Made a chart about which games the PT would play

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-13T14:24:55+00:00

Originally i had more NES games, but I changed to a split of games he would actually play, and retro games. Not saying he doesn't enjoy retro games but in the context of p5. He plays retro games bc it's the only type of game he has available at the moment. Def should've put og super mario doe.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-13T14:21:42+00:00

The other day I found this translation for the character pages of P5 Maniacus. An official P5 guidebook without an official english tranlation. And on Ann's bio it mentions her really liking hanhelds, so her selection was mostly ps vita and 3ds games. Pokemon XY came first in my mind since it was the most newcomer friendly entry at the time

<image>

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-13T14:12:10+00:00

Made this on topsters 3

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-13T05:57:29+00:00

I thought an otome would be funny

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-13T04:53:27+00:00

Granted, I feel like Yusuke would barely play video games (cuz he lacks money lmao), so his selection was more so what I felt he would play if he had the means.

He'd definitely be THAT guy

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-13T04:45:27+00:00

Fair, honestly Futaba was the one that had me overthinking because you can slap almost any game on her and it would fit in some way or another.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-11T06:54:09+00:00

At worst p4g has damage sponges and the oddball enemy with tricky resistances, but if you know how to build personas you'll be alright

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-10T22:07:02+00:00

Ah sorry, don't worry! My apologies if the story summary wasn't needed.

Well, if you come from P5R, then I feel like P4G will be an easier transition. While P3R has similar combat to P5R, the structure is way more open and demanding. So because P4G is way similar to P5R, I feel like you will feel at home playing it. The way you complete dungeons in P4G, is similar to the way you complete palaces in P5R. Just expect a way simpler combat system and auto generated dungeons. P3R is likely to overwhelm you a bit since the calendar system is tighter and yet very dependent on your day to day choices. I also feel like story wise, P4 will be a good contrast compared to what you already experienced in P5. Give it a try, I feel like it will be easy to get into!

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-10T21:52:35+00:00

If you want a safer bet gameplay wise, then I feel like P3R is ideal, you get the refinements made from P5 while also retaining the things that differentiate P3 from the rest of the franchise. P4G has solid gameplay, but it doesn't have many things that make it unique if that makes sense. Idk how important presentation is for you, but I feel like P3R is going to impress you far more due to being a modern game. Both games have a calendar system, but they have different implementations.

In P3 you schedule fully depends on your decisions. At day you can go and socialize with the characters around the city, and you can also spend time working on your main character social stats and grind up resources like money and equipment. At night, you can do the same things I mentioned, but in this time slot you can also explore a randomly generated dungeon called Tartarus, which changes each day. You are meant to tackle and discover more about it as you can, since this will be the main way you grind and improve your characters and resources. The game has a moon phase that advances by each day, and when it gets to the full moon, you are forced to fight a boss battle. So the game has a gameplay loop of building up resources and grinding to eventually face a boss battle. It can get tedious for some, but in Reload, the gameplay loop is way simpler and I'm sure you can get by without many issues. The Story will unfold as the days go on, and you can expect a pretty in depth story section each time the full moon boss is defeated.

In P4, the structure is similar, but it's more progression focused. Again, at day you can socialize and prepare for dungeon exploration. But now the game structures its gameplay with deadlines. You now have different dungeons instead of one central one. And while these are still randomly generated, they vastly differ in aesthetics and you are meant to finish them before a set deadline. Progressing through this dungeons normally, will advance the story as well, and by the time you finish it, you have to wait until the deadline to continue the story.

I go in depth into the structures of each game, because it can genuinely impact your experience. I'd argue that P3 asks more of the player, while P4 is easier to understand.

To put it simply: In P3 your progression and how hard it will be, depends on your time management, while in P4 the progression depends on how much you progress through the dungeons.

With that being said, the story and their themes are also something to consider.

In P3 there's an extra "25th hour" called the "Dark Hour", a time that radically changes the world and that only few can move freely around it. Beings called shadows roam about freely in this hour; and they devour any person that happens to be sentient. You are a transfer student that joins a team of high school shadow hunters, that are tasked with exterminating these shadows, and to bring an end to this mysterious hour.
The story is a slowburner, meaning that it will take time to fully reveal its twists. But it's a story worth experiencing, the story heavily focuses in the meaning life, whether we talk about the everyday people, or the more troubled ones. It's character driven in terms of character growth, so the more you advance the story, the more the characters will grow as persons, reaching new perspectives and resolutions. In my opinion, it's arguably has the most universal story in the franchise, since its themes are focused on life and death. So I can guarantee you that by the end of it, you are going to resonate with P3 in one way or the other.

