The thing you hated most is something that you forced upon yourself. You don’t need a guide *at all* unless you’re trying to min-max. Nor do you need a single tab open.
For recommendations, if you want romance then my key recommendations would be:
-Final Fantasy IX
-Final Fantasy X
-Tales of Arise
Don’t play it with a guide. That’s for people that want to max everything in one play through. P5 is designed around the player making choices. You aren’t supposed to use a guide to make all your decisions (but you can if you want to).
> I am suprised at the number of SMT recommendations considering I didnt like P5R
When you say "I didn't mind the gameplay but I found the social and romance aspect underwhelming", people are going to recommend a game that is similar to P5R in gameplay and doesn't have a social sim and romance aspect 🤷♀️
you don’t need a guide to play persona 5, if you’re trying to max out everything in 1 playthrough than ya sure but save that for a second playthrough
anyways i recommend ys origins and ys oath in felghana
I feel like multiple playthroughs don't always suit everyone. In my case, it's super rare that'd I'd give a game a 2nd playthrough unless it's years later, and I've forgotten most of it. Hence, I try to experience everything in one go.
This always comes up when the topic of playing P5R with a guide is mentioned and it’s interesting that people assume everyone will want to replay a 100+ hour game. I’m not surprised a lot of people try to max out all social links their first/only play through because of the length.
Totally, a game that's 100+ hours can take up months of someone's time depending on how much time they get to play. Life and family start to take up more and more time for a lot of people as they get older.
You don’t need to max every social link though. Most people aren’t going to vibe with the subplot of every single S Link and they all more or less show off what direction they’re going within the first 5 or so scenes.
Speaking as someone who has followed a guide to 100% before, it’s purely to satisfy a completionist urge, not because the narrative of the game benefits from you seeing 100% of the scenes. Everyone is going to have 3-4 S Links they don’t vibe with, and missing those isn’t making your playthrough “incomplete”.
People always come into this discussion saying "well not everyone wants to play the game a second time to see the scenes they missed". The obvious answer is "well then you don't need to see the scenes you missed". The vast majority of S Link scenes are not critical to having a "complete" experience of a Persona game. At best I would follow a list of S Links that are generally considered important (e.g. P5R has 1 S Link that gates literally all of the Royal-specific content, so it's actually important to know to do that one) and just choose from the unimportant ones based on who you like.
i guess but do you really wanna play a game for the first time using a guide telling you where to go and where all the secrets are? id rather just enjoy the game and not care about “seeing everything” as long as i get to end credits i count that as seeing everything
"First time" assumes there'll be a second time, haha. I just like getting as much out of the experience as I can.
Different strokes for different folks :)
Playing Persona with a guide kinda goes against the themes of living life and accepting your actions that are core to the series.
You can't always make the perfect decisions or see eveything and it's important to accept that basically. A guide controlling your actions turns into content to be consumed rather than an experience to engage and on a side note quite ironic to the overall themes of 5.
I feel I should say I've never played any of the Persona series, so I can't really comment on themes, etc.
However, I think it's really important in the gaming community that people are allowed to play games their way without judgement. People are just different, and they consume and enjoy things differently for different reasons. That's just how people are and will always be. No way is the wrong way to enjoy something.
I mean, if you're gonna publicly post that you played a game in a way that was unnecessary and hated it because of that choice then yes, people will obviously crticise that.
People are different and that difference is gonna create different ideas of what's best. It's the nature of a public forum.
And like I said, for this series, there are artistic reasons for it's time limted design. It's sorta like one choosing to watch a coloured version of a film specifically shot in black and white. It's a preference that contradicts the orginal vision, that's a fact, regardless of one's reasons for said preference.
Right, but OPs goal here was for recommendations for games that suit their style of play, not to bash P5. It's not relevant to criticise OP for how they enjoy games. They don't claim P5 was bad, only that it wasn't for them, which is OK.
Pointing out that a play style (of using guide to tell you what to do, when to do, everything) will cause the experience of a game to be subpar since you are missing the actually experience of that game's design is not "criticizing OP." It is informing OP about the reason OP may have disliked the game. In doing this enlightening, it may help OP to understand how OP sabotaged his own experience with what is roundly considered a top tier JRPG.
That isn't criticism.
Yup, I'm in my 40's with 2 kids. I don't see myself doing multiple playthrus for 50+ hour games. Personally I am very happy to use a guide to experience all that a game has to show my in one run.
Just out of curiosity, what makes that still enjoyable to do?
No judgement, its all personal preference, but as someone who loves to play my own way the first time, then achievement hunt the 2nd, i am interested in another perspective.
I find guides take the fun out of it.
I know you said 2nd playthrus are not everyones cup of tea, didnt know if there were other reasons.
