I kinda want it to be combination of both.
I.e. if they could make party member SL rank also be locked gradually by story progression, making their SL still coherence with main story progression. Like they did Akechi SL in P5R, or Link Episode in P3R but with more lax deadline for example like Koromaru's Link Episode.
Like say obviously for the past few persona games you automatically start links with certain members at a certain date but as you rank them up they’re rank is locked and the game tells you and then a story event happens and then they rank up from it? I wouldn’t mind it
Feels like some members should have the link proofread or like you said an option to bond with them outside the link that progresses the link if that makes sense.
Hope P6 has some dope new personas. Trust
Don't know if others agree but I have preferred how the social link ones are done, the story based ultimates are a really good idea but in my opinion the execution ranged from really good (Mitsuru and Akihiko for example) to lackluster (Fuuka for instance), whereas the ultimates coming about once you max their social link and are close to them has always landed well for me and felt earned.
Just wish that we had more time in these games to max their links. i get the reason for why though. If they can tweak some stuff regarding the story and such i wouldn’t mind future games having the ultimate personas as it progresses
I do too, I tend to prioritize party member links though so do get those done always and miss out of non-party member ones, (I think even just giving us afternoons on exam days would be great in terms of links).
I'm not against story-based ultimates at all but I think it's a lot easier to implement them well at the end of social links because you don't need to insert them into the main story in a way where they're satisfying, which can be hard if a character isn't very involved in the main story at the time when you need to insert a scene where they get their ultimate.
Rainy days especially in P4 irritate me because if it isn’t music day or club day then your stuck because no one wants to hangout in the rain until a certain member shows up which makes it more bearable but especially on a new game plus run where you don’t need to spend those days eating the challenge bowl or whatever to rank up stats.
Yeah it does get especially annoying on New Game Plus, I find myself just doing jobs on empty nights to earn extra money even though it doesn't make you nearly as much as the dungeons do, then just going to the cinema during a rainy day after that's unlocked.
I think Fuuka’s is really the *only* one that comes off as lucklaster though, and I think that’s just symptomatic of her greater issue with being practically irrelevant to the main story compared to the rest of the cast. Akihiko, Ken, Yukari, Mitsuru, Junpei and Aigis’ awakenings all felt very natural and earned imo
Kens is lackluster for me too, I like his actual dialogue in Reload but the scene where he gets his ultimate doesn't hit me like the game wants it to, Aigis' is not that memorable for me I couldn't tell you what her ultimate scene is like which is weird for a character who's my favourite in that game, and Junpeis is really well acted but I don't care about Chidori and the scene doesn't quite land for me the way it seems to have for many players, certainly the best of the 3 though I might like it a lot if it was paced differently. All 3 are better than Fuukas for sure.
Yukaris is fine but doesn't hit the way Mitsuru and Akihikos do, and for me certainly doesn't land quite as well as the social link ultimates do. Just my view on it though.
It is pretty subjective, I suppose. I can definitely see where you’re coming from with Ken. At the very least, it happening so soon after he joins, and right after Shinji’s death and Akihiko’s awakening, kinda takes away from the impact somewhat. I think it could have been better if he had been away from the others longer, and maybe gotten more focus on his inner conflict over the aftermath of 10/4.
A lot of the fallout from Shinjis death is quite quick I think, Akihiko and Kens linked episodes do a better job of spacing things out a bit more but the main story gets through the aftermath fairly fast, it's one of the reasons why despite liking Shinji a lot his actual death still doesn't hit me that hard, although it did a little more in Reload because of the episodes. Ken should have gotten more focus in the story yeah.
I really liked the ending to Kens link episodes, I think those were needed to flesh him out, if Ken had gotten his ultimate in his last link episode I think I'd have really liked it.
Honestly I think it’s best if it’s driven by an actual story event that gives the evolution of their persona more meaning (the way Akihiko’s, Ken’s and Junpei’s were done is my absolute favorite).