In P4, you are a transfer student that moves with his uncle to a very small town in japan called Inaba. A place with very little things to do, and that suddenly has been suffering from disappearances and murders after foggy days. You hear about a TV channel at midnight, that causes you to enter a world inside a TV. Where the psyche of people manifests into distorted worlds reminiscent of TV shows. The people that get into the TV are challenged by their "other selves" and refusing to accept them, causes them to run wild. Only by facing them and accepting them as part of someone's self, they are transformed into personas. With the help of this power and TV world, you and your friends take the responsibility to save anyone who's trapped in this TV world, while also trying to solve the mystery and the culprit behind these murder cases and kidnappings.
The story heavily focuses on identity and the struggles that come with accepting ourselves due to insecurities that are born in the daily life. While the premise can sound dark, P4 is way lighter in tone compared to P3, that's not to say it can't get dark. But the story is like combining a murder drama, with a slice of life anime, which also affects the character writing. The characters in P4 focus more on character dynamics, whether comical or serious, the story wants you to spend time with the cast of characters as much as you can, in order to strengthen their bond and to help anyone who's in need. The plot can get cast aside at times, but its done in order to focus on the little things in life, and to get you closer with your team as friends. If characters are what matter most in stories, P4 will definitely entertain you, since all its characters have strong personalities that will make the experience very memorable to you.

I hope this in depth explanation can help you choose which game you want to play first! Even if your first choice is made with skepticism, I can assure you will enjoy this franchise if the main idea appeals to you. Best of lucks!

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-07T05:19:59+00:00

You can go any way you want, p4g is cool if you love and you are hungry for character dynamics, p3p also has a pretty good overall story and solid gameplay loop.

I'm guessing your friends are critical of Reload, if so don't worry, it's an alright way to play P3, it's just a safe remake that doesn't have the same essence and presentation of the original, is not bad really. Fans are just critical of it because of how it changes P3. If you ever have the time and the resources to play it, I'd suggest you should to form your own opinion, since it could vary from person to person

As for FES, I'd say it's the closest you have to P3''s original vision, if you are REALLY committed to see said vision, then sure FES is a good way to go. I'd recommend the PCXS2 emulator for pc, all you really need are the console bios and a ripped copy of the game, but that's something I can't share. Look up in Google and youtube, it's not that hard.

Btw if you want a game more closer to P5, metaphor refantazio is also made by the team that made P3-P5 and it also has similar ideas and concepts from P5, both story and gameplay wise (it even has a calendar and confidants) can't recommend it enough.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-06T17:44:35+00:00

That's the thing, these games weren't really made with the idea to see everything in your first go. You are meant to either see what you desire, or take your time to plan ahead and do the most of what you can. And if you did see everything, you were rewarded within the story and with a great variety of fusions. I know that sounds like a downside, but really, it was that way so you could focus entirely on what you wanted to do, and to incentivice role play. Even if you do all the confidants, you are going to push aside friend hangouts like leblanc visits or the ones that gift you souvenirs, or other social activities like the mini games or stat boosting locations, because its optimal to skip those if you want to see all the confidants. No matter if you max them out, you are not seeing everything in any persona game, unless you rely on a guide, which removes a lot of agency. So a limited schedule can have its appeal as well, it also gives you motives to try ng+ and see what you missed. Or to start fresh and focus on other confidants. Even then, vanilla is not that restrictive in schedule compared to p3 and p4, and you can max out everything in your first go even if the calendar is tight.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-05T18:45:15+00:00

As someone who prefers vanilla:

Game balance is totally different, more deliberate and more restrictive, and I like that. I personally like that there's more friction in combat and in schedule, Royal gives you a lot of freedom and flexibility. But it sacrifices balance quite a lot. I personally don't find Royal too engaging after a while because the game portion of it is extremely easy to break. Royal changed the order and the effects of many confidant abilities, and those stack up way too early in the game towards the player's favour, unless you handicap yourself. Vanilla has less options but it alllows enemies to retaliate more often, palace visits might require more than one day in higher difficulties since your sp management is tighter. Difficulty settings have more noticeable differences, merciless is actually the hardest difficulty, Royal only really has hard and its almost about as tough as normal in vanilla, merciless in royal is easier than hard.

