My favorite Persona is Persona 3 FES: since I lost a sister when I was a kid, the theme and characters like Ken or Yukari reached to me a lot. I do agree with you that the Answer was necessary to give the message of 'you have to keep on living". It was a hard game to play emotionnally but the theme was perfectly written, without judging the characters' way of grieving their loss.
My condolences. I totally agree with you. I think everyone can sadly relate to this masterpiece because "death" is something everyone awaits sooner or later. We all lost loved ones and this game teaches us a perfect lesson how to cope with reality. Is beautiful and the interactive nature of the media itself (video games) made this story so much more intensive and thrilling. In my opinion P3 FES is also a S tier game and my favorite Persona game.
My condolences for your loss. I agree completely with you about the way that the game portrayed loss hitting in a very real way as opposed to prescribing dos and don’ts. For me, it tied into the experiences of losing my college best friend to suicide when he was 23 (I really had to de-sensitize to that evoker imagery…) and other friends to terminal illnesses and a car crash in elementary and college. I’ve rarely experienced any game that portrayed so much of the experience.
Yea, Persona 3 FES is my fav too and, even if the original game (not the FES) is from 2006, death and human mortality are evergreen themes that makes Persona 3 FES, even if the basis is old, really enjoyable even today
I will never forget the genuine emotion you showed during Akechi's boss fight and everything afterwards. I have seen people feeling bad, but never to the point of crying. Seeing you shed tears for him made me happy that someone could feel such love for a fictional character and it makes me believe that is what the creators intended originally with Akechi.
Honestly, as someone who can't cry due to emotions, same. Like seeing people cry for characters and or scenes... Soothes me? Makes me feel lighter? I don't know how to explain it. My best example that isn't akechi are Roxas and Zack from KH saga and ff 7cc respectively.
I cannot, for the life of me, understand the love for that character. I've shed plenty of tears for other characters, but he was so irredeemable and horrible that it makes no sense to me why people love him. He kills 2 of your party members' parents and has harmed countless other people, but people give him a pass because why?
@@Entropic_Alloy Because of a deep understanding that comes from relatability and relevance to one's life that garners sympathy and the want to see them to do better, I cried for Chie even though her story isn't especially tragic or deep in any way yet she's one of my favorite characters.
@@Entropic_Alloy Because he is not really irredeemable and was screwed over so badly and used and wanted to enact justice that it got twisted and warped and he became a pretty terrible person who had no one their to help him out or guide him yet he is just like the other Phantom Thieves with how society screwed him over and how he deserved better, he never had any real friends and people just liked him for his fake facade, overall he is a sympathic and tragic character and he is not beyond redemption especially after they spared people like Kamoshida and Shido.
@@Jdudec367 I think that Akechi berating maruki about how he will die when the world returns was his redeeming point for me, that’s how people find his character powerful, I found him very similar to a tragic hero/antagonist, rise to fame, fall, redemption, and then the devs ripping him away after and killing him off was a really good move.
Persona 3: FES literally changed my entire worldview. Aigis' monologue at the end of the base game is so incredibly powerful, and no other work of art has moved me the same way. "You don't have to change the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes, all you need is something simple. Like someone to take care of." TEARS TO THIS DAY 100/10 game
@@nightwish1453 Ohhh boy... Can't wait for Persona mascot tier list, good tier list, vending machine tier list... I mean if we can get Ace Attorney 3 Trials and Tribulations launch box tier list then we can also get one for the Persona vending machines! Who is with me!?
Liked the tier list since you gave every game an equal chance without shrugging any of the spin offs due to the fan reception. And the explanations you gave for them were quick and reasonable.
I remember finding you through P4G and P5R and honestly I’m glad I did and I think this is a very good rating (my personal favorite Persona is P4G since I enjoy the aspect of a genuine cast who interacts with one another more human-like, and also I enjoyed the idea of how the group had to learn to grow as the game went on.)
I had a super fun and VERY shallow experience playing Vanilla P5 my first two times. Like I love the game, but I never found its story or themes to resonate with me on a very deep level, but Royal was a completely different story. Made for an experience I'll never forget, and one that in a lot of ways, changed my life. Glad it resonated with you so much as well.
P5R will forever have a very special place in my heart. It's one of the few games that has genuinely touched my soul and I can 100% sympathize with your own thoughts about the experience that was P5R
Normally I’m not the type to cry at stories unless someone else is crying at them too and GIRL your blind 2/2 reaction HURTED. That and your P2 streams/Vids had me looking deeper into the game and I have a greater appreciation for its character writing. Thank you!
Personally, Persona 4 is my favorite in the series, and it's for a lot of the same reasons as you had with Persona 5 Royal. I got a lot more emotions out of Persona 4, than I have from Persona 5. But I think that both are equally great! Loved the tier list though! A lot of honestly based opinions!
For me persona 4 was the best gsme I've ever played. The characters and the cast was so wholesome and amazing. So many events and social things to do. The community was so close and the true golden ending was beautiful. They really put a lot of effort into that ending making it complete amd satisfying. It was a full package experience. I don't think any game is going to top the experience I've had with persona 4 golden for me.
I feel like, If you've experienced loss in your life P3 will always resonate strongly with you. I loved the game when I was young and to this day I still think it's the best in the series just due to how unique it is even within it's own franchise. Yukari is the defacto standout character from the game as well, her breakdown during the answer was devastating for me personaly and so damn RAW. I've also been going through P5R and was surprised how different of an experience you really get from watching it. Going in I thought I'll just be sitting there waiting for each Akechi interaction but found myself really loving Ann's link and getting so emotional over it, same with Yusuke whose pain I understand as a fellow painter. Most shocking of all though was that I fell in love with Morgana! I've only ever heard people complain about him and hate on his big fight with Ryuji and how he overshadows Haru and bla bla bla. Yet going through that part of the story I realized that people just gloss over everything and call it bad without really feeling the events! Trying to do anything in Ren's room only for him to express how worried and scared he is for Morgana was heartbreaking, realizing how much comfort Ren finds in him and how lonely he becomes is hard to watch honestly. I honestly think that whole section of the game was masterfully done!
I 100% agree with you on the answer. It blows my mind that people constantly criticize Yukari's character in it because she "goes back on her development in confronting death" but that's what I love, no one ever said that character development is permanent, those feelings you had before always come back stronger, it teaches us that even if you confront one adversity it doesn't mean you never suffer from it again, it's not about how many times you get knocked down by life, it's if you're willing to stand up again and Yukari does that, she changes and confronts her fears of loss thanks to the bond with her friends like Mitsuru who consoles her as she breaks down and lets it all out, it's just brilliant.
It's more that outside of social links for me the cast feels massively underdeveloped outside of key moments, like Junpei and his whole relationship with Chidori is ALL off screen
Thank you for not being afraid to share your opinions! I’ve seen so many people in this community being scared because of the backlash specifically when it comes to P4, because P4 fans act like the game is the second coming of Christ.
Smt 5 in d tier lol. I dislike the semi open world concept that Smt 5 went for and that lead to my dislike for the dungeons. That’s why I rank Smt 4 and apocalypse and Smt 3 above it in terms of gameplay even with minor gripes with the smirk mechanic in Smt 4 and the minimalistic story telling of Smt 3, Smt 4 atleast had a more ambitious story even if you could argue that it was flawed in certain areas you can atleast tell that they tried to tell a good story until the writer stopped being involved in Smt 4 apocalypse which was why the game was worse then Smt 4, also the change in director was more of a negative thing then a positive thing for Smt 4 which is why apocalypse suffered.
I am so glad I was able to discover your channel through your Persona content (it was actually your P3 highlights and not the P5R playthrough lol) and it was a pleasure getting to witness some of your P2 experience live. I am slowly progressing through my own Persona experience working backward from P5R (unless you can count watch the P3 movies twice already lol) and cannot wait for more Persona content from your channel, on top of the other games you play. Also, we NEED that P3 copium! PLEASE, ATLUS!
@@Gael-x999 Oh so 2 youtubers don’t have P4 as their favorite, must mean they hate it, P4 fans trying not to be the most toxic of the fandom and also victimizing themselves
@@Gael-x999 Oh my god stop being hateful and Entitled, P4 IS LITERALLY IN A tier in her list, not everybody will have your game as your favorite just because you think they should, GROW UP
@@chillswanybro just let them be, they are not worth your time, they can't even accept that people have different opinions lmao, fricking p4 stan, not all p4 fans but always a p4 fan
@@Gael-x999 I like P5R over P4G because of the UI/Aesthetic, demon negotiation, fusions & dungeons are WAY BETTER, the ability to rank up social links whenever. None of this is objective as well. You're welcome.
@@Gael-x999 Fluff? A nice looking UI is extremely important part of any video game, especially if you're playing a game for hundreds of hours. P5 is praised for it's aesthic even Masahiro Sakurai made a video on it (check it out) and it's the main reason Joker got put into Smash, which mind you boosted Persona's popularity and made it mainstream.
@@Gael-x999 P4 definitely has more cringy stuff. Teddy himself blows the other games out of the water. Hia existence makes the game the most cringe one
@@Gael-x999 Morgana is a fucking piece of shit, but he's not cringe the 99% of the time as Teddie, I love Teddie because of that but just because I love stupid humor, and I can totally see why other people hates him that much. Teddie has practically ZERO development in the whole game, Morgana on the other hand, is really obnoxious at the start but you start understanding him at the same time he does the same for himself, and see his evolution along Joker. So yeah, there's no comparison there, you either love or hate Teddie fron start to end, Morgana will surely grow up on you as you play.
I think it’s less age and more timing. I played 4G while going through a transition to my first job as an adult…and it was incredible. Still the best characters in any video game imo
I played Persona 5 Royal around 6 months ago and its some of the best gameplay I've ever experienced. I see people saying "I relate to akechi so much" or "Oh wow ann is so relatable" and stuff and that's what I love so much about the game. Every person who's played P5R relates to a different character. For me incase you were wondering I really relate to Ryuji in this game. He's a track runner who's injured and when he hit kamoshida everybody turned there back on him. I suffered a huge injury a while back in track and I missed out on lots of competition and I almost wanted to quit but in the end I knew it was my passion just like Ryuji. I've also always been a sidekick to my friends I've never considered myself the anime protagonist in any situation and I prefer to just be the Robin to my friend's batman or the Speedwagon to my friend's jonathan. Ryuji was the first confidant I maxed out and I think that was just ment to be. Long story short I fucking love Ryuji
if we’re going to share opinions on the MCs, I honestly believe that Tatsuya was the one mc that got a really special place in my heart. In IS despite him being seen as the silent badass protagonist at first glance his whole journey left me SPEECHLESS about how well his whole backstory was portrayed. His whole bond with his friends, the arguing with Katsuya, the way he kept Jun’s lighter for years and the recollection of his memories was amazing. What got me the most is that he has his own worries about his future so he didn’t feel like an empty vessel for the player. You can clearly get an idea of him without him speaking it out for you. And in Eternal Punishment, though not being playable after half of the game and not being an mc anymore, my opinions stayed the same. He already set his own personality in the first game. Because he is such a good written character, you can treat him as your own character and his own character at the same time. I love him a bit too much
Agreed. I won’t lie but he has to be my favorite character in the series. Which is crazy, because I’m not really a fan of most of the other Persona protags as characters (too much of blank slates for me to love). But his character and development is plain to see, even in IS. It’s tragic and uplifting at the same time, as is his ultimate fate. Wish more Persona fans realized just how interesting of a character he is, alongside Maya. Best protagonists of Persona, hands down.