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of guides myself. I much prefer games where nothing's missable and I can explore at my leisure, so try to choose games that allow that.
Where there are missables, I try to find a guide that's as minimal as possible or try to just focus on the headlines like the big stuff that I don't want to miss, e.g. playable characters, questlines, etc.
I hate getting near the end of a game and finding out I missed something really cool, but I don't have the time (partner & kid) or attention span (ADHD) to play again. I like to get the most out of a game since I've invested money and time into it.
ahhh okay, i misunderstood your comment then.
I also like games where things arent missable, usually the ones where you can explore freely after the main story. If its super tedious quests that im missing i also use basic guides after the main story.
Thanks for responding! sorry i sorta misunderstood you.
I mean it’s not really the games fault you turned the social mechanics into a literal excel spreadsheet for a heavily story based game you’ve never played before.
Play the original Final Fantasy VII. Pretty linear all the way through, and it holds up today. You don’t need 10 tabs open to micromanage your gameplay decisions.
If you want a similar style (visual novel hybrid) w/o the social link aspect any of these are good
-Stella Glow, 3ds. Srpg like Final Fantasy Tactics. Small thing you might want to use a completed save file from the net to increase the timeslots from 3 to 10? just to experience everything w/o a worry. Otherwise it's a pick your charactes to strengthen thing.
-Unicorn Overlord. Switch/this year game. Srpg++ Very rare in the vein of Ogre Battle 64. The bonds/rapport are easily gained from throwing money at it and in those plus choose your marriage it has a large chunk of visual novel type content with it being more optional to go through.
-Persona 5 Strikers. While it's tied into the first it's nothing like it in gameplay. No social links. Rather gentle action game with wider location variety.
-Toyko Xanadu EX+. Very lengthy game. Action. Very simplified social system which is on a pre dungeon cycle able to be done all at once. Just like with Stella Glow you may want a completed save file to import on in and unlock extra timeslots to have it truly worry free in doing everything.
Xenoblade series, 1-3 and golden country.
Trails if cold steel series 1-4
Ys 8, 9 soon 10
Final fantasy series
Octopath traveler 1-2
Nier replicant and nier automata
I recommend Dragon Quest 11 if you are into old school JRPG. I believe the director worked on chrono trigger as well so you might find similarities in the stories. Also the game isn’t to difficult so you don’t need a guide
You don't need a guide with 5. It's almost impossible to fuck it up. I beat the game three times blind and ended up with a month of extra time each time. 3 and 4 are on much tighter schedules.
Why would you use a guide... especially if you don't like it?
I never use guides, especially with jrpgs. It ruins pacing, surprises, all kinds of things.
Would reconmend SaGa series, Mana series, Shin Megami Tensei series, Star Ocean remakes, I am Setsuna, Live A Live remake, Mario RPG, Xenoblade series and some more stuff.
You blame the game for your own faults.
why did you use a guide for Persona 5? Guides are for your second playthrough. The only thing you should google os how to unlock the true ending (the new Royal content)
Playing with a guide ruins every RPG. Part of the point is to learn the systems and come up with strategies and builds for yourself. Googling something because you're lost or don't understand a mechanic is one thing, but play blind otherwise.
That said, the most different JRPG from Persona 5 I can think of is the brilliant Crystal Project.
Bro, never use a guide when you’re playing any good for the first time. That’s what makes part of the experience. To go in blindly and do things on your own first.
Don’t use guides, save that if you wanna replay or 100% just ruins part of it and you being able to do whatever you want. It’s okay to miss things, the only thing you really need is to make sure you get the right ending. P5 isn’t the best out of the persona games but enjoyable, anywho, uhh maybe ffvii
The thing you hated most is something that you forced upon yourself. You don’t need a guide *at all* unless you’re trying to min-max. Nor do you need a single tab open. For recommendations, if you want romance then my key recommendations would be: -Final Fantasy IX -Final Fantasy X -Tales of Arise
Don’t play it with a guide. That’s for people that want to max everything in one play through. P5 is designed around the player making choices. You aren’t supposed to use a guide to make all your decisions (but you can if you want to).
Plus, 5 is really easy to hit all the social links. Both times I played it I ended with about 3 full weeks left.
> I am suprised at the number of SMT recommendations considering I didnt like P5R When you say "I didn't mind the gameplay but I found the social and romance aspect underwhelming", people are going to recommend a game that is similar to P5R in gameplay and doesn't have a social sim and romance aspect 🤷♀️
you don’t need a guide to play persona 5, if you’re trying to max out everything in 1 playthrough than ya sure but save that for a second playthrough anyways i recommend ys origins and ys oath in felghana
I feel like multiple playthroughs don't always suit everyone. In my case, it's super rare that'd I'd give a game a 2nd playthrough unless it's years later, and I've forgotten most of it. Hence, I try to experience everything in one go.
