I can’t really agree with this. None of the issues that the characters confront really need to be problems at all if identified for what they are and viewed in the proper context. Once these issues are dealt with and reconciled I don’t see why they would pose a continuing problem.

Once they learn to accept the negative aspects to their natures they are then able to integrate them into their personalities, and thus they cease to be a problem. The Persona games have always had pretensions to philosophy, so what I imagine they are going for is that each instance represents a conflict between the Id and the Super Ego, where the Super Ego is way out of balance, and is stifling their base urges. Once the character is able to face both sides of themselves the two drives are once again in balance, and their Ego [Persona] is able to regulate the two. If you look at the character’s newly formed Persona then you can see that it [usually] features stylistic elements in common with the boss you just fought.

Also, it’s fun to beat up noobs as Little Mac. He’s probably the funnest character to play with with because he’ll two-stock someone in under a minute. That said, if your opponent knows what they’re doing, he’s dead in the water.

And I find that to be inconsistent with the theme. The dark sides of us that we find hard to accept isn’t just a one-time acceptance, it’s an on-going nonstop process. That’s why it’s strange for me that the reconciliation is the end of it when – I agree – some are quite strong. To me, it feels like it would be the beginning, not the end, of the conflict.

That is complete assbollocks. That said, I seem to recall a story around the game launch about this being something that lots of people experienced, and Atlus did a thing where people sent them broken discs and got replacements. Probably too late for that now, though.

“JRPGs, while my favorite genre, are a serious time sink.”
Few moreso than the Persona series, which are especially demanding–even for JRPGs.

What do you mean by this? There are some quite good ones, but each of the issues are dropped after their conclusion, as each internal conflict is essentially reconciled.

This is true. There are some stylistically strong moments and elements, but I was thinking the same thing while playing.

Yes. Absolutely.

“Also, the music has grown on me as I have slowly come to get a better sense of the game. I am still not completely sold, however.”

I feel only marginally better about this than I do about Hyrule Warriors. Also, the game is ugly. It reminds me of early PS2 games like Dark Cloud and Wild ARMs 3.

“I still would say that there is no real reason to buy the handheld version for people who consider the console version to be the main attraction”

Confirm. Just wait for Smash F U.

“Considerably less fun than I expected was attempting to transfer my save data from Wii Fit Plus to Wii Fit U”

SN and I were speaking about Wii Fit the other day. As a general rule, it’s much more healthful simply to have a balanced, low-fat diet, and a bit of reasonable exercise. I recommend a one-hour walk in the park each day whilst listening to an audiobook, a bit of an opera, or a couple of symphonies.