Persona advice

[Obhraonian]

Hello helpful people of the Escapist.

So I like JRGPs but I've never played any of the Persona series, which is a crime apparently, so with fuck all else coming out this summer I thought I've give the series a try. But I don't where to start, 4 is apparently the best but do I need to have played any of the other in series or should I wait and get the extended version on Vita and through persona's 1-3 on psp/vita? Are the Psp versions the full versions as I've heard persona 3 FES adds a whole bunch of stuff. And finally (and most importantly) is the series worth playing?

Thanks to anyone that answers

 

[Smertnik]

The games aren't really interconnected, each one has a story of its own (well, I only played 3 and 4, can't speak for the rest).

3 is very enjoyable as well, it's just that 4 improves various elements. For instance, in 3 you basically have one huge "dungeon" (it's kinda weird to call it a dungeon, since it's actually a tower you climb up) and your whole task is more or less just advancing further in it, which isn't that exciting, and also requires a bit of grinding here and then.
In comparison, in 4 you always have a personal short term goal for dungeoning, mostly to rescue trapped people, and since each dungeon is representative of the trapped person's psyche they also have noticeably more character (although it's still pretty much the same as far as mere gameplay mechanics go).

The relationships feel more personal and the respective stories are more interesting, mostly because most social links are your team members (in 3 only the female members give social links and most other links are acquired somewhat randomly).

Also 4's story isn't as wacky as 3's, a bit more "realistic" and with more serious undertones.


Overall I'd recommend both games, I enjoyed them equally. If you're planning to play both anyway get P3:FES first and move on to P4, otherwise the experience with superior elements of 4 might hamper your enjoyment of 3. If you're very unsure you can start with 4 but you'd probably miss some of 4's features if you decide to give 3 a chance after all.

 

[dimensional]

Im not a persona buff and have only played 3 and 4 so cant give advice on the first 2 persona games. That said I would start with 4 or wait and get 4 golden which is coming out and if you enjoy that then try 3 I played the PS2 original but I hear the one on the PSP is the definitive version of 3. You may as well start with the best and see if you like it if you do odds are you will enjoy 3 but if you dont well forget playing the third one.

Each one has a separate story but has themes that link the series together you will not miss out on much by not playing any of the previous ones except maybe a few nods to the last game.

3 and 4 were definitely worth playing (especially 4) but its very slow paced and the game has its faults basically I would approach it as a visual novel with gameplay bits if you dont like looking at (nearly) static character portraits and instead enjoy exploration and lots of sidequests well persona wont be for you if you enjoy games with good a good story and characters coupled with ok gameplay then get persona 4 (3 is good as well).

Dont get your expectations to high the game is good but not that good if you know what I mean I personally loved 3 and especially 4 but these games certainly arent for everybody I could perfectly understand somebody hating these games. There is also Persona 4 arena coming out if you like fighting games obviously I will have to wait to pass judgement but from what I have seen its looking pretty good.

 

[Ultress]

Basically what the guys above me said. To add on about the PSP versions, Persona 3 Portable, is missing the Answer, a thirty hour epilogue. It's interesting but tends to be a little too much for some people.It does however have Persona 4's combat improvements and a separate Female route. Honestly I'd get both FES(which has the Answer) and Portable if you can.As for P4 get it's your choice Golden adds quite a bit of new features but the original was pretty tight on it's own.

To me Persona 1 Portable is very difficult but not very enjoyable except in the story department. Persona 2 has a better gameplay but still not as good as Persona 3/4. From a story perspective they are all pretty great.

All of the PSP versions have updated features and are the superior/probably cheaper versions of Persona 1/2


Story wise, P3/4 are sort of interconnected and P1/2 are interconnected, As someone told me think of them as separate story arcs within the same universe. In the end it really doesn't matter which game you play first though Persona 3 is your best bet IMO.

 

[Obhraonian]

Awesome thanks for the answers everyone, it sounds like persona 3 for the psp is the place to start.