@@wutduck1763 TRUE. I wrote this comment before I finished EP completely (at least I think I didn’t finish it at that point) and let me just say Eternal Punishment’s end was just beautiful. Major spoilers for Eternal Punishment. I get kinda sad when people say the “innocent sin” was the friends meeting in alaya shrine 10 years ago. But I believe that the REAL innocent sin was Tatsuya’s refusal to forget about his friends yet still wishing them to move on, therefore making him a paradox. LITERALLY SECONDS BEFORE IS ENDED AND YOU FIND OUT ABOUT IT EP? goddamn thats good story telling. I genuinely believe that the fans should at least realize a protag isn’t supposed to be their own character. I would prefer a protagonist who is completely different than me than an empty place holder for the player. Best persona protagonist and my favorite character ever. (Btw love the Alice pfp I love him a lot too)
Personally I don't quite agree with this list, but you have an interesting opinion on the franchise, so thank you for the video! Also, is there any chance that we get same tier list for RGG games like Yakuza and Judgment? That would be awesome!
@@CrystAAHHL awesome! Been playing through the Judgment games recently and also watching your play through on them, and I love the story and the gameplay especially in Lost is amazing.
Persona 5 will probably always be my favorite game of all time for nostalgia reasons. Back when I first played it fall of 2017 I just moved and entered high school so it entered my life at the perfect time. I always say you don't choose your favorite game your favorite game chooses you. It was the first game that actually made me tear up when I finished it, after 100+ hours with these characters it was REALLY hard to let go of them... so I played it over again. Persona 4 I also loved with all my heart and also teared up at the end but when I finished Persona 3, like two years ago... I think it was the first time I actually just sat in front of my computer crying... not just tearing up but actually crying over the ending. It wasn't a sad cry or really a happy cry... it was more like a "god damn it" type of cry if that makes sense? Like god damn, when Aigis asked "what am I doing" I was starting to tear up but then she slaps you with "You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life... Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of" and shortly after Memories of You starts playing... how could you not feel something? If Persona 3 had the gameplay of Persona 5 I really feel like it would be in the top running for greatest JRPG of all time without contest. Please for all that is holy and right in this world let the remake rumors be real *huffs fifty bags of cope*
My girlfriend loves your videos and we had an hour long discussion about this one where I had to guess the rankings and she would smile and laugh so adorably each time I got it wrong. Thank you so much for indirectly giving me that. Made my entire week.
P5 is not only the best persona game I've played, but the best game i've played period. It's the only game where I shed a tear at some point... many tears...... okay I cried.
My personal favourite Persona game is, and by a long shot, Persona 4 Golden. This game came, when i needed it the most. I suffered from bullying in high school, and these persons got so much in my head that, it started me questioning about my tastes, personality and well... over my whole being, i was starting to really think i was being weird beacuse i had a passion for videogames, and my self-esteem was lowering even more and more, i didn't even want to keep drawing (wich i love still to this day), and i wasn't giving my best in school either, wich made my mom very angry and stressed. This came with me, getting ghosts of problems and expectations that i had to achieve to make, at least, my mom happy. Once that year ended, i had to redo the year, meet new people and i was devastated mentally. This kept going until 2020, where my eyes met Persona 4 Golden for PC, i've heard abour Persona before, and great things about it, so i gave it a try, but i never knew that, this game was about to save my life and turned it upside down forever. Something about the characters and their respective arc, stroke'd me so much, that i started revaluating everything that i have witnessed and lived before. When i was entering the last battle, i knew that finishing it was saying goodbye to the cast, i wasn't ready for it, but yet i finished it, and saying goodbye to them, was almost like saying it to one of your best friends of all time, i've passed so much time with these characters that i became attached to them. This game, taught me to not be ashamed of who i am, even with my flaws as a person, i can embrace them, and mold them to make me a better person. This game taught me that i shouldn't care what some stranger that doesn't know me thinks about me, and it also told me that my tastes, are not weird or wrong, they are completly normal, and i shoulnd't be ashamed for them. As time went on, my mind started to get more and more conscious and cleaner about this. I started to practive and give mor effort to my drawings, while also giving my 100% to High School, and now i'm graduated and tomorrow will be starting a new life in an university studying graphical design. For these reasons, Persona 4 Golden, not only is my favourite Persona game, but also my favourite game of all time 💛. P.S: Seeing you putting P4 in A tier felt like a gunshot through my heart LMAO, but i respect it
P4G is my favorite because as a small town kid it really was beautiful for me to be able to play a game with such a rich gameplay and mechanics but still really live down that small town vibe that in real life i live in. it's more lighthearted in story imo compared to the other persona games and its a breather really, its a simplistic game that just screams with that normal slice of life fluff filled with lovable characters in a small but lovable town, and that's why i love it so much!
My favourite was a hard pick between P4G and P5 then when they made P5R, that was it. The story, the banging soundtrack, the fact that JP Akechi made me cry right at then end BOY that man put in work!
Hi crystal. I watched most of your persona playthrough but this is the first time I commented. I found your channel because of the dancing tier list and then before I knew it I watched many of your videos. Watching most of your persona blind through just reminds me of how I first reacted to the game. I really appreciate that you shared your experience with us because whenever I watch your videos, you re-live the same experience that I have long time ago. It feels like I play the game for the first time. Hence, your channel has become my #1 go-to channel for replay value of playing the persona games. I played all versions of P3, played P4G on vita, and OG P5 (I still haven't play P5R yet, waiting until it goes on sale). P3 is easily my favorite because a lot of reasons, but same as you the message resonated with me the most. I played P3 when I was still a kid (2007! Holy shit!), and with the release of the remaster, as an adult I find it funny that the message hits harder now. Being an adult makes you forget the simple things, I didn't realize how much I needed to hear Aigis monologue, Akinari's mother advice, and the squad hopeful messages after fighting erebus. I still cried whenever key moments of P3 show up. Keep up the good work crystal. Thank you for all the content and best of luck to you!
As an SMT fan and their spin-offs, Persona is the best spin-off turned series I have experienced. P4G was definitely my favorite for a long time until the release of P5R. I love how Atlus would make these games and their stories so fun to follow along, but the characters are- imo- better than the story as they help drive the plot to its conclusion for me. Finding you was such a breath of fresh air because you have the best commentary of your playthroughs. Your analysis of said games is also wonderful and how your views and arguments of these games being good and bad can challenge and even sway others. I appreciate you so much Crystal and look forward to the future 😊
I just got done playing p3p and I am IN LOVE with femc she is definitely my favorite protag and I really just enjoyed the game so much. I love the persona series so much it means the world to me and it makes me so happy to watch your videos I enjoy every one of them thank you Crystal
I’m glad that P5R was my first persona game. I literally clapped once I had finished it. I did like P4G a lot as well but holy moly Teddie’s constant squeaky dialogue during combat was giving me migraines.
For me, I loved Q2 more, I liked the unison attacks they added and the healing was much easier, it was also nice seeing them add more elements for the 3 and 4 characters
my first persona experience was p4 for playstation 2. i was 13/14 (29 now) at the time and i played this game while having a hard time (divorced parents, bullying at school, diagnosed mental illness) and p4 helped me through a lot. after school i played this game like a drug. i was kinda addicted to it, because i really loved the characters, story and gameplay. i annoyed my best friend with it until they loved the music of persona itself even though they dont play the franchise. p5 is in my opinion the perfect game for everything, but p4 is still the bottom of my heart my favourite game because of my personal experiences. it healed my inner child for a time and it helped me through my hardest times.
I think I might be part of the 3% of population in the world that thinks P3P is the best persona game. I played all of them, including vanilla P4 and vanilla P5. From my POV experiencing persona 1 by yourself is a really great experience, I really loved the game. For my personal ranking, all of the persona 1 to 5 are S tier games, they're just different from every other kind of RPG o JRPGs (but that comes from the perspective of someone that played the games multiple times, I played Persona 1 two times (1º route and ice queen route), Persona 2 IS two times, Persona 2 EP two times, Persona 3 nearly 6 times, Persona 4 vanilla two times and Golden 2 times, Persona 5 vanilla 2 times and Royal 2 times, so.. well, and I didnt even skipped a single dialogue, every playtrough was like 130+hs of gameplay. Well, my personal ranking is, from my favorite to least favorite (altough all of them are S tier to me), is: 1º Persona 3. (P3P is my fav game of all time btw) 2º Persona 2 Lis and EP (this mainly comes from persona 2 EP) 3º Persona 4. 4º Persona 5. 5º Persona 1.
I was slightly sus of this video not mentioning music until we got to the end and I was like THANK YOU lol Persona music is absolute fire. Literally about half the reason I love the games so much.
I like how your thoughts on P5R can basically be applied to anyone's favorite. Mine is P4G and I feel the same, it will always be that experience that sticks with me and was so memorable 15:31
I know everyone's going to be talking about it, but I agree, Persona 5 Royal really is a masterpiece of a game. The moral conflict of the third semester, and the way that despite everything that's clearly wrong it comes from someone doing their best to do a good thing just hits me so deeply. Like, to me, this game is genuinely the best writing of morally grey characters and concepts I've seen, not to mention how it encourages you to look tragedy in the eye and keep on going despite it. Idk, this game and this series as a whole has touched and changed me very deeply, so I really like hearing about how other people have had similar experiences.
I'm actually experiencing P3Fes via your twitch vods uploaded to youtube! It's actually way more enjoyable than I thought it would be. I think overall I still like P5 more than P4, but so far i think P3 is gonna also be better than P4 in my eyes. Imma keep watching.
100% agree with you on the Persona 5/Royal take, I think the hate it gets because of its popularity is totally undeserved, easily the most all around fun game in the series.
Amen! P5R is so good! it’s so emotional with every conflict how it effects a person cognition and mind. When playing the game I was reminded of my psychology on why people who are depressed inflict harm of themselves, because they cant physically feel the pain but mentally and I think that’s the worst feeling anyone can have. Especially the 3rd semester hits the soul where you go against two sides and then throw away your mask hits it’s a thing of beauty.
I actually agree with every single ranking on your playlist. Sounds weird to say, but I really do. Honestly, if I hadn’t watched this video my rankings would be slightly different, but you made some really good points and I agree with them. Also, Fire Emblem tier list when?! All jokes aside I’m interested in seeing how you would rank the Fire Emblem franchise.
I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about your game ranking. Sincerely, since you're someone who has experienced all of the games and can give their thoughts and understand the pros and cons of each one without overly criticizing for the sake of depreciating joy/interest. In terms of Persona games, P4 is my personal favorite out of all of them. I first played it in high school (10 years ago) and I fell in love instantly. The small town vibes and Japanese countryside made me nostalgic because my family in Japan lives in a town that was (before renovations) extremely similar to Yaso-Inaba. And honestly, had I not played it, I probably wouldn't be in Japan right now. P4 motivated me to pursue Japanese studies in college so I could be closer to my family and now I teach out in the countryside of Japan. I live in my personal Inaba and can only smile and appreciate my life now whenever I play or listen to the P4 soundtrack.
