There's a fox? I'M INTERESTED NOW.

Though honestly, I bought 3. Loved what was going on. Loved the fighting. And then THE DAMN GAME FORCED ME TO SPEND TIME IN SCHOOL. I got tired after two weeks of classes and just stopped playing the damn thing. :|

My friend made me play P3 a while ago. I quite enjoyed what I played of it (2-3 hours worth). Better than when he had me play that awesome 1 vs 1000 fight in Kingdom Hearts 2 and then suggested I try it from the beginning. I still ask him what the fuck about that every once in a while.

Persona 3 Portable is coming to EU,, likely late april, via ghostlight

4 FTW! I haven't played it since I got my new tv though, hoping a PS2 emulator will be fully compatible soon so I can play it upscaled a bit with some AA etc as PS2 games just don't look right on a big screen; specially not text heavy games :(. I have 3 on my psp and love it. Tried 1 on PSP but couldn't get into it.

I've been dying to play these games but never could find them, looks like I'll have to import some now :)

What I need now, is a list of all the SMT games and in what order I should play them.

And what I should avoid. I.e. I'm still confuzzled as to which one of the first one I should play and the other to avoid? How can I tell?

Thanks in advance :D

I became frustrated with the school aspect of Persona 4, so I just watched Giant Bomb's Endurance Run.

1 is mediocre
2 is the best in the series, though the first half (Innocent Sin) is a little annoying to play after having played Eternal Punishment because the improvements it made to gameplay kind of spoils the experience.
3 is good, but not great. Main thing that holds it back from greatness is the lack of variety in the dungeon crawling. The last month of the game really feels epic though.
4 is better than 3, but still not great. The main things that hold it back from greatness are the incredibly stupid method of unlocking new gear in the shops which is extremely tedious, and the lack of reliable mp recovery methods make the first few months of the game really difficult and painful.

So basically, start with 2 huh.

What about Digital Devil Saga and the others?

EDIT: Also - what format? I have a DSi, PS2 and PC. Planning on getting PS3. So... Need to know.

DDS is ok, but there isn't much customizing in the party at all. There's a fairly big emphasis on grinding too, especially if you want to take on the optional bosses.

SMT3 is awesome, of the ones I've played (all except the DS games) it has the most in depth customizing in the party.

Devil Summoner 1 and 2 are good for what they are, but there are better games if you want an action rpg.

As far as I remember, the fox is the Hermit social link, and the only way to heal while in the dungeon. It is silly.

In any case, I prefer the main SMT titles to the Persona spinoff, with Strange Journey being my current favorite title in the series. Awesome dungeon crawling there.


Edit: Digital Devil Saga is one game divided in two, with an interesting party customizing mechanic, and a whole fucking lot of grinding. Almost as much as there was in Dragon Quest 7, but somehow less tedious. Also, DDS1 has THE most difficult extra boss in the history of jRPGs. DDS2 is more focused on story progression since DDS1 dealt with most of the character developement (hell that was the entire point of the first part) and even more grinding, but with more variety in the locales (which is good, one spent like 80% of DDS1 in boring, boring sewerlike places).
SMT3: Nocturne may be the very best jRPG I've played. Pokemonish? Yes, but taking in consideration that many of the pokemon game mechanics/concepts were first used in the SMT series first... Eh. Hard as hell? Oh yes. But it is fair, except for the skills some bosses use to extend their turn counters. Whatever the enemies can do, you can also, and you can use and abuse the elemental resistances system as well as they can, if not better. Unique aesthetics and a surprising lack of handholding makes for a very different experience. It WILL kick your ass if you are not ready for some things, and no one is at first ready for Matador.

Strange Journey is a SOMEWHAT streamlined first person dungeon crawler. Somewhat because it is still totally brutal and punishes lack of preparation, but it does possess a nifty automap.
So, if a horribly difficult (and long, a single playthrough will take around 80 hours. All of them awesome) mixture of Shining in the Darkness, Etrian Odyssey, Pokemon and The Thing, go for it. Seriously one of the top titles in the DS.

The social stuff was an interesting concept, but it became pretty repetitive and annoying after a while. I might have appreciated it more if the storylines were more interesting.

For anyone interested in Persona, you must know of the remake of Persona 2: Innocent Sin that is being released in Japan this April for the PSP. NEW QUESTS, NEW MODES, UPSCALED WIDESCREEN SPRITES, BATTLE SYSTEM REVAMP AND MOAR!

Eternal Punishment will follow as well, already confirmed. US/UK release not confirmed, but very very very likely. Since they've decided to release Catherine, P2:IS is guaranteed!

Just making sure before I do a silly purchase here... Persoma 3 FES includes the original game, plus some sort of expansion, right?

It does. It includes the expanded base game plus a dungeoncrawly second campaign called "The Answer"

P3P includes FES's improvements and a female campaign, but not The Answer as far as I know.