Is Persona 3 the most bleak than P4 & P5? (Spoilers)

[Kalnet]

I have recently finished re-playing Persona 3 Portable on my good ol' PSP and during my playthrough, it seems to get more of a darker tone as it went on. The sequels do follow a similar beat but throughout playing 3, it felt like everything was bleak from a quarter way through. From shooting yourself to summon your persona, your squadmate's loved ones died right before their very eyes, death literally effecting the people in the real world physically and mentally nationwide in a very negative way, to the protagonist sacrificing himself to save the world so his comrades can live to see another day while he kept himself at bay from Nyx and humanity's despair to intertwined with each other.

I don't have any favorite characters in P3( Okay, Mitsuru is bae) but i like their dynamics as a team, with Mitsuru and Akihiko being the leaders of the group. Of course the protagonist becomes more of the leader towards the end.

P4 does had it's bleak moments with people dying in the midnight channel and the haze covering up the whole town. P5 with people simply giving up their self-control to a godly being.

I have never played P1 and P2 before so maybe I will play that next.

What do you guys think with P3 being more bleak than P4 and P5? It had a bittersweet ending with an aftermath story "The Answer" and the setting being dark tone all the way through.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Out of the current Persona titles in the new format (P3-5). 3 definitely goes for the bleakest overall tone (Even if they all have their share of comedy and other tropes). Personally, if we were to rate the titles on being "bleak" i'd say the order is P3 > P5 > P4. P4 is easily the title that went less on that aspect with P5 finding a better balance.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

Persona 3 is about death and nihilism. "Memento Mori" is the game's primary conceit. So yes, in that sense, it certainly is.

All of the main party members are motivated by the death of people close to them. It's what drives the story forward. The antagonists are driven by humanity's fundamental desire to stop living and misanthropy. It's probably part of why Persona 4 was made to be much more lighthearted (despite still having darker tones at times).

 

[Sgt. Demblant]

Yeah it is definitely bleaker.
Although P2 is far worse in my experience. But I've only beaten Innocent Sin, not Eternal Punishment.

P3's ending had me legit bummed for a good two weeks.
4 was quite emotional but in a different way.
5's ending tried to mix both the tones of 3 and 4 and it didn't really work for me.

 

[TelluricTokoro]

Death is the primary theme of the game.

And a few of your party members ACTUALLY die, so yes and it isn't close.

 

[Chivalry]

Yep. P4 and P5's endings and tones are more optimistic.

 

[Boogins]

Yes which is why it's my favorite of the three.

 

[Zippro]

P3's not got the best overall streamlining of the Nu Persona series, but it does have the most focus and best-writing of the Nu Persona era so it's easily considered the best by long-time fans. I think, to some extent, Tartarus also being a struggle through repetition helps it a great deal in this regard. It's not easy and reflects character struggles, but I'd be lying if I said it couldn't be done better. P3's definitely a real charmer, despite its faults, and you can tell the team at Atlus still really likes it a lot considering how much they want to carry it forward through the popularity of P4/5. P4's far more character driven than character and plot and it mostly succeeds whereas P5 tried to strike a balance between the two, but ultimately faltered due to poor writing that felt like it came straight out of Persona Q. I think the best way to look at 3 in comparison to 4 and 5 is 3 had a lot of heart and care put into it for what the team was capable of making, there was a vision and 4 tried to carry on that vision in a unique way while also addressing complaints about 3. 5 Pushed further into trying to carry that on, but also prioritized its marketability and complaints of 3 and 4 over the narrative and how it could accentuate the narrative through gameplay and difficulty, but got pulled into too many directions and ended up radically different from the initial vision that, honestly, sounds like it would've been a lot cooler and more focused.

I'd highly recommend Persona 2 though. It's easily the best entry in the series and you get it in the form of a duology and it has a lot of unique aspects that I really wish the series had carried forward. It does need some streamlining though so I hope, one day, we get another remake.

 

[Dukie85]

From the first time you see how the MC summons his Persona, you should've known then that P3 was gonna be dark as shit.

 

[BouncyFrag]

This track nails the feel of P3 and is a big tonal shift when you hear this for the first time.

 

[Deleted member 11008]

I think P3 is the bleakest Persona game in the entire series, and honestly the Sun social link storyline is one of my favorites because this. Sadly the game is also edgy just for the being to be edgy, so not neccesarily is the most mature game in the modern Persona trilogy.