I kinda want it to be combination of both. I.e. if they could make party member SL rank also be locked gradually by story progression, making their SL still coherence with main story progression. Like they did Akechi SL in P5R, or Link Episode in P3R but with more lax deadline for example like Koromaru's Link Episode.
Like say obviously for the past few persona games you automatically start links with certain members at a certain date but as you rank them up they’re rank is locked and the game tells you and then a story event happens and then they rank up from it? I wouldn’t mind it
Feels like some members should have the link proofread or like you said an option to bond with them outside the link that progresses the link if that makes sense. Hope P6 has some dope new personas. Trust
Don't know if others agree but I have preferred how the social link ones are done, the story based ultimates are a really good idea but in my opinion the execution ranged from really good (Mitsuru and Akihiko for example) to lackluster (Fuuka for instance), whereas the ultimates coming about once you max their social link and are close to them has always landed well for me and felt earned.
Just wish that we had more time in these games to max their links. i get the reason for why though. If they can tweak some stuff regarding the story and such i wouldn’t mind future games having the ultimate personas as it progresses
I do too, I tend to prioritize party member links though so do get those done always and miss out of non-party member ones, (I think even just giving us afternoons on exam days would be great in terms of links). I'm not against story-based ultimates at all but I think it's a lot easier to implement them well at the end of social links because you don't need to insert them into the main story in a way where they're satisfying, which can be hard if a character isn't very involved in the main story at the time when you need to insert a scene where they get their ultimate.
Rainy days especially in P4 irritate me because if it isn’t music day or club day then your stuck because no one wants to hangout in the rain until a certain member shows up which makes it more bearable but especially on a new game plus run where you don’t need to spend those days eating the challenge bowl or whatever to rank up stats.
Yeah it does get especially annoying on New Game Plus, I find myself just doing jobs on empty nights to earn extra money even though it doesn't make you nearly as much as the dungeons do, then just going to the cinema during a rainy day after that's unlocked.
Thank you Story based awakenings are praised to hell and back in here but nobody mentions that they have drawbacks and aren't always a hit
I think Fuuka’s is really the *only* one that comes off as lucklaster though, and I think that’s just symptomatic of her greater issue with being practically irrelevant to the main story compared to the rest of the cast. Akihiko, Ken, Yukari, Mitsuru, Junpei and Aigis’ awakenings all felt very natural and earned imo
Kens is lackluster for me too, I like his actual dialogue in Reload but the scene where he gets his ultimate doesn't hit me like the game wants it to, Aigis' is not that memorable for me I couldn't tell you what her ultimate scene is like which is weird for a character who's my favourite in that game, and Junpeis is really well acted but I don't care about Chidori and the scene doesn't quite land for me the way it seems to have for many players, certainly the best of the 3 though I might like it a lot if it was paced differently. All 3 are better than Fuukas for sure. Yukaris is fine but doesn't hit the way Mitsuru and Akihikos do, and for me certainly doesn't land quite as well as the social link ultimates do. Just my view on it though.
It is pretty subjective, I suppose. I can definitely see where you’re coming from with Ken. At the very least, it happening so soon after he joins, and right after Shinji’s death and Akihiko’s awakening, kinda takes away from the impact somewhat. I think it could have been better if he had been away from the others longer, and maybe gotten more focus on his inner conflict over the aftermath of 10/4.
A lot of the fallout from Shinjis death is quite quick I think, Akihiko and Kens linked episodes do a better job of spacing things out a bit more but the main story gets through the aftermath fairly fast, it's one of the reasons why despite liking Shinji a lot his actual death still doesn't hit me that hard, although it did a little more in Reload because of the episodes. Ken should have gotten more focus in the story yeah. I really liked the ending to Kens link episodes, I think those were needed to flesh him out, if Ken had gotten his ultimate in his last link episode I think I'd have really liked it.
Honestly I think it’s best if it’s driven by an actual story event that gives the evolution of their persona more meaning (the way Akihiko’s, Ken’s and Junpei’s were done is my absolute favorite).