I heard this series was good, heard this entry was the best, saw this game was on sale, and bought it.

Anyone like these games?

I LOVED 4 on 3DS. I only played the original version.

It was the first time in…years?…that I kind of bought it on a whim because I heard it was really good, and I had a road trip, so I thought it would be cool to sink myself into for a while. I was totally right and it wound up being one of my favorite 3DS games.

If you’ve played a later Persona game, the battle system should be familiar. Turn based, but very fast. I don’t know about SMT3, but 4 was incredibly difficult, at least early on. Overcoming the beginning of that game was such a highlight for me. These games are very gameplay heavy vs having a huge story, so I’d really just try to experiment and explore all it has to offer. Dim the lights and crank up the audio is usually the best advice for these games.

@PogueSquadron

I like how fast the battles are.

It's interesting how the negotiations seem not to be a totally separate tacked-on thing from the battle system. Using a Talk move is a valid combat strategy in the same way that using a lightning spell is. It's not really "battle or talk to monsters," it's more like one cohesive system with different subsystems that work in different ways.

But I'm only about an hour and a half in. I tried playing more last night and wasn't feeling it. At the end of the day, it is another turn-based RPG...

SMT is definitely more gameplay over story. And I’m sure that as a remaster/remake, Nocturne probably has a lot of old school DNA in it. I can’t speak to that one, but the gameplay in 4 was really addicting. It’s basically like a dark Pokemon. The real fun comes in capturing demons and fusing them to upgrade them into new demons, trying to balance out their moves and improve as you go. It’s definitely not for everyone though. Persona is definitely the branch of SMT that focuses more on story, though I hear Metaphor: Refantazio is better in that regard as well.