Persona 1 Thoughts
I've never had the chance to rant properly on my favorite Persona game, which is Megami Ibunroku Persona aka P1 right? Now that I've got time on my hand, let's do so!
So the first question is, how could I love the most flawed of the series instead of the P2 with the greatest storyline (I agree completely with this, though!)/P3 and P4 with fun story and exciting system? Keep in mind first that Persona franchise will always be my favorite franchise ever. FF doesn't even come close (well, if we count the whole franchise that is, though FF9 and FFT do come really close).
Now, I would like to state first that my love towards P1 was sparked first because I read the manga. Do so now, if you haven't. This is important, because basically after reading the whole manga even before I played the game, hunting the RAWs like everywhere (try googling 'Megami Ibunroku Persona RAW manga' and most likely you will find my requests in nearly every RAW manga provider), and finally learn proper Japanese to understand the manga (yes, I finally done reading the whole 8 volumes!), it really gives me a fresh and interesting perspective of this game.
The thing is, the main point to enjoy this game is that this game requires you to utilize your imagination to its fullest capacity because this game leaves a lot of thing obscurely. You'll probably would not symphatize with the MC because the personality is non-existant in the game. It's not really that non-existant, but his hint of personality is really, really obscure and rare. You have to be extra observant to get a glimpse of his personality in the game.
This is where the manga does wonder in helping you imagine MC's personality. The manga really fleshed out the characterizations and storyline that are not really apparent in the game. In the manga, the MC is characterized as a cool-bro character that I think really grows into me after reading the first chapter? And I think the storyline is developed really interestingly and make things that's hinted in the game clear. Yes, you might think that it's shallow to enjoy a game because of its manga which ironically was derived from the game itself, but it doesn't change the fact that it really makes things more fun.
Yes, yes, Naoya, one-sided bets are boring. Now stop this sexy pose of yours aaaaaaaaaa
I really like the main theme of the storyline, to be honest. It really feels down-to-earth for me once you see it from a bigger picture. It's a story about growing up, kids experiencing a wild and exciting dreams along the way, finding one's real identity (as what a Persona is), and finally, becoming an adult. It doesn't really force the story of friendship, it's a story of finding one's dream. A lot of hints of the story are elaborated on P2 IS. I think the ending song of P1P basically sums it up :
We’re no longer children any more but, we’ll never fully become adults
We can live on in that odd little transition
Everyone will surely find the dream that they had when they were young
We’ll start walking our separate ways as we go in search of it
I also really like how P1 really touch the problem of identity, and more importantly, masks that people wear on everyday's life. Maki wears a mask that shows her as a cheerful campus idol, Eriko sports a front of the beautiful perfect model and so on. Their personalities are also not shown as perfect - Mark who often acts like a brat, Nanjou's all-high-and-mighty-attitude, Ayase's being....Ayase, and such. They're not the perfect kids as we see in RPGs, they're just your usual teenage kids who act foolish from time to time.
From left to right : Yukino, Mark, Maki, Ayase, Reiji, Nanjou, Eriko, Brown, MC.
As for the system, I found the old system to be entertaining. Not entertaining because of the plus point of the game, but exactly because of the flaws. It's fun to speed up during the dungeon, or the contact systems that allow ridiculous moves like singing (that makes the running-gag of the MC karaoke-ing), and also, the infamous 'Mark dances crazy!'. And I really love the fact that they use real weapons (in contrast of P4) for a Persona game. A bow, axe, lance, throwing knives, whip, and also elaborate guns (MC and Reiji use assault rifle, Maki uses handgun, Mark and Yuki uses shotgun, Nanjou uses sniper rifle, ect)? That's already +1 for me. And the auto system in the battle is one of the best command invented ever. These strips basically sum it all :
Strips by fef@pixiv, translation by me (by kanji vocabs are not enough to translate the other orz)
The system is also much more kinder than general SMT game and P2. Instead of collecting thousands of cards to summon one, you only need one, and combining it with various cards and stones are pretty fun for me.
The remaked music is pretty nice (typical Persona game), though I kind of prefer the old music. I really like the old battle theme (no matter how noisy it is), and also, the infamous Snow Queen Theme. IMO the arranged SQQ theme is one of the best theme ever in video games.
Yes, this game is heavily flawed. Yes, this game is old. But if you played it with open-minded mindset, this game is pretty fun. It's heartwarming in a way, but it requires you to search and interpret the hints here and there.
