This or P4G?

[Guy of Gisborne]

If you had to choose one.

I've never played a game from this developer. I know many people love them, but this style has never really appealed to me. I have enjoyed a few JRPGs (primarily Final Fantasy games) and always wondered if I may be missing a good time by sleeping on Persona.
Now, I have P4G on my wishlist and plan to buy it when it's on sale, but I just now learned of Metaphor and so many reviewers say that Metaphor is the best game this studio has done, so I'm beginning to think I should pass on P4G and wait for a sale on this one instead. But that would likely mean waiting a couple years for it to drop to a price where I don't mind taking the risk. P4G, on the other hand, I could probably buy within the month at a price I'm comfortable with.

But like I said, if you have to choose only 1.

And please keep in mind that I'm not a JRPG superfan (even if I do adore some!) and I am 0% an anime fan so I'm not the typical audience for something like this.

[Guy of Gisborne]

Escrito originalmente por Swimfan:

Escrito originalmente por Guy of Gisborne:

If you had to choose one.

I've never played a game from this developer. I know many people love them, but this style has never really appealed to me. I have enjoyed a few JRPGs (primarily Final Fantasy games) and always wondered if I may be missing a good time by sleeping on Persona.
Now, I have P4G on my wishlist and plan to buy it when it's on sale, but I just now learned of Metaphor and so many reviewers say that Metaphor is the best game this studio has done, so I'm beginning to think I should pass on P4G and wait for a sale on this one instead. But that would likely mean waiting a couple years for it to drop to a price where I don't mind taking the risk. P4G, on the other hand, I could probably buy within the month at a price I'm comfortable with.

But like I said, if you have to choose only 1.

And please keep in mind that I'm not a JRPG superfan (even if I do adore some!) and I am 0% an anime fan so I'm not the typical audience for something like this.

I for one always wanted to play P4 (never had a chance tho) and my first Persona ended up to be P5 upon that game's original release. When I came around to play the Golden Version of P4 one year ago I was so happy to finally get a chance ... only to realise that some aspects of that game haven't aged that well and that nostalgia seems to be a big factor for some. P4 is by no means a bad game but I HEAVILY prefer Persona 5 The Royal (it's not even close). Combat in P5 is much improved and while some argue the characters in P4 are so "deep", I think the crew from 5 are way more interesting and fun to "hand out with" (which is a big part of that game).

So I'd say grab Persona 5 The Royal.

You touch on another point that is on my mind. Starting with the newest thing can often make it hard to go back and enjoy the older things because you see that they haven't yet realized their full potential. I quite enjoyed Oblivion, but as I'd played Skyrim first I can't say Oblivion came anywhere near it because it is so dated by comparison.
If someone's first Atlus game is Metaphor, are they potentially preventing themselves from fully enjoying the Persona games?

And the reason I ask about P4G, specifically, is because I did a bunch of looking around to see which entry the general population likes the most, and I felt like P4G was at the top or at least very close. I also don't really want to go too far back because there's a possibility that they'll seem too unrefined to a newcomer in 2024.

[wombocorp]

Escrito originalmente por Guy of Gisborne:

Escrito originalmente por Swimfan:

I for one always wanted to play P4 (never had a chance tho) and my first Persona ended up to be P5 upon that game's original release. When I came around to play the Golden Version of P4 one year ago I was so happy to finally get a chance ... only to realise that some aspects of that game haven't aged that well and that nostalgia seems to be a big factor for some. P4 is by no means a bad game but I HEAVILY prefer Persona 5 The Royal (it's not even close). Combat in P5 is much improved and while some argue the characters in P4 are so "deep", I think the crew from 5 are way more interesting and fun to "hand out with" (which is a big part of that game).

So I'd say grab Persona 5 The Royal.

You touch on another point that is on my mind. Starting with the newest thing can often make it hard to go back and enjoy the older things because you see that they haven't yet realized their full potential. I quite enjoyed Oblivion, but as I'd played Skyrim first I can't say Oblivion came anywhere near it because it is so dated by comparison.
If someone's first Atlus game is Metaphor, are they potentially preventing themselves from fully enjoying the Persona games?

And the reason I ask about P4G, specifically, is because I did a bunch of looking around to see which entry the general population likes the most, and I felt like P4G was at the top or at least very close. I also don't really want to go too far back because there's a possibility that they'll seem too unrefined to a newcomer in 2024.

Metaphor is different enough where I highly doubt that if you were to go back and play Persona 5 Royal you would think it's dated. Persona 5 Royal is the accumulation of all the mechanics built up through Persona 3-5, and 5 was already that. However, you would definitely notice a difference if you went back and played back Persona 4 Golden after 5. It's not insanely dated or anything, it still feels pretty modern especially when compared to Persona 3 FES, but P5 just felt like it added so much that you'll at least notice it a little bit.

One big thing that P5 added was having dungeons that weren't randomized that were more linear but way more fleshed out. There is still a randomized dungeon in the game, but it's not where most of your time will be spent and even then it's a bit more fleshed out compared to past games. If you you're not super fond of dungeon crawling I would probably go for Persona 5 Royal or Metaphor. I don't even know if Metaphor has randomized dungeons since there wasn't anything like that in the prologue. If you don't mind it, maybe go with Persona 4 Golden.

[NijimaXL]

P4G first as it might affect your standards with it.

[Guy of Gisborne]

Escrito originalmente por FatJoker:

P4G first as it might affect your standards with it.

That's why I was leaning towards that one, because for a lot of people it sounds like it gets even better afterwards.