I have only played both P4G and P5R but if I have to choose both, as much as I love P4G, I will choose P5R for the impact it made in my life. The Third semester just hits really hard for me, it asks the players interesting questions. Even put the characters that have developed throughout vanilla and fleshed them out even more by giving the lives they all wished for. It's very interesting because trying to make them come to their senses feels like a gut punch, especially for Futaba. I was inspired with their resolve, How they will not let others decide their lives for them especially Akechi, even knowing that he'll die if he doesn't get along with Maruki's world. I also finished P5R at the perfect time of my life as well, I was going through "losing a friend" and I kept on wishing that things just go back to the way they were that's why I was so stuck on the past. Seeing the cast also overcome this and choosing once again to move on hits so very hard for me. I will never ever forget my P5R experience, it was truly a great game for me imo.
I'd say for me personally that Persona 3 has the best cast because of how different they feel compared to all the other casts. I think Junpei in particular has one of the best arcs of a best friend type character in Persona games. He doesn't immediately treat you as a natural leader. He realistically has his own doubts about that, which makes him feel a lot more real than Yosuke and Ryuji in my opinion. Another character to me that really stands out is Shinji. I firmly believe that Persona has not created a character that can rival Shinji in any of its later or earlier installations. Shinji encapsulates all of the themes that Persona 3 tackles and his main story and is genuinely one of the most well written stories I've ever come across. Also I think that the cast's personas Awakening with the story are much better than the social link Awakenings in 4 and 5. Case in point being Akihiko I think the best way you could mediate the system is have the personas awaken with the story but maybe make the rank 10 like a combat bonus so there's an incentive to do The Confidant but the character still grows on their own.
Persona 4 is my favourite. I loved the mystery part and the story in general. The best part for me is the characters ( except Teddy) and where it places. I used to stay in a very remote area like Inaba and met friends there and we hang out together like persona 4 cast. S tier for me
Just got recommended this video and I think it's a pretty solid list. I don't think P3P is a lesser experience than FES though and didn't finish Royal yet but it sure was great until the point I played. I also agree very much with P4, the more I think about it, the less it has things to think about plotwise. It's done in a pretty good way, but at the end it doesn't feel as misteryous and full of symbolism as the others.
Watching this video really got to me, I started watching you right around you starting Persona3FES as I was going through my own Persona4G journey and saw your uploads. I have loved ALL of your persona uploads, experiencing both of the 2 games for the first time through you as well, and the spinoffs such as the dancing games and Qs. I initially saw P3 through the movies but the game was so much fun with you, and I heartedly cried at the end at the last interaction on the bench with the Sun arcana's mom, bringing full light to the game's message. Thank you so so so much! You've made my years, literally, going back to 2020 for Persona 3, and ending the journey this year. I want you to keep creating content, I will always watch!!
I love how you brought up Joker and how he is more than just the self insert silent protag, they gave him huge character depth and all that jazz. Compared to p4 and p3 male protags at least.
@@theotakufangirl What action that one of the protagonists takes would the other two not take? They are identical. If Yu was in 3 or 5, the story is the same, that applies for all the games.
Personally speaking my favorite game in the Persona series is a little known title called "Aegis the First Mission". Now, I've never actually played the game since it is literally lost media, but there is a fully translated playthrough of it that was preserved through Nico Nico and has been reuploaded on TH-cam, and I will say that I personally did really fall in love with the characters and the story told in the game, even if it is incredibly short, and similar to the Q games it doesn't really get brought up again (even if it absolutely should). It's a game that stars Aigis as the protagonist and has you complete her training and a small mission where she eliminates Shadows on Yakushima Island, meeting a few new characters that only appear in this game. Yuu Kimijima is definitely the highlight among them, Aigis's creator and someone very important to the story who has her own emotional story and conflict going on throughout. I've basically made it my personal mission (haha) to make the game as well known as possible, so that more people can appreciate it and make art of it! It's hard to say if we'll ever be able to play the game again, but after the Megami Tensei LBNT trilogy got a Switch and Steam rerelease in Japan, another Atlus MegaTen game previously in an identical situation, I've felt there's some hope! It might not be your thing, but I definitely really love the game.
ATFM isn’t necessarily my favorite persona game, but I think it’s a crime that pretty much every mobile persona phone game from back in the day is lost to time (P1’s, P2 IS, P2 EP, and the numerous P3 Ones), especially considering they were full fledged products with new stories and content. I doubt Atlus even has the codes/program for them anymore but I would die to see them somehow resurface.
Really good tier list, I think most of this is what I probably feel of this games as well. And I got to give you even more points for being honest and don't fear the possible hate on your Persona 4 opinion, of course is a really controversial opinion, and I disagree bcs 3, 4 and 5 are evenly matched in my S tier ranking. BUT that's why I like to watch your playthroughs and videos bcs you are very honest. Nice video Crystal
There's technically 1 Persona game you missed, Persona's inspiration "Shin Megami Tensei: if...", of which itself was inspired by the movie "If...." starring Malcolm McDowell. Pretty much everything Persona related started in that game. I'd recommend at least watching an english translated playthrough.
I think my personal list would be P4G > P2:IS > P5R > P3Fes/Portable > PQ > P5S > Arena > P2: EP> P4D > Ultimax > P3D> P5D > Q2 > P1. P4 still has my favorite overall cast, S. Links included. It's also the only game to have ever made me tear up a bit. While the P2's are much closer than my list would have you think, I've only played the psx version of EP, which has really hurt the experience for me. Katsuya is one of my favorite characters in the entire series though. I'm probably the most critical when it comes to P5, but that's only because of how strongly I resonate with it's themes, which I feel it fumbles with a little bit. I also kind of dislike how similarly the confidants play out, which is why I love Toranosuke's confidant. Maruki is still my favorite human antagonist, even if I enjoy Adachi as a villain more, if that makes sense. P3 being the lowest of the "new" Persona's mostly has to do with gameplay over anything else. And while it still has some of the best S. Links (The dying author, the old couple, Aigis) in the whole series, it's also got some of the worst one's too (Kenji, the fat cultist kid, the rival from another school). Also being forced to cheat on your gf's if you're playing as a dude sucks, and actively ruined the Answer for me. For the Arena's I mostly just preferred how Arena 1 did it's story, multiple characters getting to be the MC, over Ultimax's, it's mostly just Labrys and Yu, with a little bit of the new characters to spice things up. PQ2 not getting a dub hurt it more than I thought it would. So much of the charm of Q1 was some the dumb thing's your party would say during battle and around the maps. Also, yeah the maps seemed less well thought out, and overall less interesting. While I understand your reasoning for preferring 3 and 5 dancing over 4, I really enjoyed the story in DAN. I also feel like P5D had the weakest songs overall. Nothing as bad as the Mass Destruction remix, but also nothing that really stood out either. I don't think there's much to say about P1, it's got cool ideas, but it's age shows a lot more than the 2 duology. I'm pretty sure you started with Royal, so I wonder if that affected how much you like Akechi. In vanilla he didn't have a Social Link, it was all crammed into his regular scenes, which wasn't great for him. Royal, and you especially, have let me appreciate him more, but the 3 years of him being kinda mid hurt my enjoyment of him as a character.
P3s story suffers from really bad pacing a big of why is that not much happens until the last quarter, and the cast feels like after their big moments they get nothing to do much, the villian group also is underutilized, tartarus also becomes quickly tedious and the mc dying means a game over is fucking awful. Social links for the cast are also really hit or miss and even with them the cast feels sorta lacking
For me p2s casts gain better overall development and are paced out the best in the persona series their closeness and interplay is genuinely fantastic too
My mom passed away. I felt guilty as if I was responsible for it. That made me connect with futaba. she was hit by a semi, which made me connect to Makoto. Rest in peace to my beautiful mom, and thanks to persona I've been able to cope with it a lot better.
I love the Persona series and I just finished royal a few days ago and was literally in tears. A big part of my love for this series comes from your content
Honestly, Persona 5 Royal is probably one of the BEST games to ever exists and got me in my feels when I finished it, I had a week to feel blue then moved onto Strikers not sure what to expect and I was NOT disappointed. The gameplay in Strikers is sooooo much fun. The whole continuation of Royal made my blues fade. ALSO, youre absolutely right, the music slaps. I have to say though, I haven't connected to game characters this much in a while. Persona 5 is truly worth the hype, them milking it and even using it as a prototype for the upcoming games. The characters, the story lines, the palaces and bosses is all well thought out. I'm so glad I got to experience it and it will forever live in my mind.
I'd like to watch your ranking for SMT games though maybe playing the other SMTs like the Devil Survivor games or Digital Devil Saga might give more materials to work with?
@@Gael-x999 What? P5 gets a lot of hate from old fans too, the most popular games of the franchise (P5 & P4) get more hate mostly because they're popular.
@@chillswany they both being hated atp. I can’t really escape those negative opinion abt p4 and p5r. If you were to ask me who is the most beloved rn in this fandom it’s p3r ofc including p3fes.
@@Hopedeeznutz I Think P3 is getting the love it deserves now, it was always regarded by a lot of people has having the best story but for some reason a lot of people talked shit about the cast not feeling like friends and the gameplay was actually not that good lol
@@chillswany well i don’t really have an opinion abt this p3 since i haven’t played it yet (was planning to play it after i finished p4g). Though i’ve heard alot of people say they don’t really like the social link bcs it feels like a dating sim so i’ll look into it when i buy this game and form my opinion. Also it’s not like any games would be loved by everyone like no other person will hate or dislike it even for a small thing. That’s why opinion exist even if it’s invalid.