So the first question is, how could I love the most flawed of the series instead of the P2 with the greatest storyline (I agree completely with this, though!)/P3 and P4 with fun story and exciting system? Keep in mind first that Persona franchise will always be my favorite franchise ever. FF doesn't even come close (well, if we count the whole franchise that is, though FF9 and FFT do come really close).
Now, I would like to state first that my love towards P1 was sparked first because I read the manga. Do so now, if you haven't. This is important, because basically after reading the whole manga even before I played the game, hunting the RAWs like everywhere (try googling 'Megami Ibunroku Persona RAW manga' and most likely you will find my requests in nearly every RAW manga provider), and finally learn proper Japanese to understand the manga (yes, I finally done reading the whole 8 volumes!), it really gives me a fresh and interesting perspective of this game.
The thing is, the main point to enjoy this game is that this game requires you to utilize your imagination to its fullest capacity because this game leaves a lot of thing obscurely. You'll probably would not symphatize with the MC because the personality is non-existant in the game. It's not really that non-existant, but his hint of personality is really, really obscure and rare. You have to be extra observant to get a glimpse of his personality in the game.
This is where the manga does wonder in helping you imagine MC's personality. The manga really fleshed out the characterizations and storyline that are not really apparent in the game. In the manga, the MC is characterized as a cool-bro character that I think really grows into me after reading the first chapter? And I think the storyline is developed really interestingly and make things that's hinted in the game clear. Yes, you might think that it's shallow to enjoy a game because of its manga which ironically was derived from the game itself, but it doesn't change the fact that it really makes things more fun.
Yes, yes, Naoya, one-sided bets are boring. Now stop this sexy pose of yours aaaaaaaaaa
I really like the main theme of the storyline, to be honest. It really feels down-to-earth for me once you see it from a bigger picture. It's a story about growing up, kids experiencing a wild and exciting dreams along the way, finding one's real identity (as what a Persona is), and finally, becoming an adult. It doesn't really force the story of friendship, it's a story of finding one's dream. A lot of hints of the story are elaborated on P2 IS. I think the ending song of P1P basically sums it up :
We’re no longer children any more but, we’ll never fully become adults
We can live on in that odd little transition
Everyone will surely find the dream that they had when they were young
We’ll start walking our separate ways as we go in search of it
I also really like how P1 really touch the problem of identity, and more importantly, masks that people wear on everyday's life. Maki wears a mask that shows her as a cheerful campus idol, Eriko sports a front of the beautiful perfect model and so on. Their personalities are also not shown as perfect - Mark who often acts like a brat, Nanjou's all-high-and-mighty-attitude, Ayase's being....Ayase, and such. They're not the perfect kids as we see in RPGs, they're just your usual teenage kids who act foolish from time to time.
From left to right : Yukino, Mark, Maki, Ayase, Reiji, Nanjou, Eriko, Brown, MC.
As for the system, I found the old system to be entertaining. Not entertaining because of the plus point of the game, but exactly because of the flaws. It's fun to speed up during the dungeon, or the contact systems that allow ridiculous moves like singing (that makes the running-gag of the MC karaoke-ing), and also, the infamous 'Mark dances crazy!'. And I really love the fact that they use real weapons (in contrast of P4) for a Persona game. A bow, axe, lance, throwing knives, whip, and also elaborate guns (MC and Reiji use assault rifle, Maki uses handgun, Mark and Yuki uses shotgun, Nanjou uses sniper rifle, ect)? That's already +1 for me. And the auto system in the battle is one of the best command invented ever. These strips basically sum it all :
Strips by fef@pixiv, translation by me (by kanji vocabs are not enough to translate the other orz)
The system is also much more kinder than general SMT game and P2. Instead of collecting thousands of cards to summon one, you only need one, and combining it with various cards and stones are pretty fun for me.
The remaked music is pretty nice (typical Persona game), though I kind of prefer the old music. I really like the old battle theme (no matter how noisy it is), and also, the infamous Snow Queen Theme. IMO the arranged SQQ theme is one of the best theme ever in video games.
Yes, this game is heavily flawed. Yes, this game is old. But if you played it with open-minded mindset, this game is pretty fun. It's heartwarming in a way, but it requires you to search and interpret the hints here and there.