4.5/5 ★ – fleureta's review of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2 Innocent Sin.

the second installment in the shin megami tensei: persona, and the first installment in the persona 2 duology improves everything the original persona game brought us in 1996. i have a biased support of the ideology that persona 2 is the best that persona (series) has to offer, given that i am enamored by style and story, this game has a vivid plot masked in seductive mystery and impactful themes of remembrance, loss, death, and sins. persona 2: innocent sin was the riskiest story in the series to date, and i am fully in love with it for its execution and payoff, the perfect predecessor to persona 2: eternal punishment, and with great pleasure, i commend the gameplay and combat of persona 2 to be a heavy improvement upon the first game’s by all means, but is far from perfect. in regards to gameplay, persona 2 adheres and sticks to the classic turn-based combat tradition of elemental weaknesses, combo attacks, and incredibly high encounter rates. the dungeons, while graphically impressive for the time, sometimes directionally confusing and frustrating for its monotone fashion.while unique and difficult, combat is not always engaging, thankfully, the traditional persona-esque auto-battle feature assists with the grind of dungeons and thankfully, sp autoregenerates itself- meaning you will never have to end a dungeon run to acquire more sp items otherwise. while fights are long and a bit drawn out, with demon negotiations better left in the past, (a familiar system to the draw system of final fantasy viii.) persona 2’s combat is impressive and unique… for a game released in 1999. i believe the ‘rumor mechanic’ is a very risky, worthwhile addition to the game, colliding the main narrative with gameplay incredibly smoothly and stylishly- spreading rumors, listening to the incredible soundtrack composed by toshiko tasaki, kenichi tsuchiya, & masaki kurokawa, purchasing items, and unraving the beautiful story persona 2: innocent sin has to offer allows me to fall in love with the game allover again. persona 2: innocent sin thrives in its narrative, following as tatsuya suoh of seven sister high school- a silent, stoic student. but in place of the traditional self-insert main character that is beloved by rpgs, tatsuya is a mystery the story unfolds along with every character- who is all extremely well explained and thought out is regards to their inclusion in the story as well as tatsuya’s life. every character is well written and tied into the story beautifully, with hiccups here and there regarding the final hours of the game and final added character’s pacing. i will always be in love with the details of sumaru city, and the narrative persona 2 provides. it is a darker, sinister side of persona dealing with the microeconomic social issues classic to the series with the perfect balance of macroeconomic issues spoken upon in the overarching shin megami tensei series- as far as religion, morality, and end times. to love shin megami tensei is to love persona 2: innocent sin, while accepted and knowing its flaws. the persona 2 duology will always remind me of my love for the series.