more forgiving (smt3 can be really mean when it comes to catching you off-gueard with rng nonsene), plus it's more story focused and has the social sim elements which are a nice breather from constant dungeon crawling

[Gabby]

Persona has such a different feel from SMT that I wouldn't even think of them as the same series. Persona is a lot brighter, cheerier, and hopeful while SMT is very, very dark and forboding.

[Hymnos]

Originally posted by Gabby:

Persona has such a different feel from SMT that I wouldn't even think of them as the same series. Persona is a lot brighter, cheerier, and hopeful while SMT is very, very dark and forboding.

lol P1-3 is quite dark actually,only P4 and P5 are the one has brighter and cheerful mood

[Blair Fujin]

Originally posted by Gabby:

Persona has such a different feel from SMT that I wouldn't even think of them as the same series. Persona is a lot brighter, cheerier, and hopeful while SMT is very, very dark and forboding.

There are still some similarities that differ them from other jrpg series, for example how much using the right elemental damage matters in comparison to final fantasy, or... buffing and debuffing being worth spending your turn on, though that one is probably true for persona only on hard xD

[Z2k1]

If it were me, my play order would be:

4 Golden --> 3 Portable --> SMT 3 HD --> Persona 5 Royal

Golden is just easier to get into and has a good difficulty curve. SMT 3 is not as hard as people make it out to be--I think that it's on the same difficulty tier as Final Fantasy V or FFIV DS--but it is a noticeable spike from Persona. And I suggest placing 5 Royal last because the flashier visuals and QOL changes will spoil you and might dissuade you from the older titles.

[Gabby]

Originally posted by Hymnos:

Originally posted by Gabby:

Persona has such a different feel from SMT that I wouldn't even think of them as the same series. Persona is a lot brighter, cheerier, and hopeful while SMT is very, very dark and forboding.

lol P1-3 is quite dark actually,only P4 and P5 are the one has brighter and cheerful mood :Furrowed:

P1/P2, maybe. And that's before the PSP remakes which added in the high noted Jazz and reworked artworks to match the new games.

P3 is where it seriously got brighter. If you think this is dark you haven't played SMT.

[Eowyn113]

Originally posted by ffrasisti ARG:

If you can play fes on ps3 do that

damn they removed this from ps3 store before actual ps3 store closing

[Blair Fujin]

Originally posted by Eowyn113:

Originally posted by ffrasisti ARG:

If you can play fes on ps3 do that

damn they removed this from ps3 store before actual ps3 store closing :meatytears:

then treat it as atlus saying they don't want your money and emulate it with clear conscience

[mdesaleah]

Definitely this.

SMT is MUCH more challenging, and that is alleviated if you already have general experience with Fusion and how part of the combat works.

But SMT is also not impossible, its just that it can be a lot if you dont know the basics.

[Eowyn113]

Yeah, I was thinking "well, Persona is a SMT spinoff then let's first play the original game"... I'll definitely play any Persona game first, then. Thank you everyone !!

[Frostea]

Persona for lines and lines of text.

SMT for gameplay.