So, now that Akira VS Yu is done, I can finally move onto this. This is Subjective Death Battle, or what I’d like to call Subjective Battle. Basically, it’s a thing where I compare two games that are from the same franchise or have major similarities and go in-depth about why I prefer one game over another. As the title suggests, this consists solely of my opinions, with a few facts to be stated. And even though Akira VS Yu is finally out, I’m still in the mood to compare something about these two games. So, get ready to read a shit ton as I dive into and compare Persona 4 and Persona 5.
So, I was thinking about making categories, comparing said categories, and then seeing what I liked better. But...I don’t think that would do justice. I’d like to say that I love both of these games. However, if I were to give my opinion on which game I think is better, I’d obviously go with Persona 5. I mean, come on. How do you even? Better graphics, more fluid gameplay and animations, spectacular music (although it really doesn’t overshadow Persona 4’s soundtrack by much), and it’s just waaaay more cinematic. Buuuuuuuut....somehow, I prefer Persona 4 over Persona 5. It’s...weird right? I think P5’s a better game, but I prefer P4. This has to be the work of nostalgia blinding me, right? Well...I wouldn’t say that exactly. Thinking deep into it, there’s very good reasons why I prefer P4 over P5. You may find some points surprising or obvious. Either way, I’ll go into why I think this way.
The characters:
Now, when I say the characters, I don’t really mean the Social Links/Confidants outside of the main party. Even though they feel more genuine in P4 as it’s Yu helping them out because he feels like it, rather than striking a deal with them then getting involved in their problems, P5 has more variety in who you hang out with. P4 has an old lady, a woman in a hospital who tries making sexual advances towards Yu, a kid who needs help in tutoring, a...fox that gives you side quests...ok, they’re pretty diverse. But I don’t think they’re as fleshed out as the ones in P5, and again, variety. It’s especially satisfying when you actually need to change the heart of a person who’s causing your Confidant’s suffering. Makes me wish I was a Phantom Thief and change the hearts of certain adults. Man, that’d be cool. In any case, I’m moving on to the point here; the party members.
Both the Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves have some really darn good characters. Yosuke, Ryuji, Ann, Rise, Futaba, etc. I love most of these characters. Keyword being most. Before I go further, I’m not counting Akechi as one of the party members of the Phantom Thieves. Sure, he was in the group for one Palace, but he then betrayed them and died later. Now, I really can’t say I hate a single member of the Investigation Team. I like all of the characters. If I had to really pick a least favorite, it would have to be Teddie. I find him interrupting touching moments to be the ladies man to really be annoying. That’s all I can really say about him, though. Of course, I really like the Phantom Thieves too...except for one member. One character who I don’t really care about, and that’s Haru. There’s two reasons I don’t really like her. One; her design. Not her Thief outfit. That one gets a pass because it’s the only female outfit that isn’t skin tight, and I like the theatre design it’s going for. However, her normal design is...uninteresting in my opinion. And the second point is her voice. What’s wrong with it? Well, it’s a small, tiny problem, and that’s SHE CAN’T FREAKING ACT! It’s too high pitched, first off all. She’s older than Futaba, but she has the voice of someone that sounds younger than Futaba. I’ve also noticed that she has problems raising her voice and...showing any emotions at all. She goes through some major shit in this game. Her father’s corrupt, she’s being sold off to someone she doesn’t love, and her father dies via mental shutdown live in front of everyone, and all Haru could do was just watch. So, with all of this, you’d think she’d have a bigger reaction. But nope. She sounds more...mildly concerned about the issue than anything. In fact, that’s the best I can do to describe her when her voice is raised. Mildly concerned. Mostly because she can’t yell, or shout, or anything. And the problem is because of her voice. Again, it’s too high pitched. I can’t take Haru seriously when she’s serious, because it really doesn’t sound like she’s serious. Also, she came in way late into the game. She was the only party member who’s Confidant I couldn’t max out in my first play through, and that’s largely due to the fact that I had other uncompleted Confidants that were way more interesting to worry about. Sorry to anyone who thinks Haru is the best girl, but in my opinion, she’s not at all. Now, some would argue that Naoto Shirogane, the last party member you get in P4 also came in late. And, while she did as she’s last one you get, same with Haru, I feel like you still get more time to hang out with her in comparison.
