
Individual scenes can be hammy and melodramatic, but the contemporary setting dulls the sting. Persona 2 uses its grand, cosmic backdrop to magnify the adolescent concerns of its protagonists until they pop with energy. Who could be behind those rumors, but the bad boys at the rival high school? The stakes expand quickly from interschool shenanigans to wild Fortean adventures spiked with dreamlike psychodrama. Rumors in Sumaru City have started to come true, leading to a plague of ugliness at the aloof protagonist's high school. Despite Persona 2's old-school flaws, not recommending it would be a sin due to its characters and plot. Praising the excellent auto-battle system feels like a backhanded compliment, but its aid in bypassing fight-combo-heal encounters is difficult to ignore.

The battle system showcases plenty of bells and whistles, but the high encounter rate silences them before the endgame. The dungeons are long, visually unappealing, and run up the game timer without ever crossing into hardcore challenge territory. However, even with its upgraded interface, Persona 2 feels like a relic of an earlier age.

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Had the original PlayStation version been released in America in a timely manner, it would have made a huge splash - and not just because of the material that's been slightly censored for all editions of the PSP release. Its story runs the gamut from deeply personal to over-the-top nutty, stopping in between for commentary on the modern world and the nature of dreams.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2: Innocent Sin is fun, but aggravating. + Auto-battle and skippable attack animations Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2: Innocent Sin - Staff Review
