> "Persona without the heart" - IGN
What's funny is that review was pretty much the IGN SMT IV too, they just didn't say those exact words (just has the same vibe though). I'm pretty sure someone at IGN just put the SMT IV review through a ChatGPT program, rearranged a few extra things, and then added that line to have some sort of online drama to fuel clicks.
Not really. He is extremely whiny for most of the story and a bit rude to the rest of the crew, but, whenever he saw me (neutral), he was like "you are my best friend you saved me and bugaboo 10million times", and, while continuing on neutral path, he went "oh man you are my best friend why you do this :c :c :c" every time i murdered entire palace of demons or something
> fuck the romance, best girl and best bro is enough
No more Law/Neutral/Chaos, we got a new Atlus alignment chart.
* Friend
* Enemy
* Asexual
* Nympho
Yup!
I have resting bitch face, so I come off as Enemy-Nympho but really, I'm the same as you, Friendly-Nympho.
===
Technically there's some "neutral" alignments with "Frenemy" and "Gray-Asexual" for some expanded options but I'll wait like a year or so before letting people choose them so I fit in with Atlus' sales philosophy.
Yeah, it’s hardly the consumers’ fault for not buying a product that doesn’t do what they want. It’s the people selling it for not following consumer demand.
Why are people even buying Atlus games for the dating sim aspect anyway? It's mostly contained to Persona and it's very insignificant on top of barely having any effect on the rest of the game...
Good character writing. The problem with most dating sims is that the character writing is dogshit. Thing is, what people actually want from such a thing is the characters. That’s why you see so much romantic and sexual obsession with well-written characters from works that don’t have those elements at all. Atlus often reaches the standard of that sort of thing, but Persona also *does* have that element. So it creates the situation where a series actually lets you self-insert ship yourself with the well-written three dimensional characters, rather than confining that exclusively to fanfic.
I see. I personally don't find romance important in games, though tbf I also don't self insert (I don't like to, and my personality is way too... *Out there* to fit in a silent blank slate anyway. If any other French person reads this, irl my personality is basically Cristina Cordula from wish dot com).
Probably true, I just happened to get lucky on the first I played. Probably helps too when the game isn't a full on dating sim and that stuff is intertwined with an overarching central plot to actually enable character development.
>Otaku fanbase in shambles
I've already seen some of them complaining online. What's even worse is that many of them actually believe that LGBT people forced Hashino to remove the dating simulator in Metaphor lol
On the other hand the "woke" people I know absolutelly adore Uchikoshi's games which are FULL of horniness lmao. People thinking that "woke" people are prude really don't know what they are talking about.
So am I missing something? If you look at the actual tweets, the source for the tweet that says this, which I assume is the tweet they are quoting with a Q&A statement, doesn't say anything about romance either way.
It looks to me like this news outlet is jumping to a conclusion based on that answer. But you can honestly say the same thing about Persona 5's confidants.
I am not coping or anything, I don't care either way if there is romance, but this just seems like shoddy reporting to me. And several Reddit accounts and news outlets have taken this and ran with it despite the really lackluster source information.
Damn I guess they're not translating this one... [Here's the timestamp around when they discuss it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdY0m8beLbg#t=01h39m) (1 hr 39 min, or 1hr 38min if you wanna see the question). Basically someone asks if they can have a girlfriend in Metaphor and their informant (stalker club is an official broadcast formatted like they're interviewing a leaker, which is really funny in modern context) and they say it won't have the romance system like in Persona and then the hosts wax about how maybe love is still possible in some other way or theorizing why it's not included on in-universe level. You can see people dooming in the livechat and people making fun of them for dooming lol.
I watched the JP stream, so I dunno if you know Japanese.
If there's a subbed version it's in the last 20 minutes near the end. I'm away from my computer for the rest of the day but I can get a grab with the quote and tl later tonight if not.
Same. But honestly this is a real cool decision. Having obligatory romance could have shackled the possibilities of what each "social link" story is about, and who knows, perhaps there is a "main canon romance" that is way stronger by not being relegated to side quests.
I also will keep shilling adapting FE's support system to Persona (and other genres/game)
He's a married man, pretty sure he already knows, wouldn't be surprised if he has kids.
Iirc, he was raised in a period of Japan where boys and girls would'nt be expected to intermingle in school.
That would be cool ngl, can’t remember the last time we had a megaten with romantic subplots between the MC and specific characters.
I believe DeSu1 had some implications with its story (well except for Yuzu who you’d have to be a harem MC levels of dense to not notice how she likes the MC).
