The “Persona” series has picked up a lot of popularity over the recent years, especially after the release of the fifth game. The series usually follows a group of high school students who unlock a special power called the Persona which they use to battle against entities such as demons or Shadows.
The first two games in the series had a slightly different formula than 3, 4 and 5, but were still great games, nonetheless. In line with this, “Persona 2” is considered as one of the most memorable classic games but its mechanics are pretty much outdated and clunky.
What is 'Persona 2'?
The second entry in the series, “Persona 2” follows the pursuits of protagonist Tatsuya Suou and his friends who deal with rumors in their city coming true because a mysterious figure known as the Joker. Throughout their investigation, they stumble across the Joker’s true identity and eventually stop the second coming of Hitler and his robot Nazis called the Last Battalion. The plot itself sounds pretty ridiculous, especially because Hitler is actually the last boss in the game. However, through meaningful character development mixed with the right amount of comedy, mystery, drama, the story actually works.
After its release back in 1999 on the PlayStation, “Persona 2” received a sequel titled “Eternal Punishment.” This project focused on protagonist Maya Amano who played a prominent role in the first installment.
Both games were eventually ported to the PSP, but only the first half of the duology was localized.
Clunky Mechanics
Despite arguably having the best plot in the series, “Persona 2” is hindered by its clunky and slow gameplay mechanics. Modern games in the series, especially the fifth entry, have a very streamlined combat system which keeps the traditional turn-based system fresh.
Those who would reply the second game would find the combat a bit too sluggish with a bland battlefield. Having to manually input your commands usually isn’t a problem, but having to watch the same sluggish animation can become quite cumbersome.
Similarly, the game also had a random encounter system where enemies would spawn whenever you are walking in a dungeon.
The main problem here, especially for the PSP Remake, was that the encounter rate was way too high with demons popping out every few seconds of walking. If Atlus were to ever remake the “Persona 2” titles and balance its overall mechanics, there’s no doubt that the games would become a major hit.