Another thing I want to talk about is the family dynamic. In P4, it’s Yu, his uncle Ryotaro Dojima, and his cousin Nanako Dojima. In P5, it’s Akira, his caretaker Sojiro Sakura, and the Phantom Thieves’ Navigator, Futaba Sakura. I can’t really say which family dynamic gets things ‘wrong’, because that’s an impossible thing to really discuss. You can’t necessarily get something like this wrong. I will, however, compare the two and talk about/ramble on why I prefer P4’s family dynamic more. First off, the two are very similar, and are handled in somewhat similar ways. You have the protagonists, the father figures, and the younger sister-like characters. But also, you have the dead mothers that are never shown, only discussed. Ok, well, Wakaba is shown...and is also a boss fight, but Nanako’s mother isn’t shown, and also definitely doesn’t have a boss fight. The two dynamics are handled almost the same, but with a few key differences. The biggest difference is how these characters are related. Dojima is Yu’s uncle, Sojiro is a guy that took Akira in. Nanako is Yu’s cousin, Futaba is Akira’s friend, a party member, or a love interest if you chose to date her. A big similarity with the characters is how they don’t fully open up to Yu and Akira just yet. Dojima treats some of his work and his wife a secret from Yu, claiming it’s not any of Yu’s business. Sojiro treats Akira like how most adults in P5 do, as a criminal. Nanako is a little shy and reserved, but she does open up quicker than Dojima does. Futaba started out as a total shut-in, and wouldn’t talk with anyone, let alone show herself. By comparison, it took Sojiro and Futaba longer to open up to Akira than Dojima and Nanako to with Yu. But when things get serious, which family goes through more emotional hardships? Which family do I feel more invested towards? Well, I said it before already, but I’m going with the P4 family.
When going over the problems the family in P4 has, I think it has more problems than the one in P5. The biggest problems Sojiro and Futaba face are Futaba being a shut-in, Futaba’s uncle, the death of Futaba’s mother, and Sojiro discovering that Futaba received a calling card from the Phantom Thieves. Buuut a lot of these problems are quickly glossed over and dealt with rather easily. Futaba opening up to more people is a story thing that’s taken care of quickly, albeit in a very funny way. I can never keep a straight face when she wear’s that mask thing. Futaba’s uncle doesn’t appear to be a big problem that’s focused on for very long either. He shows up like, three, maybe four times? Then you change his heart, and then he’s...not much a problem after that. Well, obviously. The death of Futaba’s mother isn’t focused heavily on either. While, it is an important plot point, seeing as how she had researched the Metaverse and cognitions, that has surprisingly little focus. Honestly, the most focus we really get out of it after Futaba’s Palace is the occasional “Mom...” from Futaba. And yeah, Shido treats having the research on cognition to be a big deal, and how his Palace is unlike the others. But really, I saw no difference other than structure layout. I mean, I guess there were the segments where you’re turned into a mouse...but the Palace Ruler can decide how strong their cognitions are. So it’s not that big of a deal. And Sojiro discovering the truth is also glossed over fairly quickly. He finds out Futaba got a calling card, confronted her and Akira about it, and then Futaba accidentally spills the beans. Now, Sojio does act in a way that makes sense. He’s initially surprised that he’s been taking care of two Phantom Thieves, but he’s not about to throw them out either. It’s nice. That’s the most I can say about it, though. Because not only does P4 have more problems the family goes through, they’re focused more heavily on.
I don’t feel like I can list these off without giving some sort of context that ends with me rambling on, so, I’m just going to start with one of the first problems. Being a detective, Dojima doesn’t come home from work often. Sometimes, heck, a lot of the time, he needs to stay over night at the Police station. And it doesn’t help that the recent murders/kidnappings are pretty much the big reason for it. But, not only is he focusing on current events, he’s focusing on the case surrounding his wife’s death. It was a hit-and-run case. But unlike P5, we don’t know who killed her. The case is still shrouded in mystery, even after the game is complete. Now moving onto Nanako. Because her dad’s often busy with work, Nanako is often on her own at home. She’s still in elementary school, but because her mother’s dead and her father’s working, she does practically all of the chores at home. When she’s not doing chores, she’s often sitting in front of the TV watching something. Despite how strong she is on her own, she still loves her dad and often wishes he’s home with her. In fact, because of his job, he often has to cancel big events that he said he would be able to go to prior. Because of this, Nanako starts to feel that Dojima prefers working instead spending time with her. In reality, that’s not entirely the case. Keyword being entirely. This is where things switch back to Dojima. While it’s true he loves Nanako and wants to spend more time with her, he often feels it’s difficult to do so. Not because he prefers to work, but because he can’t face her. It’s a little hard to explain why exactly in my own words, so bare with me. Because of his wife’s death, Dojima can’t really face Nanako sometimes. That’s actually a big reason why he can be so focused on work and solving the case behind his wife’s murder. Yes, he wants to find out who killed her, but it’s also because he’s scared to face Nanako about it. And the reason, from what I remember, is that Nanako doesn’t know all the details about her mother’s death. So, where am I going with this exactly? Like, does this all go anywhere? Well, yeah. Later on, after Nanako yells and tells Dojima that her cares more about work than her, she runs away. It’s pretty scary to have that happen. And to make things even more worrisome, in an earlier conversation between Yu and Nanako, Yu tells Nanako that when people die, they go to Heaven. Nanako says that if she dies, she’ll be reunited with her mother. So...having that piece of knowledge in mind, the stakes suddenly rise, as the possibility of Nanako killing herself in someway are now taken into consideration.