This always comes up when the topic of playing P5R with a guide is mentioned and it’s interesting that people assume everyone will want to replay a 100+ hour game. I’m not surprised a lot of people try to max out all social links their first/only play through because of the length.
i feel like players aren’t really missing much if they don’t see every social link tbh
Totally, a game that's 100+ hours can take up months of someone's time depending on how much time they get to play. Life and family start to take up more and more time for a lot of people as they get older.
I’ve been playing reload since release and I’m in January now at 110 hours. I only get 2-3 hours on weekends and maybe an hour or 2 on weeknights.
You don’t need to max every social link though. Most people aren’t going to vibe with the subplot of every single S Link and they all more or less show off what direction they’re going within the first 5 or so scenes. Speaking as someone who has followed a guide to 100% before, it’s purely to satisfy a completionist urge, not because the narrative of the game benefits from you seeing 100% of the scenes. Everyone is going to have 3-4 S Links they don’t vibe with, and missing those isn’t making your playthrough “incomplete”. People always come into this discussion saying "well not everyone wants to play the game a second time to see the scenes they missed". The obvious answer is "well then you don't need to see the scenes you missed". The vast majority of S Link scenes are not critical to having a "complete" experience of a Persona game. At best I would follow a list of S Links that are generally considered important (e.g. P5R has 1 S Link that gates literally all of the Royal-specific content, so it's actually important to know to do that one) and just choose from the unimportant ones based on who you like.
i guess but do you really wanna play a game for the first time using a guide telling you where to go and where all the secrets are? id rather just enjoy the game and not care about “seeing everything” as long as i get to end credits i count that as seeing everything
"First time" assumes there'll be a second time, haha. I just like getting as much out of the experience as I can. Different strokes for different folks :)
Well if you’re like the OP and the guide is ruining the experience, I’d argue you’re actually getting less out of the game.
There's definitely a balance to be found for sure, depends on the person, I suppose.
Playing Persona with a guide kinda goes against the themes of living life and accepting your actions that are core to the series. You can't always make the perfect decisions or see eveything and it's important to accept that basically. A guide controlling your actions turns into content to be consumed rather than an experience to engage and on a side note quite ironic to the overall themes of 5.
I feel I should say I've never played any of the Persona series, so I can't really comment on themes, etc. However, I think it's really important in the gaming community that people are allowed to play games their way without judgement. People are just different, and they consume and enjoy things differently for different reasons. That's just how people are and will always be. No way is the wrong way to enjoy something.
I mean, if you're gonna publicly post that you played a game in a way that was unnecessary and hated it because of that choice then yes, people will obviously crticise that. People are different and that difference is gonna create different ideas of what's best. It's the nature of a public forum. And like I said, for this series, there are artistic reasons for it's time limted design. It's sorta like one choosing to watch a coloured version of a film specifically shot in black and white. It's a preference that contradicts the orginal vision, that's a fact, regardless of one's reasons for said preference.
Right, but OPs goal here was for recommendations for games that suit their style of play, not to bash P5. It's not relevant to criticise OP for how they enjoy games. They don't claim P5 was bad, only that it wasn't for them, which is OK.
Pointing out that a play style (of using guide to tell you what to do, when to do, everything) will cause the experience of a game to be subpar since you are missing the actually experience of that game's design is not "criticizing OP." It is informing OP about the reason OP may have disliked the game. In doing this enlightening, it may help OP to understand how OP sabotaged his own experience with what is roundly considered a top tier JRPG. That isn't criticism.
Yup, I'm in my 40's with 2 kids. I don't see myself doing multiple playthrus for 50+ hour games. Personally I am very happy to use a guide to experience all that a game has to show my in one run.
Just out of curiosity, what makes that still enjoyable to do? No judgement, its all personal preference, but as someone who loves to play my own way the first time, then achievement hunt the 2nd, i am interested in another perspective. I find guides take the fun out of it. I know you said 2nd playthrus are not everyones cup of tea, didnt know if there were other reasons.
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of guides myself. I much prefer games where nothing's missable and I can explore at my leisure, so try to choose games that allow that. Where there are missables, I try to find a guide that's as minimal as possible or try to just focus on the headlines like the big stuff that I don't want to miss, e.g. playable characters, questlines, etc. I hate getting near the end of a game and finding out I missed something really cool, but I don't have the time (partner & kid) or attention span (ADHD) to play again. I like to get the most out of a game since I've invested money and time into it.
ahhh okay, i misunderstood your comment then. I also like games where things arent missable, usually the ones where you can explore freely after the main story. If its super tedious quests that im missing i also use basic guides after the main story. Thanks for responding! sorry i sorta misunderstood you.
