I finally got around to trying my first Persona game. I tried Persona 5, and right off the bat, I did not like the cinematic style of this game.
I am not really sure what it is about it, but I guess it was just not for me.
Are the other ones like this too?
I am looking for a good jrpg to get into on the switch that is not final fantasy, dragon quest, or pokemon. (I’ve played those a lot recently)
Early Persona 5 is pretty rich in set pieces as it slowly introduces its many systems, but it does open up quite a lot after a while. It’s a content-rich 100+ hour long game, it kind of has to. It still has a lot of cutscenes even after that, but they’re mostly of the gamey yapping portraits kind, with cinematic cutscenes and anime FMVs left for climactic moments.
Persona 3 and 4 are similar in style, though not quite as cinematic, and you get to the meat of the games faster.
Persona 1 and 2 are completely different beasts, and what you dislike about Persona 5 so far will have no bearing on whether you’ll like those. The most modern versions are on PSP, however.
As for other JRPGs on Switch, from the same developer there’s Shin Megami Tensei V and the remaster of III. Even though they’re also from Atlus, they very much go in the opposite direction of Persona and are very stoic games where it’s mostly just you, the environment and the systems, and cutscenes are far and between.
Someone else mentioned the Trails games and I’ll second that. Like the Persona, they’re very story-rich, but not as budget-rich as Persona 5, which puts constraints on how that story is told. Also, if you like action RPGs, from the same developer (Falcom) there’s the Ys games. Ys: The Oath in Felghana is pretty much the pinnacle of the genre and is pretty short, so it’s a good snack between bigger games.