Now, when Nanako’s found, the game and the Animation treat things differently. In the game, Dojima decides to go home and leave things to Yu. It kinda makes sense seeing as how it’s supposed to be Yu and Nanako bonding for Social Link reasons. But in the Animation, this is done so much better by having Dojima talk with Nanako and Yu being there as well. And goddamn it, it makes me cry every time. SCREW YOU, IT’S AN EMOTIONAL SCENE! Now, there’s one more thing that makes me prefer this family over the one in P5, and that’s Dojima’s suspicions of Yu. Over the course of the game, when Yu is informed of someone being found, his response is apparently that of mild surprise, rather than being more happy about it. Dojima does start to catch onto it, but would usually let it go. However, there are times when he spots Yu and his friends with people he’s about to talk with, or people he never thought Yu would associate himself with. Even though Dojima has warned Yu to stay out of the case behind the murders/kidnappings, Yu always seemed to get himself involved one way or another. The real driving point to this when Yu gets an anonymous letter telling him to stop saving people or someone close to him will die. At this point, Dojima takes Yu to the Police station for questioning. This has far greater focus than Sojiro finding out Akira and Futaba are Phantom Thieves. For one, Dojima doesn’t entirely know what Yu is doing, as the Investigation Team is very well hidden unlike the the Phantom Thieves. For good reasons, of course. As far as Dojima knows, Yu’s getting himself into serious danger by looking into the case and getting involved with it more so than the Police. It’s also because Dojima finds it difficult to believe Yu can travel into TVs and fight Shadows in another world. Sojiro, on the other hand, finds the Metaverse and Palace’s too difficult to wrap his head around, he still believes the group as what they’re saying does tie into Wakaba’s research. Meanwhile, Dojima doesn’t understand Yu’s situation at all, and does what he thinks is best. This does lead into Nanako being defenseless when Namatame comes in and kidnaps her. Which...I have to discuss this.
Long story short, Namatame, who is believed to be the culprit behind everything, takes Nanako into the TV world. But even after Nanako’s saved, she’s hospitalized as the TV World’s fog is not healthy for her. After hearing about how Nanako’s getting better, her condition suddenly gets far worse. So much so that she dies. Now, that fact alone is already depressing. But what makes it even more is what happens before and after. First off, Nanako doesn’t get to see Dojima before she dies. By the time Dojima gets there, it’s too late. Nanako only got comfort from the only family member allowed in the room, that being Yu. But what happens after is rather intense. Dojima tries to go to Namatame’s room to what I think would be to kill him. And when the Investigation Team find out Namatame tried to escape the room, some of them act out of revenge. They’ve been egged on to throw Namatame into the TV. And in the Animation, Yu almost does so. Imma be honest, it’s a rather intense scene. It’s scary to see Yu almost act out of revenge. But honestly, who could blame him?
Nanako’s death, while not hugely part of the family dynamic, still hits me hard, and it’s still a big reason why I prefer P4’s family over P5’s. And yes, in case you weren’t already aware, Nanako actually lives. Death could not take Nanako, because I’m pretty sure Yu would hunt death down until it gave Nanako back.
