In every way, this is a perfect example of how to remake a great game -- graphics notwithstanding -- and this release makes a brilliant game feel fresh and relevant again.
Amazing game, even in 2021 I loved every part of it, the story, the characters, the soundtrack, and yes, also the random battles are very cool. I recommend it for everyone.
This game is definitely worth the $40 on value alone, as it took us over 50 hours to beat and could probably be beaten in 40 hours if you know what you’re doing right away.
I had so many mixed emotions playing through SMT: Persona. At times, the story kept me wanting more but the tedious combat, annoying first person perspective and high amount of random battles made me literally drop my PSP in disgust. If this is your first experience with the Persona series, this is not the game to start with; even those who are familiar with the series will probably only enjoy certain aspects offered.
I put an 10/10 because this game deserves more love. I love this game and I think is really underrated. The aesthetics, the story, the gameplay and the music are great. Not perfect of course, some dungeons are a pain in the ass, and the encounter rate is really high. But this game is an 8/10
I haven't gone through all the game as the encounter rate was way too high. However, I must say it doesn't deserve all the hate it gets. I think too much people have set their standard based on modern Persona games. It's actually a pretty good game on its own. I guess you could say it's a bad Persona game, but it wouldn't be that much of a bad game if I didn't have to hear "OVERWRITE THIS PAIN TEARING ME APART" in broken English every 10 steps I take. A lot of people are hating on the battle theme, but it's honestly not that bad. It just gets annoying because of how many times you'll hear it. Like someone on Youtube once said, Persona 1 is the only game where you'll be jamming to the overworld theme and getting mad at an encounter before jamming to the battle theme
And so I finally play the first Persona game and I got to say it was quite surprising. I've heard a lot of terrible things about this game from the fans and I was quite pessimistic before playing it but after I actually finished it, I can say it was a positive experience. I don't really get why this gets so much hate from the fans of Persona. It was a very solid start to a great video game series.
I will just sum it down to pros and cons since this game has a mix of flaws and also some great design choices.
Pros:
- Fantastic soundtrack. Just like the other Atlus games, it sports very upbeat music to contrast with its serious themes and it's quite fitting
- A lot of combat options and a decent demon compendium to try out
- 2 very different story routes basically making this a 2 games in 1 disc. Therefore, good replay value
- Interesting twist close to the end of the main story route with smart writing
- Good fusion system encouraging you to get all the Persona cards
- Decent looking for a PS1 game
- Long game. So if you're looking for a game to sink dozens of hours this might be it. Just prepare for some frustrating fights
Cons:
- Some of the dungeons felt like a shore and overstayed their welcome. Their design, in general, wasn't that great and most dungeons felt repetitive
- The cast wasn't that great. Some characters didn't really get fleshed out and were just plain annoying throughout the game. Good thing you have multiple choices but once you pick one you have to stick with them until the end. And some of them are mandatory depending on the route
- For the most part, the main route was pretty uninteresting and not on par with the other Persona games' writing, unfortunately. It gets good later, but it takes too long
- The character icons could look better. Atlus definitely should have reworked this point. Although the game looks fine in general, the character faces look really dated compared to Persona 2
- Although the demon compendium was pretty decent, there were a lot of crappy demons with useless skill sets
A really well made game in my opinion but bogged down my some clumsy design choices and some samey dungeon design. A great start to an amazing series that would only get better from here on out.
I want to like this game, I really do, but after a few hours I had to put the PSP down and ask myself "how is this the first installment of one of my favorite gaming franchises?" I love the newer entries of the Persona franchise (and especially like that the company has the confidence to now just call it Persona in the west), and this just isn't what I was expecting. To put things into perspective, I got introduced to Persona with the third installment, and played through the fourth installment right before picking this up. To my surprise there was little to no connection between this and the later entries I've played (save for the usage of "personas" by the characters) making me immediately adjust my expectations. I don't want to compare this too much to the later entries of the series and that would be unfair, and this is a review of just this game and not the franchise so I'll try my hardest not to do so from here out. That being said the first thing one my notice about this game is its age. When this was originally released in 1996 the first person view was probably a novel idea at the time, however today it feels uninspired and at times confusing because everything in the hallways look the same. Further more the battle system just feels dated, now I can play a game with a slow moving text based battle system any day (I frequently play Dragon Quest 3 on my phone when bored) but this one just doesn't feel fun, as a matter of fact that best describes this game, it's not fun. The characters just don't interest me and I play the game to progress the story but when the story kicks in I want to go back to playing the game because it's at least a little less boring. I know some consider this a classic but I just don't get it, maybe it's me but I can't bring myself to even give this a 5 as some may see it as a light recommend, try this game and go through the same life draining wast of time I did.
SummaryThe rumor going around St. Hermelin High School holds that if you play the "Persona" game, you can see what the future holds for you. When a group of students-some eager, some skeptical-tries the game out, they experience something quite different. Before long, the city is turned upside-down and demons are roaming the streets, and only t...