After a lot of time, hard work, dedication, waiting, and a whole lot else, I'm very happy to finally be able to publicly announce what has by far been my biggest print-related project for Play: my very first cover story, this one for our December 2008 issue in honor of the North American release of Persona 4.
I've been with the Persona series for a long time, from my days back at GameFan where I helped work on the official strategy guide, to creating and launching the first-ever English-language Persona website (the Velvet Room), to having Persona 3 be my first (and only) score of 10 handed out in Play, to now putting together the story that would go along with our beautiful exclusive cover crafted by Soejima himself.
In Print
Even though there's always the chance to do better, I really worked hard to put together a cover story for Persona 4 that would not only do the game justice, but also be an interesting read for MegaTen fans and first-time players alike.
Our coverage kicks off with my nearly 2,500 word review of the U.S. release of Persona 4. This was, for me, a very personal review (and very enjoyable to write), as I did less of a "let's run down the good and bad of P4" kind of thing, and more of a "what did this game mean to me, and how do I look at it having been a huge fan of Persona 3." Even with three pages dedicated to my review, I wasn't able to cover everything that I wanted to cover, but hopefully if you read it you'll come away with a better understanding of the game.
From there, we've got three exclusive interviews based around Persona 4, with director / producer Katsura Hashino, art director Shigenori Soejima, and composer Shoji Meguro. Spanning five pages, there's a lot of good information presented here, and I tried to ask (with the help of play japan editor Dai Kohama and a few other helping hands) some of those questions that I thought fans of Persona 3, the Persona series, and SMT overall would want to be asked.
To round things out, our Shin Megami Tensei special ends in a special Q&A session with Spencer Chi, the producer over at Aeria Games that is helping to bring Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online to us English-speaking folks. All in all, it's nearly 8,500 words of Shin Megami Tensei goodness.
Also, I'd like to make special mention of the layout, as I did it all myself and really tried to give it a trademark Persona 4 feeling. My theme was three things: the classic P4 yellow color, the TV theme, and the importance on characters, since those characters are the most important aspect of the game. So, there's a lot of beautiful character art, combined with exclusive screenshots.
Online
Our Shin Megami Tensei special doesn't end there, however, as we've also got bonus content now up online at http://playmagazine.com/megaten. Here's you'll find bonus interview questions from our three main interviews that couldn't fit into the magazine, a quick look back at the history of the Persona series, and a special contest we're bringing in combination with Atlus.
So, buy it already!
As I said, I really put a lot of work into our coverage of Persona 4, not just due to it being our cover story, but because I personally wanted to create something that I'd be proud of. Did I accomplish that? Who knows. But I really hope you check the issue out, both for my Persona 4 / SMT stuff, but also for 102 pages of great content. (Including my Back of the Book where I bitch about the terrible state of multiplayer matchmaking.)
The December 2008 issue of Play is hitting subscribers as of yesterday, and soon should be on newsstands everywhere.
From that same thread, an Atlus USA employee confirmed the cover art for the Play mag was a special commission job.
And this reminds me, is there going to be an awesome strategy guide like P3 had for P4?
Yep, seems like DoubleJump Books is handling the game guide for P4 as well. I've had some good luck with them for their Nippon Ichi game guides. But I think I'll try P4 without a game guide... shouldn't be too bad.
MrBlarney on
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited November 2008
That is awesome. And yeah, I might pass on the P4 guide. I usually get them for collectibility, but when the artbook which is free has a better presentation on the whole... yeah, doesn't seem as necessary to get a guide.
Also, I'm killing The Answer at the moment. Already blazed through all of Caina, Antenora, and half of Ptolomea. I think I've got the hang of it now.
At least most of the bosses actually have weaknesses. Just a question of hitting them.
Bah. I just got to the first boss in Empyrean, and it blows the Ken/Metis/Koromaru party away. It uses mid-level hama and mudo spells, and if one misses, the other has about a 100% chance of killing both of them. I lack the items to block this, so I went back down with Yukari/Junpei/Metis.
I've been trying this same battle for about four hours. I'm high enough level that most of the random spawns in the floors before it are distressed. I just haven't been very lucky.
