You're preachin' to the choir when it comes to Persona 4. P5 has huge boots to fill and I'm not getting my hopes up. I shall plan for the worst and hope for the best. :)
BaD: Top 10 RPGs of All Time: Part 4
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 On 02/05/2014 at 08:27 AM by Blake Turner See More From This User » |
4. Morrowind
Morrowind is unique. Unlike Cyrodil or Skyrim, it isn't filled to the brim with fantasy tropes. It doesn't play like Tolkien fan fiction. The world feels bizarre and alien. It's inhabitants have a weird look to them, and nothing is quite as it seems. The atmosphere is thick, and it's a world you'll want to explore again and again.
I feel I know Morrowind more than Skyrim. This is in part because there is no quest markers. You are giver a description of where to go that isn't too complicated, and you actually have to explore to find what you need or where to go next. Likewise, fast travel exists, but you have to pay for it. If you go to sleep, you could be attacked by assassins or bandits. Indeed, more so than any other game in the series, Morrowind feels alive. It feels vibrant. It feels unique. And it feels good.
3. Persona 4
Dear America: Fuck yourself and die. A) You ruined Earthbound, and B) You almost ruined Kanji Tatsumi. You see, Americans don't like homosexuality, so in order to appease the neanderthals we call THE world power, Kanji Tatsumi's sexuality had to be made more ambiguous. You could argue that his realisation after his segment was him conquering homosexuality and realising being straight is the only way to live, which was NOT the intention at all. Seriously, if you object to homosexuality, fucking kill yourself. You're actively holding society back you fucking bigot.
Anyway, it's a lucky thing there are a lot of things the devs slipped in to prove Kanji wasn't straight. For instance, if you max out his social link, he says: That other me IS me. Or something like that. So yeah.
Anyway, despite that, I think Persona 4 tackles homosexuality well. It uses it to flesh out a character. Kanji is a guy who relies on masculinity to free him from society. However, since homosexuality is preached as the opposite of masculine, he rejects this side of him - ironically caging himself and doing the opposite of what he set out to be. The self he conquered was actually his stereotypical views of homosexuality, allowing himself to him to be gay and yet retain his personality. The way everyone reacts to him is interesting, especially Yosuke, who is freaked out by him but also curious, and due to his lack of awareness, asks troubling questions and always thinks Kanji is interested in him just because he is gay.
This kind of characterisation is exactly what makes Persona 4 so great. Every character has their motivations, fears, and desires explored. Every character shows growth. Persona 4 doesn't shy away from tragedy. It doesn't shy away from issues of race, sexuality, or gender. It shows the pressures of growing up, and it shows primal instinct and the worst behaviours of humanity conflicting with the best. Combine all of these things with a great story that is part psychological horror, part campy action/mystery, and part teenage mystery and you have a winning combination.
Plus, making this half a dungeon crawling jrpg and half a social sim was a stroke of pure genious, and the way both systems interact with each other is simply in a league of it's own.
Persona 4 is the rarest of beasts: A JRPG that tells its story through it's mechanics. More importantly, however, the combat is fun. It's not a "Press X 2 million times" affair. It requires strategy. The game is tragic, beautiful, funny, and creepy. Put simply, it is the best JRPG ever created.
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