Persona, Persona, Persona, Persona, Persona...
So...yeah... haha. A friend of mine let my little brother borrow Persona 4 for the PS2, and he, my younger sister, and I are all obsessed with it. Said friend is probably somewhere cackling evilly about it...
But anyway, the game. I know I'm a little late to the party concerning it...but at the same time, I'm not. I mean, the game came out in 2008, but the year of the game is set to this year (spooky). And. And. Persona 4 the anime is coming out in Japan this October, and I'm super excited for it. I hope they keep it as awesome as the game.
I absolutely love this. Basically, Persona 4 is an RPG about this high schooler (as per the norm in Japan) who moves to a small, rural town just on the cusp of a string of strange murders and kidnappings. He and his group of friends start to investigate the murders; they have to find the victims after they're thrown into the TV world (...it makes more sense in the game) before the victim dies, and along the way they must unlock their own Persona - a part of themselves they have to accept in order to gain its kick-ass power. There are a lot of other twists and turns during the whole investigation, and the plot itself is just really interesting.
Besides that, though, there are two things I really love about this game. First of all, the entire point of the game is unlocking, of finding, and becoming your true self. It's about accepting who you are, all the bad along with the good. But it's also about change and growth, about becoming a better person. It sounds a lot better than I'm making it out to be, but some of the truths that are mentioned actually hit a lot closer to home for me than I expected. I can't tell you how many things in this game are things I actually needed to hear right now.
The second thing I really love about this game is just the different relationships you're able to engage in; family, friend, romantic, they're all there. The ability to get to know your fellow characters is just a lot of fun. A lot of it is kind of useful for battles and stuff, but I just find it fascinating how you have to slowly get to know more and more about the characters you interact with, to build strong "Social Links", and the closeness and camaraderie that develops by spending time with them. This is especially true of your different party members, whose abilities in battle also grow stronger as your relationship with them grow. Indeed, very early on in your friendship with any one of the party members, it states that the member will take a mortal blow for you. It sounds kind of morbid, but just the idea that you can develop a friendship like that in this game is just amazing. And the higher you raise the rank of that Social Link, the more you learn about that character and the closer you get to them, just like in real life. It is just so touching, and....aaah!
Oh, and the potential shipping! Man, have my shipper-girl glasses been working overtime! I swear, every girl in this game is after this protagonist! And I'm not exaggerating. Honestly, all the girls in this game have a crush on this guy! There's even an option for all the high school girls (because there are older women too) as you raise their Social Links: when you get to the highest rank in the Social Link, you have the choice to keep that girl a friend, or make her your girlfriend. And you can have more than one! You can choose to have multiple girls as your girlfriend (but then, you also run the risk of them running into each other and a cat fight ensuing...no joke). It is seriously funny. And of course, there are potential ships with the other characters too. There's just so many to choose from, heehee.
So of course, being so obsessed with the game, I'm itching to write stories for this fandom. Nothing much yet, though:
One of the stories is just a collection of oneshots relating to the different Social Link events. I really love the Social Links events, because those are the scenes where the protagonist really gets to know and grow closer to those other characters, and I like trying to imagine how the other characters are thinking and feeling as they're pouring out their souls to the protagonist. So I figured why not write them into stories? Haha.
Another one would be a small story featuring my (so-far) favorite pairing, Kanji/Rise. I have no idea what it'd be about yet, but I really want to write something, because there's just not enough of these two! But I'd need an idea for it first...heh...
The last one so far is an idea I had when I looked ahead and found videos on YouTube of people's run-through of the game. See, in the final battle, there comes a point where the Big Bad uses one of those insta-kill moves. Her initial target is you, naturally, but true to their word, your party members will push you out of the way, dying themselves one by one until the Big Bad gets to you and essentially kills you. Then there's this scene where you're pretty much in limbo, and all the characters that you've managed to max out their Social Link will talk to you, giving you the power to get up again. Your Persona transforms, and through the power of friendship and all that you defeat the Big Bad once and for all. I love it, and it's so touching, but I can't help wondering what happened to your party members at that time. I mean, they pretty much died before you, right? And when you make your big comeback and finally defeat the Boss, they're not there at first, but after you beat her and in the scene where she disappears, they're back. Most likely they were in a place like you were when you were dying, right? So what was it like for them? And how did they get back? So the story is pretty much their experience during that time, their thoughts and how the protagonist helped too.
That's pretty much it so far. But honestly, this game is awesome! Another fandom I need to get an icon for...oh, and I should probably update my Fandom/Shipping list soon too. Haha.