When I rate/rank games, I try to keep in mind the balance between story, characters, themes, gameplay, and art direction. However, I’ve never been the best at putting that into practice and I typically favor games with the most fun gameplay and my favorite characters, rather than those with weaker gameplay but stronger stories. So with that in mind, here’s my ranking of the games I’m familiar with: 10. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (C Tier) • A game with a very solid story; one of the best stories told through video games at the time. But the actual gameplay is really bad by modern standards. And I know it’s not fair to critique a 25 year old game on today’s standards, but it just doesn’t hold up anymore. 9. Persona 2: Innocent Sin (C Tier) • A game with a better cast of characters and improved gameplay over the first game, but still outdated by today’s standards. I feel terrible about rating it low mainly for being older, but that’s just what it comes down to for me. 8. Persona 5 Strikers (C Tier) • I actually like the gameplay and I think it goes without saying that I like the characters. My main issue with the game is that there’s no consequence to going into a Jail, leaving when you get low on HP/SP, and going back in immediately to continue from where you left off. It makes the game so unsatisfying to go through because there’s no challenge or fear of running out of time to complete the Jail. And on top of that, I never felt very connected to the story, which leaves the game pretty low on my list. 7. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (B Tier) • Better story, themes, and gameplay than Innocent Sin. The fresh take on the characters and the more in-depth themes and story put this one above P5S for me. 6. Persona Q2 (B Tier) • I like the dungeon exploration gameplay and I love having all the party members from the modern Persona games interact with each other. But, yes, the dungeons themselves are less interesting than they were in the first game. 5. Persona Q (B Tier) • Very similar to PQ2, with the added pro of having better dungeons, but the con of being pre-P5 and missing all those characters. Gameplay is better though, so it gets the edge 4. Persona 3 Portable (A Tier) • This was a tough placement for me. I love being able to control the party members’ actions, but I really miss the animated cutscenes and exploring the overworld. The FeMC route is a lot of fun and I prefer her Social Links over MMC’s. Plus, the Yukiko cameo was the perfect fan service moment in my opinion. I think it’s just missing a few too many things that keeps it from being the definitive version of P3. 3. Persona 3 FES (A Tier) • Despite not having the FeMC route or direct command party members, it is the definitive P3 experience. Beautiful fully animated cutscenes, an explorable overworld, and of course The Answer epilogue. 2. Persona 4 Golden (A Tier) • The story and themes of this game aren’t as strong as they are in P3 (I definitely cried the most from P3), but I much preferred the cast. Narukami might be my favorite Persona protagonist depending on the day, and Yosuke’s my boi. Kanji is precious and one of my favorite character tropes (tough guy who’s really a softie and eventually embraces that softer side). Yukiko and Chie really feel like best friends that have history together. Naoto is wonderful, too, basically having the same arc as Kanji but with different roots and reasoning. And Nanako is the sweetest, purest, most adorable sunshine child of all time and I would throw hands with God to protect her (and I guess I have). Oh, and Teddie exists, too, I guess. 1. Persona 5 Royal (S Tier) • I mean, do I have to explain? Persona 5 Vanilla was at the top of my list even before P5R existed, and Royal just added to the greatness of the original. My favorite cast in a Persona game; my favorite art direction in any game; my favorite soundtrack of any game; and the best gameplay I’ve ever experienced in a turn-based RPG. Not to mention the incredible story and absolute endless amount of content/ways to spend time outside of Palaces. I have never once felt bored with this game, which is mind-blowing for a 100+ hour game. By this point, I don’t think it’s surprising to reveal that P5/P5R is my favorite game of all time and it’s not even close
My favorite Persona game is Q2. Both it and Tales of Berseria mean a lot to me because of the messages their stories send. Also, while the dungeons in Q2 aren’t as good as Q1’s, the battle system was SO refined, and did a much better job of integrating Persona’s mechanics into Etrian Odyssey. (By the way, you should check out Tales of Berseria! It’s a really great game that I think you’ll love!)
I have only played persona 5, i first played the vanilla version (coz my brother lent it to me saying "you'll love this!") and completed that then went onto buying and playing persona 5 Royal, twice. What i found surprising and i don't know how many other people did the same as me, but persona 5 royal does register persona 5 vanilla saves and while its not a complete new game + you still have to do all your skills and confidants again. It does give you some help early game with some money and some items if i recall correctly. I thought this was a cool feature. I do intend to try at least 3 and 4 someday but i'm really happy with my experience of persona 5 royal and would rank it very high on my favourite games of all time list
Great tier list, I love the ultimate conclusion of every Persona game at least being a high quality game because I believe that wholeheartedly! I also believe that for SMT so I'd be very curious to see your take on that franchise as well!
Definitely interested in some SMT thoughts - you've managed to stay out of the weird Megaten hivemind so far, so a fresh perspective could be fun. I'd love to see some vlogs like the P1 manga one as you work your way through!
My fav is P4 and P4G because of the mystery aspect and how well crafted it is in this game. A saying I heard is a mystery is only ever as good as it's second viewing/reading. Having gotten the true ending of 4 and playing it again with that knowledge made me appreciate the time that went into the writing. Now I do say this while not having played P3:FES all the way through(I've been spoiled on the ending), haven't touched P1 P2 or P2E. I played P5 and P5R all the way multiple times just like 4 and P5/P5R is an amazing game in presentation, music, and gameplay, but P4/P4G holds a place in my heart for being my introduction to the series as a whole and it's theme of looking for and at the truth no matter how hard it is has stuck with me
Did someone say "I love puzzles"??? Professor Layton is running at full speed in the background, lol A good tier-list! I really like how you explain the thought process and put games through the perspective of your personal experience,, and of course, everyone's experiences are different, that's why people like different games,,
I watched the p3 movies when I was a very bitter, depressed, and grieving person back in highschool. Those movies changed me for the better and I might not even be here today without them. I will always owe the Persona series everything for that.
My favorite is Persona 5 Royal, my best friend Azrael got me to play the game and I absolutely loved my experience playing. I loved the storyline, the character development, and the palaces, I am currently playing it for the 4th time. Hopefully I can explore more things that I have missed the first 3 times. You and I definitely had a very similar experience with Akechi. My friend Azrael told me that I would like him and that he would grow on me. That wasn't the case at first. I went through an absolute rollercoaster with him. I absolutely hated him at first, then he impressed me with the whole outsmarting the system during Sae's Casino Palace, then I hated him again, I think I was more confused and surprised during the 3rd semester with him. It was until during my second time playing was when Akechi finally grew on me. My friend Azrael said I told you so. While he was absolutely growing on me, I decided to be him for Halloween 2 years ago and now I'm going to be him for one of the days at the convention I'm going to in May with my friend Taylor. 😊😊😊😊
I agree with your list honestly. I love P3 so much, it's my favorite. However, P5R is such an amazing game, even with its flaws, it's incredible. The music is amazing, the ending of the original game was so hype just thinking about it is so exciting. I do like the new additions in R, but having played P5 and watching multiple playthroughs of P5R I think if you combine them together it makes for an incredible experience.
I liked P4 vanilla more than P4G. Of the added elements of Golden, I only liked the Adachi social link. Marie was a really disappointing way to handle the Izanami social link. But even P4 vanilla I would put below FES and P5R.
Persona 5 and Royal are the sole reason I know if a P3 Remake happens it will be a huge success. If there's one thing that P3F does better than Royal is literally the story. If they bring that to the level of Royal and fix most of the weird flaws in story telling social link romances and navigations that game will be the best so far in the series just for that. The thing is, I do believe they decided to go with Portable as a Remaster just to make FemC fans happy because I can't think of a Persona 3 Remake where they create two separate campaigns in the game with different cutscenes just because people want to play a happier version of the game with a flashier protagonist that feels like she came from P4 Cast.
I will always love p5r bc it helped me to don't fall in depression during 2020, the pandemic hit hard and I had some problems at home because of it, so the game really helped me to distract myself from all of that
I'll be fully honest... Persona 3 (both FES and Portable) was the only game I actually finished in the series. I'm extremely biased towards it, the themes really taught me so much about accepting life and death and how important people are in your daily life. I have watched through P4 (anime and gameplay) and P5 (gameplay), as well as read and watched through countless deep-dive analysis of P1 and both P2 games, but none of them sparked as much interest as P3 did to me. Everything about it, no matter how flawed, makes it a triple S tier for me. I love the characters so frickin much, to the point I always cry when revisiting their stories, I LOVE SHINJI WITH MY ENTIRE BEING, the music is some of my favorite music of all time and although I value all of the series... Persona 3 will always be my favorite.
Having experienced much of the persona series (Mostly cause of your channel lol) I can safely say that Persona 3 was the hardest a game had hit me in a long time. I often struggle with being vulnerable and opening up to people, and upon hitting the end of Akinari's social link, I felt myself crying before I'd even finished the post final boss scene with his mother. It made me realize I needed to be open with people because they or I might not see tomorrow for some reason or another. In that same vein, a lot of P4 had an emotional shot at me. But truly, I found myself fixated on the Strength social link, specifically Daisuke. I love him. I don't know why, but on my first run, I genuinely believed they were setting him up to be gay and interested in Kou. I finda found myself relating to a lot of his general demeanor and honestly, the social link, even if it wasn't what I expected. That social link hit so well I consider it my favorite in the game, even as a Kanji and Naoto enjoyer. To this day, when the option to acquire Zaou Gongen arrives, I take it. That persona and that social link had a strange effect on me. As for P2 and P5R and my experiences in both trying to play them and watching parts on the VOD channel. I hope to finish them myself someday. They seem like incredible games and I know it'll have it's effect. I already have a few faves from fandom interactions on the front of P5R, namely Yusuke (Neurodivergent Artist Gang). But overall, I'm just glad to have been around for the ride. Watching and playing these games has been a kickstart in my hobbies and well. Been around on this channel since I was just getting started in college. So It's been a surreal few years. I've loved being here for the DDLC, Danganronpa, Persona, SMT, Miitopia, and so many other gameplays. And unironically, it's you talking about dance that makes me want to learn at least some type of dance, someday. Hell I even considered (And tried) streaming. This comment is long enough, but I could keep rambling for hours. Thanks for the content, Crystal. I look forward to seeing what else comes.
My favorite Persona is Persona 3 FES: since I lost a sister when I was a kid, the theme and characters like Ken or Yukari reached to me a lot. I do agree with you that the Answer was necessary to give the message of 'you have to keep on living". It was a hard game to play emotionnally but the theme was perfectly written, without judging the characters' way of grieving their loss.
My condolences. I totally agree with you. I think everyone can sadly relate to this masterpiece because "death" is something everyone awaits sooner or later.
We all lost loved ones and this game teaches us a perfect lesson how to cope with reality. Is beautiful and the interactive nature of the media itself (video games) made this story so much more intensive and thrilling.
In my opinion P3 FES is also a S tier game and my favorite Persona game.
My condolences for your loss. I agree completely with you about the way that the game portrayed loss hitting in a very real way as opposed to prescribing dos and don’ts. For me, it tied into the experiences of losing my college best friend to suicide when he was 23 (I really had to de-sensitize to that evoker imagery…) and other friends to terminal illnesses and a car crash in elementary and college.
I’ve rarely experienced any game that portrayed so much of the experience.
Literally no sense
@@lazarovidal4427Fuck you mean
Yea, Persona 3 FES is my fav too and, even if the original game (not the FES) is from 2006, death and human mortality are evergreen themes that makes Persona 3 FES, even if the basis is old, really enjoyable even today
I will never forget the genuine emotion you showed during Akechi's boss fight and everything afterwards. I have seen people feeling bad, but never to the point of crying. Seeing you shed tears for him made me happy that someone could feel such love for a fictional character and it makes me believe that is what the creators intended originally with Akechi.
Honestly, as someone who can't cry due to emotions, same. Like seeing people cry for characters and or scenes... Soothes me? Makes me feel lighter? I don't know how to explain it. My best example that isn't akechi are Roxas and Zack from KH saga and ff 7cc respectively.
I cannot, for the life of me, understand the love for that character. I've shed plenty of tears for other characters, but he was so irredeemable and horrible that it makes no sense to me why people love him. He kills 2 of your party members' parents and has harmed countless other people, but people give him a pass because why?
@@Entropic_Alloy Because of a deep understanding that comes from relatability and relevance to one's life that garners sympathy and the want to see them to do better, I cried for Chie even though her story isn't especially tragic or deep in any way yet she's one of my favorite characters.
@@Entropic_Alloy Because he is not really irredeemable and was screwed over so badly and used and wanted to enact justice that it got twisted and warped and he became a pretty terrible person who had no one their to help him out or guide him yet he is just like the other Phantom Thieves with how society screwed him over and how he deserved better, he never had any real friends and people just liked him for his fake facade, overall he is a sympathic and tragic character and he is not beyond redemption especially after they spared people like Kamoshida and Shido.