There's a fire weakness, which I'm trying to exploit with a level 60 Surt's Ragnarok. I'm level 74, Metis is 70, and Yukari and Junpei are both 65. Other than annoying physical attacks that usually only target one person, two of the enemies will cast magarudyne or maragidyne every turn. I've got everyone equipped with an Eye of Wind accessory save Yukari, who may have either an Eye of Flame or the item that blocks fire entirely. Yukari heals, Metis targets the enemy with no elemental weaknesses, and Junpei is set to Knock Down. What am I doing wrong? Is it seriously just a luck issue?
Bah. I just got to the first boss in Empyrean, and it blows the Ken/Metis/Koromaru party away. It uses mid-level hama and mudo spells, and if one misses, the other has about a 100% chance of killing both of them. I lack the items to block this, so I went back down with Yukari/Junpei/Metis.
I've been trying this same battle for about four hours. I'm high enough level that most of the random spawns in the floors before it are distressed. I just haven't been very lucky.
There's a fire weakness, which I'm trying to exploit with a level 60 Surt's Ragnarok. I'm level 74, Metis is 70, and Yukari and Junpei are both 65. Other than annoying physical attacks that usually only target one person, two of the enemies will cast magarudyne or maragidyne every turn. I've got everyone equipped with an Eye of Wind accessory save Yukari, who may have either an Eye of Flame or the item that blocks fire entirely. Yukari heals, Metis targets the enemy with no elemental weaknesses, and Junpei is set to Knock Down. What am I doing wrong? Is it seriously just a luck issue?
Even with a plan and the right equipment, you need a healthy dose of luck to win this fight. And joy of joys, once you kill the two enemies weak to fire (and also to elec BTW, but they dodge that just as readily so it's more a matter of preference), the last dude starts breaking out full-party physical attacks of all three flavors. I ended up using Odin (with null wind) to take down the first two guys then switching to Siegfried (slash immune, strike resist) with the pierce evading accessory to finish, and even after I hit on this idea it took me three attempts.
FunkyWaltDogg on
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited November 2008
The second boss of Antenora(Minotaur IV) tore my group to shreds. Back to level/Persona grinding.
Even with a plan and the right equipment, you need a healthy dose of luck to win this fight. And joy of joys, once you kill the two enemies weak to fire (and also to elec BTW, but they dodge that just as readily so it's more a matter of preference), the last dude starts breaking out full-party physical attacks of all three flavors. I ended up using Odin (with null wind) to take down the first two guys then switching to Siegfried (slash immune, strike resist) with the pierce evading accessory to finish, and even after I hit on this idea it took me three attempts.
I was all excited about using my Odin until I started the fight and remembered that he didn't have dodge wind anymore After I failed a few more times I seriously considered making a new one and leveling it again, but then I realized my problem was that I was using Ragnarok and not Maragidyne. The latter usually hit at least one of the fire-weak monsters, and always hit the physical attack boss where Ragnarok would miss and waste a turn more often than not. I failed a few times after taking out both the smaller creatures before I realized that attack mirrors meant that the physical attack boss took himself out with Vorpal Blade in one turn.
The boss battle after this one was over in less than five minutes since I'd over-leveled so much. I'll take bosses that do physical attacks and don't have dodge skills any day.
Well, not hard mode. That's just being masochistic.
Also, it seems like shadows don't drop money in Answer.
Actually hard mode really isn't that hard. Especially when you get First Strike 98% of the time. (Shadows hate heights apparently)
Hate heights?
Please, do clarify.
You know those occasional rooms that consist of a single raised platform in the corner? Run up one of those and any Shadows that are chasing you will immediately turn around when they hit the stairs. It's probably the result of them instantly losing attention, but it's a great way to quickly hit them in the back.
Well, not hard mode. That's just being masochistic.
Also, it seems like shadows don't drop money in Answer.
Actually hard mode really isn't that hard. Especially when you get First Strike 98% of the time. (Shadows hate heights apparently)
Hate heights?
Please, do clarify.
You know those occasional rooms that consist of a single raised platform in the corner? Run up one of those and any Shadows that are chasing you will immediately turn around when they hit the stairs. It's probably the result of them instantly losing attention, but it's a great way to quickly hit them in the back.
Ah, that.
