Demonic beatdown

Day 403

I'ts interesting to take a look at the mechanics in Persona 2: Innocent Sin and compare them to those in Persona 3 and Persona 4. I have to wonder why the combination attacks from Persona 2 were abandoned for future titles. I personally felt it was a really fun mechanic. Granted, the Press Turn combat system introduced in later Shin Megami Tensei is one of the better mechanics I've seen in RPGs. Still, I imagine it could have coexisted with combo attacks. Persona 3 and 4 don't feature five-person parties either, which might make combo attacks more difficult to implement. That's another thing I wonder about--why did Atlus decide to cut the party roster from five to four? This is something that JRPGs over the past 10-15 years have been doing and I'm not sure why. Larger parties are really fun, as games like Final Fantasy IV, Persona 2, and Lunar 2 can attest.

I'm not sure it can be boiled down to an issue of too much micromanagement. Persona 3 and 4 both feature robust and complex persona fusion systems and more than enough characters to support a party of five. In fact, I would have loved to be able to use more of these games' characters. Naoto and Kanji were frequently left out of my party in Persona 4, whereas characters like Koromaru and Ken rarely entered my roster in Persona 3. These are some of my absolute favorite JRPGs, but that doesn't mean I can't recognize areas where they could be improved. Both titles delivered admirably on increased levels of difficulty and graphical fidelity.

I suppose it's good though, that these earlier Persona titles feature traits that set them apart. It gives me more of a reason to play them and enjoy them in different ways. Although I'm ambivalent about the demon negotiation system, I have to admit there are some things I like about it--and it's fun to read through all the silly dialogue choices the demons offer to you. At first I found it pretty strange that such a mechanic was so ingrained with the gameplay, but I'm certainly getting used to it. In fact, I will generally bypass most battles with negotiation rather than fighting. 

I was pretty disappointed to learn that the PSP remake of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment was unavailable in English, but I'm definitely considering giving the PS1 version a try all the same. It looks to be a passable version of the game, even if the interface is jarringly plain--especially for a Persona title. I'm sure it's something I could become accustomed to--and I'm sure I'd enjoy it just for the gameplay and storyline, even if the polish I'd prefer is not quite there.