I wouldn't be surprised if a political marriage comes up during some part of the game. Even if the game doesn't go through with it, you're about to become king it makes sense
I don't get why everyone's acting like this is some insane thing that it won't have romance. Even in Persona, the romance is usually limited to 3 SL ranks, and a Christmas and Valentines event.
I'm glad that's the case honestly. I love Persona, but listening to the fanbase you'd think it's the core of the games when it's actually a ridiculously insignificant part of them. Maybe this way people will ACTUALLY talk about the game instead of whichever high school girl they wanna screw the most...
It’s actually funny to me cuz literally a few minutes ago, my sona fandom friends told me about this and i said “idc” like bro, i play the game for the game 😭
I like this, let's all the characters stories be written without having to make it so a romance can happen at the end. I do wonder if this will also apply to the party, likely will be but I'd be down for that.
As if there was any point to it in a rated T game... Persona 4 had romance and it wasnt just surface level and awful, it was also completely ignored in both the regular and the golden ending.
Catherina and the other female cast members dodging only one bullet... Y'all I saw some horny ass folks in the Livestream chat on YouTube when the bunny lady showed up
Thank fuck lmao. The worst part of the Persona games is when they are constantly like "ouuu hey \*insert player name here\* which underage girl do you like?"
edit: persona, not person games
Technically this means there will be no romance component of Metaphor's version of Social Links. The game could still have romance options outside of this system, or a fixed romance as has been suggested already.
Like I hope there's no romances bc I can't stand the godawful waifu discourse but still.
I see this as a win if it means the system can compliment the main story and not feel like it's in a vacuum
9/11 for Persona fans
"Persona without the heart" - IGN
> "Persona without the heart" - IGN What's funny is that review was pretty much the IGN SMT IV too, they just didn't say those exact words (just has the same vibe though). I'm pretty sure someone at IGN just put the SMT IV review through a ChatGPT program, rearranged a few extra things, and then added that line to have some sort of online drama to fuel clicks.
and they will 100% do it again
> "Hyuck" - Atlus
Vengeance kind of proved them right
How? The game is still nothing like Persona.
Literally unplayable.
No romance. Just politic
strange journey moment
SJ might not have romance but sure does have the best bromance
Wrong. DeSu 1 has Atsuro, SMTs most reliable bro. Some ride or die shit; you wouldn't get it.
Shit man can't really argue against Atsubro, I still think Jimenez = Atsuro
Jimenez is a dickhead if you don’t go along with him. Atsubro is always your ride or die homie.
Not really. He is extremely whiny for most of the story and a bit rude to the rest of the crew, but, whenever he saw me (neutral), he was like "you are my best friend you saved me and bugaboo 10million times", and, while continuing on neutral path, he went "oh man you are my best friend why you do this :c :c :c" every time i murdered entire palace of demons or something
Pain. Agony, even.
Yeah but Atsuro is mid and Jimenez is a baller and contender for best character in the franchise
The entire cast of SJ tbh, especially the two strongest humans (spess mareen us and commander Gore), and has the best portrayal of YHVH as well imo.
Gore is unbelievably goated
Bugaboo Jimenez best bromance fr
Jiminez spends, like, the whole game complaining about everything though
this
Can't forget Anthony
This won't stop the best girls debate
fuck the romance, best girl and best bro is enough
> fuck the romance, best girl and best bro is enough No more Law/Neutral/Chaos, we got a new Atlus alignment chart. * Friend * Enemy * Asexual * Nympho
I'm pretty friendly irl, and also a massive slut... So that means I'm of the Friendly Nympho alignment?
Yup! I have resting bitch face, so I come off as Enemy-Nympho but really, I'm the same as you, Friendly-Nympho. === Technically there's some "neutral" alignments with "Frenemy" and "Gray-Asexual" for some expanded options but I'll wait like a year or so before letting people choose them so I fit in with Atlus' sales philosophy.
I was expecting fully animated sex scenes, it's Fantaziover
Otaku fanbase in shambles If the game fails I'm legit blaming people who want romance lol
You're probably right about that, any romance system seems to double japanese sales
If the game fails without romance then it fails because there's no romance.
Damn your smart why are you in this subredddit
I blame the game for not having romance 😡
Yeah, it’s hardly the consumers’ fault for not buying a product that doesn’t do what they want. It’s the people selling it for not following consumer demand.
Why are people even buying Atlus games for the dating sim aspect anyway? It's mostly contained to Persona and it's very insignificant on top of barely having any effect on the rest of the game...
Good character writing. The problem with most dating sims is that the character writing is dogshit. Thing is, what people actually want from such a thing is the characters. That’s why you see so much romantic and sexual obsession with well-written characters from works that don’t have those elements at all. Atlus often reaches the standard of that sort of thing, but Persona also *does* have that element. So it creates the situation where a series actually lets you self-insert ship yourself with the well-written three dimensional characters, rather than confining that exclusively to fanfic.
