michifugu | [Thoughts & Review] Persona 2 : Innocent Sin

This may contain spoiler so read at your own risks or ignore the post

Overall, it’s decent and enjoyable. As for the gameplay, I won’t comment much because it’s basically a typical retro JRPG. The fusion spell is fun, but I wish they gave a clear tutorial, as I only found out about some of the game mechanics and fusion spells after reading a walkthrough guide 20 hours in. Also, since it’s a retro JRPG, it unfortunately has some issues I hate: random encounters.
Now, as for the story, I would say it’s pretty fine, but it has some issues. I feel the story would be much better if Tatsuya could talk. There are times when scenes feel awkward, especially during emotional/serious moments, because Tatsuya stays dead silent, and we don’t know much about his personality beyond the choices we make and our interpretation of him. Tatsuya suffers from the common problem of silent protagonists, where they have a blank slate personality. The only way we learn about his personality is through choices or other characters’ lines. It’s a shame because I think he would be much better if he could talk. Sorry, I just dislike silent protagonists, lol…., so I’m going to be really critical on this part.

As for the cast, I love them. The banter is great, and the dynamics are fun. Ginko, Tatsuya, and Eikichi make a wonderful trio. Yukino and Maya’s dynamic is great, too. I actually quite like how, despite Maya being the “adult” in the team, she still feels like an equal. The other characters act casually around her, and it’s nice to see her as the most vulnerable one in the group.
Another issue is Jun. I think he could have been handled better. It feels like the writers forgot about him until the later part of the game, like, “Oh, he exists, I guess.” there’s not much depth to his character, even with Tatsuya. There’s no real intimacy like we see w/ Tatsuya-Maya, and hell, even Tatsuya-Ginko seem to have more going on. Also, I don’t like how, when Jun joins the party, the writing takes a nosedive. The characters suddenly start acting overly friendly towards him, which feels unnatural. I get that they’re childhood friends, but when he joins, idk for me, it’s like the dynamic suddenly shifts just to make him relevant. I’m also a bit salty that Yukino leaves. Before Jun joined, the cast acted more naturally, and the dynamic was great, but after he joined, everything seems to get sucked into a vacuum to make Jun fit in. They could have handled it better. And it doesn’t help that Jun is boring. He’s a sad, angsty boy, but somehow still boring. Yukino, on the other hand, was funny and interesting, with a good dynamic with Maya. The cast felt more balanced with her.

Also, I don’t like how they forgive Jun so easily, lol. I get irked so bad by him. It feels like he’s written to bait fujos and shallow bait on top of that & the only time Jun become ”interesting” as a character is when he UNIRONICALLY was menhera or talking about his dad. For being the supposed “love interest,” he sure doesn’t show much intimacy or a semblance of attraction toward Tatsuya (like, idk, not even blushing /getting flustered around Tatsuya & also the fact Tatsuya seems to don’t care much about him??), which just makes it weird that he becomes the love interest option. Eikichi arguably shows more attraction and intimacy toward Tatsuya & that guy is canonically straight. ~~Jun better ship is unironically with his father~~, the dadson material is too good.

Anyway, TatsuMaya is good.
I’m a bit disappointed that Katsuya doesn’t make much of an appearance.

Also, the funniest thing is I get baited to play this game because of the brocon ship by my friends, lol.

My personal rating: 8/10.