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Notes -
Requesting help to decide how to spend the next 100 hours of my video game time. I just want a game that makes me feel something (anything, really: wonder at visual spectacle, curiosity for the world, some sort of emotional engagement with story or characters, satisfying movement mechanics, etc.). Preferably would like a game not requiring sweaty gamer skills, since I don't have the patience to replay a boss 20 times to move on. Current backlog leaders in no particular order: Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, Metaphor Refantazio, Clair Obscur, Mass Effect Trilogy, Death Stranding 1&2, Spider-Man 1&2. Open to other suggestions as well.
Have you played the Persona games? (3, 4, 5)
I get a rare amount of emotional engagement with the characters in those games. No sweatiness required.
Funny, Persona 3 Reload is the game I'm currently playing (I finished 5 Royal some years ago). I thought about jumping straight to 4 Golden, but decided to wait for the upcoming 4 Revival since I think 200+ hours of Persona back to back could start to feel too repetitive. Agree on the engagement though. I can't articulate the secret sauce but they know how to make you connect to characters.
I figured there was a remake of P4 coming after the sufficiently commercially successful remake of P3 (leaked numbers from five months ago showed 2.07M units sold), but hadn't heard the name yet. If they have the same team doing 4R that did 3R, it should end up being pretty satisfyingly done.
P4 is an excellent, cozy game with some very charming characters. They released a non-remade PC version of it a few years back, and it's perfectly playable despite the datedness. You can play in 4K 120 fps, for instance. But if I were given a choice between playing that version now or waiting a year for the remake, I'd probably stay patient and get more QoL later. Some QoL things that you take for granted in 5R and 3R are absent in 4.
Re: secret sauce - I read an interesting thing about the character designs in Persona games. They are designed to have an appeal that does not reveal the artist's gender!
There's an interview (in Japanese) with the lead character creator here: https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/interview/241125m
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