Allelujah

@efesell: the ones I've watched appear, at least to me, are the story of the game but told with more content. Almost a director's cut of the story. I forget how it ends but they were enjoyable, but if you're done with sullen, overly wrought storytelling you probably want to skip them. The story seems darker told in animation.

@efesell: I just look at them as side stories. I've played and forgotten what happened in the dancing games and while Arena is canon I wouldn't necessarily say the information provided is particularly noteworthy. The 3DS games were cool but again didn't detract from the main games. And honestly it makes more sense for 3 & 4 to crossover since they're set in the same timeline. As you said, with time travel they can tell other stories while not messing with what happened during the main game.

@zombiepie: I disagree with your sentiment. In particular with Persona 5. Ann and her friend were both sexually assaulted. Her friend tried to commit suicide. Yusuke finds out his mentor killed his mom, leaving him with untolds amount of psychological trauma.

The entire cast is littered with abuse, trauma and tragedy that would leave anybody reeling to deal with. Just because the "body counts" of subsequent games isn't as high, to me, is irrelevant.

You have teenagers dealing with real issues that have broken countless adults and they've come out the other side survivors, stronger than when they started. So while you lament that there won't be another nihilistic opus to sink 100 hours into, I think the fact that we've gotten stories of triumph in the face of tyranny is great.

And lastly, you're right it's not your protagonist. It's Atlus'. Whether motivated by money or the want to expound on the stories feel that more needed to be said or fleshed out. You obviously don't like it, but I believe you misunderstand who owns the character. Atlus lets us borrow them and get a sneek peak into their lives. It's not up to us what happens after we give them back. You should focus on the enjoyment you did have and not worry about the crossovers or OVAs. At any rate, I'm looking forward to see what Persona 6 is like.