Also, to anyone who mentioned P5R: Before Metaphor released I was trying to figure out "P4G vs P5R" and I think I determined (can't really remember) that P4G might be the better choice.
And last night, after reading through this thread, I decided to look up the length of each game and found that P5R is significantly longer, on average, so I think I can comfortably rule that out as my first entry because, if I don't love it, that's a much longer game to get through. Also more costly.

Now I'm on the fence about whether to play the Metaphor demo I downloaded in case it lessens my potential enjoyment with earlier titles. Unless I play the demo and decide otherwise, I think I will go ahead and buy P4G on sale. If I really dislike it, I can refund it within 2 hours. If I play longer and decide it's not for me, I won't have lost that much money. And if I love it, it sounds like I have great things to look forward to.
I think I'm a JRPG fan at heart, but it's just difficult for me to find ones I'll get into because there is absolutely nothing J about me or my interests outside of some video games.


On another/earlier note: I mentioned not being an anime fan, but I'd also like to say that I've been trying to open myself up to it. A few months ago I spent some time trying to determine which anime series people really love and that would be good for me to get into. I watched a few episodes of one ("Monster", in case anyone's curious) and it's alright but the writing is very simplistic and I don't know if I'll revisit it. Maybe I'll try another. I can't see myself ever getting into anime culture, and I'm such a loner/hermit that I'm very resistant to any form of pop-culture tribalism anyway, but I don't want to miss out on things that I may potentially really enjoy, so here I am. And I'm really looking forward to trying it now.
Really, it's bizarre how entirely non-toxic this entire exchange has been, and it's really encouraging.

[honeybunny]

As someone who hasn't played any atlus games - Metaphor. IMO a game set in a high school with annoying kids vs whatever the hell this is doing - politics, religion, race for the throne etc. is barely a contest.

[Guy of Gisborne]

Escrito originalmente por honeybunny:

As someone who hasn't played any atlus games - Metaphor. IMO a game set in a high school with annoying kids vs whatever the hell this is doing - politics, religion, race for the throne etc. is barely a contest.

lol That's completely fair and it's a consideration of mine as well. I mentioned FF before, which is quite political with it's story arcs. And I'm not a young gamer so I can't really relate to high-school kids, but I'm pretty immature so it may be fun, and maybe even more fun to be in a less-serious setting. I mean, the real world is dark serious and dark enough and video games are a means of escape, for many.
But for sure, to just look at the games, a more grown-up setting may naturally look more appealing to a lot of people.

BTW, have you played Metaphor, or the demo? You said you haven't played any Atlus games, but I don't know if that means that this is your first or if you're just looking. If you have played it, do you enjoy it, or do you just think it has a more appealing setting?

[raindrops]

just get the p5 royal. p4g can be considered ''dated'' P5r is just perfect and a better introduction to atlus as its culmination of everything they did before.

[raindrops]

Escrito originalmente por honeybunny:

As someone who hasn't played any atlus games - Metaphor. IMO a game set in a high school with annoying kids vs whatever the hell this is doing - politics, religion, race for the throne etc. is barely a contest.

its not just highschool kids. there are modern political, social issues in persona games that are presented way deeper than surface level issues in metaphor. just because there is a highschool setting during mornings doesnt mean its just bunch of hs kids problems.

[honeybunny]

Escrito originalmente por Guy of Gisborne:

Escrito originalmente por honeybunny:

As someone who hasn't played any atlus games - Metaphor. IMO a game set in a high school with annoying kids vs whatever the hell this is doing - politics, religion, race for the throne etc. is barely a contest.

lol That's completely fair and it's a consideration of mine as well. I mentioned FF before, which is quite political with it's story arcs. And I'm not a young gamer so I can't really relate to high-school kids, but I'm pretty immature so it may be fun, and maybe even more fun to be in a less-serious setting. I mean, the real world is dark serious and dark enough and video games are a means of escape, for many.
But for sure, to just look at the games, a more grown-up setting may naturally look more appealing to a lot of people.

BTW, have you played Metaphor, or the demo? You said you haven't played any Atlus games, but I don't know if that means that this is your first or if you're just looking. If you have played it, do you enjoy it, or do you just think it has a more appealing setting?

Nah, didn't play the demo or the game yet. Just my thoughts based on what I've seen.

[Pencillus Sedatus]

I started this journey with persona and atlus from P4G, so I am biased and recommend P4G to begin with. but you can definitely start with metaphor, it is up to you.

[honeybunny]

Escrito originalmente por raindrops:

Escrito originalmente por honeybunny:

As someone who hasn't played any atlus games - Metaphor. IMO a game set in a high school with annoying kids vs whatever the hell this is doing - politics, religion, race for the throne etc. is barely a contest.

its not just highschool kids. there are modern political, social issues in persona games that are presented way deeper than surface level issues in metaphor. just because there is a highschool setting during mornings doesnt mean its just bunch of hs kids problems.

I'm sure I am being very reductive when I say the above but that's what it appears to me on the surface level.

[Катюша]

I love almost everything Shin Megami Tensei, and if I could only recommend one between these two titles, then it would be Persona 4, no questions asked.

Metaphor is a more shallow game, with lacklustre Social Links/Followers, and a much less deep story. That being said, Metaphor is still a good game, but it's one of this studio's weakest titles by far.

[archonsod]

Might want to wait either way - rumour is they're already working on a P4 Reloaded.

[HarkeN]

Escrito originalmente por Катюша:

That being said, Metaphor is still a good game, but it's one of this studio's weakest titles by far.

Opinions are like arseholes: everyone has one.

For me, it's becoming my favourite title in their entire lineup, and there's barely a game I haven't played since P3/SMT3.

This is why, at the end of the day, it's always best to experience things for yourself and take comments with a pinch of salt.

[ez game ez life]

I recommend P5R as an entry point.

Although P4G is a great game, it's a bit dated compared to its successor.