Which Persona game do you think is the best, and why?

[Deleted member 249]

I made a thread to discuss what Persona games Era likes the most some time ago, but at the time, I had limited the question to just the modern series. It had also been fairly close to Persona 5's release, which presumably also skewed some of the answers we got back then.

I figured we'd do a thread again for the Persona games, this time with all of them, to see what Persona game Era likes the most. Since ResetEra polls only allow five options, and there are six Persona games, please click on the link below to vote. Also make sure to talk about why you like the Persona game that you like the most, so that this doesn't just become a thread full of one word responses.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

 

[Spinky]

Persona 5 because it's the only one I've played.

 

[Deleted member 249]

I'm going to pick Persona 5 here, by the way.
I actually think Persona 4 is the best one objectively (with Golden, anyway), but I also think the QOL improvements by Persona 5, coupled with the fantastic soundtrack, delicious sense of style, some great characters (like Makoto!), and some heady themes that the game tackles in the story, make it, to me, my favourite game in the series.

 

[daninthemix]

Thing is, since you're including all 6 games surely people are only eligible to vote if they've played them all? Which will be a tiny fraction of a percentage of people on Era. I mean, how can I say 5 is the best when I haven't played 2, etc?

 

[Deleted member 249]

Thing is, since you're including all 6 games surely people are only eligible to vote if they've played them all? Which will be a tiny fraction of a percentage of people on Era. I mean, how can I say 5 is the best when I haven't played 2, etc?

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I mean, that is presumably true for any such poll for any game series or genre that is ever made on Era, lol. Ultimately, it just comes down to what you think is your favourite.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I have to say 5. 5's improvement to gameplay, QOL improvements in all different areas and the music really do put it just ahead of 4. I think 4 has a better story, better characters (by a little bit) and has more at stake, but yeah, gameplay alone from 5 really, really helps it.

 

[AquaWateria]

Persona 3 because I loved seeing these seemingly strangers in the beginning bond together through the course of the game and become actual great friends. In the beginning they felt like coworkers rather than actual friends but that changed as the game came closer to the end.

Also the ending to the game imo is the best of any Persona game with Persona 2 coming close for me. I still remember getting to the end and feeling extremely empty especially when

Spoiler

Memories of You

started playing. One of my favorite moments in gaming.

Also one of the only Persona game to have huge stakes other than Persona 2.

 

[Normal]

Only played P3P, P4G, and P5.

Persona 4 Golden. Easily has the most fleshed out main cast (every single party member got development) and found the story to be pretty entertaining. A group of kids trying to find a serial killer? Sounds good to me. Don't play Persona games for the battle system. It's just a poor man's pokemon battle system. So I liked that Persona 4s dungeons were short.

 

[Zukkoyaki]

5 is quite comfortably the best as a video game. Story and characters can be debated near endlessly but 5's gameplay and QOL improvements destroy the rest of the series.

 

[Jawbreaker]

I've played them all, and it's a tough choice between 3 and 5, but I'm going to go with 5 because it refined and greatly advanced the formula with stupidly amazing style glazed on top.

Shout out to the Persona 2 games for having my favorite characters.

 

[Master Chuuster]

P5. Culmination of everything Persona.

Although to be fair there are many areas where P4 is much better (some even where P3 is better), but as a whole, the P5 package is just too good.

 

[AkiraAkira]

I picked Persona 3, but I would have selected Persona 3 Portable if that were an option. I highly prefer playing RPGs as a woman and Persona 3 was the only one to let me do that. I might even buy a PS4 right now if I knew they were making a new edition of Persona 5 that featured a female protagonist, but I'm not holding my breath.

Also, out of the two entries I've played (Persona 3 and Persona 4), I enjoyed Persona 3's cast a lot better. I love Chie and Kanji, but that's about it from the Persona 4 crew.

 

[daninthemix]

I mean, that is presumably true for any such poll for any game series or genre that is ever made on Era, lol. Ultimately, it just comes down to what you think is your favourite.

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Yeah but what I mean is: people will vote regardless. But the poll criteria is such that most people's votes will be meaningless because they won't have played all 6 games. Whereas "Which is better - 3, 4 or 5" will get a lot more 'actual' votes from people who played them all. If you see what I mean.

 

[AquaWateria]

Also I need a Persona 3 remake to get a complete version. I've been waiting for this for so long lol.

 

[wondermagenta]

Persona 4 has the tightest pacing, the comfiest setting and is the most thematically coherent as far as I'm concerned. I'm still incredibly disappointed with how it handles LGBT issues, but outside of that it's a game that resonates with me super well.

Persona 3 and 5 focus way too much on their overarching plots and their supernatural elements - a lot of the twists and turns are just so tacky and... anime to me. Both have completely botched pacing (there's way too much dead air between new story developments in 3, whereas the amount of story in 5 is borderline suffocating), and both somehow manage to have inferior dungeons to P4 (Tartarus has repetitive visuals and it's way too disconnected from the actual plot, whereas 5 shoots itself in the foot with copious amount of cutscenes and "puzzles" that solve themselves - it's like the Skyward Sword of JRPGs. The only thing these dungeons gain from being "hand-made" a lot of the time in P5 is that they look nice.)

