sometimes i feel like i am pretty obviously the problem. i don't necessarily believe in the "vote with your wallet!" shit because that's been proven not to work as old as 2014 (https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/03/01/why-its-scary-when-0-15-mobile-gamers-bring-in-50-of-the-revenue/?sh=4ad6b8264065). but i think there is some level of blame to place at my feet for pre-ordering a game i didn't even particularly have high expectations for. hell, the only reason i pre-ordered this thing was because i knew, at some point, i'd want to play it for myself, so why not secure a new copy and be done with it? the pre-order bonus was incredibly insulting (oh joy, i get orpheus picaro and izanagi picaro for free) and it didn't even get me the day one DLC (very much love how this sort of thing doesn't even raise eyebrows anymore). so, i want you all to know, in spite of this, i still tried to have a good time with this game. and, truthfully, it's not that bad. it's just simultaneously not that good either. there isn't anything outstanding or noteworthy here if you aren't already a fan of P5's cast, and even then, i'm tired of these characters.
i think what really sucks my enthusiasm out of this game is how low-effort everything feels. my cynical pet theory is that this was a game that was originally going to be a mobile release in the vein of something like nier reincarnation, but atlus thought they could get away with releasing this at full price on current gen hardware. joke's on me, i did buy the game. still, i don't feel as though enough people have been critical of how little this game demands of its hardware. graphics are stylized to a degree that this could run on 3DS hardware with little issue, the mechanics lack complexity or depth such that every character functionally plays the same with a modest tweak here and there, and there's actually very little strategy required for a tactics game. the very few missions that actually require planning and thought are the side-quests that will ask you to clear the level in one turn by cleverly using its mechanics to their full extent. this is stuff that we should've been seeing in the maingame by the halfway point, not as optional side content. instead, basically every challenge the main missions throw at you can be easily brute-forced. this plays less like a game based around tactics and more one around trial-and-error. the addition of an "undo the previous turn if you make any egregious mistakes" function in the menu certainly doesn't help that accusation.
indeed, this game introduces nearly all of its mechanics pretty early and then never develops them or asks the player to utilize them in uncanny or unexpected ways. there are no surprises in tactica's gameplay, and very little competency is asked of the player. i don't even consider myself a particularly smart/great video game player, but i played on hard mode and only saw the game over screen once (and that was by accident due to misunderstanding an endgame sidequest's objective). nothing about tactica feels challenging and, by extension, interesting. there are a few novel gameplay features here, such as how all-out attacks are handled, but they're given very little cost and are almost trivial to execute. combine that with a persona system that is so simplified it makes raidou blush, and there's ultimately very little going on under the hood which, again, reinforces my belief that this could've run comfortably on my phone. i'm not asking for a new final fantasy tactics, but it is interesting how that game managed to have so much more intrigue in both narrative and gameplay despite also being a spinoff of a popular turn-based JRPG series 20 years ago. the tactics genre hasn't stagnated this much, i think atlus just really assumed the persona 5 fanbase lacks standards for this sort of thing. and, loathe as i am to say it, there is a convincing argument to be made in atlus' favor.
i sound exceptionally negative on this game and it's more because even though the majority of my playthrough was brainless skinner box dopamine collecting, i resent what this game represents more than i find any major flaw with it. not every game has to shoot for the stars, and a lack of ambition hasn't stopped me from enjoying other games. again, it's just the cynicism behind all of this. the story isn't particularly interesting and feels fairly predictable. the P5 cast has been sanded down now and have lost the 3-dimensionality that they had in their original game so now you have futaba saying "sus" and makoto's main thing is how she can be scary sometimes. everyone's going through the motions. i will obviously never know the full story of production here, but i feel such a lack of passion for this game from its own dev team. again, i went into this with dim prospects, and i still managed to walk away underwhelmed. in that sense, maybe 2.5/5.0 is too high.
among other things, i just don't feel like this is a game particularly worth your time. i did roughly 2 playthroughs (big ups to locking like 9 personas to NG+ so i had to do a NG+ playthrough just to get the platinum), and i couldn't overcome the feeling that this was a disposable Q4 release for atlus rather than something they cared about. i mean, sure, that's obvious to see, but i was at least a little hopeful that atlus' autopilot was a little better than this. i'm truly baffled that this game's release has been as positive as it is. disregard that one clickbait kotaku article about this game being lgbt positive or whatever; look at the average rating + the general consensus in the reviews here. it legitimately feels like everyone played a different game than the one i am talking about. most likely it's a self-selection bias situation where the people who would've disliked this game more than the current group already removed themselves from the sample. even with that in consideration, it's dire that this hasn't come under greater scrutiny. persona 5 fans really think this is a good spinoff?
