Intrepid

I get you dude...I mean, it was way back in Yukiko's castle when I cheered when they got slime to learn red wall, but totally missed out on getting it onto Senri...those were some face palm moments.  But like I said, they don't know these things, but we do.  Its only frustrating for us because we're in the know and I don't think they catch all the comments.  I think, if anything, they should be applauded for getting as far as they have despite all these mistakes.  They killed Shadow Yukiko in the end...with a bit of luck ;)  and they managed to kill that cop without using Zio too.  Hell, I'm thinking they'll just walk over Shadow Rise and...the other guy...with GHOUL or FROST!

Nah, I'm glad they're playing by their own merits...for the most part anyways.  It's clear that there are a lot of persona 4 players that watch the ER and because of that I'm sure they feel kinda pressured to utilize the hints they're given or be branded as piss poor players.  I would actually have preferred if they played on a pure clean slate and experimented with strats as the game progressed.  One of the reasons being, that Jeff seems to have pretty good gaming instincts and Vinny, though clumsy hitting those shadows, is willing to play defensively and experiment with skills; watching them figuring things out is kinda fun and adds to the commentary.

For better or worse, these runs may not be what vet Persona players can stand, because we can clearly see their faults.  But try looking at it from their perspective - they're trying to play a game that they're not accustomed to ("just because they run a gaming website totally means they should be good at all games" is a really stupid argument btw) and trying to make it as engaging and fun to the viewers as possible with the commentary.   Just sit back, grab a sandwich, and watch it unfold.

My first run was freestyle, unfettered in gamefaqs and hint nonsense...for the most part anyways, I did NOT want to get the bad ending and was a 'good boy' the whole time.  Second run, I whored myself out to every girl in the game and went for a max slink.  The third was the same as the first run, just with perfect everything - the run to end all runs.  Yes...it was quite a bit of time, but it was fun, partially because there were quite a few things I missed. 

If you are going for your second run, that brute force option is totally viable now.

If its your second play through no grind is really necessary.  Your level only determines the limit to persona fusion, but you can still summon higher level ones out of the compendium.

I'm a completionist freak so I spent a good deal of time on this game.  Is it worth it for you to run it again is really your preference.   You'll have the option of going up against Margaret, going through a whole new set of social links and social link dialogue (ie. those courage related statistics, soccer instead of basketball, etc.), and on a new difficulty if you haven't played on expert from the get go.  I was surprised at some of the changes in "random" events that I didn't see in my first game.  Buying back personas shouldn't be a problem really unless you spent your whole time squandering your funds.  If you do decide to make a new game + though, I don't encourage tossing in Yoshitsune or whatever high level persona you have from the very beginning, the power trip gets old rather quickly.

Yeahh, I dunno why people like arguing these things, trying to fit them as one being better than the other.  As a gamer, I've loved both JRPG's and WRPG's, and I've hated selections of both genre's.  When we start dismissing these games based on their J or W camps instead of the merits of what makes them fun or not fun really highlights gaming ignorance.

The music in this game is just awesome.  Even my brother who doesn't like the game that much confesses to humming the different town "walking" themes.  "It's catchy", he says.

The song, "The Genesis" by itself may not give an impact, but within context is just freakin powerful.   Imagine the investigation team, half beaten and dead, having eaten a series of mind charges + medigoloan the previous battle...the song inspires dread and rightly so.

What the fuck?

Has anyone watched the Angry Video Game Nerd on gametrailers?  He covers nintendo's forays into game peripherals, http://www.gametrailers.com/player/34014.html

At around 5:30 he's pretty much doing what they're doing in this commercial.  I guess nintendo hasn't given up on this stuff yet.

edit: You're right, its Sega.  For some reason I assumed it was nintendo.  But the inspiration is there.

For me it was "The Last Samurai".  It bugged me, because I thought while it was set in Japan the 'hero' would be some caucasian guy becoming the last samurai.  But after seeing it, they wove his character into the plot pretty well.

While I would like them to get to the epicness of the true ending battle I seriously doubt that they'd get there.  I think they succeeded in getting this game into the spotlight somewhat and that's what counts.  A review and the best of ER should be the 100th episode.