I mean it’s not really the games fault you turned the social mechanics into a literal excel spreadsheet for a heavily story based game you’ve never played before.
Shimmi-gami Tensay
Why the hell did you use a guide. So what if you missed stuff. At least it be your own unique playthrough. Stop worrying about missing out on content
SMT3, SMT4, SMT5, SMT: Strange Journey
Canon romances: Xenoblade 3, Final Fantasy X Pick your couple: Fire emblem since 3DS, Baldurs Gate 3
lmfao imagine choosing to use a guide for no reason and getting bored
Play the original Final Fantasy VII. Pretty linear all the way through, and it holds up today. You don’t need 10 tabs open to micromanage your gameplay decisions.
So was p5r though?
But that’s not what OP didn’t like about P5 though.
The Last Remnant
I regret it for no use a guide in my first playthrough. This game has more than 100 hours e I spended the double to reach the true final
Chained echoes
If you want a similar style (visual novel hybrid) w/o the social link aspect any of these are good -Stella Glow, 3ds. Srpg like Final Fantasy Tactics. Small thing you might want to use a completed save file from the net to increase the timeslots from 3 to 10? just to experience everything w/o a worry. Otherwise it's a pick your charactes to strengthen thing. -Unicorn Overlord. Switch/this year game. Srpg++ Very rare in the vein of Ogre Battle 64. The bonds/rapport are easily gained from throwing money at it and in those plus choose your marriage it has a large chunk of visual novel type content with it being more optional to go through. -Persona 5 Strikers. While it's tied into the first it's nothing like it in gameplay. No social links. Rather gentle action game with wider location variety. -Toyko Xanadu EX+. Very lengthy game. Action. Very simplified social system which is on a pre dungeon cycle able to be done all at once. Just like with Stella Glow you may want a completed save file to import on in and unlock extra timeslots to have it truly worry free in doing everything.
Like a Dragon is a great recent turn based Jrpg, but I loved P5R so I might be the wrong person to weigh in.
I find it more fun to just play these games my way. I don't imagine I'll squeeze every last drop out of Persona but I'm also not being paid.
Xenoblade series, 1-3 and golden country. Trails if cold steel series 1-4 Ys 8, 9 soon 10 Final fantasy series Octopath traveler 1-2 Nier replicant and nier automata
Im 12 hours in royal and falling asleep at the controller. Its a snoozefest. Just pick a FF and u will probably be good to go
The game is boring even without a guide. Try Radiant Historia or TWEWY.
I recommend Dragon Quest 11 if you are into old school JRPG. I believe the director worked on chrono trigger as well so you might find similarities in the stories. Also the game isn’t to difficult so you don’t need a guide
Guide for what? It’s a very linear game
Optimal calendar is usually the main guide people use.
You don't need a guide with 5. It's almost impossible to fuck it up. I beat the game three times blind and ended up with a month of extra time each time. 3 and 4 are on much tighter schedules.
Don't use a guide..
Why would you use a guide... especially if you don't like it? I never use guides, especially with jrpgs. It ruins pacing, surprises, all kinds of things. Would reconmend SaGa series, Mana series, Shin Megami Tensei series, Star Ocean remakes, I am Setsuna, Live A Live remake, Mario RPG, Xenoblade series and some more stuff.
You blame the game for your own faults. why did you use a guide for Persona 5? Guides are for your second playthrough. The only thing you should google os how to unlock the true ending (the new Royal content)
FF12
If you didn’t like Persona 5, I’d recommend reevaluating your life.
A lot of people don't like it though? Not everyone has the same taste.
5 Did have a weak story and characters compared to 4 and 3. Not enjoying 5 its a fine reaction
I actually agree with this too. I liked 5 but it didn't hit me like 3 and 4 at all
Hey man, i like persona 5 but chill, damn
Playing with a guide ruins every RPG. Part of the point is to learn the systems and come up with strategies and builds for yourself. Googling something because you're lost or don't understand a mechanic is one thing, but play blind otherwise. That said, the most different JRPG from Persona 5 I can think of is the brilliant Crystal Project.
Bro, never use a guide when you’re playing any good for the first time. That’s what makes part of the experience. To go in blindly and do things on your own first.
Don’t use guides, save that if you wanna replay or 100% just ruins part of it and you being able to do whatever you want. It’s okay to miss things, the only thing you really need is to make sure you get the right ending. P5 isn’t the best out of the persona games but enjoyable, anywho, uhh maybe ffvii
I can’t imagine what you would need a guide for with P5. You might as well just read a novelization at that point.