Catsplosion posted:

Fair enough though I think that even that post has a negative dismissive tone to it and is virtue signalling because what me and you were talking about is directly relevant to how Japanese perceive the issues we were talking about. To completely dismiss what the Japanese currently think and the shift happening is in my mind both racist and interjects a western superiority into the conversation that I don't like.

Before that I thought we were starting quite an interesting discussion on how these stories are told and the influences and traditional and modern day perceptions they have to deal with to tell those stories. Also discussing the pros and cons of subtle versus explicit story telling.

im saint germain posted:

I imagine he'd be as out of touch with the accuracy of the "times" as vampires are sometimes depicted, i.e., mashing together all the centuries.

"How do you do, mortal kids? May I bestow upon you your complimentary welcome basket, including a Decarabia fidget spinner, a Jack Frost snuff box, and Mara codpieces! Enjoy."

Item Getter posted:

I'm aware that personality wise she was pretty much reformed in P1, though I just meant that visually speaking her P1 version looks like a Japanese delinquent schoolgirl stereotype and she throws razors as a weapon, which gets dropped in her P2 incarnation for a more normal look.

Ibram Gaunt posted:

Well they spent the past week calling anyone who didn't like a real lovely transphobic translation of a manga series gamer gaters and chuds and stuff so that seems pretty dramahoundy to me! They're a known shitstirrer. Just because dumbass comicsgate freaks also don't like them doesn't make them good or not that.

Neeksy posted:

2 has the protag and the antag exchanging expensive trinkets in front of a bridal shop when they're kids, and one of the canon choices is dating him, we haven't reached that height ever since.

Serf posted:

Now I just wish they'd put Persona 1 and 2 on modern hardware with some fixes and better localization.

Neeksy posted:

The PSP version of P1 honestly just sucks all of the atmosphere and presentation out of the whole thing, failing particularly bad with the music aspect.
Instead of fixing things that would help gameplay like eliminating the P-level system, battle grid, etc. they spent money on a few CG cutscenes that weren't remaking old CG cutscenes, but randomly replacing written scenes that were just shown normally in-game anyway, and cutting out the sound effects and 3/4ths the music tracks. Those new cutscenes didn't even have voice acting in the JP version, either. That was just something the US side thought to do.

Item Getter posted:

I for one love stiff wobbly legged bad Poser animation-looking Philemon from original P1 with his booming 1940s radio announcer voice

e: but in seriousness the cutscene I do think was a big loss to remove from PSP P1 was the original pre-title intro, the CGI is dated but the original P1 and P2:IS intros had a very cool slow and eerie atmosphere which was replaced with generic fast paced J-pop anime music videos in the re-releases.

Gaius Marius posted:

Iwakura should've worked faster.

Gaius Marius posted:

If someone can leave your group and then finish the whole project before your group while stealing nothing, then you don't get to complain on the internet.

ImpAtom posted:

But past a certain point the core problem of any game like this is that you're left trying to argue for status quo + better because video game writers are certainly not going to be the ones who figure out some way to show the complete destruction of capitalism and its replacement by something better in any plausible way. Like Devil Survivor has a "everyone gets along super communism yay" ending but it's absolutely barebones and involved rewriting all of humanity.

Funky Valentine posted:

It's literally a bunch of weird old dudes trying to turn themselves into gods at the expense of literally all other forms of life. And also Gendo trying to bang his wife one last time at the expense of all other forms of life.

Yes that is indeed changing the status quo but it's not actually better.

NikkolasKing posted:

Something I found notable about DeSu 2 is that it isn't really brainwashing. Look at Strange Journey - that is absolutely brainwashing because the world is continuing on normally unless you help the Wise Men or Mem Aleph and subjugate everyone. In DeSu 2, it's a pretty big, explicit plot point that everyone in the world is dead by the ending except you and the dozen other survivors. So you aren't brainwashing the human race as the human race no longer exists. You're more recreating them with an increased or decreased sense of empathy.

I thought it was a notable difference, anyway.

GiantRockFromSpace posted:

Not even on release, there was some stirrup a few days back on Twitter going back to Persona 4 discourse, the usual "The game's not homo/transphobic! It's the people who headcanon characters that way who are just like the game villains!" and all that.

GiantRockFromSpace posted:

Blue Labrador posted:

Yeah, I'm not gonna defend Persona 4 from its general homophobia and sexism, but that 50 tweet thread was too incorrect on too many things for me.

It's probably up to personal taste, but I think the reason why I find Persona 5's writing more damning (besides it no longer being 2008) is that the juxtaposition between the relatively well-done Kamoshida arc and the immediate sexualization of Ann once she's in your party is like, legitimately offputting, and that kind of sours the rest of it for me.

Also yeah, totally agree that Yosuke's rampant homophobia is ridiculous and sucks rear end, but I heard there's a mod that restores his homosexuality and thank god for that.

Motto posted:

gigantic tweet threads are bad as usual but people blowing up over some streamer not liking P4 was ridiculous. their read on kanji was probably off but their sentiment was ultimately just that they weren't feeling the game and were prob gonna drop it

GoodApollo posted:

Neeksy posted:

...the guys that prey upon a teenage boy who doesn't show interest is an improvement?

Arist posted:

I get that Raidou has a cool design, but yeah, that era of school uniform is kind of inextricably tied to Japanese colonialism and would cause headaches for the company in certain foreign markets. It's the reason we're probably never getting a Raidou game again.

e: it's also why the Nocturne rerelease made Raidou DLC

ImpAtom posted:

I think the issue is that it is trying to be progressive. The characters have issues which boil down to the lovely views society or people have and try to force onto people, and it is okay to be a girl and like 'manly' things and vice-versa, but at the end of the day it is still almost exclusively tailored to people who want to fit into society instead of being comfortable outside of it