Today, I finished playing through the Persona 2 Duology: Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment!
I'm a huge fan of the Persona series, who played Personas 3-5. I finally had the courage to play Persona 2 after people recommended the story though warned about the dated gameplay.
And oh boy, the gameplay was the worst of the series I've experienced. Too many random encounters. Getting lost in maze-like dungeons. Repetitive and endless grinding levels for Personas. It got so bad that I started using cheats to minimize the annoying elements of the game. You do need a tolerance for the gameplay if you're not used to playing old-school JRPGs.
But, the narrative is great. It is my second favorite story in the series, with Persona 3 still at my top. Intriguing story, engaging characters, and unique style, which perfectly blends together the light and dark sides of human nature.
The cast in Innocent Sin is one of the best in the series. They're all interesting characters who have their own motivations and quirks.
Tatsuya, the protagonist, is a loner, but he has a heart of gold.
Eikichi, an edgy-aesthetic narcissist, is always looking out for others.
Lisa, a blonde hair, blue eyes American born in Japan, is the most honest and straightforward of the bunch.
And then there's Maya, a ray of positivity who is always looking out for her friends.
By the end of the game, I truly felt the bonds between all of them. They're all flawed individuals who become better people by facing their fears and overcoming their weaknesses together. It's a great story about growing up, friendship, and finding your place in this world.
Persona 2 is one of the best narratives in the series. The game's plot is not a typical "save the world" story, and I love that. It's about people dealing with trauma and their personal demons.
The game has its flaws, but it's still a great experience. If you can overlook the dated gameplay and you are a Persona fan, this is a must-play.
(All images were taken by me.)
Welcome to the Hive Gaming Community. I never tried any of the Persona games but I don't think they would be for me anyways. Enjoyable read anyways
Thanks for the warm welcome @pusen !
Persona is a time investment for the payoff in the story, so I get it. Also not everyone likes the social simulator aspect of the modern Persona games.
If you do choose to go into it, I’d recommend Persona 5! Great, fun gameplay and engaging story.
Let me know if you have any recommendations for other games. Love your posts about Nier: Automata. One of my favorite games of all-time. Definitely play Replicant if you haven't already! That game hit me with even more depression.
P3 is my favorite Persona too, I've played from 3 to 5 and a year ago or so I tried the first one for PSP, man, what an outdated gameplay, the random encounters were so fucking annoying, and it's kinda the same on Persona 2 I see, not even Nocturne had that many random encounters, but the cheats are a very good option if you don't want to hate the game in the end.
How long are the games though? I'm curious about that.
Yeah, we’ll see if I muster up courage for Persona 1 since it sounds like gameplay is dated.
Since I used cheats with a PSP emulator on my PC, each game (both Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment) took me about 20 hours. It’ll probably take MUCH LONGER if you don’t have cheats.