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I should start out by saying this is just my opinion, if you disagree, please try to be nice about it. I should also state that I have no clue if there is another topic like this, if there is, I didn't see it when browsing earlier, my bad. Persona is seemingly the life blood of the Megami Tensei franchise, or MegaTen. There is 2 spin offs for the spin off series releasing in 2 days as of writing, a leaked/rumoured Persona 4 reboot thing, Persona Q2 which is a sequel to the Mediocre at best Persona Q, and a slightly confirmed Persona 6. While this may be seen as fantastic to a lot of people, I don't agree with that. Persona has eaten Atlus's attention for MegaTen. There are no more sub series or spin offs anymore, just Persona. It's now to the point where Persona and the rest of MegaTen are considered financially different. Sure, SMT5 is on the way eventually but that is it. While DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP Strange Journey just released, that was a rerelease of a DS game with new additions, whether you prefer it or prefer the original isn't of importance, but DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP SJ is just a rerelease. The game came out many years ago, it doesn't count. The only other game is Dx2 SMT Liberation, which doesn't count either. The mobile game was developed by Sega and is managed by Sega, not Atlus. Atlus is busy rushing out Persona spin offs with what will most likely be mixed results of Mediocre to potentially great, time can only tell. But with SMT5 being the only Main Line game being made, there is an apparent lack of presence of other titles. We haven't had a fifth Demon Summoner and the last DeSu game was a rerelease of Soul Hackers which was originally on the Sega Saturn. Hell, Demi-Kids isn't a thing anymore and Atlus tried to run that like it was the second coming of Christ. We haven't had anything similar to Digital Devil Saga, Devil Survivor, Demon Summoner, really anything in years. Ever since Persona 3 and 4 became popular, especially Persona 4. Persona 4 has brought about the end of a golden era of MegaTen. Instead of a new DeSu, we get a Persona 4 spin off regularly. Instead of originality, it's Persona 3 dancing! Only time can tell what will happen but this can potentially harm Studio Zero, a new studio formed of Atlus staff who are making Project Re:Fantasy as well as the port of Catherine. Funding will stop going to Studio Zero and will go directly to another Persona game. Eventually there will be a Persona fatigue and Atlus will be screwed with its new cash cow. SMT is all but surely dead, which is sad. Main Line has been a staple of Atlus's greatness. SMT 1, 2, and If... are staples of their SNES library and the PS1 ports are even better. SMT3, while being a product of its time, showed that even after a decade, Main Line was strong and capable of a genre defining game. Without SMT3, MegaTen as a whole would be completely different as well as the beloved PS2 games like DDS, DeSu, and both Persona outings. SMT 4 and 4F are both strong contenders of why the 3ds is a great place for JRPGs, they are both great games with an aura of brilliance in their gameplay. Strange Journey was a return to the first person dungeon crawling mixed with elements from the PS2 era, blending both extremely well. SMT NINE should be forgotten to time and IMAGINE was snuffed of the Main Line status even though NINE still is and NINE is the definition of steaming garbage. It'd be a shame if Atlus dropped Main Line, especially since this unnecessary milking of Persona has eaten up their interest. If this continues, SMT5 will be overshadowed even worse than it already is. Atlus needs to stop focusing on Persona and just let their developers go wild, MegaTen is a wacky franchise and that shouldn't ever be lost. Persona is so popular but the costs of its popularity is harmful to the franchise and needs to be scaled down by a lot. It's great that Persona 5 sold so damn well and is loved, it truly is. That love shouldn't mean more milking though. There will be a huge fatigue for Persona eventually and that will be an issue for Atlus and then what? There will be no more parts of the Franchise to rely on since all were murdered by the wave of Persona. Hopefully SMT5 succeeds and the Switch can get a lot of great sub series with that success. Have a nice day/afternoon/night everyone! Side Note: Please don't beg for Persona 5 switch ports, that's nonsense.

Alright, general SMT/Megaten/Persona thread. I've generally never really had a chance to make a thread due to me trying to juggle awakening's DLC and The entirity of SMT4 (All routes, DLC, FIEND HUNTING, fashion and making the most bulls**t demons that i can make) but due to Persona 5 and SMT4: Apocolypse (oh whyyyy do you do this to me ATLUS why) coming around the corner, i think right now is the PERFECT chance to have sit back, have a glass or 2 liter of nice cold soda and play some of the old SMT games. How about you guys? Do you have any relationship/hate with the series? Have you beaten any of them*? Post a reply below and let's just take this brief interlude to talk. *You can talk about persona here, but since we have a thread already dedicated to Persona 5's hype train it might be redundant. Frost Ace is best Hee-Ho.