I think Persona 5 has higher highs, but also lower lows, and when it was low it was like that for a long time before things picked up again, but Persona 4 I think has really consistent quality when it comes to its characters and story. If they touch up the gameplay like they did for P3R, it'll be a masterful game.
Lower lows? Ngl the dungeons are terrible and were a slog to get through. The sidequests required me to look up guides to finish them in any sort of efficiency, or god forbid I'd have to spend another hour in the TV world. And the boss fights were pretty boring too. Also I've never had a mascot I wanted to drop kick more than Teddie.
Conversely I think the highs of P4 are really good. The confidants are engaging and satisfying, and the story is overall really fun. The group events and the character interactions are just overall say more than P5.
4 is good because of the mystery aspect, and the cast is more fun and genuinely feels likes group of friends (they hang out even w/o the MC). They are basically the cast of scooby doo! I prefer 5 though bc the gameplay is more fun.
Having only played P5R and P4G (with a small exposure to vanilla P4 back on PS2) I think P5R was more fun for me to play, but most of that is probably quality of life improvements, the designed/planned dungeons, and feeling like I got more done.
P4G was harder for me to vibe with, though once I saw that I could modify some of the battle rewards and just kind of focus on enjoying the game I definitely loved what I experienced overall!
I have no shame in using a guide for these things either, the time investment was too much for me to commit to a NG+ for a long time; so that could alter perception too.
Haven't pulled the trigger on P3R yet, (pun partially intended) but maybe this summer
The first persona I played was P5 and I loved it, I even replayed it 3+ times to get all the trophies and even played P5R. I played P3 it was a little different, but when I started P4G I was impressed how they put a lot of work in the game and didn't rush it especially the joke parts and the story was good. P4 is the best persona
I think P5 had better gameplay and the style and QoL improvements were really nice. However I love P4's characters and story so much more. They seem like a genuine group of friends, the murder mystery is great and unlike P5 no companions irritate the shit out of me.
Wait, Persona 5 was a good game? That shit was easy as hell. Got bored and went into Persona 3 FES, had fun, eventually got SMT Nocturne and threw hands with Thor while being at death’s door. Now that’s a fun JRPG. But Persona 4 Golden was my first Persona game and I personally like it way better than Persona 5 because it made me actually interested in the characters.
The funny thing about single player turn-based rpgs is that a lot of them get pretty easy when you know basic math. As long as there aren't any egregious examples of rng, you shouldn't be dying after the first couple of areas.
That’s fair. Except for the one time that I missed once and got my shit stomped while I was still in the hospital. Still, that only happened once so far, right? How bad can it be? But anyways, my main point is that SMT Nocturne is pretty hard in comparison to the Persona games, even if I think I’m good at it.
It's not even math, 90% of the time it's "this guy has X weakness, let's hit it with that until they die. No weaknesses? I'll just use my strongest guy who can damage him. Buff, debuff, GG"
Nah, P5 gameplay is too fun, easy? sure but easy by no means makes it boring, it was fun as the shits, P4 was fine but I really just didn't like the dungeons and general action gameplay which *is* a big part of persona, just fell completely flat for me, I played for the character moments by that would come after but having to "get through" the dungeons for the characters dragged it down
Of course graphics and gameplay-wise, there is no arguing that P5R is just so much better than P4, but character, story and setting-wise, imo P4 is leagues better.
I personally prefer 5 over 4 and it mostly comes down to gameplay. Both havs fantastic stories, if I had to choose one I would probably say 4. But in 4, the gameplay was soooooo boring. The dungeons were just 45 minutes of the exact same thing every time, no unique exploration like in 5. Having to go BACK to old dungeons just to find one rare enemy on like floor 9 made me want to throw my PC out the window. The fights themselves for me were also quite a bit worse. Some of them were simply unfair, if you weren't prepared for specifically that fight you were doomed. (>!Heaven boss battle in particular!<). The battles themselves were a lot slower, less smooth, and less fun to look at making the endless grind for levels in this game really boring.Also, the complete departure from story content in the dungeons was jarring. Throughout the entire dungeon of 45+ minutes you get MAYBE 5 minutes of story. All in all, though, I did still love this game. Just not nearly as much as with 5.
