Even thoughShin Megami Tenseicame out first and is the main title of the franchise,Personais the more recognizable name in the West. SincePersona 3, the series has increased more and more in popularity. Part of that can be linked to the social aspect of the gameplay.
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Because players get to connect with in-game friends, they can engage more in the story. These stories are still dark, but less depressing than anything in the mainShin Megami Tenseigames. Dramatic stories aren’t bad. They may just be for a more niche crowd. That’s only one example top. So, betweenShin Megami Tensei 5andPersona 5, which among them is king?
8Social Links: Persona 5
InPersona 5, Social Links are likethe series' equivalentto side quests.Shin Megami Tensei 5has plenty of side quests in the game but they don’t matter in the grand scale of things. They are simple little fetch quests that have players gather items or kill a set amount of demons.
Persona 5’sSocial Links, for example, expand the story. They allow players to get to know their party more on top of offering great bonuses. They might be the best side quests RPGs have ever seen.
7The Open-World: Shin Megami Tensei 5
One of the things that are holdingPersona 5, and the rest of the series, back is the small environments.Persona 5expanded the scope of Japan to a wide degree with tons of areas to see. The thing is, all of these areas were not seamlessly connected which made the game still feel small.
Shin Megami Tensei 5is the first in the main series to offer a true open-world experience. Also unlikePersona 5, players can get into the actionalmost right away. It takes about two hours inPersona 5before things open up and that’s too slow for an RPG.
6The Battle System: Persona 5
Both battles systems are relatively close. Players will fight all sorts of demons with physical and magical powers. If the player hits an enemy with an element they are weak to, then players will get an extra turn. It’s like thePokemonsystem of inflicting weaknesses but done better. They aregood monster-catching systems.
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Persona 5slightly edges outShin Megami Tensei 5because the main hero is accompanied by human characters. This allows players to further connect with their team instead of subbing in random demons that don’t talk. This also ties to the Social Links system.
5Demon Fusion: Shin Megami Tensei 5
Another thing thePokemonseries could borrow is the fusion system. This allows players to combine two demons to create an even stronger one. Even better, this new demon can inherit skills from the other two. This is an easy way to create the ultimate ally with varying elemental traits they would not otherwise learn.
This strategy can be applied to both games which operate just as close as the battle systems. However,Shin Megami Tensei 5is more refined. It’s quicker and easierto fuse demonsin that game since the mechanic can be reached at any save point.
4The Style: Persona 5
Persona 5is the better looking of the two on multiple fronts. Graphically it is stunning. It also performs better on either of the three systems it is available on. TheSwitchis trying its hardest to keep up with the ambition ofShin Megami Tensei 5but there are moments where it falters. The frame rate dips come to mind.
More so than performance or graphical prowess,Persona 5has style from costumes to menus. That game is a drip god amongst RPGs. The open-world is, again, nice inShin Megami Tensei 5but it is a lot of yellow and brown deserts regions without much flair.
3The Story: Shin Megami Tensei 5
The characters may make for a tighter bond for players to get attached to inPersona 5. However, the story is more thought out and refined inShin Megami Tensei 5. Persona 5throws some new twists to the formula but it’s also a lot of the same ideas from previous entries. The same is true forShin Megami Tensei 5.
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The reason why some players may still prefer it overPersona 5is that it is darker. There is also a nice twist some may not see coming after the first six or eight hours. It’ll happen afterthe Diet Buildingto drop a small hint. After that things really get interesting.
2The Music: Persona 5
The music is another reason why the style is so great inPersona 5. The soundtrack isn’t bad inShin Megami Tensei 5. It does the job for an RPG. At the same time, it doesn’t offer up that many memorable tracks players will be thinking about outside of the game.
The opposite is true ofPersona 5. The music offers up a great variety of rock, pop, and instrumental tracks both with and without vocal accompaniments. There’s also just a lot of music in general. It might be the very bestthis entire serieshas ever offered.
1The Verdict: Persona 5
Both games canbe argued about day and night.Persona 5is for players that love characters over plot. It has style to spare for days on top of one amazing soundtrack.Shin Megami Tensei 5is for more hardcore RPG fans that prefer a darker tale but one that doesn’t get in the way of gameplay too often.
They are both amazing RPGs that blow so many modern games out of the water. At the end of the day,Persona 5is just a tad more accessible. It also offers a lot more content with its 90 plus hour affair. Still, players can’t go wrong with either pick even ifPersona 5is an older game.
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