I like P1 a good bunch but I only got to the Lost Forest before my Vita ate my save. Haven't touched 2 at all.

 

[Exist 2 Inspire]

Persona 5 very close in front of Persona 4 Golden. I always say P4/P4G has the overall better story and characters but qol, artstyle, music, dungeons and the sheer amount of stuff to do push P5 ahead. P3 is unfortunately very archaic these days especially after playing P5. It's still a pretty good game though. So for me: P5 > P4/P4G > P3

 

[Deleted member 249]

Yeah but what I mean is: people will vote regardless. But the poll criteria is such that most people's votes will be meaningless because they won't have played all 6 games. Whereas "Which is better - 3, 4 or 5" will get a lot more 'actual' votes from people who played them all. If you see what I mean.

Click to shrink...

I do agree with you in terms of the big picture, but that is just the nature of the beast when it comes to online polls lol

 

[SirNinja]

Persona 5 gets my vote. In addition to a solid story, memorable characters, some amazing set pieces, and MUCH better dungeons than 3 or 4, it has some sorely-needed QoL changes, and one of the best menus/UIs any game has ever had. It absolutely radiates style, and has the substance to match.

 

[Xagarath]

It's 4 for me. Best cast, best interactions, best use of the Persona/Shadow subtext by diving deep into the Jungian themes, best overall plot.

 

[Deleted member 249]

I've played them all, and it's a tough choice between 3 and 5, but I'm going to go with 5 because it refined and greatly advanced the formula with stupidly amazing style glazed on top.

Shout out to the Persona 2 games for having my favorite characters.

Click to shrink...

Why'd you change your old avy, Jaw, I didn't even recognize you lol

 

[enkaisu]

Going with P5 because I adore the cast more than any of the previous game's, the style and aesthetics are amazing, all the confidants are interesting and actually feel worth my time, and the improvements made to the battle system are fantastic.

Bolded the bit about confidants because the social links in 3 and 4 were littered with characters I just didn't care about. That fat kid at the mall? Boring. The french weeb? Ugh. The over dramatic girl from the drama club? Go away. The sports guy who won't stop doing sports even though his leg is fucked up and telling him NOT to do sports results in a bad end for that SL? Come ON.

 

[MetalBoi]

Persona 4. Better characters, better scenario, better pacing, better music, more secrets to uncover.

 

[Sasliquid]

5 has the best quality of life stuff but 4 touched me in the soul. It's cast and setting are amoungst the best of any rpg

 

[KLoWn]

Persona 4 Golden, with 3 right behind it.

 

[Altera]

Persona 3, specifically P3P.

I see so much love for Persona 4, but it never resonated with me. The dungeons were improved from 3, but aside from that I found the story, characters, and most everything else to be worse than 3.

 

[RuffMadman]

Persona 4. Better characters, better scenario, better pacing, better music, more secrets to uncover.

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Pretty much how I felt as well. P5 is a great game but it can't compare to my first play through for P4.

 

[Robosaurus]

I think Persona 5 is the overall best game but Persona 4/P4G is my personal favourite.

Even with the QOL & gameplay improvements in 5, I just prefer the story, characters, music and s-links in 4.
3/FES/P3P gets an honourable mention for best story and 2:Innocent Sin for best characters.

 

[Trigonometrize]

I'm not really a fan of 4's cast, but 5 isn't a whole lot better. I see so much talk about the casts but I don't really care for either. 5, however, excels at being an adventure through its levels with way better audio-visual elements that fit together beautifully. 4 shuffles along through the first half and doesn't feel artfully created like 5 until the second half, and even then it's not as impactful.

 

[Kanzeon]

Going with P4 because there isn't a version of 3 with Portable's QOL changes as well as FES's presentation.

 

[Ploid 6.0]

I like 3 Fes the best, I loved the sneaking mechanic. In 4 the sneak attacks were less reliable, though maybe I was doing something wrong.

 

[sinonobu]

Persona 1 because of Maki and the overall atmosphere and tone of the story.

Also loved the combat system.

P5 is good and all, but there's certain elements that I'm no so fond of it.

Phantom Thief also where's Persona Q?

 

[pixxelz]

Persona 3 (FES) I liked the story and characters more than 4 & 5.

I think I'm being biased because 3 was my first Persona game though.

 

[pezzie]

Close for me between 4 and 5. But I'm gonna give the edge to 5. Best cast and best combat.

I did beat p3p but I didn't like it alnearly as much as 4 or 5.