 

[PSqueak]

Yes it's the bleakest because the overarching theme in P3 is about learning to accept and cope with the inevitablity of death.

P4 and P5 deal with much less depressing themes, specially the laughably childish "adults suck" themes of P5.

 

[Zukkoyaki]

Definitely. As others have said, the central theme of the game is mortality.

The tone is a huge reason why it's still probably my favorite Persona despite 4 and 5 destroying it in gameplay and quality of life.

 

[Yunyo]

Definitely. But it has the strongest emotional beats because of that.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

This track nails the feel of P3 and is a big tonal shift when you hear this for the first time.

Click to shrink...

Hell yeah!

 

[BlackJace]

100%. As others have said, death is the primary theme of the game. The endgame makes a point to show the player just how bleak things are as Nyx approaches. I also noticed that, unlike a lot of other JRPGS, the endgame preparation for SEES wasn't hype-inducing or triumphant-feeling. It was a time of deep contemplation and increasing dread as the calendar advanced.

P3 was great, man.

 

[KtotheRoc]

Thematically, it is much closer to Shin Megami Tensei proper than 4 and 5 were.

So, yes, it is.

 

[Deleted member 19066]

100%. As others have said, death is the primary theme of the game. The endgame makes a point to show the player just how bleak things are as Nyx approaches. I also noticed that, unlike a lot of other JRPGS, the endgame preparation for SEES wasn't hype-inducing or triumphant-feeling. It was a time of deep contemplation and increasing dread as the calendar advanced.

P3 was great, man.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, the latter section of P3 was definitely the high point of the game, for me.

 

[Kazuhira]

Yes,3 and 4 are total opposites.
P4 is all about happiness and enjoying life for me,even if it's about finding a serial killer.
Although P3 kinda talks about the same in a way but in a more depressing/bleak way i guess.
That bittersweet feeling during new year's eve makes me feel so melancholic.

 

[Keym]

It has a lot of similarities with Evangelion, sooooooo, I'd say yes.

 

[kayos90]

The movie adaptations for P3 towards the middle and end get really really depressing. It's 100% bleaker.

 

[rehjul]

Yes it's the bleakest because the overarching theme in P3 is about learning to accept and cope with the inevitablity of death.

P4 and P5 deal with much less depressing themes, specially the laughably childish "adults suck" themes of P5.

Click to shrink...

P3 was the best and definitely bleakest of the Nu Persona series, but 5's derision against adults I think was more a general condemnation of the ruling class, as filtered through the lens of its adolescent protagonists.

 

[Revolsin]

P3 is essentially just more SMT than the 'Persona' we know today.

You'll wanna try the DS and 3DS SMT games if you want that bleakness(or far worse).

 

[Aadiboy]

This track nails the feel of P3 and is a big tonal shift when you hear this for the first time.

Click to shrink...

When this song starts playing and the doomsday cult starts appearing in town you know shit's about to get real.

 

[semiconscious]

one of the main reasons i pefer it to what's followed. for me, the game stays with you in a way the others don't :) ...

 

[SunKing]

Of modern Persona, yes. But P2 is arguably even bleaker in a lot of regards.

 

[Aadiboy]

On a related note, what are the best blind let's plays for P3? Feels like there's not as many as for the later games.

 

[Kalnet]

From reading the replies, I'll go give P2 a shot!

Yeah, it's something about the setting and plot details of P3 that sticks with me more than the sequels. The meaning and lore behind tartarus and the dark hour. It makes our playable characters more human and believable in a real situation if we truly know when the world is gonna end.

I thought P5 was my favorite but after replaying this, P3 tops it for me. It's not about how important the characters are in my pov, but about on what's truly happening around them and how dire a situation can be. The characters don't joke around that much but when they do, it's to lighten the mood and it reminded us the players and the plot going forward that there can be a hope.

 

[BouncyFrag]

One of the reasons I'll hold onto my ps3 is to replay P3FES. It's a damn shame we can't play it on any current devices.

 

[shimon]

Absolutely.

 

[BrickArts295]

P3 really needs a remake or Golden edition that puts together P3P and FES in one package.

3 does feel like the most serious Persona. In fact it's the perfect middleground between old Persona (1 & 2) and new Persona (4 & 5).