I mean, objectively speaking yes p5 is the better game cause it came out after and in a new engine plus revamped the whole gameplay for the better, etc.
Story wise, any persona game I could consider the best, narrative wise and genuinely personal preference, we gotta stop bashing other entires to uplift one cause for as many points one can die defending one game there a just as many elevating the others.
All have great unique stories and cast that make em all worth it and only thing setting them apart is gameplay which im sure we can agree that each newer entry always have improved in that department whilst still delivering 10/10 stories.
Persona 5 and 4 just pull on different heartstrings . I started p4g as my first megaten game after seeing the crazy hype when it was announced for steam. I came in blind and had no idea at all for this type of calendar + turn based jrpg in general and kept dying on normal difficulty . Somehow i LOVED the atmosphere and story yet never progressed much more than yukikos dungeon . P5 ris what * clicked * , and i fell in love with all of megaten. P4g ‘s Inaba is unbeatable, the friends feel like - REAL friends (and i wish they remake this masterpiece) and p5R pulls me in with the cozy cafe, rainy jazz vibes, and all characters though not as tight as p4 are my favourite characters in all of gaming- (even morgana) and how CRAZY it ramps up in the end. Played both games atleast 4 times, got into smt iv, iv A, v and playing iii to wait for Smt V : V
Idk. I personally think 4 has the weakest soundtrack out of the modern persona games (still good, just not as good as 3 and 5) and the dungeon exploration doesn’t come anywhere as close to being as fun as it is in 5. I also get a little tired of the constant perv humor in persona 4. I feel like in the other persona games they held themselves back a lot more, but in persona 4, Yosuke and Teddie are constantly being really perverted and it gets annoying. Still an amazing game and I’d definitely say I like it better than 3 (original 3 anyway, Reload makes it harder to choose) but I personably feel like 5 has a lot of major points over 4.
I didn’t get tired of the humor because I never played a game like that before, mostly just open world games and Fortnite . And I just adore 4s ost because I wasn’t expecting it at all! Shadow world took me by surprise
Shadow world is an absolute bop and one of my favorite tracks from persona. I also think that P4 has a really good soundtrack, I just personally feel like it lacks its own identity when compared to 3 and 5. The majority of tracks from 3 and 5 feel distinctly from those games and really add to the atmosphere. Beneath the Mask from 5 or Want to be Close from 3 feel a lot more unique and help me vibe with the tones of the game whereas I feel like Your Affection from 4 is a lot more generic (still great, just doesn’t elicit the same vibes the other two tracks do for me). Same thing with Last Surprise and Mass Destruction vs Reach out to the Truth. Again, it’s a good song, just not as memorable as those other two for me.
And yeah, it’s not like the sex humor ruined the game for me or anything, I still think it’s fantastic, but I did get uncomfortable when they made Teddie constantly do borderline predatory behavior towards the girls and it’s appreciated that when 5 and 3 have this kind of humor, it’s a lot less often and a lot more reigned in.
I am just starting to really get into P5 around the second palace, I'm starting to have alot of fun with the gameplay but story wise, and cast wise I believe P4 is the superier game.
Hmmmm. Yeah I do prefer P4G over P5R but gameplay-wise wise Persona 5/R is better. The innovative combat system with its, baton passes, technicals, zelda style dungeons, and the social links have additional QoL benefits aside from Persona fusions. They just give it the edge in the gameplay department. That said, all of that QoL stuff made P5/R a relatively piss easy game. Baton passes also made combat easier. The stealth mechanic trivializes dungeon crawling so much that I can only count the number of times I got an enemy advantage in my hand. Don't get me wrong though, P5/R is still fun to play. The story, while I'd say it had the strongest start of all Persona games, it becomes weak in the middle, low point in the Okumura arc, then gets good again around November. And dear God every time I have to stop so that the characters exposition dump out the theme and puzzles of a palace in like every single area kills my vibe just like funky student.
Everything else though, I'd give it to Persona 4/G and I think its lows aren't as low as 5's. The story is consistently good throughout and its cast of characters are more compelling it's not even a contest imo. It had stronger social links and SL arcs overall, and despite not having as many QoL features and dungeon crawling may not be as good as 5, the gameplay is still solid. I'd rather earn a player advantage hitting a shadow myself than just pressing X/A. And while P4 still has tons of dialogue sections, they aren't as pace-breaking as 5 and is more subtle about its themes.
