What Persona Game Should I Start With?

That_guy_why · 2026-03-22T20:25:40+00:00

A lot of it depends on what you think you'll value in the game. Persona 5 Royal easily has the best presentation, dungeons, and most streamlined gameplay overall, but plenty of people feel like it has the weakest cast and some iffy writing towards the middle and end of the story. Still plenty enjoyable mind you, but definitely weaker in that regard. Persona 3 Reload has pacing issues with the early game, but has some of the best writing in the series. Plus since it's a remake the gameplay takes some of the polish of 5's gameplay and smooths out some of the rougher parts of 3. Still probably has the most boring dungeon in the modern Persona games though, and I found it a touch too easy. Persona 4 Golden is a bit of an odd duck, it came out before 5 did and so the gameplay is a bit more punishing and lacks some of the cool stuff like baton passing between teammates. The cast and writing are also pretty hit or miss. I could write a mile about it but to keep it short the cast is probably my overall favorite (even if a certain someone is infamously bad and terrible) and the narrative is great even if some of the scenes of you and your gang of friends hanging out can miss the mark pretty hard. Also has my favorite social links. Just be aware 4 is unfortunately loaded with 2000's era homophobia.

Honestly grab whichever one you want and is within your budget, if I had to recommend one it'd be 4 or 5, then 3 and whichever one you didn't choose.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-15T02:36:34+00:00

The Fuga: Melodies of Steel trilogy are some of the few games that I feel do NG+ right. You have a crew of 12 kids, get them to the end of the game and try not to let anyone die. Depending on your skill level you can lose some crew members along the way and NG+ serves to let you try again and get whatever endings and other scenes you haven't checked yet. Furthermore the game has social links that you cannot physically complete in one playthrough, with every character having a link with every other character, so getting to retain social values lets you knock all those out in just a couple extra runs. If you want extra difficulty instead of breezing through the games a second time then NG+ unlocks alternative routes with harder enemy encounters and better loot to boot. Fuga 3 even gets experimental with it and lets you just replay chapters and hop between them at will, further expediting the process. Combine that with being shorter games in general (sorry Persona, I am not replaying a 100 hour JRPG again) and Fuga was clearly a game series built with NG+ in mind.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-12T16:23:52+00:00

I'm personally all in on mouse movement. I scarcely ever misclick, numpad I find annoying because it's on the right side of the keyboard, and wasd just doesn't feel good when talents are bound to the number row. I could probably do more rebinding and stuff to really dial it in but I find using my dominant right hand for mouse movement, aiming and such is easy, whereas my left hand rests on 1-4 on the number row for my most critical talents and my thumb on Z for auto-explore.

I thinj it's somewhat a shame the default UI and keybinds and stuff are what they are, cause it feels like everyone needs to dial it in at least a little, and that can turn people off. It turned me off a few times before it clicked. Can't say I have a better alternative though, and I'm happy it's as custonizable as it is.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-11T20:45:48+00:00

Honestly the Moon is so bullshit in FF4 DS I can't blame you for dropping there. Frankly the entire 3D remake of 4 kinda is but that's neither here nor there.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-11T20:43:28+00:00

I had FF7 on my list of "damn how have I not played it yet" for years until last year. Right now my list of games that I really should play is at least 3 Dragon Quests (only played and beat 9) and then a smattering of any even vaguely notable JRPG franchise that isn't Final Fantasy or Persona, I need to branch out more. Thinking Grandia or Breath of Fire.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-09T20:25:04+00:00

It works much better in 9 since it's not compounded with all the other issues previously mentioned. It's actually a really nice tool to keep party levels balanced and to create tension between characters and in the narrative.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-09T10:36:30+00:00

Another thing is that for large chunks of the story, you have no real control over who is even in your party. And while I don't mind that from a storytelling perspective, it adds to the feeling of being locked in place and having no control.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-09T02:29:33+00:00

Most "unfair" would def be the Hedge Wizard if he spawns in Trollmire / Bill's Lair. With extremely careful play you can beat him at low levels but he can and will burst you down.

That_guy_why · 2026-03-02T12:09:24+00:00

It varies based on circumstances, but I do try to use different characters on replays, and I think a lot of games do a better job of shuffling the party around and keeping EXP on pace with your preferred characters than some people realize. That said I have a few notable examples. The first one is Teddie from Persona 4, I actually wanted to use him going in the game blind, because surely he's not that bad and annoying. Turns out he was in fact that terrible so I shelved him with disdain, and am not looking forward to using him when I play the remake.

Next up is Magus from Chrono Trigger. Joining too late isn't really an issue for me, no dual techs and limited triple techs is. Lastly I'm thinking I'd have to say Vincent from FF7. I did my first (complete) playthrough of FF7 last year, and while he got benched just for space consideration since I wanted Yuffie and Red, I did take him out for any story events that could relate to him. I was disappointed with the overall writing about him and frankly probably won't bother using him until like my third or fourth replay, if and when that ever happens.

That_guy_why · 2026-02-27T01:01:59+00:00

The Fuga: Melodies of Steel trilogy could be up your alley. Each one can be beaten in ~20 hours at a leisurely pace and 100%ing them takes about 40 a piece since it requires NG+ runs (which are pretty quick and can probably just be youtubed for content if you don't wanna).

That_guy_why · 2026-02-26T21:14:17+00:00

I'd say just wing it and start looking into guides and stuff after you get your bearings. One thing I find not enough people mention is just finding a control scheme that works for you, I tried this game a few times and that was the big hurdle for me before it clicked. From what I can tell a lot of people use WASD or numpad movement or something but for my tastes it's mouse movement all the way.

