Suikoden V, or Persona 4

So I know the popularity of Persona 4 will probably make this is a pretty uneven poll but I just needed some purchasing advice - I'm a huge Suikoden fan and actually owned V for a while but my time became pretty precious and I traded it in soon after, I did only play a few hours of it.

But now I'm faced with both 6 months of holidays, and a lot of time to get back into some good RPGs and I have a bit of a quandary: Suikoden V, or Persona 4.

I must say I've been drawn to Persona quite a bit but my Suikoden loyalty has been strong for over a decade now. What do you advise? Ideally, I am asking which I should buy first, I will probably end up with both.

PERSONA 4 NO CONTEST!

P4..not even a competition to me since I have no interest in Suikoden.

I think Suikoden 5 has one of the strongest and most compelling stories in gaming.  Period.  Not only that, but it's a nod to the older Suikoden games.  Sure, it may not be the prettiest game, but the gameplay is pure classic RPG goodness.

i hear that suikoden 4 was pretty subpar :D 

anyways i say P4 because it goes where JRPG's dont really go. despite it being in real japan its as imersive as ever. 

"i hear that suikoden 4 was pretty subpar :D anyways i say P4 because it goes where JRPG's dont really go. despite it being in real japan its as imersive as ever. "

Suikoden 4 was their only "bad" one and I only had 2 complaints about it: boat battles should have been more fun and you couldn't go 5 steps without a random encounter.

Suikoden 5 was one of the best RPGs I have ever played. I've always liked the Suikoden series far more than any of the Final Fantasy games, though I put MegaTen games on the same level as Suikoden. Since you're comparing two games from what I rank as the very best JRPG franchises, I think in the end you should get both.

I haven't player P4, but I've watched some of the videos and I played P3, The persona creatures are nothing new if you played Nocturne or the Digital Devil games. It should come down to deciding between the strengths of each series. What appeals more to you, the social simulation parts of Persona or the huge world, history, political intrigue and battle strategy of Suikoden?

Persona 4, no contest. At all. 

Both. They're cheap. 

I wonder if anyone that says 'no contest' on this has even played a Suikoden game.

Also, when I say 4 is the only "bad" one, I'm not counting tactics or the upcoming DS title.

As I thought, the popularity alone of Persona 4 is gonna have this pretty unbalanced but I think oraknabo is someone who holds the same opinion of the Suikoden series as myself - seems like there're great arguments for both. Should probably just fork out for both, I think I still get my student loan payment on Tuesday which may help sway the decision haha!

Tiekreis is already out."

"Lashe said:

"As I thought, the popularity alone of Persona 4 is gonna have this pretty unbalanced but I think oraknabo is someone who holds the same opinion of the Suikoden series as myself - seems like there're great arguments for both. Should probably just fork out for both, I think I still get my student loan payment on Tuesday which may help sway the decision haha!"

The thing is: you had Suikoden V. You sold it. It didn't suck you in. When I got Persona 4, I played 40 hours of it in one week, while still going to school. Persona 4 is fast and funny, while Suikoden feels dated. You could probably argue that Suikoden V is a better game, but you can't deny that Persona 4 is fresh."