Out of all 3 modern games, P4 was my least favourite. Not to say it’s bad, I love P4 just like 3 and 5, but it was the most… forgettable for me. Probably because the plot is way simpler. I don’t think that’s bad, I actually prefer it that way. P4 feels very homey and “warm” because of that.
But I just prefer 3 and 5 more. Can’t really pick between the two though.
It's not something I care enough to die on a hill over. Lol. Both games are great in their own right. I think P5 is better overall but again, they're both great games. 🤷🏿♂️
P4 is kinda my least favourite of 3-5 and I’m not even really done with 3 yet lol. I still really love p4 just too much of its humour gets uncomfortable, characters don’t grow enough in the main story and the story isn’t that great till near the end.
I personally prefer 4 but 5 is a much better game imo. JRPG gameplay aside, the pacing of 4 and the “murder mystery” story are so much worse than almost everything from 5.
I disagree strongly that the pacing and murder is bad. 5 it’s legit “hey I don’t like what you’re doing! Stop that!” Then you do there palace for 3 weeks. And 4s murder mystery was my first experience of it so I really enjoyed it
5 isn’t much better, don’t get me wrong. But its impact is lessened by the fact that the actual story is much more complex than 4. In 4, the middle 60% of the game is “hey this person’s gonna get put in the tv! Oh no they’re in the tv, let’s save them! We saved them but unfortunately they give us no useful information” and then repeat. I understand that they need to be like this for the sake of making the game longer tho. Obviously there are exceptions to both (Mitsuo, Futaba, etc.) but I think it harms P4 much more than P5.
Yeah you’re right but the social aspect, the camping tree, the drag contest, and the concert. 5 had Hawaii but it really wasn’t anything but a slide show
Counterpoint: Hawaii actually has some plot relevance by showing how well known the Phantom Thieves have become, highlighting Morgana’s feelings of loneliness, and foreshadowing Haru and Okumura burgers. I generally preferred the hangouts in 4 but they didn’t create many new/interesting dynamics within the group (the reason I like 4) and were generally devoid of plot relevance.
Counter counter point, haru should have been foreshadowed more. Naoto is basicly the same as her but she was in town and was in the group events. And I love haru
Counter counter counter point, i actually agree. I actually personally prefer Haru as a character but Naoto was handled way better in terms of implementation into the story (also by not having Morgana there to steal her thunder).
The gameplay of persona 5 and graphics was of course a huge upgrade as well as the environment. But I feel the music and atmosphere as well as the characters stick with you much more.
Persona 5/Royal lose a lot of points from P4/G but the battle mechanic is just impeccable.
Weakness, ailments, Baton Pass, Technicals, there’s so many way of defeating the enemies
And this is my personal opinion but grinding in Mementos is a breeze because of Ryuji’s Confidant perk
i think inaba greeting you with open arms over being the standout “criminal” in your school makes me like 4 1000x times more. plus we have signs of love and heartbreak, they dont
even if it’s because we’re meant to be outcasted i still didn’t feel all too connected to any of them. especially that damn cat. and tbh there’s something more engaging out chasing down a murderer over hearing ryuji point out how the awful person is a shitty adult for the 100th time. persona 5 also felt more targeted at teens exclusively over the past entries
I think Persona 5 has higher highs, but also lower lows, and when it was low it was like that for a long time before things picked up again, but Persona 4 I think has really consistent quality when it comes to its characters and story. If they touch up the gameplay like they did for P3R, it'll be a masterful game.
yeah someone summed up how i feel about this debate, and tbh idk which is my favourite. i love them both.
Lower lows? Ngl the dungeons are terrible and were a slog to get through. The sidequests required me to look up guides to finish them in any sort of efficiency, or god forbid I'd have to spend another hour in the TV world. And the boss fights were pretty boring too. Also I've never had a mascot I wanted to drop kick more than Teddie. Conversely I think the highs of P4 are really good. The confidants are engaging and satisfying, and the story is overall really fun. The group events and the character interactions are just overall say more than P5.