Music:
Whoa, whoa, I’m I seriously about to say Persona 4’s music is better than Persona 5’s? I must be crazy! Well, you would be glad to find that I think P5 has better music over P4. Buuuuuuuuut I still prefer P4’s soundtrack over all. First off, I don’t know a single song in P4’s soundtrack that can top Rivers in the Desert. The only one that comes close is I’ll Face Myself...the Reincarnation version, anyway. Which is technically part of the game as it’s in Marie’s boss fights. However, in my opinion, it’s quantity over quality. And it’s not like the P4 soundtrack is really bad. I just like more songs in P4 than in P5, even though they do go back and forth and can often tie with each other. I like Last Surprise more than Reach out to the Truth, but I prefer Time to Make History over Last Surprise, as well as Blooming Villain. The Mist/Fog and Will Power I like equally. And I like I’ll Face Myself over most of the songs in P5, except for Rivers in the Desert. Which again, that song is my favorite and nothing in P4 can really top it. Heck, this category in particular is arguably the most difficult to decide. But there’s a good reason I’m giving it to P4, and that’s the non-battle music. I don’t mean dungeon/Palace music, because P5 wins with more memorable themes like Price and When My Mother Was There. Heaven, while I like more than Whims of Fate, is the only dungeon theme I remember from P4. I’m talking about the music you here outside of the TV World/Metaverse and when you’re hanging out with friends.
With P5, the only songs that come to mind are Beneath the Mask, and...Fun Happiness? Is...is that what it’s called? It’s supposed to be the song that plays when you’re at the beach with friends. And that’s about it. I mean, both songs fit the game, but I can’t remember what other songs play when you’re outside Palaces and hanging with friends other than Beneath the Mask. In fact, that song plays the most often. And I don’t mean when you’re in the middle of a Confidant, but like when you’re in the over world, with a few exceptions like the Church. Meanwhile, Fun Happiness only places a few times in the game. On the other hand, P4 has more songs that play in the over world like Heartbeat Heartbreak, Signs of Love, Your Affection, and Snowflakes if you have Golden and it’s the winter. The music that usually plays during a Social Link is Like a Dream Come True, and I freaking love it. In fact, the music during certain Social Links I feel are also better. The song Traumerei plays when an emotional moment happens, usually when someone’s sad. And the song Smile plays when the mood becomes more uplifting, usually around when the Social Link scene ends. I...honestly can’t tell you the name of the songs that play when characters get emotional or things start to become more uplifting. Mostly because I’ve never taken my time to actually listen to them outside the game. So, yeah, I think P5 has better battle music that I love to listen to on my own time, P4 has the same thing going for it. I still love the battle music P4 has, and I love the non-battle music as well. Because of the variety of songs in P4 that I like to listen to, it ultimately wins over P5 for me.
Persona 5 repeats Persona 4 a lot:
I can’t be the only one who noticed that Persona 5 repeats a few things from not only Persona 4, but also Persona 3 to a lesser degree. So far, the only comparisons I can make with P3 and P5 is the Dark Hour and the Metaverse. When you’re in both, the world is distorted in some way, but certain locations more-or-less remain the same. Meanwhile, the TV World in Persona 4 is a whole other area, with only a few familiar locations from Inaba. Now, I gotta say a few things before going in further. For one, when I mean “repeat”, I don’t mean the typical Persona trends. I’m not gonna say, “Oh Akira is just a repeat of Yu.” because Yu is technically a repeat of Minato...only his parents are alive, as well as himself. What I’m talking about here is that elements, dialogues, characters, and certain areas are a bit of a repeat of P4. So, the family aspect of P5 is pretty similar to P4, but I already went over the similarities. So, let’s talk about the two game’s mascots; Morgana and Teddie. When you meet Teddie in P4, you find that he doesn’t remember who he is. And a part of the game is finding out who Teddie really is. It’s later revealed that Teddie is a Shadow, but one that’s vastly different from the ones the Investigation Team fights. When you first meet Morgana in P5, you find that...he doesn’t have his memories either. Oh boy, there’s our first “this feels familiar” moment. Heck, their appearance in the TV World/Metaverse usually changes as well, just that Teddie can decide to look like a bear in both worlds. Teddie has his bear...costume? Body?....Skin? Whatever. He wears it throughout most of the game, and it eventually becomes Junes’ mascot. But after Teddie got his Persona and started training really hard....a body just sorta...grew within the suit. On the other end, Morgana turns into an actual cat in the real world. Way less complicated and weird than Teddie, but it’s a similarity nonetheless. But the biggest similarity is their amnesia, which I’ve already discussed a bit. The similarity is the fact that they have amnesia, not what they actually turn out to be. But they don’t find out the truth about themselves until near the end of the game, with Teddie finding out way before the final boss is even revealed, or even the culprit for that matter. Morgana finds out near the final boss, which is another thing I’ll talk about later.
