In the world of potatoe chips, there is, or perhaps was, I haven't seen them in ages, a flavour known as Beer and Cheddar. These chips don't actually taste all that good, but they had this knack for producing a craving, such that you want more, even though they aren't actually tasty (or even bland). So, why is this getting mentioned here you ask?
Well, my brother borrowed Disgaia. This managed to suck up some time, and I've reached Hoggmeiser's castle with three PCs, six generics, and three Prinnies. Sadly, I suspect I'm going to have to pick up the third mage type in order to get Flonne some offense. However, there is some good news.
Which is that I managed to tear myself away from Disgaia and am now puttering through SMT3, which feels like a much better game as well as one that is new. It's also one where I've been noticing some similarities with the bit of SMT1 I've played, as well as Persona 3/4, and hints heavily that I'll be moving on to P2 after this just to see if my observations about the two series hold.
The thing I find fascinating about the series setting, just conceptually, is the way it very much deals with the difference between the mundane world in which we all live, as well as the supernal world, the font as it were, where the hero travels on his journey. So you have everyday, normal, Japan, and right next to it is this world where all of the demons, angels, spirits, and gods of mythology live. And the hero who is, or must become, for one reason or another, master of the world beyond the veil.
Now, the interesting thing which differentiates the two series is how they treat the veil. In Persona, the protagonist is granted, through a supernatural boon, mastery over the veil. Which gives him not only the power to master the denizens on the other side in the form of aspects of his inner self that he can control through self-mastery, but also over the veil itself, giving him the mystic boon to be able to traverse from the mundane world to the fantastic. This also clearly denotes that there are safe havens where one can rest, as well as places where one must be in danger, and the goal is to go on these expeditions in order to save those without these gifts from the dangers they cannot perceive.
But in SMT, the protagonist cannot become master of the veil as the veil gets shattered, the dividing line between fantastic and mundane destroyed, and so the two become one. This is also characterised by an imperfect control of his power, in that he cannot simply demand obedience, but must gain mastery through negotiation, and through other means of convincing the demons to submit. As well, the shattered veil means that there are no safe havens where one can rest. There is no home, no world held safe by the veil in which to rest, and every step can be beset by danger. But, on the other hand, it also implies that by merging the two, the hero who is one with this infant merged world can master not only the demons itself, but also the world, molding it as he sees fit in a way that the Persona hero, who merely ventures into the fantastical as opposed to living there, can only dream of doing.
And this is one of the reasons why I am very much looking forward to P2, because the few bits I've heard suggests it will be closer to SMT in a few aspects and I'm curious to see how it fits in.