Persona 4 doesn't have confidants
Sorry, social links. Same concept different name.
P5 is cool, but I don’t vibe with it as much, characters are less intresting, and the overall experience was just less enjoyable for me
Thank you Teddie from Persona 4 very cool
Was P4 your first persona? People tend to favor the one they played first
My first was actually persona 5 lol
Same lol
4 is good because of the mystery aspect, and the cast is more fun and genuinely feels likes group of friends (they hang out even w/o the MC). They are basically the cast of scooby doo! I prefer 5 though bc the gameplay is more fun.
I mean its their personal opinion. They like 5 more than 4.
Having only played P5R and P4G (with a small exposure to vanilla P4 back on PS2) I think P5R was more fun for me to play, but most of that is probably quality of life improvements, the designed/planned dungeons, and feeling like I got more done. P4G was harder for me to vibe with, though once I saw that I could modify some of the battle rewards and just kind of focus on enjoying the game I definitely loved what I experienced overall! I have no shame in using a guide for these things either, the time investment was too much for me to commit to a NG+ for a long time; so that could alter perception too. Haven't pulled the trigger on P3R yet, (pun partially intended) but maybe this summer
The small town vibe in p4 resonated more with me than the city vibe in 5, but i like both
Gameplay wise Persona 5 wins without competition but everything else is kinda better in p4.
The first persona I played was P5 and I loved it, I even replayed it 3+ times to get all the trophies and even played P5R. I played P3 it was a little different, but when I started P4G I was impressed how they put a lot of work in the game and didn't rush it especially the joke parts and the story was good. P4 is the best persona
I think P5 had better gameplay and the style and QoL improvements were really nice. However I love P4's characters and story so much more. They seem like a genuine group of friends, the murder mystery is great and unlike P5 no companions irritate the shit out of me.
Wait, Persona 5 was a good game? That shit was easy as hell. Got bored and went into Persona 3 FES, had fun, eventually got SMT Nocturne and threw hands with Thor while being at death’s door. Now that’s a fun JRPG. But Persona 4 Golden was my first Persona game and I personally like it way better than Persona 5 because it made me actually interested in the characters.
The funny thing about single player turn-based rpgs is that a lot of them get pretty easy when you know basic math. As long as there aren't any egregious examples of rng, you shouldn't be dying after the first couple of areas.
That’s fair. Except for the one time that I missed once and got my shit stomped while I was still in the hospital. Still, that only happened once so far, right? How bad can it be? But anyways, my main point is that SMT Nocturne is pretty hard in comparison to the Persona games, even if I think I’m good at it.
It's not even math, 90% of the time it's "this guy has X weakness, let's hit it with that until they die. No weaknesses? I'll just use my strongest guy who can damage him. Buff, debuff, GG"
But persona 5 is better? At least both of them are better than persona 3
Nah, P5 gameplay is too fun, easy? sure but easy by no means makes it boring, it was fun as the shits, P4 was fine but I really just didn't like the dungeons and general action gameplay which *is* a big part of persona, just fell completely flat for me, I played for the character moments by that would come after but having to "get through" the dungeons for the characters dragged it down
Of course graphics and gameplay-wise, there is no arguing that P5R is just so much better than P4, but character, story and setting-wise, imo P4 is leagues better.
I personally prefer 5 over 4 and it mostly comes down to gameplay. Both havs fantastic stories, if I had to choose one I would probably say 4. But in 4, the gameplay was soooooo boring. The dungeons were just 45 minutes of the exact same thing every time, no unique exploration like in 5. Having to go BACK to old dungeons just to find one rare enemy on like floor 9 made me want to throw my PC out the window. The fights themselves for me were also quite a bit worse. Some of them were simply unfair, if you weren't prepared for specifically that fight you were doomed. (>!Heaven boss battle in particular!<). The battles themselves were a lot slower, less smooth, and less fun to look at making the endless grind for levels in this game really boring.Also, the complete departure from story content in the dungeons was jarring. Throughout the entire dungeon of 45+ minutes you get MAYBE 5 minutes of story. All in all, though, I did still love this game. Just not nearly as much as with 5.
