also idk i'm not STEEL so i really don't feel like just saying "well your tastes are bad" but the gay anime avatar kind of gives me a clue as to why you found the sim elements acceptable. it's great that it's all about "people and their relationships" but that sort of falls apart when you realize there's not a single character in the game that isn't really fucking superficial. main character's a blank slate, which is imo a narrative copout, the supporting characters like jun-pei are all pretty one-dimensional, and the schoolmates you meet up with and have to foster gay relationships with are even worse. they're quite literally husks, with MAYBE one or two shallow personality traits ascribed to them. i don't even know what to say in response to someone arguing that this game is a well done examination of relationship dynamics. to be one of those, you kind of have to have characters with some amount of depth to them! buuuuut i guess if you are entertained by generic anime and think that things of that nature are paragons of characterization, then i can see why you would like this. if this is the case, allow me to also suggest scooby-doo, where are you. it has impeccable character interaction and often provides keen, insightful analysis into the criminal pysche.
And apparently I was being an asshole? First off, the avatar is from Higurashi, a very well written murder mystery that is very atmospheric and downright horrifying at times. It involves truly dark themes, a mature storyline, and a great cast of likeable characters. I don't see why watching a show that involves a demonic cult sacrificing people yearly to their local god should automatically mean I like the LIFE SIM aspects of Persona 3, but okay sure why not. I mean, they are
totally similar. I liked them because they were something different, that hadn't really been tried in RPGs before, and they worked well.
I guess I can kind of agree with the BLANK SLATE MAIN CHARACTER thing, but they've done that for every SMT game they've ever made since at least the SNES era, and they aren't going to stop anytime soon, so there really isn't anything to say about that. It worked best in SMT3, which was a game about you, the player, and you personal beliefs as to how the world should be. It doesn't fit in so well with Persona, seeing as the key concept is about people summoning forth their inner Psyche, which is kind of weird when you can't really tell what personality the main character has.
I personally found the characters interesting. Of course, there were some terrible ones, like Bebe, the ambiguously gay foreign exchange student from France who loves to knit or whatever. But on the other hand, there is President Tanaka. The guy slowly develops over his conversations with you, as he tells you about basically how to screw people over and make money off of them, giving insight into his state of mind. His greed and paranoia are both emphasised, but as he talks with you, another side of him develops, and ends up donating a large sum of money to a charity to help children in need, so that he can watch some fine young men mature and grow and become successful like him. The guy never stops being a greedy bastard, of course.
I don't claim Persona 3 is a piece of art, the absolute pinnacle in showing character relationships. But it certainly is a step in the right direction, with a unique aspect to the game that I hope the sequel will expand upon and make even more interesting. Persona has always been about people and their relationships with each other, which makes sense, given your Persona is what other people make of you, the sense they got out of your personality. It isn't a piece of art, but it's definitely a better RPG series than most. If you're pissed off at the direction the series is taking, play SMT4 when it comes out instead, that will have everything you miss, including conversations with demons, and the entire party being controllable..
I try to stay away from generic shit, personally. For example, the horrendous Persona anime, which among other things, adds an AGE LIMIT to summoning Personas. That's right, apparently you can't summon forth your inner Psyche, your personality given form, if you're over the age of twenty or whatever. Then there was the focus of the plot moving away from relationships to people fighting other people using Personas. I liked Persona 3 because it was something different, a hell of a risk take that actually managed to work somehow.
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