Now, a big difference with Teddie and Mona with their amnesia is what they believe themselves to be. Aside from obviously being a bear, Teddie didn’t really know what he was. He just came to accept what he was and what he could do. Morgana was absolutely convinced that he was really a human, and would actually get offended if you treated him like an actual cat. However, Teddie has a bigger reveal than Morgana, and one that felt more impactful. Teddie is actually a Shadow, but also stopped being one somewhere along the way, but also still is somehow? It’s weird. But also baffling and brings up a lot of questions. Ones like how can a Shadow wield a Persona? Why is he a bear costume? How did he grow a person inside of it? No, seriously, HOW DID HE GROW A PERSON INSIDE OF IT!? But another big question Teddie actually asked himself was whether or not his team would accept him for who he is. His team, as well as himself defeated Shadows on practically a weekly bases. So, how would his team react when they find out he is one himself? Well, they’re initially surprised to find the truth, but they accept it and keep Teddie on the team. Because regardless of the truth, it’s still the same old Teddie, and him knowing he’s a Shadow wouldn’t change anything.
Now, as you progress through P5, Morgana starts to dream about what he could really be. Specifically, he dreams of himself being a Shadow. You could tell that the game was dropping some pretty obvious hint bombs and really tried their best you trick you into thinking that Morgana was a Shadow. And I’m glad that wasn’t the case. If Morgana has turned out to be a Shadow just like Teddie, I wouldn’t like it very much. Altus would’ve just been copy/pasting stuff from Persona 4, more so than they’ve already done currently. But, honestly, what Morgana turns out to actually be, I don’t know if it’s better. Particularly because of the way it’s handled. And by that, I mean they kinda glanced over the truth. Morgana is what he is. He straight up just is a cat. But one with a purpose, and that was to guide Akira and his team. Mostly Akira. Morgana was created by Igor to carry out this purpose, but then got amnesia. Here’s a problem I have with this, though; at this point in the game, it feels rather...pointless to know this. Why do I feel that way? Well, because then Morgana feels pointless, and they don’t make a big deal out of this like they do in P4. Now, I know what you’re thinking, I’m shitting on P5 for copying P4, but then giving it more shit for not doing something like P4. And I understand that. But at the same time, I still don’t think this should’ve been glanced over as quickly as it was. There’s something that’s just...off about finding out what Morgana is. And I think it has to do with the acceptance. It’s really easy to accept a role like that. Morgana was made to guide Akira, but then got amnesia, and then kinda followed through anyway. Akira and his team could and did easily accept it, ergo not making a big deal out of it. And yes, I know it’s dumb to complain about how they’re not making a big deal out of something that’s easy to accept. But even with the way they did it, it just doesn’t feel right. No, I guess it just didn’t have that big of an impact on me. It was very underwhelming. With Teddie, it was a big deal. He found out he was the very thing him and his friends defeat. And having his friends accept him for what he is felt satisfying. They didn’t make a big deal out of something that honestly is a big deal. With P5, it didn’t matter to me what Morgana was anymore. I was already at the end game, and Morgana had basically accomplished his goal. In other words, we find out about Morgana way too late in the game, because it wasn’t that big of a deal, and was barely focused on, it didn’t impact me as much as the truth about Teddie.
Now that I’m done with the two mascots, let’s talk about the two final bosses; Izanami and building-sized Izanami. Oh, sorry, that’s not the name of P5’s final boss? It’s actually a really hard-to-pronounce and dumb name? Ok? Imma just stick with the God of Control. So, let’s compare Izanami and the God of Control. And I don’t mean in power to a degree. I mean in what they say, what their goals are, and what they do. So, you discover Izanami really late into the game. She really is the final boss of Persona 4, as it’s literally the last thing you do. It’s revealed that Izanami was the gas station attendant you met in the beginning of the game, and the one who gave Yu the power to travel inside the TV World. The God of Control was actually revealed to be the Igor you were with the whole time, as he banished the real Igor. He’s also the one that gave Akira the ability to travel into the Metaverse via phone app. You already have a big similarity there. Two gods meet the protagonists in disguise, and then give them the power to travel into the world’s they rule over. Now, in all fairness, the God of Control’s reveal is bigger than Izanami’s. Solely because of the fact he was disguised as Igor, someone who you knew throughout the whole game and would give you vague wisdom. Yes, Izanami’s reveal was also a big surprise as it turned out to be a character you would’ve glanced over, but that reveal isn’t as big. With the God of Control’s reveal, you’d begin to think to yourself, “Wait, then where’s the real Igor?” So, unless you legitimately thought, “Wait, where’s the real gas station attendant?” when Izanami revealed herself...then I have no words for you.
