Crow the BOOLET

This is a meme?

Yup. it's even lead to some really hilarious memes.

but is it daft?

...

too soon?

Crowbotnik?

Yeah I'm probably starting World War 3 or some shit but I'm just genuinely baffled

It’s because it’s art style is more appealing to them. It’s something I noticed a lot of Nintendo tubers who straight up don’t like JRPGs say all the time. 

I honestly don’t get it either it is a double standard when you get down to it. 

I like it because it's a modern day urban fantasy JRPG, with cool designs and characters, and a fun battle system with the Personas.
All it is, my sister got the game, I thought it looked fun, I played the game, I like the game.

Hell, I like Dragon Quest, which is the default template of all JRPGs. I like it because the game is fun.

Maybe people should try expanding their interests.

there is definetly a double standard surrounding persona 5 that highlighted just how shallow the discourse around these games is for me.

most people who complain about JRPGs(or most games really) don't play them. persona has an appealing artstyle so it skates past when the pot shots come out. in something like xenoblade chronicles 2, the anime tropes are more overt and cutesy artstyles always get mocked here in america. it gets shit despite xenoblade as a series having a more compelling narrative and more in-depth gameplay systems than persona usually does. 

nothing these games actually do matters. it's all about what they can gleam from trailers/smash bros. it doesn't matter how 'anime' something actually is, just what it seems like. 

Cause it lacking in that "samey" anime look of other games? Because modern settings that're "nothing new" are still better than fantasy settings that're nothing new? Because the fanservice found in Persona is less excessive vs other JRPGs??? Because the series openly spelling out that it takes place in Japan automatically makes Western viewers more comfortable with it showing Japanese themes and politics versus had they'd show them in a fantasy world? Because being a anime gunsman in Smash beats being an anime swordsman?

Adding onto what Wraith said, much of the western audience expects things to cater to their interests of culture. JRPGs, and many Japanese games, are made with a Japanese audience in mind. Even those catering to worldwide audiences are still made with a Japanese mindset, Sonic included. The differences in culture are unheard of for many western audiences, and so they react with confusion at seeing a culture so similar to their own yet different.

Lest we forget that the team behind Persona 5 were surprised by the worldwide success, considering that they figured it was a very Japanese game that overseas audiences wouldn't understand.

But Supah Berry there's this scene...

But wow I wasn't really expecting these kinds of responses to be honest.

Does it have random encounters? 

No?

Then the west will praise it

This is incredibly ironic given that Persona has just as many of those dreaded Anime tropes, and its writing is arguably worse than other JRPG's.

Yea, its a weird ass double standard. Most of the people who love Persona 5 but hate JRPG's have probably never touched another JRPG in their life.

Its incredibly aggravating as a JRPG fan myself.

The style points are a massive band-aid. It covers up a lot of the surface level JRPG cracks that would prevent a lot of people from even touching it.

I think one of the strengths of Persona in this context is its relate-ability. While most JRPGs focus on epic quests, heroes and princesses,  All the personas at their core represent a struggle between the SuperEgo and the Id. That's something we all deal with every day. Watching the characters struggle with the face that they show society while they reckoning with what they believe themselves to be is something that is easy for any viewer to grasp. Even when Persona is framing characters as a princess in a castle or a God commanding the common folk, they don't loose that relate-ability and they remain easy to become invested in. 

I think that's the biggest reason Persona was able to latch on in the west. The problems that characters face are mortal and present in everyday life. The cultural barrier gets shattered when your watching a girl understand that she is being objectified by her looks, or a guy who gets cast aside and labeled by the world because of one mistake. That stuff jumps boarders.

and while the writing sometimes isn't the best, the persona narrative arc from start to finish are almost always some of the best in any game. PS5R is a masterclass in designing a satisfying ending.

As someone who doesn't really have the time to play every long JRPG release to find out which ones might appeal to me, if I'm gonna play one, it'll be the one with the really cool art and music and high production values.

Everything in that Nintendo Direct, as an example, looked like generic fantasy settings, nostalgic throwbacks (that I have no nostalgia for coz I didn't grow up with those kinds of RPG games) or like a less cool version of Persona 5 (the art style of At World's End didn't really appeal to me).

But yeah, I think Persona also has a really big strength in also being a sort of slice-of-life game where you get to see the characters also just trying to live their normal lives between all the heroism, and the two sides of the story stay linked in both narrative and gameplay.  That's the sort of thing that elevates a JRPG from feeling generic to being investable to someone like myself who doesn't consider themselves a fan of JPRGs.

I find it weird that OP refers to it as a waifu simulator too... I've only played P5, but as far as I can tell each game usually has like, one character who has a fanservice look and the rest are usually fairly modest.  The only reason they get sexualised en masse is because they're female anime girls and that's what fanbases do.  And even the "sexy" characters always felt somewhat grounded to be honest (a far cry from say Xenoblade 2 where, much as I love her design, when I learned that Pyra's character designer was also a known hentai artist I was like "ah yeah that adds up" lol). The age issue is legit in places though, I really wouldn't have minded if they had localised out the ability to romance Futaba, squick.

Psssssst.

Trails of does that better, you should play them. Falcom got your back.

I liked it before it was cool to like it.

Pretty average from what I can recall. I didn't hate it but didn't love it either.

Though the NiGHTs, Yoshi and Legend of Zelda levels were an interesting and memorable addition.

Hot damn! XD

Wait, I still haven't completed the first game yet. 

Gotta get to it man!

Nani??

Sorry dood. Skipping town tonight. I can't take the negativity so I'll just watch things burn from a distance.😎

A stellar idea

Damn, that's brilliant. Wait for me, dood!