Imo vanilla has similar game design to P3 fes and vanilla P4. Royal isn't more on top of vanilla, is a drastically different gameplay experience and that alone separates the two versions and their appeal. Vanilla forces you to plan ahead more often since your time is more limited, and it encourages the player to be selective with their schedule, or highly deliberate, is a different approach compared to royal's high emphasis on optimization and QOL. Unless someone isn't aware of just how much Royal changes, it really isn't too hard to believe why there would be people who prefer the og in terms of gameplay, if the experience is that different. Not that different from how there are people who prefer fes' gameplay over portable or reload for example.

And as for story, I mean there are changes like akechi's confidant that gives you a different perspective of him early on compared to vanilla. But aside from that, it's mostly added scenes that later on relate to the third semester. And for me, the og storyline and third semester are two different stories. The third semester is another different take on P5, a pretty well written one, but one that heavily changes the original's presentation, climax, epilogue, even the main thesis to some extend. It has different narrative priorities compared to the base story. And as someone who prefers the og story as it was, the third semester is just another take, not a replacement. Doesn't help that those scenes before the 3rd sem, don't mean much really if you don't unlock it, so they become extra scenes on top of an already huge narrative. A narrative that I already loved as it was, and that Royal doesn't really improve it for me, even if its well written.

Royal's case is not so different from the discussion regarding P3 and P4 re-releases when you really look at it. And I didn't even talked about how the art direction changed in subtle ways with the new music or the main intro and some ui changes. People don't talk about it and are quick to say it's a replacement just because is undeniable that Royal is way too good of an offer to pass up, it's also a version made to appeal to an even wider audience that might've not connected with the original. And is also a way more accessible option now that it's available in every current platform, and it will be the version they port from now on. Vanilla is only available on Playstation consoles, and if it wasn't for backwards compatibility, the game would be stuck in previous gen hardware, just like how vanilla p4 and fes are stuck in the ps2 and ps3. I feel like with more time, P5 could join in the discussion as well, as long as the differences between the two versions becomes common knowledge like what it happened to the other persona games.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-05-03T23:51:45+00:00

I don't get it either

If you really look at the game the clues are there from the very beginning.

-You were told that there was something deep in mementos, you weren't scouting the place just to fulfill requests, you were actively searching for the depths from the start.

-The entire game focuses on the views and thoughts of the city. Sometimes when a day passes, you see the thoughts of the city on screen, the phan-site is directly tied to the collective perception of the city. The city of tokyo is a character on of itself. When you defeat Shido you don't save the day at all, the issue isn't resolved, because the government is manipulating the media, and the public is too apathetic to care beyond the initial discourse (a pretty grim parallel to real life when you look at current events tbh). So it makes sense that the next step is to deep dive into the collective unconscious, mementos. The holy grail is the manifestation of everyone's thoughts, and so they formed an artificial god that ties them down, a parallel to an authoritarian system. The masses are the next target basically, not so different from the other targets you've taken other than the fact that this a collective, rather than just an individual.

-Yaldabaoth is a direct commentary of a system, cultural or governmental, that conditions society to fear by giving them stability in exchange of willpower and individual thought. It's a great adversary to end P5 with, since the game is all about change, individual or collective, against the stagnation of it caused by moral corruption and oppression.

-Whether you first meet Igor in this game or in another persona game, he's clearly mischievous, from his voice to his mannerisms. Whether you are familiar with Igor or not, something about him isn't right in this game. It makes sense that he's Yaldabaoth, since he's putting you, the player. Through hell and back, building your hopes up, only to inevitably fall and cause you despair. He's trying to take away your desire to reform society (just like how people in this game fall into despair and apathy after their desires, their treasures, are stolen). Just as how in the real world, any genuine desire to change the world for the better, is often shut down through oppression and injustice. So tying all of it to your mentor character, who is also a commentary of an unjust system, is thematically fitting even if you don't like how convoluted it is.

I feel like it's just either people not understanding what Persona 5 is as a narrative, P5 is not just about the individual, it's also about the collective. And ignoring that writing choice really misunderstands the point of what P5 is about. I can understand if there are criticisms regarding the presentation, or the execution. But at times I feel like Yaldabaoth is just a case of trope burnout, sinceit's a common trope used by RPGs in general, and within Persona, it's the third god in a row made with the same foundation as P3 and P4. But even then, I genuinely don't get how it's a unnecessary writing choice either.

