How does the story compare to P4G/P5R?

[Marsson]

I love P4G and P5R and have spent hundreds of hours in both games. I understand that SMTV differs in that there's no real school/studying nor romance/links. But how does the story quality in SMTV differ from those games? Is it worth playing just for the story, or does the majority of all the fun come from the battles/collecting?

[Argonisgema]

the story for SMTV is on a more grand scale then just some mystery of "who killed who" or "i have a mysterious past"
The game also has a more focus on gameplay so you wil be fighting and collecting far more then in persona 4/5

[Star Sage]

There's more story in Persona, as it is a tale being told, meanwhile the mainline SMT games are less character focused, to the point where MCs are usually blank slates to project yourself onto in a way the Persona protagonists simply aren't, as they have something to them that makes them not you in total.

Meanwhile, the stories are never subtle either. There's no layers of mysteries to uncover, no big villain behind everything manipulating all sides. Even when it seems like there might be, usually in Satan/Lucifer, he's more just observing things until his outcome comes about, and you can royally screw him over if you want in all 3 instances where he's a player in the game.

That being said, gameplay wise, the SMT mainlines have always been superior to their Persona Counterparts, as their version of Mythological Monster Tamer has 3 slots to pick from, and hundreds of combinations to use with them, all of which have their own abilities and stats.

Basically, if you like Persona for that excellent story, you won't find that here, this plot is pretty thing on the ground, and VERY direct.

If you like Persona for the fusing of demons, building your perfect team, and maximizing the stats, this is very much going to be something you enjoy.

And of course, this SMTV and Vengeance have a new feature to the series, the open world. You have little restrictions on your movement in the open world, up to having a jump button and more than one light platforming sequence for some extra loot if you want it. Nothing too major, but its a fun diversion.

Overall, I enjoy both, so I say, if you like Persona for its gameplay even a little, this should be fun for you.

[ebolaisamongus]

The original SMTV story is worse than persona games but the Vengeance story is more in line with the persona series just on grander scale in the perspective of gods,, its not everyday life like in persona.

The original story of SMTV or Canon of Creation is a bare bones story that is more gaemplay focused. The story has general plot but it had issues with just being a sequence of events without anything meaningful outside of "save the world" from gods fighting over control of it.

The new story or Canon of Vegenace is much better story than the original and on its own, is a pretty good story and lore. In Vegeance, the story is more like Persona where the characters because their personality comes out in their reactions to the event and gives you reasons to care about them. The subquests in vegenace illustrate differing view points of demons and the main characters about morality and philosophy. One thing I really enjoy is that after every quest, some characters debate over your choices. It doesn't really affect the story events but its a nice way to flesh out personalities and consider alternate view points.

[Zen]

There's a story but you don't really play smt for the story. That's like asking about the story in pokemon games.

[Overeagerdragon]

Persona is more about the characters involved; way more emphasis on the individual...
SMT is more about the story itself; a way more macro scale... you just happen to be involved in said story

[El_Sama]

P4 story is clearly toned down from P3 to appeal to a more general audience, they even had a teddy bear as party member. So persona 4 is meant for kids. Shin Megami Tensei stories are darker and dont shy away from religion or even sexual depiction, in case you have not noticed the god of order is YHVE the Jewish/Catholic god and in this game he is killed of camera by Lucifer.

[nephalim]

Originally posted by Zen:

There's a story but you don't really play smt for the story. That's like asking about the story in pokemon games.

This game has way more story than Pokemon. The characters are interesting and there is one part with a school story that is easily on par with Persona.

Definitely not as story heavy as Persona by any means but it is there.

[Marsson]

Thanks everyone for your input :)

[Ém]

The story of SMTV is not really good. It's very simple, not very well written and 0 character have actual depth.

That being said, the game is all about fighting and exploration (it does both very well) so it makes up for it.