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Deep But Ultimately Frustrating!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: June 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Persona2 has all the qualities of a good rpg. The characters have such a history that you actually care about their well being. I have been playing Persona2 off and on for about a year often taking a break from it when I encounter a particularly hard boss, like the Weng Long fortune teller Ms. Shishawa (I think that was her name) in the underwater maze. Uala is my favorite character since I would most react like she would to the weird plot that makes up the drama of the game.
It has to do with a evil cult basically wanting to cleanse the world of all corruption by destroying it and creating it over again (you would think) this cult has very prominent and powerful members, heads of state, government officials, the local police, the military...celebrity fortune tellers...etc. Well you play a reporter for a small "zine" put out by the Kismet Publishing Company and you first get involved in the Joker murders...Well I could tell you the whole story but it's very long and if you don't pay attention it gets complicated. You end up fighting Narlethotep, a creature straight out of the Cthulhu mythos for those of you who are familiar with Lovecraft. There are quite a few Lovecraft inspired monsters you end up fighting. This is a very wierd and difficult rpg. The mazes and dungeons, though looking like ultra-postmodern dance clubs, buildings etc, will give you migraines and you have the bosses for whom you'll have to level up as much as possible and devise somekind of strategy because in Persona2, strength is nothing without some brains and even then you'll still get a headache. This game is hard and not for the average gamer. I recommend renting it first.

A Flawed Masterpiece

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is an RPG that tells a n entertaining story of murder set in the present time.It's based on a girl named Maya,a reporter, who works for a popular teen mag.You start game following leads on the Joker,a serial killer.The "rumor" is that one can contact this murderer for hire by simply calling there own celluar phone.The game takes place in Japan I believe and has
some nice backgrounds and atmosphere.The in-game graphics are good and the CG is beatiful,using anime style drawing.The voice acting was great and the music had strong techno and jazz tones,which is all great.In fact this whole is very differant from tradition RPG's.It's set in a gothic world where everything
is dark. It's strong occult themes and deep characters are very
off the beaten path.what I didn't like about this game is it's battle system.You start a fight with a set of questions from your enemy,if you please him' he'll give you an item.That's cool.
But fights are preset meaning you give the members (ALL members)
tasks to do in a fight.I, personally, don't like games that use
systems like this. If you are into stragy RPG's then you might like this, because story is great,but rent first.

An acquired taste

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Many will be turned off by Persona 2 because this isn't a Final Fantasy type of game. Persona 2 really isn't a game you can just take out of the box and play. Although I finished both Grandia 2 and Skies of Arcadia without opening up the instruction manual, I had to read Persona 2's manual cover to cover. The reason for a monster instruction manual is, Persona 2 is not a cookie cutter RPG. Aside from the modern day setting and characters that swear like sailors, there are some unique gameplay components like conversing with demons, summoning, and spreading rumors, all of which aren't very intuative. However once you get the hang of the game (especially the battle system), Persona 2 is very fun and completely orginal.

I wish I played the older games too.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is aweasome. It has a unique battle system, it's not always about fighting, you can talk to the demons you come across too. The graphics are great, cuz the characters actually look like people unlike some other games. The FMVs are all anime styled and has voice acting. I don't know about you guys but I like anime. It may not be like the Final Fantasy series (which are my favourites) but I think I'll play this game for long. The disappointing fact is, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is only the second half of part 2. There was Persona 1 then Persona 2: Innocent Sin. For all I know Innocent sin has not been released in English. Thankies.

I love it.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is the only game of the whole series of Persona I could find. Though, There is no need to play the older series before. What I really like in this game are the music, the story and the characters. I think that the battle system is quite annoying. And it's kinda hard to gain the EXPs, also. This game is not an original RPG where dragons and swords rule the world, it takes place in the present time, so be ware if you didn't. There are stores, sushi bar, clinic, CDs store, parks, just like what you've seen in this world. But it's not that simple, mystic stuff can be found in this game also, rumors, fortune tellings, demons, and personas. You can say that this is the world where facts and fictions go together. The voice actings are easy to listen and understand, also matches each character's personality and looks (although the joker guy's is quite comic relief). If you enjoy serious, creepy and unique stories, get this game.