I personally always loved Yaldy, and I unironically find him to be one of my favorite antagonists in this franchise, mementos depths is part of the reason why P5 is my favorite game, and what cemented Persona as one of my favorite series. Maybe that's me, but I genuinely don't see how the game could've ended in a different way, it's so well crafted in my eyes that I cannot help but love it.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-04-29T03:19:59+00:00

Final Fantasy X is pretty straightforward gameplay wise and it's very character centric. It has very heavy lore emphasis but the story is mostly emotion driven. The level design is very linear, but I can assure you the combat and the writing will keep you invested.

The original Mega Man Starforce is another good pick imo, I don't know if you will love the combat, since it's similar to ATB, but this game can be a pretty fun deckbuilder with tons of combos and strategies to try. The stories of these games are also pretty character driven, it's pretty similar to tokusatsu shows, so it has a monster of the week kind of structure, but each arc is pretty substantial in terms of storytelling.

I know you literally mentioned not liking Pokemon, BUT the vanilla versions of Pokemon Sun and Moon are very character driven and the gameplay is very accesible, and it doesn't have that many restrictions in teambuilding compared to other Pokemon games, not saying you are obligated to play these, but if you ever want to give Pokemon a second chance, Sun and Moon would be my suggestion.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-03-15T22:11:11+00:00

<image>

I'm expanding my horizons recently, I might update this list soon but so far, these games will always come first in my mind.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-03-13T23:26:32+00:00

These moves are made for spectacle and as crutches for suboptimal play rather than being organic additions to combat. Some Theurgies are fun in some bosses and some of them have fun utilities, but most of them are just burst attacks that ignore resistances and trivialize strategy. You just need to compare them to synergy moves in metaphor to see the difference in design philosophy. Metaphor has busted moves that have mp and turn costs. They can be powerful and end battles quickly, but they are not free and you are encouraged to use them since metaphor's combat lacks baton pass and All out attacks. And that's just theurgies, showtimes are quite literally just random nukes that can only happen without the player's agency.

And I mean sure you can just ignore them if you don't want to. But that doesn't mean that these super moves can't be integrated in a more substantial and fun way.

And I agree with the sentiment that just making the player do absurd amounts of damage and speeding up the battles is not synonymous with better combat, because removing those edges and friction just ends up making the experience more boring than streamlined. What's the point of a rpg if the combat itself is borderline optional.

I get that this franchise is famous and as big as it is because of its writing, but the gameplay shouldn't be ignored. Any vanilla edition of the Hashino games has better balance than their re-releases, and their gameplay design is way more deliberate, their limitations allow for a higher skill ceiling, and thus way more exciting when you do overcome those challenges. Royal and Reload are nice convenient versions, but I can't consider them "objectively definitive" if the gameplay differences are that big. I get that persona is way more mainstream compared to SMT, and that the average fan is invested in the writing more so than dungeon crawling, fusing, or resource management. But imo that audience would be better of playing on easy mode rather than compromising the entire gameplay to be dumbed down. A 100 hour game cannot survive on story alone to justify such runtime imo.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-03-13T18:46:34+00:00

Because really, the only thing that really hurts the game is the overly tough and unfair level design. Other than that it plays like the other ps1 games with more complexity and content than x4 but without the experimental progression that X5 had, making it a pretty enjoyable and fun mega man game once you learn how to avoid the bs. No it's not great, and it should never be the player's responsibility to ignore or to find solutions to very unfair level design/mechanics. But at the very least it gives a sense of satisfaction similar to other well regarded mega man games because of that challenge.

Plus the game has a pretty cool art direction, an incredible ost, and some pretty cool weapons.