I've been doing that all along, just didn't think of it in quite that way.
Well, not hard mode. That's just being masochistic.
Also, it seems like shadows don't drop money in Answer.
Actually hard mode really isn't that hard. Especially when you get First Strike 98% of the time. (Shadows hate heights apparently)
Hate heights?
Please, do clarify.
You know those occasional rooms that consist of a single raised platform in the corner? Run up one of those and any Shadows that are chasing you will immediately turn around when they hit the stairs. It's probably the result of them instantly losing attention, but it's a great way to quickly hit them in the back.
Ah, that.
I've been doing that all along, just didn't think of it in quite that way.
Yeah, that's what I meant. It almost always works because shadows have a "wandering" range and then a "max" range. If they chase you out of the wandering range they'll about face and try to get back into it. (also, the end of level stairs work too, not just the raised platforms)
It's fun to have a shadow run into the max range wall, you walk on a step, and it goes "wow, where'd he go! Heck, guess I should get back to wandering", and turns around immediately
Then you stab it in the back.
Syphyre on
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited November 2008
Wait, are the art books out? And yeah, word's out that they're spoiler heavy, so it's probably best to shelf them until actually beating P4.
So I just looked through the Persona 4 art. Avoid it if you haven't looked at it as I think there's some spoilers in there.
One of which, which I think is pretty minor :
The boys cross-dress o_O
Here's the situation as I understand it:
Yosuke signs Chie, Yukiko, and Rise up for a, like, Miss Junes pageant or whatever. Chie is PISSED and, to get back at him, signs up Main, Yosuke, and Kanji
So I just looked through the Persona 4 art. Avoid it if you haven't looked at it as I think there's some spoilers in there.
One of which, which I think is pretty minor :
The boys cross-dress o_O
Here's the situation as I understand it:
Yosuke signs Chie, Yukiko, and Rise up for a, like, Miss Junes pageant or whatever. Chie is PISSED and, to get back at him, signs up Main, Yosuke, and Kanji
So I just looked through the Persona 4 art. Avoid it if you haven't looked at it as I think there's some spoilers in there.
One of which, which I think is pretty minor :
The boys cross-dress o_O
Here's the situation as I understand it:
Yosuke signs Chie, Yukiko, and Rise up for a, like, Miss Junes pageant or whatever. Chie is PISSED and, to get back at him, signs up Main, Yosuke, and Kanji
And Kuma
I think you mean
"Teddie"
Yup. I like the name, to be honest. I'm just used to calling him Kuma. It'll take a while.
Fuck you B:L, fuck you so hard. I've never played Nocturne and it's for a low price and I ordered it off there w/ my credit card and god I make bad decisions but now I have every SMT game on PS2 and
Hell, in a week I'm going to have every Megaten game on the PS2 and most of the worthwhile ones on the PSX, now that the Persona 2 duo's about to be complete.
Fuck you B:L, fuck you so hard. I've never played Nocturne and it's for a low price and I ordered it off there w/ my credit card and god I make bad decisions but now I have every SMT game on PS2 and
FUCK IM POOR
You have made the right choice.
Nocturne is the finest JRPG known to man.
Fuck you B:L, fuck you so hard. I've never played Nocturne and it's for a low price and I ordered it off there w/ my credit card and god I make bad decisions but now I have every SMT game on PS2 and
FUCK IM POOR
You have made the right choice.
Nocturne is the finest JRPG known to man.
Someday I will go back and beat that damn game....someday....
after The Answer...
and P4...
dammit.
Fuck you B:L, fuck you so hard. I've never played Nocturne and it's for a low price and I ordered it off there w/ my credit card and god I make bad decisions but now I have every SMT game on PS2 and
FUCK IM POOR
You have made the right choice.
Nocturne is the finest JRPG known to man.
Someday I will go back and beat that damn game....someday....
after The Answer...
and P4...
dammit.
If it makes you feel better, I still need to go back and play most of Digital Devil Saga, Demikids Dark and Devil Summoner.
I'm distracted by FES.
Xagarath on
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited November 2008
I guess I'm lucky. I just have to replay DDS(you will die by my hand, Demi-Fiend), finish Innocent Sin and Journey/Answer(mostly just Answer), and play Soul Hackers.
