It doesn't feel right putting this this low but, I really can't justify putting it much higher when so much of this game is just unpleasant to play.
One day after I came home from work, I found my old PS Vita just kinda sitting there on top of my bed. After buying a charger and waiting like a week for that thing to come in, the first thing I did was go online and buy Persona 2: Innocent Sin. And god am I so mixed on this game. I'll get my complaints out of the way first this time since I do want to shower this game in SOME praise.
I hate the actual gameplay elements of this game. Yall know I'm a huge Persona fan (Spoilers: There will be some Persona in my top 10) but man, this has some of the worst mechanics in the series. First off, I hate random encounters. I think 3/4/5 did them pretty well with everything being in the overworld, but nope this one just kinda throws them at you. Every map of this game is just kinda open and it's real easy to get lost trying to find anything, and then you have to deal with MORE encounters trying to get back to where you were before so you could go the right way, it's just a huge pain in the ass. And don't even get me STARTED on that fucking vile cards mechanic for gaining new personas. God it is PAIN. I went like 2 whole dungeons before gaining a single new low level persona. A step by step guide made my life a tiny bit easier but like... no?
If I have so many complaints about this, why is it not lower? Simple. This is one of the most likeable casts of any game on this list. I fucking L O V E every single party member of this game. They are just so easy to get attached to and their dynamics are fun as hell. Tatsuya is a wonderful protagonist who has probably the most personality of any protag in a main series Persona game (save for one). Eikichi is a punk in the best way possible, like I just LIVE for that archetype. Lisa is one of the only canon white girls in the franchise and her constant squabbling with Eikichi is just hilarious. Yukino is a bad bitch who also was in Persona 1 for some reason so that was a really cool throwback. Jun is fucking adorable and I love his relationship with Tatsuya (He's also the only gay option in the Persona franchise to romance!) And Maya. God, fucking MAYA. This is a QUEEN right here. She's such a queen that she got promoted to the PROTAGONIST of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (which is a direct sequel to Innocent Sin, kinda like Pokemon Black and White 2, it's... it's a whole thing), making her not only the first and only canonical female protagonist in the series, but the first and only ADULT protagonist in the series.
It doesn't feel right putting this this low but, I really can't justify putting it much higher when so much of this game is just unpleasant to play.