Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is cheap on PSN right now, so I was thinking of picking it up. Then I remembered that it's the second game of the pair of Persona 2 games. Is Innocent Sin required (or highly recommended) to be played first, or what? Innocent Sin is much more expensive, so if it's a Pokemon Red/Blue situation, then I'd obviously just go with Eternal Punishment, but I have no idea what the dynamic between the two is.

Any advice would be appreciated!

I'd recommend it, but not having played Eternal Punishment, I don't know how necessary it is to the latter's plot.

Kind of? Damn alternate universe shenanigans.

Innocent Sin is awesome and you should totally get it, it's more expensive since it's the psp version.

They are two parts of the same story, so it's very recommended you play IS first. But it's not quite Mass Effect level connected, so you could feasibly play EP first if getting your hands on IS is too much to ask. (In other words, there is a beginning, middle, and end to the plot.) EP is all we got originally and it still managed to be held in high regard at the time.

I thought they happened at the same time?

Kinda sorta but not really. IS does happen first. But also kinda doesn't happen at all.

I thought the consensus is that Innocent Sin is the good one and Eternal Punishment is lackluster in comparison. I've only played IS so far and I think it's very good and worth playing. Might as well pick up EP though, since it is so cheap.

From my experience there is a pretty even split in the fanbase between those that prefer IS and EP I personally prefer IS, but I wouldn't call EP lackluster. I mean you need both for the whole story, and the mechanics are basically identical.

Alright, well I suppose I'll get Innocent Sin then. I didn't realize it's also an updated PSP version, so the widescreen-ness and additional benefits will be nice. If I enjoy it enough I'll play Eternal Punishment after.

What a weird way to tell a story.

Splitting up a story into multiple games is pretty normal. It's only weird because of the english localizations are all over the place.

I think its the best Persona game, and I felt the story was pretty damn satisfying on its own.

I wouldn't say it's the best persona GAME, necessarily.

It is, however, the best persona story. or the best story Atlus has done ever.

I disagree with the fact that the side stories and Social Links told in 3 or 4 add to it's main story. Where P2 IS only has its main story. It's a very similar argument between ME1 and ME2.

IS has EP. They are both lesser without each other

Plus, even taking account every social link and side story, Persona 2 still has a far better story than 3 or 4.

@animasta: I'm not entirely a fan of the direction some of the story goes in EP, but I'd still probably agree. I think P3 and P4 are better games overall, but looking at their main plots they're nothing special, and the S. Links are even less so. Those games rely almost entirely on the main cast of characters to keep things entertaining.

Even if P2's story isn't entirely consistent, it's definitely much more ambitious and interesting, and still has an entertaining cast of characters to go along with it.

@zeik: I think S Links are the most important part, they are what I remember most fondly about 3 and 4. They give me moments with characters that I wouldn't normally have and set the main character to matter in each others lives. IS does it to a small degree (haven't played EP yet, but will soon) but I never felt close to the characters at all, at least not like in 3 or 4. I guess to me when I choose what characters I interact with I get emotionally involved, where IS didn't have that so much because the character growth happened along with the story at set moments.

@animasta: I recently just played IS and I am taking a break before I start EP so I guess I'm not totally being fair to Persona 2 as a whole, I have only experienced half the story for the most part. One of the reasons I've fallen in love with the Persona series is because everyone has there favorites and it is all different reasons, you have supporters for IS, EP, 3, and 4 as the best in the series and it makes for an interesting conversation.

I love that people are still talking about these games. I've only played P4G, but I've got P3P ready to go, and I'll likely give the others a play through eventually, too. Great to have these awesome games to look forward to. What a terrific series.

@nightriff: I really like S. Links from a mechanical and thematical standpoint, but I can't say I found myself attached to any of the characters half as much as the main cast, nor were the individual stories within the S. Links at all amazing or important. (If S. Links make a return in P5 my major hope is they do a better job tying them into the overall plot somehow.) Even if you found them more interesting than I did, I can't accept that you thought they were more interesting or engaging than the main cast of Innocent Sin.