@@Jdudec367 I think that Akechi berating maruki about how he will die when the world returns was his redeeming point for me, that’s how people find his character powerful, I found him very similar to a tragic hero/antagonist, rise to fame, fall, redemption, and then the devs ripping him away after and killing him off was a really good move.
Persona 3: FES literally changed my entire worldview. Aigis' monologue at the end of the base game is so incredibly powerful, and no other work of art has moved me the same way. "You don't have to change the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes, all you need is something simple. Like someone to take care of." TEARS TO THIS DAY 100/10 game
@@Gael-x999 Hol' on let the man cook
I'm shocked we got so many Persona tier lists, characters, dances but just now we got one for the GAMES itself 😂.
give it time and we might get a party member tier list of how viable they are, some of them exist already
Next she should rank her persona tier lists
@@nightwish1453 Ohhh boy... Can't wait for Persona mascot tier list, good tier list, vending machine tier list...
I mean if we can get Ace Attorney 3 Trials and Tribulations launch box tier list then we can also get one for the Persona vending machines! Who is with me!?
@@Selphie That would be such a CrystAAHHL thing to do 😂.
P4G will always be my favorite Persona game ever. From the characters, world building and the ending illustrate always keep it close to my heart.
cultured take
i love Social Links in this game
Mine as well P4G , P5, P3P can’t wait for the P3 reload to come out
I agree. I do not remember much about P5 other then about futaba.
@@Dodalalal91nah , Ana is best girl forever
Liked the tier list since you gave every game an equal chance without shrugging any of the spin offs due to the fan reception. And the explanations you gave for them were quick and reasonable.
The rumors worked 💀
69 likes
I remember finding you through P4G and P5R and honestly I’m glad I did and I think this is a very good rating (my personal favorite Persona is P4G since I enjoy the aspect of a genuine cast who interacts with one another more human-like, and also I enjoyed the idea of how the group had to learn to grow as the game went on.)
I had a super fun and VERY shallow experience playing Vanilla P5 my first two times. Like I love the game, but I never found its story or themes to resonate with me on a very deep level, but Royal was a completely different story. Made for an experience I'll never forget, and one that in a lot of ways, changed my life. Glad it resonated with you so much as well.
P5R will forever have a very special place in my heart. It's one of the few games that has genuinely touched my soul and I can 100% sympathize with your own thoughts about the experience that was P5R
Normally I’m not the type to cry at stories unless someone else is crying at them too and GIRL your blind 2/2 reaction HURTED. That and your P2 streams/Vids had me looking deeper into the game and I have a greater appreciation for its character writing. Thank you!
I'm truly honored!
Personally, Persona 4 is my favorite in the series, and it's for a lot of the same reasons as you had with Persona 5 Royal. I got a lot more emotions out of Persona 4, than I have from Persona 5. But I think that both are equally great! Loved the tier list though! A lot of honestly based opinions!
Both games are great but 4 is the best and has the most soul
Both are equally great? Nah, Persona 4 is by far the superior game.
@@musf1kgoated
@@musf1kP4 fans trying their best to not be toxic (they can’t)
Persona 4 sucks in comparison to 3 and 5
For me persona 4 was the best gsme I've ever played. The characters and the cast was so wholesome and amazing. So many events and social things to do. The community was so close and the true golden ending was beautiful. They really put a lot of effort into that ending making it complete amd satisfying. It was a full package experience. I don't think any game is going to top the experience I've had with persona 4 golden for me.
Agreed with 5, absolute masterpiece of a game. I'm playing the endgame at the minute and it's just been the best experience
I feel like, If you've experienced loss in your life P3 will always resonate strongly with you. I loved the game when I was young and to this day I still think it's the best in the series just due to how unique it is even within it's own franchise. Yukari is the defacto standout character from the game as well, her breakdown during the answer was devastating for me personaly and so damn RAW.
I've also been going through P5R and was surprised how different of an experience you really get from watching it. Going in I thought I'll just be sitting there waiting for each Akechi interaction but found myself really loving Ann's link and getting so emotional over it, same with Yusuke whose pain I understand as a fellow painter.
Most shocking of all though was that I fell in love with Morgana! I've only ever heard people complain about him and hate on his big fight with Ryuji and how he overshadows Haru and bla bla bla. Yet going through that part of the story I realized that people just gloss over everything and call it bad without really feeling the events! Trying to do anything in Ren's room only for him to express how worried and scared he is for Morgana was heartbreaking, realizing how much comfort Ren finds in him and how lonely he becomes is hard to watch honestly. I honestly think that whole section of the game was masterfully done!
I have played and beaten the entire mainline franchise. I think 4g is also s tier but 4 vanilla was my first persona game so I'm biased
I 100% agree with you on the answer. It blows my mind that people constantly criticize Yukari's character in it because she "goes back on her development in confronting death" but that's what I love, no one ever said that character development is permanent, those feelings you had before always come back stronger, it teaches us that even if you confront one adversity it doesn't mean you never suffer from it again, it's not about how many times you get knocked down by life, it's if you're willing to stand up again and Yukari does that, she changes and confronts her fears of loss thanks to the bond with her friends like Mitsuru who consoles her as she breaks down and lets it all out, it's just brilliant.
It's more that outside of social links for me the cast feels massively underdeveloped outside of key moments, like Junpei and his whole relationship with Chidori is ALL off screen
@@RocketSlime wait it is? I've only played reload. Chidori stuff is off screen????
wow those persona 2 rumors really worked
Thank you for not being afraid to share your opinions! I’ve seen so many people in this community being scared because of the backlash specifically when it comes to P4, because P4 fans act like the game is the second coming of Christ.
Agreed!
Truer words have never been spoken
The idea of a murder mystery Persona game is SO perfect. If only the mystery had had a more interesting solution.
you’re so real for the persona 4 placing
Definitely would want an SMT thoughts video. It is such an interesting series with themes I would love to here you discuss.
Smt 5 in d tier lol. I dislike the semi open world concept that Smt 5 went for and that lead to my dislike for the dungeons. That’s why I rank Smt 4 and apocalypse and Smt 3 above it in terms of gameplay even with minor gripes with the smirk mechanic in Smt 4 and the minimalistic story telling of Smt 3, Smt 4 atleast had a more ambitious story even if you could argue that it was flawed in certain areas you can atleast tell that they tried to tell a good story until the writer stopped being involved in Smt 4 apocalypse which was why the game was worse then Smt 4, also the change in director was more of a negative thing then a positive thing for Smt 4 which is why apocalypse suffered.
I am so glad I was able to discover your channel through your Persona content (it was actually your P3 highlights and not the P5R playthrough lol) and it was a pleasure getting to witness some of your P2 experience live. I am slowly progressing through my own Persona experience working backward from P5R (unless you can count watch the P3 movies twice already lol) and cannot wait for more Persona content from your channel, on top of the other games you play.
Also, we NEED that P3 copium! PLEASE, ATLUS!
the P3 and jsr hopium has been leaked man, I can't take this anymore
I just want a full-ass Remake of the 2 Duology as one Super Game.
Literally got this recommended to me because I'm playing through the P3 remake you manifested here. Thank you kind citizen
Finally a youtuber that shares my opinion with p4g
@@Gael-x999 Oh so 2 youtubers don’t have P4 as their favorite, must mean they hate it, P4 fans trying not to be the most toxic of the fandom and also victimizing themselves
@@Gael-x999 bro touch some grass, please it's just a videogame bro no need to get all political lol
@@Gael-x999 Oh my god stop being hateful and Entitled, P4 IS LITERALLY IN A tier in her list, not everybody will have your game as your favorite just because you think they should, GROW UP
@@chillswanybro just let them be, they are not worth your time, they can't even accept that people have different opinions lmao, fricking p4 stan, not all p4 fans but always a p4 fan
@@cristianoducceschi3547 Ikr, bro is acting like it’s a crime to dislike P4 when I never said enough about it being bad or Crystal hates it
Persona 4 is one of those games you've had to play at the right time during your life to love. Mostly around the teenage years.
@@Gael-x999 I like P5R over P4G because of the UI/Aesthetic, demon negotiation, fusions & dungeons are WAY BETTER, the ability to rank up social links whenever. None of this is objective as well. You're welcome.
@@Gael-x999 Fluff? A nice looking UI is extremely important part of any video game, especially if you're playing a game for hundreds of hours. P5 is praised for it's aesthic even Masahiro Sakurai made a video on it (check it out) and it's the main reason Joker got put into Smash, which mind you boosted Persona's popularity and made it mainstream.
@@Gael-x999 P4 definitely has more cringy stuff. Teddy himself blows the other games out of the water. Hia existence makes the game the most cringe one
@@Gael-x999 Morgana is a fucking piece of shit, but he's not cringe the 99% of the time as Teddie, I love Teddie because of that but just because I love stupid humor, and I can totally see why other people hates him that much. Teddie has practically ZERO development in the whole game, Morgana on the other hand, is really obnoxious at the start but you start understanding him at the same time he does the same for himself, and see his evolution along Joker. So yeah, there's no comparison there, you either love or hate Teddie fron start to end, Morgana will surely grow up on you as you play.
I think it’s less age and more timing. I played 4G while going through a transition to my first job as an adult…and it was incredible. Still the best characters in any video game imo
I played Persona 5 Royal around 6 months ago and its some of the best gameplay I've ever experienced. I see people saying "I relate to akechi so much" or "Oh wow ann is so relatable" and stuff and that's what I love so much about the game. Every person who's played P5R relates to a different character. For me incase you were wondering I really relate to Ryuji in this game. He's a track runner who's injured and when he hit kamoshida everybody turned there back on him. I suffered a huge injury a while back in track and I missed out on lots of competition and I almost wanted to quit but in the end I knew it was my passion just like Ryuji. I've also always been a sidekick to my friends I've never considered myself the anime protagonist in any situation and I prefer to just be the Robin to my friend's batman or the Speedwagon to my friend's jonathan. Ryuji was the first confidant I maxed out and I think that was just ment to be. Long story short I fucking love Ryuji
if we’re going to share opinions on the MCs, I honestly believe that Tatsuya was the one mc that got a really special place in my heart. In IS despite him being seen as the silent badass protagonist at first glance his whole journey left me SPEECHLESS about how well his whole backstory was portrayed. His whole bond with his friends, the arguing with Katsuya, the way he kept Jun’s lighter for years and the recollection of his memories was amazing. What got me the most is that he has his own worries about his future so he didn’t feel like an empty vessel for the player. You can clearly get an idea of him without him speaking it out for you. And in Eternal Punishment, though not being playable after half of the game and not being an mc anymore, my opinions stayed the same. He already set his own personality in the first game. Because he is such a good written character, you can treat him as your own character and his own character at the same time. I love him a bit too much
Agreed. I won’t lie but he has to be my favorite character in the series. Which is crazy, because I’m not really a fan of most of the other Persona protags as characters (too much of blank slates for me to love). But his character and development is plain to see, even in IS. It’s tragic and uplifting at the same time, as is his ultimate fate. Wish more Persona fans realized just how interesting of a character he is, alongside Maya. Best protagonists of Persona, hands down.
@@wutduck1763 TRUE. I wrote this comment before I finished EP completely (at least I think I didn’t finish it at that point) and let me just say Eternal Punishment’s end was just beautiful.
