Next on my quest to play through Atlus’ Persona series was Persona 2: Innocent Sin. It was initially released exclusively in Japan in 1999 for the original Playstation but was eventually released internationally as a remake on the Playstation Portable in 2011. Innocent Sin is an interesting game in the series, for the sole reason that it was made as a part one to a two-part story, meaning that by the end of it you can feel like there has to be more to the story, and there is. The game is also very much a follow up to the first Persona, with a lot of characters reappearing in this game, something that will happen quite rarely throughout the rest of the series. Persona 2’s place in the series is interesting and unique for those reasons and more, which made me excited to play it and after doing so, I have some thoughts on it.
The story is; a standard cool guy highschooler, Tatsuya Suou, is joined by two friends to play a bloody mary-esque game, no not the one from the last Persona game, which summons the Joker, no not the one from the latest Persona game. The Joker reveals that he has the power to turn rumors into reality and plans to exact his revenge and kill the three main characters. Although Joker quickly retreats when the main characters admit they have no idea what he's talking about, and vows to get his revenge once they remember what they did to him. Thus begins the journey of the protagonists, eventually joined by two journalists, to figure out what the fuck is going on.
The gameplay is similar to the first Persona game with a couple of key differences. Battles play out mostly the same with random encounters, demon negotiation, personas, etc. but does have the addition of fusion spells. Fusion spells are the combination of magic attacks to perform more powerful ones. They’re dependent on which order the characters are in which adds an additional layer of strategy to battles. The positioning of characters on the board is no longer a thing, and the dungeon exploration now has an overhead view as opposed to the first-person view of the previous games. The biggest gameplay difference is rumors. As stated earlier, Joker can make rumors become reality, and how they work is that NPCs will relay rumors to you and you can spread them through an agency to make them come true. These rumors can be what items a shop sells, difficulties, side quests, etc. They sometimes have story importance but those occurrences will be far more scripted. Rumors, as a mechanic, is done masterfully and really makes the game unique.
Most of the mechanics complement each other quite well and never feel that overwhelming. The mechanics are well developed and have a lot of depth to them. I’d go as far as to say they’re quite fun. That said, there are several issues with the gameplay that all relate to the dungeon design. The way you progress through some dungeons is monotonous. Take the first one in a school, for example. You are told to meet with a teacher who is on one of the floors, so you go to that floor and ask around, hear she’s on a different floor, and repeat the last two steps a couple of times until you are finally where you were supposed to be. Dungeons play out like this quite a bit, causing parts of the game to feel drawn out. There’s another area that is built like a circle and has to be looped three times just to progress with the story. That circular area is actually a sub-area of a larger dungeon that you get locked into because of a cutscene where your party members act like complete idiots. Couple this with random encounter rates that are far too high and large swaths of this game can feel like a chore. However, the random battles are quite easy, and I found I could hold the auto-battle button and get by without worry, so it isn’t like you dread every random encounter because it might be the one to make you lose your progress. The game as a whole is quite easy, and on lower difficulty your magic automatically regenerates, so stocking up on healing items can feel unnecessary. I’d prefer a JRPG that’s easier as opposed to harder with dozens of hours grinding, but the length and repetition can really make the whole game feel a bit boring.
The story itself isn’t that bad. The main villain is pretty cool, the way the world works with the rumors becoming reality bit is interesting, and the main characters are fine. If you watched the intro to the PSP version you’d think you are in for a wild time and that’s only partially true. The first chunk of the game features a lot of individual character moments, which I never really cared for. The characters aren’t immediately interesting and the attempt to deepen them didn’t quite work. The reason they don’t work is because there are more pressing matters happening in the plot than one of the characters joining a pop band and how that makes everyone feel, and it swiftly gets forgotten about anyways. There are some pretty charming moments when the development happens to all the characters in the group, but when it happens to one individual and the others are just kind of there it feels awkward and superfluous.
The second half of the game is batshit insane, which can be quite jarring. If you don’t want spoilers you can skip to the final thoughts. At some point in the game, it is revealed that the evil cult that is working for Joker, the Masked Circle, had been indirectly created by something the main characters did when they were kids, the innocent sin if you will. After realizing this the group eventually convinces Joker, who they now realize is their friend from childhood, to drop the revenge plot and help them in defeating the cult. Now formed, the Masked Circle intends to resurrect Hitler and destroy the world using an alien spaceship. There are Mayan ruins in japan for some reason, costumed vigilantes, the spear of destiny, five crystal skulls, evil gods, and a bunch of other nonsense. It’s one of those whiplash-inducing tone shifts that I feel I will eventually come around to liking but haven’t yet. It is just too ridiculous and happens so fast that you barely get enough time to register it all, and for a game that went the majority of its time being pretty tame and kind of boring, you end up losing interest in it really quickly. So many other plot points feel like they come out of thin air as well.
The game ends with the Masked Circle actually destroying the world, so the benevolent God character, Philemon, makes a pact with the main characters. He will go back in time to stop the inciting incident that caused this whole mess to happen, being the main characters meeting in their childhood, but everybody will forget out about this timeline. They all agree, say their goodbyes, and none of the events of the game ever happened. Except for the main character, who refuses the pact at the last minute, which will be a major problem in part 2.
Final Thoughts: Persona 2: Innocent sin is not a bad game. A lot of the mechanics are really fun and engaging, and the story has some great moments. The problem is that the gameplay and overall story beats can make the game feel padded, fun at times but more often than not boring. Rarely do you ever encounter a challenge. There’s also a point in the story where there is a tremendous tone shift that will turn a lot of people off. The graphics are pretty good for what it is, and the soundtrack is also pretty good. If you want to play some of the older Persona games or even just RPGs from the Playstation era it’s a good pick, but with the long length, and padded length at that, the game can be a drag at times.
3/5
eh
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