Now, forgive me if I have fundamental misunderstandings of the intentions of Izanami and the God of Control. But...they seem very similar to me. Almost too similar. Izanami believed that humanity doesn’t want the truth because the truth is often hard to accept. They don’t want to face the harsh realities of life, and so Izanami felt that if they were shrouded with comforting lies, they would feel better. With the God of Control, it was like, reality is too harsh for people, and they don’t want to make difficult decisions and all that. Hell, Izanami says it’s the will of humanity, and the God of Control calls it the people’s wishes. They’re both essentially taking people’s wills into their own hand, without the masses consent. They also both end up merging (or trying to in Izanami’s case) the real world with another. Izanami was merging the TV world with the real one, but failed because Yu. But the God of Control actually managed to merge Mementos and the real world together. So, yeah, while one accomplished their goal and the other didn’t, the fact that they both intended to do so kinda says a lot. I honestly wasn’t that impressed with the God of Control. I got serious Izanami vibes from him the entire time, and he wasn’t screaming “originality” to me. So...yeah, if you can’t tell, I prefer Izanami over Mr. Control for that kind of reason.
Now, I know I said I wouldn’t compare the two protagonists, but I might as well bring up a topic I’m starting to feel has to be a trend with Persona games. And that’s that the main Persona of the protagonists have their whole final form thing going on. I don’t know about the first few Persona games, but it definitely started with Persona 3 when Minato’s Orpheus became Messiah. But another trend started in Persona 4, if I’m not mistaken. Now, it seems like every Ultimate Persona has to have some over powered, god-killing, one-shot move. With Izanagi-no-Okami, it’s Myriad Truths. And now with Satanael, it’s Sinful Shell. You could argue that Messiah’s one-shot move was the sealing technique, I wouldn’t exactly call it that. I kinda hope this trend doesn’t continue.
Nearing the end:
In both games, shit starts to pick up near the end. With Persona 4, it’s finding out Adachi is the real culprit behind the first two murders, and you have to stop him. With Persona 5, you find out that Shido, the guy who’s running for Prime Minister, is not only the guy who ruined Akira’s life, but is also responsible for a bunch of other shit. But...it feels different between the two games. In P5, your character is presumed dead because he ‘killed himself’. And no one can know he’s supposed to be alive. It’s at this point in the game where I feel trapped, or running out of time. Where as, in P4, especially in Golden, that doesn’t happen. You beat Adachi, and you get to live a normal life, like what you were supposed to. Now, in Golden, there is the whole thing with Marie, but I think it expands the story even more, and spending time in winter gives you even more freedom. Now, yes, in both games, you do get freedom to move about in the open world so you can say goodbye to the Social Links/Confidants you completed. But in P4, this is where you have the chance to fight the true final boss. In P5, you already have, and saying goodbye is all you get to do. Ok, so, the point? Where is it? Well, I guess P4 has more freedom than P5 does near the end. Heck, even in the end, you still can go and get the true ending if you want. And if you do choose to tackle that, then you get one last dungeon, too. But in P5, after you beat the required final boss, you really have nothing else to do. Sure, you get a Christmas event that doesn’t last long at all and a Valentine’s Day event too, but, I don’t know, both of those seem lacking in comparison to P4. I didn’t feel too joyful spending Christmas with Makoto because I knew I’d have to go and turn myself in. And while it was better during Valentine’s Day, I still felt a tad bit trapped. P4 did those two events much better in my opinion. Well, at least the Christmas event. This does tie into the last segment I go into, but I’ll talk about the Christmas event now. Obviously, once you beat the God of Control, Akira is told by Sae that he needs to testify, and that he needs to go right away. Sae does allow him to spend Christmas with a significant other, but again, for a short time. What you get is a heartwarming scene, but you also have to keep the “testifying” part a secret to them. And after that, Christmas time is over. In P4, it’s much better. Not only are you spending it with the whole team, they’re letting Nanako and Dojima out of the hospital to celebrate it. At this point, Yu has kind of been living on his own since Dojima and Nanako have been in the hospital. But now, they’re coming home. And it’s amazing. What we get is one of the best scenes in P4. Chie, Yukiko, and Rise are known for their cooking skills...in the wrong way. With them baking the cake, Nanako might have to be sent back to the hospital. Fortunately, Naoto managed to help bake the cake, making it turn out amazing. However, the guys don’t know that at first, and when Nanako tries the cake for herself, Kanji overreacts, and it’s just hilarious. This is just stuff I wish P5 had. It’s really missing that charm that P4 has. Speaking of which...
