It took two decades for PlayStation’s best JRPG series to find itself
Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/5/20994037/playstation-jrpg-persona-series-atlus-final-fantasy-4-vii-xenogears-kingdom-hearts-25-anniversary
Reported today in The Verge.
It took two decades for PlayStation's best JRPG series to find itself
PlayStation is the console family for Japanese role-playing games. As the de facto home for RPGs following the Super Nintendo era, it's enjoyed everything from Final Fantasy VII, Xenogears, and Suikoden to Ni No Kuni and Kingdom Hearts. Twenty-five years after the launch of the original PlayStation, however, its greatest offering is also its most improved: the Persona series, created by Atlus.
The developer's most recent entry in the franchise, Persona 5, is a commercial success that's sold more than 3.2 million copies worldwide - a long way from its beginnings as a niche spinoff series. In 1996, Atlus, best known for its work on demon-filled JRPG series Megami Tensei, released Revelations: Persona. While it didn't completely trade away the dark tone of Atlus' previous role-playing games, Revelations put its focus on a group of high school students who gain the ability to summon Personas - a sort of supernatural being that represents the inner self. The series is heavy on Jungian psychological and tarot, using both to weave in bigger ideas about the nature of existence.
Revelations and follow-ups Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment followed the same formula, cementing the series as one rooted in teenage fantasy, but its crucial turn came in 2006. Persona 3 introduced the series' now core social sim elements: a year-long calendar; personality attributes, like charm, that you raise over the course of the game; and relationship building. The combination of dungeon crawling, time-based systems, and gameplay that rewarded players for taking time to slow down and bond with strangers set the series apart from juggernauts like Final Fantasy. Most popular J