 

[Deleted member 4037]

Persona 5 is the best one, the gameplay and QoL improvements are huge. The story and characters are also fantastic, put into a such a stylish package. I still love P3 and P4 too, P5 I think just edges them out in a lot of areas. P1 was really just okay and P2, while having a good story, is really awful to play and the casts arent as good as the new persona games imo

 

[MaitreWakou]

Persona 5. Being the last game, it have gameplay improvements, gunplay is fucking great, and game is just fuckin stylish everywhere.
Thematically speaking, 5 is my favorite too. The thief theme is genius : it is all about the silent rage of the teenage years. So you're a thief, sneaking around in palaces.
Persona 3, 4 and 5 all have wonderful towns where you feel like you do live there. But Tokyo is my fav place of all of them.
Everything is just incredible. If you live in a huge town, if you have been a silent teenager who have felt so much hate for the selfish politics, if you are nostalgic of this blessed era when you felt like you could change the world with your friends, then this game will talk to you to a personal degree.
Just look at those pics, if you recognize yourself in those then you'll love the game.

Spoiler

Currently living in a village makes me love P4, but since I was born, have grown and made my studies in a large town, P5 is the one which talks to me the most.

 

[formasymphonic]

Mechanically & stylistically P5,

Character wise (as in how much of an attachment you as the player will have to the characters) P4 — though it has the benefit of P4G adding extra stuff.

P3 gets a big thumbs up for being the start of the modern persona games, but is badly in need of a remake to do it justice mechanically and because it needs a definitive version.

 

[Zalman]

Persona 4, Golden specifically, left a lasting impression on me in a way the others didn't. I do think 5 improved on many aspects, but as a whole 4 is the more memorable one to me, mainly due to the characters and the soundtrack.

 

[Deleted member 249]

Phantom Thief also where's Persona Q?

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Oh, I was only going with the main games so I excluded the spin offs lol

 

[Jawbreaker]

Why'd you change your old avy, Jaw, I didn't even recognize you lol

Click to shrink...

Temporary change until I make my regular one all Spidey-fied. }: ]

 

[Deleted member 249]

Temporary change until I make my regular one all Spidey-fied. }: ]

Click to shrink...

Heh, I'm looking forward to seeing that

 

[Eolz]

Still P2 (EP if you really want to separate both) like in every thread. Best character cast and story, and the dungeons are good.
Obviously will feel dated in terms of combat though.
P5 second since it got back from many issues that P3/4 had (awful dungeons, shadows, too much teen drama (there's still some in P5, just less), meh combat, etc) and is modern in many aspects.
P4 is my least favourite of the modern Persona most people played.

 

[RDreamer]

I'd say 4. The characters resonated slightly more with me. The story and style was really unique even amidst a unique series. Battles had a lot of quality of life changes that put it above 3. It's just great all around.

 

[cj_iwakura]

I'd love to know who actually played all six when they respond.

Mine is Eternal Punishment, and it's nice that a few others felt the same way.


It's easily the most difficult, has the best world building, the most locations, the biggest OST, an adult cast of protagonists, I could go on and on.

 

[sinonobu]

P4 is my least favourite of the modern Persona most people played.

Click to shrink...

I'd actually say 3 and 4 are equally bad in their own ways. But that's prob due to me playing FES version instead of portable. (not being able to control your party members in turn based was the absolute worst)

 

['3y Kingdom]

4 is the only one of the Persona games that actually feels like a coherent experience to me rather than SMT mechanics and aesthetics shoehorned into a high-school setting. It also has the snappiest gameplay, which goes a long way.

I haven't played 1, though, so I can't comment on that one.

 

[Virtua King]

Of the ones I've played:

5>>>>>>>>>>>>3>>4

5 is better in every category, so there isn't much to discuss comparing it against the other two. As for what I like about 3 more than 4, it's the characters and music. Gameplay wise they're about the same.

 

[Khanimus]

4 - best plotted story
5 - best everything else, including its core conceit

 

[Dragon1893]

Damn, you make a lot of threads.
People are too obsessed with rankings and proclaiming "the best" in every franchise.
Each game has its merits, even though P5 has the best gameplay, dungeons and a ton of QoL improvements, if I had to choose I'd still go with P4G because of the cast, story and OST.

 

[Deleted member 249]

I'd love to know who actually played all six when they respond.

Mine is Eternal Punishment, and it's nice that a few others felt the same way.


It's easily the most difficult, has the best world building, the most locations, the biggest OST, an adult cast of protagonists, I could go on and on.

Click to shrink...

I've played all six. I can't in good conscience pick any of the pre-P3 games, they aged horribly. That said, the P2 duology has a fantastic story.
As for "adult cast", I never understood the fascination with that. The teen cast members in the new Persona games are every bit as relatable, with identifiable problems, to me, as an adult.

 

[Eintopf]

3 has the best characters and story. The fact that the characters actually grow over the course of the story is so much better than character development being reserved for a dungeon arc and a social link.

As for gameplay, 5 is the best. The lack of randomised dungeons is great and the speed of combat removes tedium from encounters.