BTW, those of my flist who are Fairy Tail fans: Try reading this part of the new manga chapter while listening to this song on a loop. I seriously almost cried (then again, I am a big baby, haha...)!
But anyway, the game. I know I'm a little late to the party concerning it...but at the same time, I'm not. I mean, the game came out in 2008, but the year of the game is set to this year (spooky). And. And. Persona 4 the anime is coming out in Japan this October, and I'm super excited for it. I hope they keep it as awesome as the game.
I absolutely love this. Basically, Persona 4 is an RPG about this high schooler (as per the norm in Japan) who moves to a small, rural town just on the cusp of a string of strange murders and kidnappings. He and his group of friends start to investigate the murders; they have to find the victims after they're thrown into the TV world (...it makes more sense in the game) before the victim dies, and along the way they must unlock their own Persona - a part of themselves they have to accept in order to gain its kick-ass power. There are a lot of other twists and turns during the whole investigation, and the plot itself is just really interesting.
Besides that, though, there are two things I really love about this game. First of all, the entire point of the game is unlocking, of finding, and becoming your true self. It's about accepting who you are, all the bad along with the good. But it's also about change and growth, about becoming a better person. It sounds a lot better than I'm making it out to be, but some of the truths that are mentioned actually hit a lot closer to home for me than I expected. I can't tell you how many things in this game are things I actually needed to hear right now.
The second thing I really love about this game is just the different relationships you're able to engage in; family, friend, romantic, they're all there. The ability to get to know your fellow characters is just a lot of fun. A lot of it is kind of useful for battles and stuff, but I just find it fascinating how you have to slowly get to know more and more about the characters you interact with, to build strong "Social Links", and the closeness and camaraderie that develops by spending time with them. This is especially true of your different party members, whose abilities in battle also grow stronger as your relationship with them grow. Indeed, very early on in your friendship with any one of the party members, it states that the member will take a mortal blow for you. It sounds kind of morbid, but just the idea that you can develop a friendship like that in this game is just amazing. And the higher you raise the rank of that Social Link, the more you learn about that character and the closer you get to them, just like in real life. It is just so touching, and....aaah!
Oh, and the potential shipping! Man, have my shipper-girl glasses been working overtime! I swear, every girl in this game is after this protagonist! And I'm not exaggerating. Honestly, all the girls in this game have a crush on this guy! There's even an option for all the high school girls (because there are older women too) as you raise their Social Links: when you get to the highest rank in the Social Link, you have the choice to keep that girl a friend, or make her your girlfriend. And you can have more than one! You can choose to have multiple girls as your girlfriend (but then, you also run the risk of them running into each other and a cat fight ensuing...no joke). It is seriously funny. And of course, there are potential ships with the other characters too. There's just so many to choose from, heehee.
So of course, being so obsessed with the game, I'm itching to write stories for this fandom. Nothing much yet, though:
One of the stories is just a collection of oneshots relating to the different Social Link events. I really love the Social Links events, because those are the scenes where the protagonist really gets to know and grow closer to those other characters, and I like trying to imagine how the other characters are thinking and feeling as they're pouring out their souls to the protagonist. So I figured why not write them into stories? Haha.
Another one would be a small story featuring my (so-far) favorite pairing, Kanji/Rise. I have no idea what it'd be about yet, but I really want to write something, because there's just not enough of these two! But I'd need an idea for it first...heh...
The last one so far is an idea I had when I looked ahead and found videos on YouTube of people's run-through of the game. See, in the final battle, there comes a point where the Big Bad uses one of those insta-kill moves. Her initial target is you, naturally, but true to their word, your party members will push you out of the way, dying themselves one by one until the Big Bad gets to you and essentially kills you. Then there's this scene where you're pretty much in limbo, and all the characters that you've managed to max out their Social Link will talk to you, giving you the power to get up again. Your Persona transforms, and through the power of friendship and all that you defeat the Big Bad once and for all. I love it, and it's so touching, but I can't help wondering what happened to your party members at that time. I mean, they pretty much died before you, right? And when you make your big comeback and finally defeat the Boss, they're not there at first, but after you beat her and in the scene where she disappears, they're back. Most likely they were in a place like you were when you were dying, right? So what was it like for them? And how did they get back? So the story is pretty much their experience during that time, their thoughts and how the protagonist helped too.
That's pretty much it so far. But honestly, this game is awesome! Another fandom I need to get an icon for...oh, and I should probably update my Fandom/Shipping list soon too. Haha.
BTW, those of my flist who are Fairy Tail fans: Try reading this part of the new manga chapter while listening to this song on a loop. I seriously almost cried (then again, I am a big baby, haha...)!