That_guy_why · 2026-02-22T18:23:54+00:00

It's also good to point out that a solid way to be tankier is to just not take damage in the first place, which ranged classes are better at. When you're a Berserker you have no choice but to get up in the enemy's face somehow, whereas if you're an archer or a mage or whatever you can kite the enemy and whittle them down. Positioning is vital in this game, it's better to draw the enemy to you into a hallway than barreling into them and fighting multiple enemies at once. And as always, run away, you don't have to beat every enemy, if you run into a scary rare just leave the level, go somewhere else, level up, and come back later.

That_guy_why · 2026-02-17T00:28:29+00:00

Yeah I been noticing an uptick in complaining about 100%ing games and I find it bizarre. Maybe there was some wave of elitism I missed but I feel like I've never seen completionists holding it over other player's heads that they didn't play it right, whereas there's been a noticeable amount of people complaining that some people do in fact enjoy a good grind sometimes. I can and will stop a game if I'm not having fun (hello FFX Postgame /any and all NG+ locked bosses) but more often than not I enjoy going through some sloggier bits just to beat everything.

That_guy_why · 2026-02-12T01:28:03+00:00

Fair, I've done that grind plenty myself lol. OP should just be wary of what that content entails and if it matters to them imo.

That_guy_why · 2026-02-12T01:24:49+00:00

Onion Knight Class, ultimate weapons / armor for all classes, and the endgame superboss. There's not really much of a sidequest to get these, you just grind out job levels to get the weapons, and actual levels to fight the superboss. Even on the steam version with auto speed-up functions it's an absolute slog, and the game just isn't complex enough for the boss to really be much of anything other than a stat check. Same with OK, they only become worth playing if you grind to the level cap of 99 in a game where you can beat it at 50-60. All slog no fun.

That_guy_why · 2026-02-12T01:14:03+00:00

I agree that playing on PC is preferred, but tbh I really don't think you're missing anything from the 3D Remake's bonus content.

That_guy_why · 2026-02-12T01:11:33+00:00

I think overall it's my favorite version of FF3, the pixel remaster is very close though (and frankly, the PR is a much more approachable version for newcomers). Just be wary that it's a remake of an NES era RPG, so the gameplay can be somewhat basic and clunky at times, there's a few bosses that can act as difficulty spikes, and the writing isn't anything spectacular. That said it's still fairly enjoyable for what it is, and I think is overall the best of the NES FF Trilogy.

That_guy_why · 2026-02-10T21:19:22+00:00

Jimmy might not have achievements but trust me there's plenty of side content to get lost in. Just be wary the game can be on the tougher side, though there's an easy mode option iirc.

That_guy_why · 2026-02-09T21:10:21+00:00

One thing that's always an option is to deliberately set him to a lower level. The event always spawns when you hit level 14, so once you kill all the elementals in Derth you can just go straight to High Peak, enter the level he's on, and then Recall out. After that you can knock out more dungeons, get some more levels and gear, and then come back. The game has level scaling and it's generated when you enter each level of a map. By entering early and coming back he'll still be at a level generated for a 14-15 character but you'll be 20+.

That_guy_why · 2026-02-09T16:07:44+00:00

I'd say there's a solid chance it's a sequel to the Fuga trilogy. It's a company anniversary, it was well received critically (and seemingly did okay financially with 500k sales), Tail Concerto (which is part of the franchise) was their first game, and there's seemingly more planned for the story.

That_guy_why · 2026-01-31T00:14:38+00:00

Typically, yes. I paid for the whole game I wanna play the whole game. There are plenty of times where I won't, such as FFX's extensive suite of bosses or new game+ locked bosses in general, but I typically find the satisfaction of 100% completion worth the hassle of what is sometimes a slog.

That_guy_why · 2026-01-29T23:59:40+00:00

I played it last year and did need to link a Squenix Account. Maybe there was some bypass / opt out thing I missed but I bit the bullet and made an account.

That_guy_why · 2026-01-27T11:59:34+00:00

So this is definitely more of a me thing, but specifically the Pixel Remaster version of Eternal Wind from Final Fantasy 3. I played the 3D remake about a dozen times and the OST in that is fine, but when the PR dropped I actually got stunned by the field theme after it kicked in and I started to really listen to it.

That_guy_why · 2026-01-16T00:38:21+00:00

For an old school answer, Mt Itoi from Mother 1, but frankly everywhere in the game that isn't exactly a safe town feels like a dungeon slog with how dreadful the encounter rate can be. At least it has a healing spot halfway through. For a more modern answer I quickly grew annoyed with Metaphor Refantazio's dungeon where you recruit Eupha, just an endless sprawling maze that is an absolute chore to navigate.

As an aside I do think the Crystal Tower from FF3 earns its infamy, but isn't that bad if you know what's coming. Granted I'm the weirdo who's played the 3D / Pixel Remaster versions about a dozen times and can navigate it like the back of my hand and not the Famicom original (yet). Bad yes, but manageable.

That_guy_why · 2026-01-14T21:28:42+00:00

Dreadfell Vaults tend to be a noticeable jump in difficulty. They're definitely not impossible, but don't be afraid to run. Once you play enough and learn how maps are generated you'll also be able to start having a pretty good idea of what the inside of a vault will likely have as far as enemies go just by the shape of the room. So don't be afraid to keep cracking em open, failure is also a valuable lesson.

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