The Charm:
Now, I’m not saying P5 has zero charm, it has plenty. But compared to P4?? It may not have as much. I know for a fact that P5 doesn’t have nearly as many events as P4 does. And even when it has similar events, P4 simply does them better. Not only do they last longer, the dialogue between the characters and how they interact is better too. Besides, most of the events in P5 are ruined in some way. The fireworks festival is ruined because of rain. The Destiny Land moment is ruined for...obvious reasons. And the school festival because of Akechi. Meanwhile, the beach trip and the trip to Hawaii aren’t really ruined, they don’t feel as charming as in P4. (Although, the two gay guys trying to get with Akira and Ryuji was a hilarious scene) The reason I say this is because they’re honestly a little too similar as both are in beach settings. Not only that, but the party isn’t all there. And I don’t mean Haru’s missing because she’s not part of the team, I mean that some party members aren’t there for either a large portion, or the entire time you’re there. In the beach trip, the girls head off and do their own thing, while the guys try to pick up girls and leave Morgana behind. It’s funny, yes, but it is still missing a good portion of the party. With the trip to Hawaii, Futaba and Morgana stay in Japan, and Yusuke was supposed to go elsewhere. Keyword being ‘was’. He conveniently ends up at Hawaii as well because of a storm. But even then, Makoto’s not with the group because she has her own responsibilities as Student Council President. Compare that to P4’s events. In P4, you have the camping trip, the beach event, the trip to Gekkoukan High, the school festival, the trip to the Amagi Inn, the Junes concert, the snow trip, etc. There’s plenty of events in P4, and while some can have some moments you’d think would ruin the trip, like the Mystery Food X/swimming in King Moron’s barf, to getting drunk off the atmosphere somehow while playing the King’s Game, it doesn’t completely ruin the trip at all. What I like about each of these trips are scenes where the guys seem to suffer from bad luck, and it just cracks me up. Moments like the already mentioned Mystery Food X, Kanji losing his swimsuit, the King’s Game, the cross dressing competition, the guys freaking out over a supposed ghost in the Inn. Yu, Yosuke, and Kanji attempting a crowd surf, but failing, and the scary stories in the cabin. Each time something goes wrong, it adds to the moment. Although, admittedly, the scene where Yukiko and Rise and very drunk off the atmosphere is pretty uncomfortable. But, it doesn’t ruin that scene at all. P5, however, when something goes wrong, the event is usually ruined. And that honestly sucks. And when things go wrong but don’t ruin whatever trip or event is happening we don’t usually see. I mean, too be fair, we don’t exactly need to see everything. The Hawaiian trip comes to mind. Yusuke ending up at Hawaii is a neat surprise, but is kinda glanced over. Meanwhile, Ryuji’s roommate going to over to meet Ann’s roommate, thus making the two head over to the room Akira and Mishima are sharing is rather enjoyable.
I’m explaining things terribly, I know. The point I’m trying to make is that P5 is missing that charm I loved in P4. And, that’s a big reason why P4 is my favorite out of all the games. It has funny moments, serious moments, an excellent and catchy soundtrack, and a lot of charm. Something I noticed while playing through the P3 side of Persona Q, there were a lot of fun scenes missing that the P4 side had. And that’s because P4 arguably has the most charm out of all the games so far. The characters are going to screw up in a hilarious way, and it adds to the scene. P5 didn’t really have that for me. Again, it’s hard for me to explain why I prefer P4 over P5, and not go “too be fair”. Yes, I believe P5 is a superior game, but P4 will always be my preferred title. I’m Mastersword3710, and I hope you all look forward to my next Subjective Battle between The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild. And yes, I won’t immediately go in and say which game I like more. Figured building things up would be the way to go.