Major spoilers for Eternal Punishment.
I get kinda sad when people say the “innocent sin” was the friends meeting in alaya shrine 10 years ago. But I believe that the REAL innocent sin was Tatsuya’s refusal to forget about his friends yet still wishing them to move on, therefore making him a paradox. LITERALLY SECONDS BEFORE IS ENDED AND YOU FIND OUT ABOUT IT EP? goddamn thats good story telling.
I genuinely believe that the fans should at least realize a protag isn’t supposed to be their own character. I would prefer a protagonist who is completely different than me than an empty place holder for the player. Best persona protagonist and my favorite character ever.
(Btw love the Alice pfp I love him a lot too)
Personally I don't quite agree with this list, but you have an interesting opinion on the franchise, so thank you for the video! Also, is there any chance that we get same tier list for RGG games like Yakuza and Judgment? That would be awesome!
Absolutely will do that for Yakuza/Judgment franchise eventually!
@@CrystAAHHL Hell yeah! We can't wait for that too
@@CrystAAHHL awesome! Been playing through the Judgment games recently and also watching your play through on them, and I love the story and the gameplay especially in Lost is amazing.
Persona 5 will probably always be my favorite game of all time for nostalgia reasons. Back when I first played it fall of 2017 I just moved and entered high school so it entered my life at the perfect time. I always say you don't choose your favorite game your favorite game chooses you. It was the first game that actually made me tear up when I finished it, after 100+ hours with these characters it was REALLY hard to let go of them... so I played it over again. Persona 4 I also loved with all my heart and also teared up at the end but when I finished Persona 3, like two years ago... I think it was the first time I actually just sat in front of my computer crying... not just tearing up but actually crying over the ending. It wasn't a sad cry or really a happy cry... it was more like a "god damn it" type of cry if that makes sense? Like god damn, when Aigis asked "what am I doing" I was starting to tear up but then she slaps you with "You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life... Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of" and shortly after Memories of You starts playing... how could you not feel something? If Persona 3 had the gameplay of Persona 5 I really feel like it would be in the top running for greatest JRPG of all time without contest.
Please for all that is holy and right in this world let the remake rumors be real *huffs fifty bags of cope*
got news for ya
@@guilherememe It’s everything I wanted and then some.
My girlfriend loves your videos and we had an hour long discussion about this one where I had to guess the rankings and she would smile and laugh so adorably each time I got it wrong. Thank you so much for indirectly giving me that. Made my entire week.
that's actually really adorable lol!!
P5 is not only the best persona game I've played, but the best game i've played period. It's the only game where I shed a tear at some point... many tears...... okay I cried.
My personal favourite Persona game is, and by a long shot, Persona 4 Golden. This game came, when i needed it the most.
I suffered from bullying in high school, and these persons got so much in my head that, it started me questioning about my tastes, personality and well... over my whole being, i was starting to really think i was being weird beacuse i had a passion for videogames, and my self-esteem was lowering even more and more, i didn't even want to keep drawing (wich i love still to this day), and i wasn't giving my best in school either, wich made my mom very angry and stressed. This came with me, getting ghosts of problems and expectations that i had to achieve to make, at least, my mom happy. Once that year ended, i had to redo the year, meet new people and i was devastated mentally. This kept going until 2020, where my eyes met Persona 4 Golden for PC, i've heard abour Persona before, and great things about it, so i gave it a try, but i never knew that, this game was about to save my life and turned it upside down forever. Something about the characters and their respective arc, stroke'd me so much, that i started revaluating everything that i have witnessed and lived before.
When i was entering the last battle, i knew that finishing it was saying goodbye to the cast, i wasn't ready for it, but yet i finished it, and saying goodbye to them, was almost like saying it to one of your best friends of all time, i've passed so much time with these characters that i became attached to them. This game, taught me to not be ashamed of who i am, even with my flaws as a person, i can embrace them, and mold them to make me a better person. This game taught me that i shouldn't care what some stranger that doesn't know me thinks about me, and it also told me that my tastes, are not weird or wrong, they are completly normal, and i shoulnd't be ashamed for them. As time went on, my mind started to get more and more conscious and cleaner about this. I started to practive and give mor effort to my drawings, while also giving my 100% to High School, and now i'm graduated and tomorrow will be starting a new life in an university studying graphical design.
For these reasons, Persona 4 Golden, not only is my favourite Persona game, but also my favourite game of all time 💛.
P.S: Seeing you putting P4 in A tier felt like a gunshot through my heart LMAO, but i respect it
6:17 watching this in the future, lol
P4G is my favorite because as a small town kid it really was beautiful for me to be able to play a game with such a rich gameplay and mechanics but still really live down that small town vibe that in real life i live in. it's more lighthearted in story imo compared to the other persona games and its a breather really, its a simplistic game that just screams with that normal slice of life fluff filled with lovable characters in a small but lovable town, and that's why i love it so much!
My favourite was a hard pick between P4G and P5 then when they made P5R, that was it. The story, the banging soundtrack, the fact that JP Akechi made me cry right at then end BOY that man put in work!
Royal in S TIER CRYSTAL?!
Take my like.
Hi crystal. I watched most of your persona playthrough but this is the first time I commented. I found your channel because of the dancing tier list and then before I knew it I watched many of your videos.
Watching most of your persona blind through just reminds me of how I first reacted to the game. I really appreciate that you shared your experience with us because whenever I watch your videos, you re-live the same experience that I have long time ago. It feels like I play the game for the first time. Hence, your channel has become my #1 go-to channel for replay value of playing the persona games.
I played all versions of P3, played P4G on vita, and OG P5 (I still haven't play P5R yet, waiting until it goes on sale). P3 is easily my favorite because a lot of reasons, but same as you the message resonated with me the most. I played P3 when I was still a kid (2007! Holy shit!), and with the release of the remaster, as an adult I find it funny that the message hits harder now. Being an adult makes you forget the simple things, I didn't realize how much I needed to hear Aigis monologue, Akinari's mother advice, and the squad hopeful messages after fighting erebus. I still cried whenever key moments of P3 show up.
Keep up the good work crystal. Thank you for all the content and best of luck to you!
As an SMT fan and their spin-offs, Persona is the best spin-off turned series I have experienced. P4G was definitely my favorite for a long time until the release of P5R. I love how Atlus would make these games and their stories so fun to follow along, but the characters are- imo- better than the story as they help drive the plot to its conclusion for me. Finding you was such a breath of fresh air because you have the best commentary of your playthroughs. Your analysis of said games is also wonderful and how your views and arguments of these games being good and bad can challenge and even sway others. I appreciate you so much Crystal and look forward to the future 😊
I just got done playing p3p and I am IN LOVE with femc she is definitely my favorite protag and I really just enjoyed the game so much. I love the persona series so much it means the world to me and it makes me so happy to watch your videos I enjoy every one of them thank you Crystal
i would LOVE an SMT video from you !!!!
I’m glad that P5R was my first persona game. I literally clapped once I had finished it. I did like P4G a lot as well but holy moly Teddie’s constant squeaky dialogue during combat was giving me migraines.
There's a reason I would mute the navigators
For me, I loved Q2 more, I liked the unison attacks they added and the healing was much easier, it was also nice seeing them add more elements for the 3 and 4 characters
my first persona experience was p4 for playstation 2. i was 13/14 (29 now) at the time and i played this game while having a hard time (divorced parents, bullying at school, diagnosed mental illness) and p4 helped me through a lot. after school i played this game like a drug. i was kinda addicted to it, because i really loved the characters, story and gameplay. i annoyed my best friend with it until they loved the music of persona itself even though they dont play the franchise. p5 is in my opinion the perfect game for everything, but p4 is still the bottom of my heart my favourite game because of my personal experiences. it healed my inner child for a time and it helped me through my hardest times.
I think I might be part of the 3% of population in the world that thinks P3P is the best persona game. I played all of them, including vanilla P4 and vanilla P5. From my POV experiencing persona 1 by yourself is a really great experience, I really loved the game. For my personal ranking, all of the persona 1 to 5 are S tier games, they're just different from every other kind of RPG o JRPGs (but that comes from the perspective of someone that played the games multiple times, I played Persona 1 two times (1º route and ice queen route), Persona 2 IS two times, Persona 2 EP two times, Persona 3 nearly 6 times, Persona 4 vanilla two times and Golden 2 times, Persona 5 vanilla 2 times and Royal 2 times, so.. well, and I didnt even skipped a single dialogue, every playtrough was like 130+hs of gameplay. Well, my personal ranking is, from my favorite to least favorite (altough all of them are S tier to me), is:
1º Persona 3. (P3P is my fav game of all time btw)
2º Persona 2 Lis and EP (this mainly comes from persona 2 EP)
3º Persona 4.
4º Persona 5.
5º Persona 1.
I'm so glad she spread those rumors about P3 Remake. It took 10 months, but thank you Crystaahhl!
I was slightly sus of this video not mentioning music until we got to the end and I was like THANK YOU lol Persona music is absolute fire. Literally about half the reason I love the games so much.
I like how your thoughts on P5R can basically be applied to anyone's favorite. Mine is P4G and I feel the same, it will always be that experience that sticks with me and was so memorable 15:31
ペルソナ3・ペルソナ4・ペルソナ5をやった後に、実際にある日本の都市へ行ってしまいます
私は、ペルソナ5の渋谷や三軒茶屋 ペルソナ4の甲府や月江寺や新倉山展望台 ペルソナ3の新橋・お台場などなどを実際にいると思って観光してきました
その場所へ行くと涙がこぼれるほど感動してしまう
ペルソナ5が好きなら1度 渋谷と三軒茶屋へどうぞ 同じものが観れますよ
I know everyone's going to be talking about it, but I agree, Persona 5 Royal really is a masterpiece of a game. The moral conflict of the third semester, and the way that despite everything that's clearly wrong it comes from someone doing their best to do a good thing just hits me so deeply. Like, to me, this game is genuinely the best writing of morally grey characters and concepts I've seen, not to mention how it encourages you to look tragedy in the eye and keep on going despite it. Idk, this game and this series as a whole has touched and changed me very deeply, so I really like hearing about how other people have had similar experiences.
I'm actually experiencing P3Fes via your twitch vods uploaded to youtube! It's actually way more enjoyable than I thought it would be. I think overall I still like P5 more than P4, but so far i think P3 is gonna also be better than P4 in my eyes. Imma keep watching.
100% agree with you on the Persona 5/Royal take, I think the hate it gets because of its popularity is totally undeserved, easily the most all around fun game in the series.
P3 and 4 fans are just pissy there favorite game isn't as popular. Sadly them doing that hurts peoples perspective of the other games.
@@davidc. I 100% agree with both of you.
Amen! P5R is so good! it’s so emotional with every conflict how it effects a person cognition and mind. When playing the game I was reminded of my psychology on why people who are depressed inflict harm of themselves, because they cant physically feel the pain but mentally and I think that’s the worst feeling anyone can have. Especially the 3rd semester hits the soul where you go against two sides and then throw away your mask hits it’s a thing of beauty.
I actually agree with every single ranking on your playlist. Sounds weird to say, but I really do. Honestly, if I hadn’t watched this video my rankings would be slightly different, but you made some really good points and I agree with them. Also, Fire Emblem tier list when?! All jokes aside I’m interested in seeing how you would rank the Fire Emblem franchise.