i guess that's part of the problem when you're part of the problem: no one's going to join your bandwagon against self-flagellation when you bear the scars on your back.
i think what really sucks my enthusiasm out of this game is how low-effort everything feels. my cynical pet theory is that this was a game that was originally going to be a mobile release in the vein of something like nier reincarnation, but atlus thought they could get away with releasing this at full price on current gen hardware. joke's on me, i did buy the game. still, i don't feel as though enough people have been critical of how little this game demands of its hardware. graphics are stylized to a degree that this could run on 3DS hardware with little issue, the mechanics lack complexity or depth such that every character functionally plays the same with a modest tweak here and there, and there's actually very little strategy required for a tactics game. the very few missions that actually require planning and thought are the side-quests that will ask you to clear the level in one turn by cleverly using its mechanics to their full extent. this is stuff that we should've been seeing in the maingame by the halfway point, not as optional side content. instead, basically every challenge the main missions throw at you can be easily brute-forced. this plays less like a game based around tactics and more one around trial-and-error. the addition of an "undo the previous turn if you make any egregious mistakes" function in the menu certainly doesn't help that accusation.
indeed, this game introduces nearly all of its mechanics pretty early and then never develops them or asks the player to utilize them in uncanny or unexpected ways. there are no surprises in tactica's gameplay, and very little competency is asked of the player. i don't even consider myself a particularly smart/great video game player, but i played on hard mode and only saw the game over screen once (and that was by accident due to misunderstanding an endgame sidequest's objective). nothing about tactica feels challenging and, by extension, interesting. there are a few novel gameplay features here, such as how all-out attacks are handled, but they're given very little cost and are almost trivial to execute. combine that with a persona system that is so simplified it makes raidou blush, and there's ultimately very little going on under the hood which, again, reinforces my belief that this could've run comfortably on my phone. i'm not asking for a new final fantasy tactics, but it is interesting how that game managed to have so much more intrigue in both narrative and gameplay despite also being a spinoff of a popular turn-based JRPG series 20 years ago. the tactics genre hasn't stagnated this much, i think atlus just really assumed the persona 5 fanbase lacks standards for this sort of thing. and, loathe as i am to say it, there is a convincing argument to be made in atlus' favor.
i sound exceptionally negative on this game and it's more because even though the majority of my playthrough was brainless skinner box dopamine collecting, i resent what this game represents more than i find any major flaw with it. not every game has to shoot for the stars, and a lack of ambition hasn't stopped me from enjoying other games. again, it's just the cynicism behind all of this. the story isn't particularly interesting and feels fairly predictable. the P5 cast has been sanded down now and have lost the 3-dimensionality that they had in their original game so now you have futaba saying "sus" and makoto's main thing is how she can be scary sometimes. everyone's going through the motions. i will obviously never know the full story of production here, but i feel such a lack of passion for this game from its own dev team. again, i went into this with dim prospects, and i still managed to walk away underwhelmed. in that sense, maybe 2.5/5.0 is too high.
among other things, i just don't feel like this is a game particularly worth your time. i did roughly 2 playthroughs (big ups to locking like 9 personas to NG+ so i had to do a NG+ playthrough just to get the platinum), and i couldn't overcome the feeling that this was a disposable Q4 release for atlus rather than something they cared about. i mean, sure, that's obvious to see, but i was at least a little hopeful that atlus' autopilot was a little better than this. i'm truly baffled that this game's release has been as positive as it is. disregard that one clickbait kotaku article about this game being lgbt positive or whatever; look at the average rating + the general consensus in the reviews here. it legitimately feels like everyone played a different game than the one i am talking about. most likely it's a self-selection bias situation where the people who would've disliked this game more than the current group already removed themselves from the sample. even with that in consideration, it's dire that this hasn't come under greater scrutiny. persona 5 fans really think this is a good spinoff?
i guess that's part of the problem when you're part of the problem: no one's going to join your bandwagon against self-flagellation when you bear the scars on your back.
eraserheadbaby
4 months ago