What is it about P4’s writing that makes the IT feel much more like a tight-knit friend group in a realistic way compared to P5 or even P3? I really can’t put my finger on it

>>714715172 (OP)
>P3
Most of cast doesn't even care that much about each other and are really just working with each other out of shared circumstances. Like Mitsuru doesn't consider Junperi or Fuuka friends. And the whole cast bickers and negs on each other throughout the game.

>P5
This is a case of the writing of the cast being half baked. A lot of characters just fall into the background once Makoto shows up to being the MC's wingman and have her family drama take the focus. On top of that the game doesn't have as many group friendship events as P4 so there are very few instances where you can see them all hanging out and having fun. Some characters like Haru and Yusuke are woefully underdeveloped because of all this.

>>714715971
Adding to this, Haru suffers from being introduced so late. You never see anyone complain about Naoto joining so late because unlike Haru she's introduced way before joining and is already involved in the plot as early as the second story arc.
Several characters in P3 suffer from the opposite problem where they just kinda unceremoniously show up. Junpei's awakening happens entirely off-screen and he just walks into the dorm and joins the team with zero fanfare. Ken is just some kid you talked to once and then he abruptly joins the team. Compare that to P4 where every new party member is introduced to the group by having them all witness an extremely personal emotional moment, so of course they become close after having already borne their deepest insecurities to each other from the get-go,

>>714715172 (OP)
>tight-knit
What? They barely even interact with each other when you're not there. Hell, I literally couldn't even tell you how Chie feels about Kanji, Rise, or Naoto because there is almost no dialogue between any of them.

>>714715172 (OP)
Setting mainly, P4 largely plays itself as light hearted outside of the midnight channel stuff and the cast largely behaves the same. I wouldnt really call them tight knit because >>714716607 but since everyone is laid back it doesnt feel i guess constrained as P3/P5s casts. They also had room to breathe unlike P5 who just hops from one conflict to the next

because one of them is a closeted homosexual

>>714719216
Teddysisters...

>>714715172 (OP)
It strikes a nice balance between the agency of P3's cast and the slavish pandering of P5's. Many characters have chemistry with each other (Yosuke and Chie, Chie and Yukiko, Kanji and Teddy, Kanji and Naoto), but still have fulfilling S. Links with the protagonist. Also, everyone ends up uniting around Nanako at the end, which is nice.

>>714716467
Good points. Akechi is the Naoto analogue in P5, down to being introduced early in the story. There's no build-up to Haru and she doesn't have time to develop as a character, she's completely superfluous.

>>714722854
I just wish there were more interactions beyond those pairings. From what I remember, we don't really get to see Yosuke and Naoto ever hang out, or Chie and Kanji having their own conversation. And unless Yosuke calls them all up, no one really gets together on their own, and if Yu doesn't show up, no one bothers.

>>714716607
>They barely even interact with each other when you're not there
Man, I hate how everyone in real life is so one dimensional, I can only see them talking when I'm present!
God I swear you people complain about everything and anything

>>714723274
While I agree that it'd be nice to see other characters interact more, it's also authentic to real life friend groups. Everyone has a role and different dynamics. Yu is obviously the Chad whom every orbits. Yosuke is the butt monkey who's still vital to the friend group because he's an initiator. Yukiko is the fourth wheel whose only omnipresent because she's attached to Chie, and everyone has chemistry with Chie (except that whore, Rise). And so on and so forth.

Even in my friend group of 5-10 years, there are people whom I'm just never going to directly interact with because we've known each other long enough to know who we do and don't have chemistry with.

>Most dungeons introduce new party members by showing their "true self" as well as how they overcome their insecurities, skipping a lot of the initial introduction and going right into what they're about deep down
>Way more group hang out events, especially in P4G
>Stakes are lower (at least from the outset) and the characters have limited means of pursuing their goals, so you have a lot more scenes of them having to band together to find out what their next step is
>Small town atmosphere, so most characters know each other already to an extent and all go to the same school (ignoring Teddie)
>Atmosphere is more lighthearted which allows for more slice-of-life goofball moments

P3 admittedly has an excuse because a lot of the game, thematically, is about characters coming to terms with really rough moments/circumstances in their life. That, and the characters aren't really friends, at least not at the start. They're just put together by the Kirijo Group because they have potential, so you have them naturally butting heads. Which I think makes for some great character moments, but you definitely don't get a buddy-buddy feel from the group. P5 has no real excuse. Stakes are often higher, but the game just likes to sideline characters hard once new ones come in and neuter a lot of moments of bonding. See the fireworks festival. Why that was literally rained on I don't get. Not to mention how so many social links aren't about the person themselves, but someone in their life that highlights aspects of what they're going through. See Makoto as a burning example of all of these issues. She comes into the story, basically takes up 90% of the scenes, makes it where Ryuji and Ann turn into dumbasses comparatively, and her social link is focused on a random NPC girl.

I wouldn't say the P4 cast are truly all friends, but the atmosphere and more frequent group hangouts/meetings to figure things out definitely makes them feel more together compared to the other games.

>>714715172 (OP)
The entirety of P5's cast interactions happened over texts. No dorm scenes with the cast like in P3 or hanging out scenes with the P4 cast.

>>714726770
Hit the nail on the head here
And the least they could do on that front is giving each of their texts a distinct “voice” rather than it just being literally unvoiced dialogue that doesn’t happen in person. That mod which makes the PT texts actually unique fueled my recent NG+

it is truly sad that p5’s cast falls short, because if not for that major hurdle i truly think it would be more accepted as the best persona game if you include 3rd semester. you can take note of how akechi is one of (if not the best) better written characters, and he was introduced way earlier on, much like the other anon said about naoto. his presence has a certain weight to the plot, which makes sense with his role, but its a bummer to see that the other protagonists clearly didnt have near as much investment in their stories like akechi did.

all this to say: haru deserved better

>>714727974
Haru was a cunt that didn't care that her father died. She gets over his death in less than a day and starts fucking everybody who worked for her father over.

She doesn't give a shit about his business run empire or the people that work in it. She wants to shut all that down because she wants to open a chain of coffee shops selling poorly made coffee to zoomer kids.

She doesn't get upset or mention anything about her father once she becomes chairman. Shes only interested in selling her crappy coffee.

The cast of P5 are all utterly dreadful because they represent current Japans weak left leaning government and representation.
They all leave the country in a worse state at the end than what it was at the start.

>>714715172 (OP)
>P3
Does not have Nanako
>P4
Has Nanako
>P5
Does not have Nanako

Shrimple as that

>>714723992
Even if it's more authentic, that doesn't mean it's a "tight-knit group" like OP is claiming. If anything, how some parts of the friend group never directly interact is others seems like evidence for a really loose friend group.

>>714728538
sure

chie