12/15/2024
Persona 5, the Perfect 9/10 Game
INB4 "EVERYONE HAS ALREADY SAID EVERYTHING ABOUT PERSONA 5" I've wanted to write about this game for a long time.
ahem.
I'm not alone in saying I fricken love Persona 5. Probably the greatest JRPG most of us will ever play. The gameplay is satisfying, the design and style is unmatched, the story delicious, the characters lively, the themes worthwhile. It's basically a perfect game. Though I'd still only rate it 9/10.
I don't think I've played a game that I could rate 10/10, since games are still such a young medium and even the best games have kinks that could have used another 3 months of development time to work out. I think maybe the original Portal game is the closest any game will come to being perfect.
And by perfect I don't mean "it scratches MY itch for a game," I mean perfect in that the creators had a vision and executed it without flaw. I've appreciated movies, music and art that I find unagreeable in some way that I'd still call "perfect" even though that thing isn't my speed or something.
No, Persona 5 is still not a perfect game. Though it's obviously close because I've played it through a few times - something I never do for ANY JRPG, favorite or not. Final Fantasy IX is a RIDE, but because of the gameplay and such I can't bring myself to finish it again, try as I might. Still haven't re-played Mother 3, as much as I like that. Persona 5 feels endlessly replayable though.
And as much as I like Persona 5, I feel like there's something to groan about every few hours of gameplay. After like 10 hours, you still feel like you're in tutorial land. Another few hours, you groan because you're in a palace where all 5 party members chime in on something innocuous with VOICED LINES. (Persona 5 would un-re-playable without its fast forward button, I'm not kidding.) Oh, now I have to stop because I haven't fused monsters in a while - oh, fusion just failed and I have to reload my save. And now they're beating up Ryuji who has known nothing but abuse before and during the events of the game, cool. (Oh, and let's not forget that apparently that scene was supposed to be worse??? Legitimately, WHAT were the writers thinking???) Now I have to play through the last extra dungeon in Royal which basically repeats a lot of the themes of the story that basically already wrapped up...?
But ARRGGHHH the gameplay loop of going through daily life, the badass feeling of ripping through demons with that funky UI, running over low-level enemies in Mementos, doing a four-person baton pass, vaulting over obstacles by just holding the run button, the SOUNDTRACK, oh GOD THE SOUNDTRACK, PUMP THAT INTO MY VEINS BABY
I pretty much have to restrain myself to not play Persona 5 again all the time. I will say, I think the last time I played it, the game filled a VERY specific need in my life as friendship simulator. I had just moved somewhere new and was still getting on my feet, and during that playthrough, someone broke up with me... I sure am glad that I had Persona 5 and that alcohol costs MONEY, 'cause my soothing remedy of choice was not drugs or drunkenness, but Persona 5 (SAYING FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT, I AM NOT NOR HAVE I BEEN AN ALCOHOLIC KTHX). Thanks Akechi, I love your corny lines and third semester.
I don't know how a JRPG like this hadn't been made, or at least hit the same spot as Persona 5 up to this point. Persona 3 and 4, while popular in their own rights, hit NOWHERE NEAR the same level of popularity as Persona 5 has. Maybe it was because more flagship RPG series like Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy were kinda flailing about during this time. Square was kinda spinning their tires before FFXV came out around the same time as Persona 5. Was it the hype behind Persona 5 and its years and years of development compared to the time between P3 and P4? WAS IT REALLY JUST PERSONA 5'S BANGING SOUNDTRACK AND INSANE UI DESIGN??
Many people bring up the UI and such a lot, but I think RPG fans seriously underestimate the power of good game feel. There's a reason Super Mario 64 has held its legacy for this long compared to flippin Croc. Yes, I remember Croc, but I bet you five fun bucks that 10 random people that you ask don't lol. But maybe those 10 wouldn't remember Mario 64 either. uhhh
All I'm saying is that Persona 5 is the JRPG that was able to break through the anti-JRPG defenses of the likes of videogamedunkey and Scott the Woz.
This is a more rambly post, so I'll leave it at that and leave my complaints about MIDSONA 3 for another day...
12/16/2024 EDIT: man this post sucks oh well
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