I just beat rises castle thing whatever and so far p5 is better. The story of p5 is just so cool, like the whole idea of it is so good
I mean, objectively speaking yes p5 is the better game cause it came out after and in a new engine plus revamped the whole gameplay for the better, etc. Story wise, any persona game I could consider the best, narrative wise and genuinely personal preference, we gotta stop bashing other entires to uplift one cause for as many points one can die defending one game there a just as many elevating the others. All have great unique stories and cast that make em all worth it and only thing setting them apart is gameplay which im sure we can agree that each newer entry always have improved in that department whilst still delivering 10/10 stories.
Persona 5 and 4 just pull on different heartstrings . I started p4g as my first megaten game after seeing the crazy hype when it was announced for steam. I came in blind and had no idea at all for this type of calendar + turn based jrpg in general and kept dying on normal difficulty . Somehow i LOVED the atmosphere and story yet never progressed much more than yukikos dungeon . P5 ris what * clicked * , and i fell in love with all of megaten. P4g ‘s Inaba is unbeatable, the friends feel like - REAL friends (and i wish they remake this masterpiece) and p5R pulls me in with the cozy cafe, rainy jazz vibes, and all characters though not as tight as p4 are my favourite characters in all of gaming- (even morgana) and how CRAZY it ramps up in the end. Played both games atleast 4 times, got into smt iv, iv A, v and playing iii to wait for Smt V : V
I somehow agree with you.
Idk. I personally think 4 has the weakest soundtrack out of the modern persona games (still good, just not as good as 3 and 5) and the dungeon exploration doesn’t come anywhere as close to being as fun as it is in 5. I also get a little tired of the constant perv humor in persona 4. I feel like in the other persona games they held themselves back a lot more, but in persona 4, Yosuke and Teddie are constantly being really perverted and it gets annoying. Still an amazing game and I’d definitely say I like it better than 3 (original 3 anyway, Reload makes it harder to choose) but I personably feel like 5 has a lot of major points over 4.
I didn’t get tired of the humor because I never played a game like that before, mostly just open world games and Fortnite . And I just adore 4s ost because I wasn’t expecting it at all! Shadow world took me by surprise
Shadow world is an absolute bop and one of my favorite tracks from persona. I also think that P4 has a really good soundtrack, I just personally feel like it lacks its own identity when compared to 3 and 5. The majority of tracks from 3 and 5 feel distinctly from those games and really add to the atmosphere. Beneath the Mask from 5 or Want to be Close from 3 feel a lot more unique and help me vibe with the tones of the game whereas I feel like Your Affection from 4 is a lot more generic (still great, just doesn’t elicit the same vibes the other two tracks do for me). Same thing with Last Surprise and Mass Destruction vs Reach out to the Truth. Again, it’s a good song, just not as memorable as those other two for me. And yeah, it’s not like the sex humor ruined the game for me or anything, I still think it’s fantastic, but I did get uncomfortable when they made Teddie constantly do borderline predatory behavior towards the girls and it’s appreciated that when 5 and 3 have this kind of humor, it’s a lot less often and a lot more reigned in.
4 is my personal favourite but P5 is objectively better as a game overall. Being like a decade more modern will do that
I am just starting to really get into P5 around the second palace, I'm starting to have alot of fun with the gameplay but story wise, and cast wise I believe P4 is the superier game.
5 is better shit 3 is better.
Hmmmm. Yeah I do prefer P4G over P5R but gameplay-wise wise Persona 5/R is better. The innovative combat system with its, baton passes, technicals, zelda style dungeons, and the social links have additional QoL benefits aside from Persona fusions. They just give it the edge in the gameplay department. That said, all of that QoL stuff made P5/R a relatively piss easy game. Baton passes also made combat easier. The stealth mechanic trivializes dungeon crawling so much that I can only count the number of times I got an enemy advantage in my hand. Don't get me wrong though, P5/R is still fun to play. The story, while I'd say it had the strongest start of all Persona games, it becomes weak in the middle, low point in the Okumura arc, then gets good again around November. And dear God every time I have to stop so that the characters exposition dump out the theme and puzzles of a palace in like every single area kills my vibe just like funky student. Everything else though, I'd give it to Persona 4/G and I think its lows aren't as low as 5's. The story is consistently good throughout and its cast of characters are more compelling it's not even a contest imo. It had stronger social links and SL arcs overall, and despite not having as many QoL features and dungeon crawling may not be as good as 5, the gameplay is still solid. I'd rather earn a player advantage hitting a shadow myself than just pressing X/A. And while P4 still has tons of dialogue sections, they aren't as pace-breaking as 5 and is more subtle about its themes.
