The Ultimate Persona Compendium is a comprehensive video series analyzing the Persona games, from beginning to end. It’s finally time to move on from the old and into the new, modern era that started with Persona 3 on the PS2. In this first part, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the story and the Jungian symbolism behind its bold new creative decisions, among many other things!
Special thanks to @DylantheKnightOwl for reading the Katsura Hashino quotes.
Curious where the analysis series begins? Check out the official playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJHL479NPHUil8W_Hc5AeXD3Tgpk-wqDn
~~~~~~~~~~
SUPPORT THE CHANNEL
You can donate directly through YouTube now using the ‘Super Thanks’ button below the video, or use the links below:
https://ko-fi.com/SnicketySlice
https://www.paypal.me/SnicketySlice
I wrote a light novel. It’s free, but you can pay for it if you like: https://snicketyslice.gumroad.com/l/VideoGameLibraryGirl
~~~~~~~~~~
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 – Preface
00:03:05 – Entering the PS2 Era
00:07:37 – A New Approach
00:16:49 – Plot Synopsis
00:26:00 – Reminders of Death
00:49:28 – TV Ad
00:49:45 – The Journey of the Fool
01:05:58 – Symbolic Sacrifice
01:19:23 – Outro
~~~~~~~~~~
TAGS
Tags: #Persona #ShinMegamiTensei #Megaten
source
long story short on the A.I. Party Control thing: good thematic idea, bad gameplay execution.
My view on Death: "Death can have me when it earns me" -A certain God of War that has his latest adventure in 2022!
Will you be talking about the added story of"the answer in this series?
I've got an 8-ish hour road trip coming on the 6th so that gives me an excuse to re-listen to this series! Thanks for your hard work!
l really loved your persona 1 and 2 ones, and l highly think l will love this too since l love your work, never change
First time stumbling upon your channel. You have a great analysis, the best one I've seen so far! This is why this game has so much personal attachment to me
I've been waiting for this!
"they are, after all, predominantly based" could have ended the vid there tbh. Great analysis tho.
I love these soo much and now we on P3! Looking forward to this 😌
Thanks for putting as much time and effort into this series as you do. I find it endlessly entertaining and insightful. Looking forward to whatever else you intend to produce.
I’m so happy this is out, I’ve been waiting for so so long and I’m ecstatic that it’s finally here, thank you Snickety
Interesting question: Will you be covering Trinity Soul, by any chance?
Persona 3 remains my favorite game of the series. I know it's a Debbie-Downer for a lotta gamers lol (hence, why it isn't as hyped up as Persona 5 or 4) but Persona 3 really hits you in the FEELS. Just listening to some of its soundtracks play during your analysis video made me want to cry. I played Persona 3 when it first came out during my twenties. Now, I'm a middle-aged gamer. I've lost a lotta loved ones. My body no longer feels the same. Persona 3's message is more relevant than ever for me, as I suspect it'll be for a lotta gamers who eventually grow up. Thank you SO MUCH for doing an analysis of it.
This game always has and probably always will bring me to tears and shake my body down to it's soul. Thank you for for making me feel that yet again. I look forward to your next part.
I can’t unsee the fingers In the thumbnail in this video
OH MY GOD LETS FUCKIN GOOOO
Also i like the fact that mechanically in the end the game shows you what is about to happen. If you notice, The Great Seal has a cost of 100% HP, always. That shows MC will not live through this. And i like these little details.
Now we have next the THE ANSWER!(okay… maybe this one will be a part 3 actually.. bcz oh gosh… I guess just 2 or 3 arcana side-chars takes around 20 minutes JUST TO EXPLAIN THE BASICS EVEN BEFORE TO TELL THEY'RE OWN STORIES!)
AND THE CHARS! OH GOSH! THAT WOULD E A LENGHTY ONE!
But I want also the PSP version chars pov if possible
This channel is amazing
This is a good video overall but I was extremely disappointed by how briefly you analyzed each tarot card and reverse shadow, especially The Magician, who was completely skipped over.
Incredible video. Thank you for your in depth analysis. This is right up my street. I look forward to part 2.
Are you from the UK?
Another note to add in regards to Jesus parallels is that when taken from the perspective of a Gnostic Jesus the decision to make the main character's persona Orpheus just strengthens that link. Within many of the most famous forms of Gnostic Cosmology involve an emanation of God called Sophia (Nyx in this case) descending into the abyss and giving birth to the demi-urge who in turns births the material world, and traps Sophia in it as the spirit of humanity. Emanations of God in Gnosticism come in male-female couplets known as syzygies and Sophia's consort is Christ who descends to the material world (what was once the Abyss) to save her. This is quite a clear parallel with the story of Orpheus descending into Hades.
The Fallen Sophia archetype appears quite a bit in Japanese media. Evangelion specifically even had its Fallen Sophia (Lilith) represented by the "Black Moon" which was her vessel and reclaims the souls of humanity. The Japanese seem to have a distinct fascination with Gnosticism (as did Jung, mind you), and I believe it has to do with its parallels with the Shinto creation myth. In the Japanese creation myth, Izanami and Izanagi were the last in a series of male-female couplet deities, much like in Gnosticism. Izanami eventually gives birth to Kagutsuchi who kills her upon his birth and signified the end of the creation of the world (and would also signal the beginning of death). Izanagi must descend into the Underworld to retrieve Izanami but, much like Orpheus, fails specifically because he looks at her. He closes off the cave to Yomi, separating life and death, as well as Izanagi and Izanami, and whilst Izanami vows to kill 1,000 people every day, Izanagi insists he will give life 1,500 people every day. So they also take on this duality of life and death.
Me: sees this video I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!
The issue with non party member control isn't that the AI is bad. The game was built around the player properly using the tactics menu and scanning the enemies. But players expected that the ai would largely make the right decisions if they just left them to their default tactics setting, or sometimes one of the more other general ones.
And a part of it is also likely looking at how Persona 4 and 5 works with the AI, where there is a lot less in terms of options on how your party members act, since those games were made with player's selecting party member's actions.
Obviously the reason they made the party members choose their own actions was because they wanted the player to feel like they were a person in the group and we as people can only choose our own actions. The challenge they had as developers if they wanted this was to give the player options on how to direct their allies without giving them direct control. This conveys that the party is communicating during battles, but are giving each other enough autonomy that they can work within the suggested tactics. Personally I think they did a really good job, because the alternative would have been to make the AI so competent that it would generally always take whatever action was needed with minimal player input, but this would lead to it feeling like the party is not actually communicating with each other. Instead of a team, it would come across as a bunch of random characters just happened to be in the battle together.
And while direct control is more convenient, it does feel like something was lost. Persona 4 and 5 more or less contextualize this as the team leader literally telling their allies what skills to use, which kind of sucks because it makes it seem like your allies have no autonomy and therefore little to no personality in battle. But because the combat was developed with direct control in mind, you would be heavily restricting yourself and making things way harder since the AI in those games aren't as adjustable.
I'm trying to patiently wait, IM TRYING for part 2
YOU’RE ALIVE ❤
Edit: By the time you do P5 I’ll probably be middle age but I’ll be expecting the video 😂
love your content