Maybe by the time I do, it'll be translation patched.
Well, not hard mode. That's just being masochistic.
Also, it seems like shadows don't drop money in Answer.
Actually hard mode really isn't that hard. Especially when you get First Strike 98% of the time. (Shadows hate heights apparently)
Hate heights?
Please, do clarify.
You know those occasional rooms that consist of a single raised platform in the corner? Run up one of those and any Shadows that are chasing you will immediately turn around when they hit the stairs. It's probably the result of them instantly losing attention, but it's a great way to quickly hit them in the back.
Posts
From teh NeoGaf, a post from the author of the P4 article:
From that same thread, an Atlus USA employee confirmed the cover art for the Play mag was a special commission job.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
And this reminds me, is there going to be an awesome strategy guide like P3 had for P4?
Yep, seems like DoubleJump Books is handling the game guide for P4 as well. I've had some good luck with them for their Nippon Ichi game guides. But I think I'll try P4 without a game guide... shouldn't be too bad.
Also, I'm killing The Answer at the moment. Already blazed through all of Caina, Antenora, and half of Ptolomea. I think I've got the hang of it now.
At least most of the bosses actually have weaknesses. Just a question of hitting them.
I've been trying this same battle for about four hours. I'm high enough level that most of the random spawns in the floors before it are distressed. I just haven't been very lucky.
There's a fire weakness, which I'm trying to exploit with a level 60 Surt's Ragnarok. I'm level 74, Metis is 70, and Yukari and Junpei are both 65. Other than annoying physical attacks that usually only target one person, two of the enemies will cast magarudyne or maragidyne every turn. I've got everyone equipped with an Eye of Wind accessory save Yukari, who may have either an Eye of Flame or the item that blocks fire entirely. Yukari heals, Metis targets the enemy with no elemental weaknesses, and Junpei is set to Knock Down. What am I doing wrong? Is it seriously just a luck issue?
Even with a plan and the right equipment, you need a healthy dose of luck to win this fight. And joy of joys, once you kill the two enemies weak to fire (and also to elec BTW, but they dodge that just as readily so it's more a matter of preference), the last dude starts breaking out full-party physical attacks of all three flavors. I ended up using Odin (with null wind) to take down the first two guys then switching to Siegfried (slash immune, strike resist) with the pierce evading accessory to finish, and even after I hit on this idea it took me three attempts.
Use Attack Mirrors.
I was all excited about using my Odin until I started the fight and remembered that he didn't have dodge wind anymore
The boss battle after this one was over in less than five minutes since I'd over-leveled so much. I'll take bosses that do physical attacks and don't have dodge skills any day.
So why in the world am I playing through the Journey again, on Hard Mode, before I play the Answer?
Well, not hard mode. That's just being masochistic.
Also, it seems like shadows don't drop money in Answer.
It's just annoying.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Say what? You get money from coin cards in shuffle just like in Journey.
I could've sworn they used to drop money outside of the shuffling.
I don't think they ever did.
Um, no. Never did.
Actually hard mode really isn't that hard. Especially when you get First Strike 98% of the time. (Shadows hate heights apparently)
One of which, which I think is pretty minor :
Hate heights?
Please, do clarify.
You know those occasional rooms that consist of a single raised platform in the corner? Run up one of those and any Shadows that are chasing you will immediately turn around when they hit the stairs. It's probably the result of them instantly losing attention, but it's a great way to quickly hit them in the back.
I've been doing that all along, just didn't think of it in quite that way.
It's fun to have a shadow run into the max range wall, you walk on a step, and it goes "wow, where'd he go! Heck, guess I should get back to wandering", and turns around immediately
Then you stab it in the back.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
I think you mean
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Also, reprints: (courtesy of CAG)
SMT: Digital Devil Saga (GAME ONLY) NOW $34.99
SMT: Nocturne NOW $24.99
And that is criminal for Nocturne.
FUCK IM POOR
...that really is a very large number of games.
You have made the right choice.
Nocturne is the finest JRPG known to man.
Thank you sir, just ordered P4.
after The Answer...
and P4...
dammit.
I'm distracted by FES.
Maybe by the time I do, it'll be translation patched.
Say goodbye to those in P4.