I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about your game ranking. Sincerely, since you're someone who has experienced all of the games and can give their thoughts and understand the pros and cons of each one without overly criticizing for the sake of depreciating joy/interest.
In terms of Persona games, P4 is my personal favorite out of all of them. I first played it in high school (10 years ago) and I fell in love instantly. The small town vibes and Japanese countryside made me nostalgic because my family in Japan lives in a town that was (before renovations) extremely similar to Yaso-Inaba. And honestly, had I not played it, I probably wouldn't be in Japan right now. P4 motivated me to pursue Japanese studies in college so I could be closer to my family and now I teach out in the countryside of Japan. I live in my personal Inaba and can only smile and appreciate my life now whenever I play or listen to the P4 soundtrack.
I have only played both P4G and P5R but if I have to choose both, as much as I love P4G, I will choose P5R for the impact it made in my life. The Third semester just hits really hard for me, it asks the players interesting questions. Even put the characters that have developed throughout vanilla and fleshed them out even more by giving the lives they all wished for. It's very interesting because trying to make them come to their senses feels like a gut punch, especially for Futaba. I was inspired with their resolve, How they will not let others decide their lives for them especially Akechi, even knowing that he'll die if he doesn't get along with Maruki's world. I also finished P5R at the perfect time of my life as well, I was going through "losing a friend" and I kept on wishing that things just go back to the way they were that's why I was so stuck on the past. Seeing the cast also overcome this and choosing once again to move on hits so very hard for me. I will never ever forget my P5R experience, it was truly a great game for me imo.
I'd say for me personally that Persona 3 has the best cast because of how different they feel compared to all the other casts. I think Junpei in particular has one of the best arcs of a best friend type character in Persona games. He doesn't immediately treat you as a natural leader. He realistically has his own doubts about that, which makes him feel a lot more real than Yosuke and Ryuji in my opinion. Another character to me that really stands out is Shinji. I firmly believe that Persona has not created a character that can rival Shinji in any of its later or earlier installations. Shinji encapsulates all of the themes that Persona 3 tackles and his main story and is genuinely one of the most well written stories I've ever come across. Also I think that the cast's personas Awakening with the story are much better than the social link Awakenings in 4 and 5. Case in point being Akihiko I think the best way you could mediate the system is have the personas awaken with the story but maybe make the rank 10 like a combat bonus so there's an incentive to do The Confidant but the character still grows on their own.
Persona 4 is my favourite. I loved the mystery part and the story in general. The best part for me is the characters ( except Teddy) and where it places. I used to stay in a very remote area like Inaba and met friends there and we hang out together like persona 4 cast.
S tier for me
Just got recommended this video and I think it's a pretty solid list. I don't think P3P is a lesser experience than FES though and didn't finish Royal yet but it sure was great until the point I played.
I also agree very much with P4, the more I think about it, the less it has things to think about plotwise. It's done in a pretty good way, but at the end it doesn't feel as misteryous and full of symbolism as the others.
6:15 Well, it worked.
13:02 This bit was genuinely kinda funny for some reason even though I've seen it done so many times😅
Loved the video
Watching this video really got to me, I started watching you right around you starting Persona3FES as I was going through my own Persona4G journey and saw your uploads. I have loved ALL of your persona uploads, experiencing both of the 2 games for the first time through you as well, and the spinoffs such as the dancing games and Qs. I initially saw P3 through the movies but the game was so much fun with you, and I heartedly cried at the end at the last interaction on the bench with the Sun arcana's mom, bringing full light to the game's message. Thank you so so so much! You've made my years, literally, going back to 2020 for Persona 3, and ending the journey this year. I want you to keep creating content, I will always watch!!
Persona is my 2nd Favorite VideoGame Series of All Time
Great list. Yup I agree. P5R is one of the best games of all times. The more I play it the better it gets. It's top 3 for sure.
I love how you brought up Joker and how he is more than just the self insert silent protag, they gave him huge character depth and all that jazz. Compared to p4 and p3 male protags at least.
I think in the game they are all bland
@@Just_Liqourice that’s a dumb opinion 🤣
@@theotakufangirl That is factual
@@Just_Liqourice then why say it LOL
@@theotakufangirl What action that one of the protagonists takes would the other two not take? They are identical. If Yu was in 3 or 5, the story is the same, that applies for all the games.
i was waiting so long for this lets goooo
Personally speaking my favorite game in the Persona series is a little known title called "Aegis the First Mission". Now, I've never actually played the game since it is literally lost media, but there is a fully translated playthrough of it that was preserved through Nico Nico and has been reuploaded on TH-cam, and I will say that I personally did really fall in love with the characters and the story told in the game, even if it is incredibly short, and similar to the Q games it doesn't really get brought up again (even if it absolutely should). It's a game that stars Aigis as the protagonist and has you complete her training and a small mission where she eliminates Shadows on Yakushima Island, meeting a few new characters that only appear in this game. Yuu Kimijima is definitely the highlight among them, Aigis's creator and someone very important to the story who has her own emotional story and conflict going on throughout. I've basically made it my personal mission (haha) to make the game as well known as possible, so that more people can appreciate it and make art of it! It's hard to say if we'll ever be able to play the game again, but after the Megami Tensei LBNT trilogy got a Switch and Steam rerelease in Japan, another Atlus MegaTen game previously in an identical situation, I've felt there's some hope! It might not be your thing, but I definitely really love the game.
ATFM isn’t necessarily my favorite persona game, but I think it’s a crime that pretty much every mobile persona phone game from back in the day is lost to time (P1’s, P2 IS, P2 EP, and the numerous P3 Ones), especially considering they were full fledged products with new stories and content. I doubt Atlus even has the codes/program for them anymore but I would die to see them somehow resurface.
Goddamn pinoy's editing is so damn good 😂
Great video as usual Crystaahhl!! 🫶
And here we are getting P3R.
I am absolutely looking forward to watching you play through it.❤️
Really good tier list, I think most of this is what I probably feel of this games as well.
And I got to give you even more points for being honest and don't fear the possible hate on your Persona 4 opinion, of course is a really controversial opinion, and I disagree bcs 3, 4 and 5 are evenly matched in my S tier ranking. BUT that's why I like to watch your playthroughs and videos bcs you are very honest.
Nice video Crystal
There's technically 1 Persona game you missed, Persona's inspiration "Shin Megami Tensei: if...", of which itself was inspired by the movie "If...." starring Malcolm McDowell. Pretty much everything Persona related started in that game. I'd recommend at least watching an english translated playthrough.
I think my personal list would be P4G > P2:IS > P5R > P3Fes/Portable > PQ > P5S > Arena > P2: EP> P4D > Ultimax > P3D> P5D > Q2 > P1.
P4 still has my favorite overall cast, S. Links included. It's also the only game to have ever made me tear up a bit.
While the P2's are much closer than my list would have you think, I've only played the psx version of EP, which has really hurt the experience for me. Katsuya is one of my favorite characters in the entire series though.
I'm probably the most critical when it comes to P5, but that's only because of how strongly I resonate with it's themes, which I feel it fumbles with a little bit. I also kind of dislike how similarly the confidants play out, which is why I love Toranosuke's confidant. Maruki is still my favorite human antagonist, even if I enjoy Adachi as a villain more, if that makes sense.
P3 being the lowest of the "new" Persona's mostly has to do with gameplay over anything else. And while it still has some of the best S. Links (The dying author, the old couple, Aigis) in the whole series, it's also got some of the worst one's too (Kenji, the fat cultist kid, the rival from another school). Also being forced to cheat on your gf's if you're playing as a dude sucks, and actively ruined the Answer for me.
For the Arena's I mostly just preferred how Arena 1 did it's story, multiple characters getting to be the MC, over Ultimax's, it's mostly just Labrys and Yu, with a little bit of the new characters to spice things up.
PQ2 not getting a dub hurt it more than I thought it would. So much of the charm of Q1 was some the dumb thing's your party would say during battle and around the maps. Also, yeah the maps seemed less well thought out, and overall less interesting.
While I understand your reasoning for preferring 3 and 5 dancing over 4, I really enjoyed the story in DAN. I also feel like P5D had the weakest songs overall. Nothing as bad as the Mass Destruction remix, but also nothing that really stood out either.
I don't think there's much to say about P1, it's got cool ideas, but it's age shows a lot more than the 2 duology.
I'm pretty sure you started with Royal, so I wonder if that affected how much you like Akechi. In vanilla he didn't have a Social Link, it was all crammed into his regular scenes, which wasn't great for him. Royal, and you especially, have let me appreciate him more, but the 3 years of him being kinda mid hurt my enjoyment of him as a character.
P3s story suffers from really bad pacing a big of why is that not much happens until the last quarter, and the cast feels like after their big moments they get nothing to do much, the villian group also is underutilized, tartarus also becomes quickly tedious and the mc dying means a game over is fucking awful. Social links for the cast are also really hit or miss and even with them the cast feels sorta lacking
For me p2s casts gain better overall development and are paced out the best in the persona series their closeness and interplay is genuinely fantastic too
My mom passed away. I felt guilty as if I was responsible for it. That made me connect with futaba. she was hit by a semi, which made me connect to Makoto. Rest in peace to my beautiful mom, and thanks to persona I've been able to cope with it a lot better.
I love the Persona series and I just finished royal a few days ago and was literally in tears. A big part of my love for this series comes from your content
Honestly, Persona 5 Royal is probably one of the BEST games to ever exists and got me in my feels when I finished it, I had a week to feel blue then moved onto Strikers not sure what to expect and I was NOT disappointed. The gameplay in Strikers is sooooo much fun.
The whole continuation of Royal made my blues fade. ALSO, youre absolutely right, the music slaps.
I have to say though, I haven't connected to game characters this much in a while. Persona 5 is truly worth the hype, them milking it and even using it as a prototype for the upcoming games.
The characters, the story lines, the palaces and bosses is all well thought out. I'm so glad I got to experience it and it will forever live in my mind.
I'd like to watch your ranking for SMT games though maybe playing the other SMTs like the Devil Survivor games or Digital Devil Saga might give more materials to work with?
I experienced all the persona games, played P1 psp, P3 fes to p5r plus spin-offs, watched the P2 games, and P5R gets first place for me too
Great list! The PQ Games are severely underated. I agree with mostly everything, except that P4G belongs in the S tier as well.
@@Gael-x999 What? P5 gets a lot of hate from old fans too, the most popular games of the franchise (P5 & P4) get more hate mostly because they're popular.
@@Gael-x999this is crazy when P4 is literally the most beloved one, everyone hates on P5 just because it’s the more mainstream one
@@chillswany they both being hated atp. I can’t really escape those negative opinion abt p4 and p5r. If you were to ask me who is the most beloved rn in this fandom it’s p3r ofc including p3fes.
@@Hopedeeznutz I Think P3 is getting the love it deserves now, it was always regarded by a lot of people has having the best story but for some reason a lot of people talked shit about the cast not feeling like friends and the gameplay was actually not that good lol
@@chillswany well i don’t really have an opinion abt this p3 since i haven’t played it yet (was planning to play it after i finished p4g). Though i’ve heard alot of people say they don’t really like the social link bcs it feels like a dating sim so i’ll look into it when i buy this game and form my opinion. Also it’s not like any games would be loved by everyone like no other person will hate or dislike it even for a small thing. That’s why opinion exist even if it’s invalid.