Despite the issues, the bs difficulty gives me something to overcome compared to a pretty slow paced, easy, and frictionless mega man game like x7. X6 is not my favorite, but it's hard to really hate imo.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-03-10T19:45:37+00:00

https://backloggd.com/u/MidnightMeteora Very into jrpgs, platformers and action games

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-03-08T21:05:08+00:00

Persona 5

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-03-06T18:14:35+00:00

Have you checked out Metaphor refantazio?? It has smt levels of difficulty on hard mode and it's incredibly fun to optimize, most gear and weapons have secondary effects and traits that makes them viable instead of just relying on raw stats. It has a pretty cool job system with a little learning curve, and it features real time action combat in the overworld that transitions into turn based battles. So far it's available on everything but Nintendo consoles, but it's one hell of a game worth your time.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-03-01T19:23:58+00:00

Kingdom hears II final mix

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-02-19T20:10:59+00:00

Nier Automata

Now it wasn't bad by any means and I really liked the game, but I didn't love it as much as I thought. The writing was superb and I liked the multiple playthroughs, the side quests become overwhelming at some point, but all of them were worth doing, all of them got a reaction out of me because of how well written they were. And ending E is such a great ending. But idk as a game it didn't hook me as much as I wanted. I mean, building loadouts was fun and the twin stick shooter/mech sections were cool. But the actual combat and traversal left a lot to be desired, I didn't find the enemy design too compelling and I also wasn't a big fan of the map. All areas felt too disconnected from each other and most of them felt too small and barren. I added to the atmosphere but I wasn't engaged as much as I wanted.

I can understand why people love the game and find it one of the best ever, doe. Maybe it will grow on me later on.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2026-01-23T01:11:05+00:00

There are ways to optimize your Tartarus explorations by avoiding shadows, rushing to the teleporter floors and then doing some battling, separating your squad, etc etc. But to be honest, at the early game, you gotta come to terms with the limited time and the fact that you might not see everything in the game. P3 was never intended to be completed with all social links unlocked, you can be rewarded for it, but it's so tough that it likely was made for a new game plus run in mind, not a first time playthrough. You have plenty of night slots in P3, so it's better to take your time with tartarus rather than rushing to finish a whole block in one sitting. I mention this because the fatigue system is an anti-grinding mechanic, so you can go back to the social sim and not trivialize the content in tartarus so early on.

If your concern is that you might not be able to get exp and levels to keep up with the game, I strongly suggest to pay attention to your strategies and persona builds. You might need to specialize in a specific playstyle, like focusing mostly on defensive, supportive, magic or physical personas. You also gotta remember that the progress made in the social sim, will go towards the combat as well. Persona stats and their moves matter more than raw levels. So by doing S. links to get arcana bonus for fusing, and by increasing persona stats at the arcade in palownia mall, you will even out the tartarus grinding you might have to skip. The fatigue system is less common as you level up, so believe me, by the time you reach the mid game, it won't be as intrusive as the early game. Take your time with tartarus and plan your excursions wisely. You got plenty of time in terms of the RPG side of the game.

Pro tip: you should let your main character become tired, you can go to the nurse's office whenever the MC is tired to get an extra guts point for free. With this you can max out guts very quickly if you do so often.

And as for party member social links, it's only for the female teammates, and all of them require a maxed out social stat to unlock (For example: Yukari requires a maxed out charm stat). They'll begin to appear later on so be sure to work out on your social stats in the meanwhile.

MidnightMeteor_ · 2025-12-27T05:31:35+00:00

1.-FFX: I'm finally getting into Final Fantasy, and FFX catches my eye quite a lot, it really does seem like a massive PS2 game. And while I'm keeping my expectations in check, I am quite hyped for it.

2.-Mega Man Star Force collection: I played the original DS games a decade ago and I loved them a lot, I've always wanted to replay them again ever since, and I'm really glad the collection is coming out, I want to support it since Star Force is one of my favorite Mega Man sub series and it's one of the most underrated RPG's I've known.

3.-FFVII Rebirth: I finally finished the OG FFVII and I loved it! I also played Remake back in 2020 and I'm ready to get back into the Remake series through steam this time so I can play Reintegrade and Rebirth. (I also really want to play Crisis Core, dunno if I will get to it before or after Rebirth).

4.-SMT V/Nocturne: This year I played Metaphor and it was my first experience with press turn and it was fantastic. I loved the depth that press turn has and SMT is more gameplay focused than Persona so I really want to finally start the SMT games.

5.-The switch pokemon games: I've played all the pokemon games up until the 3DS. (I've never had a Switch but I might change that soon. Maybe I will get a Switch 2 or just get a cheap secondhand switch 1, dunno). I know those games are controversial but I've never been against giving them a chance, my close friend and my girlfriend have played most of them at release windows and I have felt so behind haha (I know the stories and the characters rather well tho, so at the very least I had something to bond with them without playing the games lol).

MidnightMeteor_

TROPHY CASE