Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (2009)

Finally finished the main SEBEC storyline after weeks of grinding and working to mentally accept all the JRPG quirks that kept me from embracing the genre in the past. And you know what? I had fun! The graphics are basic and the story is more of a snooze than it should be, but the battle system requires so much strategy that I was never truly bored, even on my second hour straight of grinding through a dungeon. I'll post a longer review once I finish up the Snow Queen quest, but Persona really exceeded my expectations by simply being an enjoyable distraction.

Been surprised by how much I've enjoyed this game (this is only my second real JRPG), with much of that having to do with all the strategy required by the combat. Heading into the final part of the SEBEC campaign, though, and just KNOW that it's about to require a huge amount of grinding. I'm currently level ~42 but am reading the final level requires ~60, which is just an insane amount of grinding to require for an endgame when you haven't been laying the groundwork for it. Hoping this doesn't turn out to be the case, but I'm preparing for my enjoyment to take a huge hit.

Finally have a break during grad school to play a little bit more of this (so close to being done with school)! I finished the Haunted Mansion dungeon and now in Kandori's Deva Yuga castle, so I believe I have three or four more "dungeons" to get through before the conclusion. I honestly am really enjoying this game a lot, partly because seeing where the Persona series began as an actual concept is exciting to me and I might be a weirdo who doesn't mind backtracking and constant dungeons (although this game is a little TOO heavy on the backtracking). When I finish this semester in May, I intend to beat this game and move on to Persona 2: Innocent Sin.

This is a game that I keep randomly coming back to (haven't finished yet). I actually started on my phone as a PSP port version the game, although it was incredibly annoying to play with the "buttons" being on the screen of the gameplay itself. My SO was able to get my save onto RetroPie to play via TV, which is super helpful. Eventually I'll get to it so I can tackle Persona 2 next.