Not as good as Persona1

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is a pretty good game. I've always been a fan of the "Megamitensei" series, I own almost all of them and this is not an exception. But this game is not as good as its first half "Innocent Sin." I own the Japanese version and I believe the english version is not released yet. Anyways, the battle system, demon contact system and character design are still excellent, but I don't like the way the personas are created in this game (collecting tarot cards). It's much more fun in Persona 1 (collect two spell cards from two different demons), in which you have to consider about the moon age and other stuff. I played Persona 1 for 4 times already, but for this one, I have not even finished the first time yet. But it's still worthy to give a try!

when work really pays off

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is perhaps the most deep, engrossing...and (...) hard game ever! This is the only RPG I've ever played where ten hours of gameplay really IS ten hours of gameplay. So much work is put into the battles; tweaking your spells and stragegies to unlock combination(fusion) spells, or contacting the demons in the midst of battle to negotiate for items, money, and information. Ridiculously challenging bosses are the main problems in this game, but the amount of work you put into fighting them (and the really damn-cool story and story-sequences) make it worth your considerable effort. A must-buy for gamers looking for something macabre and new, but definately not for the faint of heart and courage.

Rewarding, but not for beginners

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment probably has the most apt title of any RPG you'll see. Unless you know what you're doing, you'll be unexpectedly crushed, and it will be disheartening. Fortunately though, the plot is gripping enough to make you want to trudge through. A serial killer called JOKER is killing people by request (if you call your own cell phone #, he kills the person you hate most -- or so the urban myth goes). The heroine, Maya Amano, is busy with a routine day at the magazine publisher she works for when she gets a letter in the mail. In scrawled letters it reads, "YouRE NExT - JOKER". Not good.

This is just scratching the surface of the immense and bizarre plot, especially given that this game is just half of the story; The prequel was never imported. Fortunately, even though there are lots of references to past games, a later dungeon (Mt. Iwato) pretty much spells everything out with a couple of flashbacks. The gameplay itself is orignal: Every character gets a melee weapon, which is largely useless, and a "Persona", a summoned creature that deals magic damage. If you negotiate with enemies (you don't actually have to fight any if you don't want), they give you cards which can be exchanged for more powerful Persona. Your EXP level determines which ones you can summon, but it's not good to recklessly buy the biggest badboy Persona you can find just because he has a high level. You are given a chance to peruse the abilities each Persona will learn as it grows in power -- THIS IS IMPORTANT. Otherwise it's likely that the next boss will mop the floor with you. It's good to have a few Persona that can combine spells to cast a FUSION ATTACK. Fusions occur if you cast a certain order of spells in a row -- two or more Persona appear at the same time and combine their strength. This is the key to your survival. It's also fun to see the multitude of Fusion attack animations, which number in the dozens.

Maya joins up with her friend Ulala, a cop named Katsuya, and a shifty guy named Baofu. In order to progress, you also need to spread RUMORS (which automatically come true in Persona...don't ask). You get rumors by navigating the city and chatting with civilians who call themselves Rumormongers. When they say something important, it's highlighted in RED TEXT, and you can take that rumor to someone else who will spread it for a flat fee. The point of spreading rumors is to open up businesses that sell weapons and armor, basically. It's pretty funny to watch, because in reaction to the serial killings, a designer clothing store starts selling body armor which you can buy. The city is shown from a bird's eye view, and you just pick which district you want to go to and move around a green cursor to enter buildings. Basically, it's just like Persona 1, only without the hideous loading times. Most stores offer the same stuff (healing, buying items, etc), but they have really weird themes for doing so. For example, you can go to a tanning salon to heal your party members in one district, or go to chiropractor to heal them in another. It's pretty weird.

As for battles, things get even stranger. Instead of fighting, you can choose at almost any time to have one or more characters approach a demon and chat them up. Depending on the demon's personality and which characters you use, the demon will either get angry, scared, interested or delighted. If you amuse it enough, it will make deals with you in the future. If not, it predictably gets mad and you get nothing. Maya whips out a microphone and starts interviewing the demon. Katsuya the the cop paces around and accuses the demon of a crime. Baofu and Nate argue about baseball. It's completely insane and utterly hilarious. The only flaws in this are that everybody says the same thing every time, and the battles themselves get pretty tedious. The diffuculty of the game takes a nose-dive during the final dungeons. Very disappointing, but the story is still top-notch. I especially enjoy the detailed anime character portraits, which are also top-quality. This balances out the somewhat primative 2D character sprites and largely bland dungeons. The gigantic city itself is much prettier than the dungeons.