SMT thoughts for sure ! Great video !
When I rate/rank games, I try to keep in mind the balance between story, characters, themes, gameplay, and art direction. However, I’ve never been the best at putting that into practice and I typically favor games with the most fun gameplay and my favorite characters, rather than those with weaker gameplay but stronger stories. So with that in mind, here’s my ranking of the games I’m familiar with:
10. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (C Tier)
• A game with a very solid story; one of the best stories told through video games at the time. But the actual gameplay is really bad by modern standards. And I know it’s not fair to critique a 25 year old game on today’s standards, but it just doesn’t hold up anymore.
9. Persona 2: Innocent Sin (C Tier)
• A game with a better cast of characters and improved gameplay over the first game, but still outdated by today’s standards. I feel terrible about rating it low mainly for being older, but that’s just what it comes down to for me.
8. Persona 5 Strikers (C Tier)
• I actually like the gameplay and I think it goes without saying that I like the characters. My main issue with the game is that there’s no consequence to going into a Jail, leaving when you get low on HP/SP, and going back in immediately to continue from where you left off. It makes the game so unsatisfying to go through because there’s no challenge or fear of running out of time to complete the Jail. And on top of that, I never felt very connected to the story, which leaves the game pretty low on my list.
7. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (B Tier)
• Better story, themes, and gameplay than Innocent Sin. The fresh take on the characters and the more in-depth themes and story put this one above P5S for me.
6. Persona Q2 (B Tier)
• I like the dungeon exploration gameplay and I love having all the party members from the modern Persona games interact with each other. But, yes, the dungeons themselves are less interesting than they were in the first game.
5. Persona Q (B Tier)
• Very similar to PQ2, with the added pro of having better dungeons, but the con of being pre-P5 and missing all those characters. Gameplay is better though, so it gets the edge
4. Persona 3 Portable (A Tier)
• This was a tough placement for me. I love being able to control the party members’ actions, but I really miss the animated cutscenes and exploring the overworld. The FeMC route is a lot of fun and I prefer her Social Links over MMC’s. Plus, the Yukiko cameo was the perfect fan service moment in my opinion. I think it’s just missing a few too many things that keeps it from being the definitive version of P3.
3. Persona 3 FES (A Tier)
• Despite not having the FeMC route or direct command party members, it is the definitive P3 experience. Beautiful fully animated cutscenes, an explorable overworld, and of course The Answer epilogue.
2. Persona 4 Golden (A Tier)
• The story and themes of this game aren’t as strong as they are in P3 (I definitely cried the most from P3), but I much preferred the cast. Narukami might be my favorite Persona protagonist depending on the day, and Yosuke’s my boi. Kanji is precious and one of my favorite character tropes (tough guy who’s really a softie and eventually embraces that softer side). Yukiko and Chie really feel like best friends that have history together. Naoto is wonderful, too, basically having the same arc as Kanji but with different roots and reasoning. And Nanako is the sweetest, purest, most adorable sunshine child of all time and I would throw hands with God to protect her (and I guess I have). Oh, and Teddie exists, too, I guess.
1. Persona 5 Royal (S Tier)
• I mean, do I have to explain? Persona 5 Vanilla was at the top of my list even before P5R existed, and Royal just added to the greatness of the original. My favorite cast in a Persona game; my favorite art direction in any game; my favorite soundtrack of any game; and the best gameplay I’ve ever experienced in a turn-based RPG. Not to mention the incredible story and absolute endless amount of content/ways to spend time outside of Palaces. I have never once felt bored with this game, which is mind-blowing for a 100+ hour game. By this point, I don’t think it’s surprising to reveal that P5/P5R is my favorite game of all time and it’s not even close
My favorite Persona game is Q2. Both it and Tales of Berseria mean a lot to me because of the messages their stories send. Also, while the dungeons in Q2 aren’t as good as Q1’s, the battle system was SO refined, and did a much better job of integrating Persona’s mechanics into Etrian Odyssey.
(By the way, you should check out Tales of Berseria! It’s a really great game that I think you’ll love!)
"Persona 3 messages hit the hardest"
Puts Makoto Yuki in D tier.
...
I have only played persona 5, i first played the vanilla version (coz my brother lent it to me saying "you'll love this!") and completed that then went onto buying and playing persona 5 Royal, twice.
What i found surprising and i don't know how many other people did the same as me, but persona 5 royal does register persona 5 vanilla saves and while its not a complete new game + you still have to do all your skills and confidants again. It does give you some help early game with some money and some items if i recall correctly.
I thought this was a cool feature. I do intend to try at least 3 and 4 someday but i'm really happy with my experience of persona 5 royal and would rank it very high on my favourite games of all time list
6:16 I wish!
Edit: well that aged like fine wine!
Great tier list, I love the ultimate conclusion of every Persona game at least being a high quality game because I believe that wholeheartedly! I also believe that for SMT so I'd be very curious to see your take on that franchise as well!
Definitely interested in some SMT thoughts - you've managed to stay out of the weird Megaten hivemind so far, so a fresh perspective could be fun. I'd love to see some vlogs like the P1 manga one as you work your way through!
She needs to play Strange Journey first.
now we're gonna wait for SMT game ranking from crystaahhl xD
My fav is P4 and P4G because of the mystery aspect and how well crafted it is in this game. A saying I heard is a mystery is only ever as good as it's second viewing/reading. Having gotten the true ending of 4 and playing it again with that knowledge made me appreciate the time that went into the writing. Now I do say this while not having played P3:FES all the way through(I've been spoiled on the ending), haven't touched P1 P2 or P2E. I played P5 and P5R all the way multiple times just like 4 and P5/P5R is an amazing game in presentation, music, and gameplay, but P4/P4G holds a place in my heart for being my introduction to the series as a whole and it's theme of looking for and at the truth no matter how hard it is has stuck with me
Did someone say "I love puzzles"??? Professor Layton is running at full speed in the background, lol
A good tier-list! I really like how you explain the thought process and put games through the perspective of your personal experience,, and of course, everyone's experiences are different, that's why people like different games,,
I watched the p3 movies when I was a very bitter, depressed, and grieving person back in highschool. Those movies changed me for the better and I might not even be here today without them. I will always owe the Persona series everything for that.
Thank you so much for the wonderful content. It would bring me so much joy if you did a tier list of the Persona music.
i am biased rn because p4g was my first game and i just finished it recently. going through p5r right now tho! excited
My favorite is Persona 5 Royal, my best friend Azrael got me to play the game and I absolutely loved my experience playing. I loved the storyline, the character development, and the palaces, I am currently playing it for the 4th time. Hopefully I can explore more things that I have missed the first 3 times. You and I definitely had a very similar experience with Akechi. My friend Azrael told me that I would like him and that he would grow on me. That wasn't the case at first. I went through an absolute rollercoaster with him. I absolutely hated him at first, then he impressed me with the whole outsmarting the system during Sae's Casino Palace, then I hated him again, I think I was more confused and surprised during the 3rd semester with him. It was until during my second time playing was when Akechi finally grew on me. My friend Azrael said I told you so. While he was absolutely growing on me, I decided to be him for Halloween 2 years ago and now I'm going to be him for one of the days at the convention I'm going to in May with my friend Taylor. 😊😊😊😊
I agree with your list honestly. I love P3 so much, it's my favorite. However, P5R is such an amazing game, even with its flaws, it's incredible. The music is amazing, the ending of the original game was so hype just thinking about it is so exciting. I do like the new additions in R, but having played P5 and watching multiple playthroughs of P5R I think if you combine them together it makes for an incredible experience.
@Gael you are so defensive. They never said that.
@@Gael-x999 wtf 💀 why are you so mad...
@@kostasspirou1010 Because they're a crybaby who got mad that their favorite game is not everyone's favorite as well.
@@dragonmaxpower for real like wtf no one said anything about P4 and he got mad af
I liked P4 vanilla more than P4G. Of the added elements of Golden, I only liked the Adachi social link. Marie was a really disappointing way to handle the Izanami social link. But even P4 vanilla I would put below FES and P5R.
Persona 5 and Royal are the sole reason I know if a P3 Remake happens it will be a huge success. If there's one thing that P3F does better than Royal is literally the story.
If they bring that to the level of Royal and fix most of the weird flaws in story telling social link romances and navigations that game will be the best so far in the series just for that.
The thing is, I do believe they decided to go with Portable as a Remaster just to make FemC fans happy because I can't think of a Persona 3 Remake where they create two separate campaigns in the game with different cutscenes just because people want to play a happier version of the game with a flashier protagonist that feels like she came from P4 Cast.
I will always love p5r bc it helped me to don't fall in depression during 2020, the pandemic hit hard and I had some problems at home because of it, so the game really helped me to distract myself from all of that
I'll be fully honest... Persona 3 (both FES and Portable) was the only game I actually finished in the series. I'm extremely biased towards it, the themes really taught me so much about accepting life and death and how important people are in your daily life. I have watched through P4 (anime and gameplay) and P5 (gameplay), as well as read and watched through countless deep-dive analysis of P1 and both P2 games, but none of them sparked as much interest as P3 did to me. Everything about it, no matter how flawed, makes it a triple S tier for me. I love the characters so frickin much, to the point I always cry when revisiting their stories, I LOVE SHINJI WITH MY ENTIRE BEING, the music is some of my favorite music of all time and although I value all of the series... Persona 3 will always be my favorite.
Having experienced much of the persona series (Mostly cause of your channel lol) I can safely say that Persona 3 was the hardest a game had hit me in a long time. I often struggle with being vulnerable and opening up to people, and upon hitting the end of Akinari's social link, I felt myself crying before I'd even finished the post final boss scene with his mother. It made me realize I needed to be open with people because they or I might not see tomorrow for some reason or another.
In that same vein, a lot of P4 had an emotional shot at me. But truly, I found myself fixated on the Strength social link, specifically Daisuke. I love him. I don't know why, but on my first run, I genuinely believed they were setting him up to be gay and interested in Kou. I finda found myself relating to a lot of his general demeanor and honestly, the social link, even if it wasn't what I expected. That social link hit so well I consider it my favorite in the game, even as a Kanji and Naoto enjoyer. To this day, when the option to acquire Zaou Gongen arrives, I take it. That persona and that social link had a strange effect on me.
As for P2 and P5R and my experiences in both trying to play them and watching parts on the VOD channel. I hope to finish them myself someday. They seem like incredible games and I know it'll have it's effect. I already have a few faves from fandom interactions on the front of P5R, namely Yusuke (Neurodivergent Artist Gang).
But overall, I'm just glad to have been around for the ride. Watching and playing these games has been a kickstart in my hobbies and well. Been around on this channel since I was just getting started in college. So It's been a surreal few years. I've loved being here for the DDLC, Danganronpa, Persona, SMT, Miitopia, and so many other gameplays. And unironically, it's you talking about dance that makes me want to learn at least some type of dance, someday. Hell I even considered (And tried) streaming. This comment is long enough, but I could keep rambling for hours. Thanks for the content, Crystal. I look forward to seeing what else comes.