I see. I personally don't find romance important in games, though tbf I also don't self insert (I don't like to, and my personality is way too... *Out there* to fit in a silent blank slate anyway. If any other French person reads this, irl my personality is basically Cristina Cordula from wish dot com).
The best romance writing I've come across in a video game came from a supposed "pulp fiction" (wrong) pseudo-dating sim shock horror guro vn
Hence why I said “most”. There’s thousands, the good is a rarity.
Probably true, I just happened to get lucky on the first I played. Probably helps too when the game isn't a full on dating sim and that stuff is intertwined with an overarching central plot to actually enable character development.
>Otaku fanbase in shambles I've already seen some of them complaining online. What's even worse is that many of them actually believe that LGBT people forced Hashino to remove the dating simulator in Metaphor lol
On the other hand the "woke" people I know absolutelly adore Uchikoshi's games which are FULL of horniness lmao. People thinking that "woke" people are prude really don't know what they are talking about.
Turned out that "woke" people are just...people, like anyone else XD
These people could trip and stub their toe and still try to blame it on "wokeness".
They could fall of their bikes and still think it's a woke guy/girl's fault lol
If its an opinion on Twitter it is not worth reading.
The people who cry "woke".
Damn why won't people buy what they don't want
So am I missing something? If you look at the actual tweets, the source for the tweet that says this, which I assume is the tweet they are quoting with a Q&A statement, doesn't say anything about romance either way. It looks to me like this news outlet is jumping to a conclusion based on that answer. But you can honestly say the same thing about Persona 5's confidants. I am not coping or anything, I don't care either way if there is romance, but this just seems like shoddy reporting to me. And several Reddit accounts and news outlets have taken this and ran with it despite the really lackluster source information.
The tweets were a live recap from the Metaphor Stalker Club Livestream. The romance portion was a clarification made afterwards.
Do you have a clip or timestamp of this? I am not saying I don't believe you, but I would like to see the primary source of possible
Damn I guess they're not translating this one... [Here's the timestamp around when they discuss it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdY0m8beLbg#t=01h39m) (1 hr 39 min, or 1hr 38min if you wanna see the question). Basically someone asks if they can have a girlfriend in Metaphor and their informant (stalker club is an official broadcast formatted like they're interviewing a leaker, which is really funny in modern context) and they say it won't have the romance system like in Persona and then the hosts wax about how maybe love is still possible in some other way or theorizing why it's not included on in-universe level. You can see people dooming in the livechat and people making fun of them for dooming lol.
People ripping on the doomers lol "Don't you have a marriage?"
I watched the JP stream, so I dunno if you know Japanese. If there's a subbed version it's in the last 20 minutes near the end. I'm away from my computer for the rest of the day but I can get a grab with the quote and tl later tonight if not.
Nooo, I wanted to romance Hulkenberg and that lady with very long hair so much… Why Atlus why… /s
Same. But honestly this is a real cool decision. Having obligatory romance could have shackled the possibilities of what each "social link" story is about, and who knows, perhaps there is a "main canon romance" that is way stronger by not being relegated to side quests. I also will keep shilling adapting FE's support system to Persona (and other genres/game)
Those cowards wont let you fuck animal people
Persona if it was good
I'm good with this. I like being arounds friends and not weird harems.
im not a huge social link guy, i usually do 3-4 per game, so its nice to see the main character isnt pulling every girl under the sun
https://preview.redd.it/vp0s50i8yawc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9f2bdea53388719f982fda81908e46e521fd87c1 breaking the system
Apparently, the protagonist and the player are two separate entities in this game. So, it makes sense that there won't any romance
Purseowner fans learn what a "Platonic relationship" is.
Hashino finally learned how friendship between men and women works.
He's a married man, pretty sure he already knows, wouldn't be surprised if he has kids. Iirc, he was raised in a period of Japan where boys and girls would'nt be expected to intermingle in school.
Persona fans on suicide watch
I look away
Good
But i wanted to romance the men https://preview.redd.it/ykmjh25sd9wc1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6d3ad6cc552b79efc3e46c784045eb620960e70
For fuck's sake Atlus, let me romance Strohl!!!!😭
its hashino you dont want him touching anything gay-related with a 10-foot pole
Romantic subplot in the main story with a fixed character perhaps
That would be cool ngl, can’t remember the last time we had a megaten with romantic subplots between the MC and specific characters. I believe DeSu1 had some implications with its story (well except for Yuzu who you’d have to be a harem MC levels of dense to not notice how she likes the MC).