One of the high points of PlayStation RPGs

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 19
Date: June 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is the sequel to the currently Japan-only Persona 2: Innocent Sin (and the earlier Revelations: Persona). My biggest gripe with the game is that constant references are made to the world of Innocent Sin -- however, by watching the included trailer and through the events of Eternal Punishment, you'll get a good idea of what happened in the earlier game.

With a somewhat contemporary setting, Eternal Punishment is an oddball in the world of RPGs. That doesn't mean, however, that it's bad! On the contrary, it's a superb game with deep gameplay. In battles, you can kill the demons, like in ordinary RPGs, or you can negotiate with them for money/items/information/tarot cards (the last of which is used to summon more Personae, facets of the user's personality which can be summoned to fight for them).

The characters are interesting and more adult than your typical spiky-haired teen heroes. They range from reporter Maya and policeman Katsuya to computer hacker/wiretapper Baofu and fashion model Ellen (from the first Persona). The innovative rumor system allows you to change the face of Sumaru City by spreading rumors. Want to buy weapons at your local bar? Spread the rumor that they are, and you can get a gun along with your martini.

My only other gripe, and it's small, is with the localization. Some of the text is a little stilted (Ulala's "The goodness of a woman isn't in her bra!" is a prime example). But considering the vast amount of text in this game -- and I mean VAST -- it's a very good localization overall, and in no way hinders your enjoyment of the game.

Atlus has hinted that they may release Innocent Sin if Eternal Punishment does well enough. If it's even half as good as its sequel, RPG fans around the world should rejoice.

Forget Final Fantasy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: May 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is the most edgy, original, addictive, and worthwhile RPG to come along in a long time. Everything in this game sets it apart from and above the other RPGs on Playstation, including the Final Fantasies and Chrono Cross; I'd say only Xenogears is better. The familiar, real-world elements of Persona 2, such as sushi bars, chiropractic clinics, therapists, and aromatherapy really give it a modern flavor, and the game does a good job of combining them with the mystical elements. There are so many things to do in this game that even with the relatively small number of dungeons you have to do to advance the story, I've only gotten halfway through at 35 hours...Manipulating the rumors, playing the man-searching minigame, slots at the casino, doing the map-making quest, and exploring the optional dungeons sucks away so much time. The battle system, however, can be pretty hard to understand at first: though it's easy to blast through enemies, boss battles can be extremely tough unless you know exactly which Persona and fusion spells to use. There is a lot of depth to it. Each Persona (something like 80 or a 100, maybe more?) has its own stats, immunities, and weaknesses which affect the character equipping the Persona, and different combinations of Persona yield different fusion spells to use during battle. There's a lot to keep track of, which can be confusing. All this is redeemed, however, by the unique and twisted story line, the ultracool character designs, the great character development, and the incredible variety. You can do about a million things to alter your battle experience. Contacting demons, of course, and some of them are pretty funny; getting your fortune told before heading to battle to double your experience points earned, get more money, have more luck contacting, and many other effects; having aromatherapy effects put on to change what kinds of demons you'll meet; and eating and drinking to temporarily raise your stats are just a few of the things I can think of. Though the game starts off a bit slowly, in the second half it really gets fascinating.

The greatest thing about Persona 2 is how much the story line comes into play. Your characters' relationships will affect the different things they say during contacts. For instance, at first Ulala's and Baofu's contact combo is relatively straightforward ("Ulala, a realist, and Baofu, a skeptic"), but after a certain point you'll get something like "Friends Who Get Closer the More they Fight," or "Friends Bonded by Drinking," something like that. There's the 100 Stories contact combo, which has 100 different ghost stories which can be told to the demons, all of which have their own preferences and personality traits. Some of the contact combos are downright hilarious, notably the ones involving Maya, Ulala, and Tatsuya. All of the characters are quirky and interesting, and you can even visit most of their homes around Sumaru City! One of the things I really liked was how your party would split up inside stores and other non-dungeon places, so you could talk to the different characters. They usually have something funny or revealing to say, and they have different things to say in every single shop, restaurant, or apartment after every single development in the game. My personal favorite characters were Big Suou (Katsuya) and Tatsuya--though I could've done without Ulala.

The level of detail in this game is so great you can even buy CDs and listen to them in Maya's apartment. The music in the game is great, often quite eerie and always atmospheric--and the Satomi Tadashi song is back!

If you're looking for something simple, this is probably not the game for you, but if you want something truly different, in-depth, and with a strong anime feeling, this is one of the greats.

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