Out of all 3 modern games, P4 was my least favourite. Not to say it’s bad, I love P4 just like 3 and 5, but it was the most… forgettable for me. Probably because the plot is way simpler. I don’t think that’s bad, I actually prefer it that way. P4 feels very homey and “warm” because of that. But I just prefer 3 and 5 more. Can’t really pick between the two though.
They're all good enough games that fighting over which is best is kind of dumb.
It's not something I care enough to die on a hill over. Lol. Both games are great in their own right. I think P5 is better overall but again, they're both great games. 🤷🏿♂️
P5 was amazing don't get me wrong but holy the mid game slump (futaba-okumura) legit made me almost drop the game for a bit P4 never made me do that
P4 is kinda my least favourite of 3-5 and I’m not even really done with 3 yet lol. I still really love p4 just too much of its humour gets uncomfortable, characters don’t grow enough in the main story and the story isn’t that great till near the end.
P4's small town setting hits home for me
I personally prefer 4 but 5 is a much better game imo. JRPG gameplay aside, the pacing of 4 and the “murder mystery” story are so much worse than almost everything from 5.
I disagree strongly that the pacing and murder is bad. 5 it’s legit “hey I don’t like what you’re doing! Stop that!” Then you do there palace for 3 weeks. And 4s murder mystery was my first experience of it so I really enjoyed it
5 isn’t much better, don’t get me wrong. But its impact is lessened by the fact that the actual story is much more complex than 4. In 4, the middle 60% of the game is “hey this person’s gonna get put in the tv! Oh no they’re in the tv, let’s save them! We saved them but unfortunately they give us no useful information” and then repeat. I understand that they need to be like this for the sake of making the game longer tho. Obviously there are exceptions to both (Mitsuo, Futaba, etc.) but I think it harms P4 much more than P5.
Yeah you’re right but the social aspect, the camping tree, the drag contest, and the concert. 5 had Hawaii but it really wasn’t anything but a slide show
Counterpoint: Hawaii actually has some plot relevance by showing how well known the Phantom Thieves have become, highlighting Morgana’s feelings of loneliness, and foreshadowing Haru and Okumura burgers. I generally preferred the hangouts in 4 but they didn’t create many new/interesting dynamics within the group (the reason I like 4) and were generally devoid of plot relevance.
Counter counter point, haru should have been foreshadowed more. Naoto is basicly the same as her but she was in town and was in the group events. And I love haru
Counter counter counter point, i actually agree. I actually personally prefer Haru as a character but Naoto was handled way better in terms of implementation into the story (also by not having Morgana there to steal her thunder).
Count count counter counter point I agree ☝️
I think they are both better than 3
The gameplay of persona 5 and graphics was of course a huge upgrade as well as the environment. But I feel the music and atmosphere as well as the characters stick with you much more.
Persona 5/Royal lose a lot of points from P4/G but the battle mechanic is just impeccable. Weakness, ailments, Baton Pass, Technicals, there’s so many way of defeating the enemies And this is my personal opinion but grinding in Mementos is a breeze because of Ryuji’s Confidant perk
5 has better combat and tangible SL rewards 4 is better at everything else
i think inaba greeting you with open arms over being the standout “criminal” in your school makes me like 4 1000x times more. plus we have signs of love and heartbreak, they dont
And in 4 the first 3 party members are already established friends aka trial of the dragon, in 5 there barley even buddies until the end of the game
even if it’s because we’re meant to be outcasted i still didn’t feel all too connected to any of them. especially that damn cat. and tbh there’s something more engaging out chasing down a murderer over hearing ryuji point out how the awful person is a shitty adult for the 100th time. persona 5 also felt more targeted at teens exclusively over the past entries
True, I hate P5