It is pretty disheartening to see the SMT side just become overshadowed by the sheer popularity of Persona. I started with Persona 3, and worked my way into Persona 4 and bought SMTIV on a whim. Ended up enjoying SMTIV way more than Persona 3 and 4.



I played through SMT IV 3 times, fought all the fiends, did all the routes. I tried to go back to Nocturne from there, and while I praise the game a lot, I only made it halfway through. SMT IV had its issues, but the battles were extremely fast paced and fluid, and it made Nocturne feel dated for me. DDS1 has a terrible PS3 port that continually stutters during cutscenes and I could not play it for that reason, and I was genuinely interested in it, and I also can't play its sequel for that reason. Raidou and Strange Journeys battle systems weren't Press Turn and it was hard for me to get into those as well. I'm getting Redux for sure, but it's battle system doesn't hold a candle to Press Turn.



I've been itching to give Nocturne another go, and I probably will when I return home. I'll have SJ Redux to play next year, but Persona keeps getting all the praise and while its not a bad thing, the average fan of P3, P4 and 5 aren't even aware of its roots. It's kinda crazy how unique and groundbreaking this series is, and how much of a foundation it paved for games like Persona to be as unrecognized as it is.



Persona 5 ironically does a great job at showcasing its roots. What complete rando who has only touched the Persona games would recognize and appreciate SMT: if costumes? What's an SMT?? The dungeon design is so reminiscent of Nocturne and DDS, the puzzles (the concepts), some of the music (Futuba's and the final dungeon) feel so similar to areas in those games. The whole final segment Persona 5 is literally a SMT game.



So yeah, I'm extremely excited for the next SMT. And I hope it manages to catch people's attention somehow.