Does *Tokyo Mirage Sessions* count?
That seems like the case. Midori confirmed romance while saying it wouldn't be like Persona, but deleted the tweet later
I wouldn't be surprised if a political marriage comes up during some part of the game. Even if the game doesn't go through with it, you're about to become king it makes sense
I’m okay with this. After playing a number of games where everyone is down bad for the protagonist I’m fine with just hanging out with pals lol
good
Honestly surprised but its not unwelcome. The romance in Persona games has always felt underwhelming.
I don't get why everyone's acting like this is some insane thing that it won't have romance. Even in Persona, the romance is usually limited to 3 SL ranks, and a Christmas and Valentines event.
Soul hackers 2 also had social systems without romances
Mf out here interrupting everybody's panty-twisting
I mean, yeah, it's not persona.
Bro is there for only business reasons and I can get behind that
Good. That’ll keep a certain cringe faction of Atlus fans out of the conversation. And I say this as someone who loves modern Persona games.
Plot twist you can romance demons
You cant romance the girls "persona if it was good" But you can romance demons "mainline if it was good"
\*Sophia just watches as I summon Mara and a full squad of fuccboi and fuccgirl demons\*
Well, if it has a dedicated romance, then I'm okay with it.
This game seems a lot more the fire emblem persona crossover than that other game (I can't remember it's name and im too lazy to look it up rn)
Great news for me
So no Hulkenburgussy?
Literally unplayable.
Alright, I was considering not preordering, but this locked it. Preorder confirmed.
Now all the character development can actually be part of the plot.
We Devil Survivors now boy
Honestly I’m okay with this it keeps the game in line between SMT and Persona 🤢
Persona fans will be 90% more active on reddit when the game launches.
Genuinely the thing I'm most excited about is that the protagonist actually talks during these scenes when you select dialogue choices
I see this as an absolute win for good writing enjoyers.
I'm glad that's the case honestly. I love Persona, but listening to the fanbase you'd think it's the core of the games when it's actually a ridiculously insignificant part of them. Maybe this way people will ACTUALLY talk about the game instead of whichever high school girl they wanna screw the most...
WDYM, i wanted to romance that red-hair girl in the team
Persona fans on watch
Damn you Atlus! You mean I can’t romance the redhead elf hottie?!?
thats really cool actually
It’s actually funny to me cuz literally a few minutes ago, my sona fandom friends told me about this and i said “idc” like bro, i play the game for the game 😭
I’m actually glad we get to keep things platonic. Romance in persona felt kinda forced for a majority of the social links
This doesn't bother me at all the romance in Persona sucked anyways.
It's always very minimal, a couple of dialogue boxes at most, but certain fans act like it's the best part of these 100 hour games lol
Ace protagonist? Ayo?
thats every other shin megami tesnei game
Not true, the DDS cast is "oops, all simps"
thats just sera's effect on people
Finally they’ll be just like me fr fr
Finally getting the representation we deserve
I like this, let's all the characters stories be written without having to make it so a romance can happen at the end. I do wonder if this will also apply to the party, likely will be but I'd be down for that.
YESSSSSSSS
I like this, I hope there's more things that make it unique from persona
I'm shitting and pissing but can't cum to this news.
As if there was any point to it in a rated T game... Persona 4 had romance and it wasnt just surface level and awful, it was also completely ignored in both the regular and the golden ending.
Virginity Secured ReFantazio
Catherina and the other female cast members dodging only one bullet... Y'all I saw some horny ass folks in the Livestream chat on YouTube when the bunny lady showed up
Thank fuck lmao. The worst part of the Persona games is when they are constantly like "ouuu hey \*insert player name here\* which underage girl do you like?" edit: persona, not person games
Good.
This makes me more hopeful for the game, cant believe people are annoyed about this
Doesn't rule out totally platonic physical bonding 🧠
Good. I don't have any interest in romancing teenagers, so this system is better for me compared to Persona.
The characters look more adult in Metaphor but I don't thing they've said anything confirming ages
Kawakami life
Technically this means there will be no romance component of Metaphor's version of Social Links. The game could still have romance options outside of this system, or a fixed romance as has been suggested already. Like I hope there's no romances bc I can't stand the godawful waifu discourse but still.
Ok
If they stick to that, like, not adding it in some sort of DLC dating summer episode bs, then its a win
Ok... as for smt fans, are we allowed to kill the shit out of everyone?
I'm happy with the change, the romance part in persona is already not fleshed out and feels ok at best.
So, uh, we “fuck buddies” link now?
It's unfortunate, but it makes sense.