Is it just me, or is Persona 5 Royal combat way more interesting than Shin Megami Tensei V combat?
P5R combat has the player striking weaknesses for a One More (allowing the character to act again), which can be Baton Passed to a different character, which not only restores a small amount of HP and SP but also confers a power boost - these effects only increasing with each successive Baton Pass, until the 4th and final one (if possible) allows the usage of skills without the HP/SP cost.
Further, inflicting ailments is actually worthwhile, as they can be comboed via the Technical mechanic - each status has at least two elements that combo off it. Landing a Technical hit also grants a One More, leading to the above Baton Pass chain, so it's an alternative to hitting specific weaknesses (especially if the Shadow doesn't have a weakness, or one you can exploit with the current character).
There's also Persona Traits, which provide a variety of benefits (such as reducing SP costs for specific elements, increasing the chance of inflicting ailments on foes, various types of power boosts, and many more), which makes Persona Fusions and Persona building a lot more interesting than just whacking eight useful skills onto a Persona and maxing out their stats.
Meanwhile, SMT V has...none of the above. You can directly recruit the various "Personas", and there's a completely different skill-tree mechanic, but as for combat itself - the Press Turn mechanic isn't nearly as interesting as One More, due to it not being as guaranteed, I guess. Like, some actions can take up two action orbs, especially failed actions, which can mean a party member doesn't get to act that turn - which is frustrating. There's also a limit on how many Turns can be Pressed, depending on party size, when P5R's Baton Pass mechanic means up to 8 actions can be done.
From what I've played of SMT V, the Press Turn mechanic feels a lot more luck-based and less fun than Baton Pass.
SMT V also lacks Technicals and Traits, making combat feel incredibly one-note, and recruited demons can't even use items at the start of the game, nor are all eight skill slots immediately available either - these things, which are available by default for Persona characters, have to be unlocked through Miracles, for some weird reason.
Because of this, I was never really hooked by SMT V, unlike P5R; even without Technicals and Traits, the basic One More mechanic alone makes P4G combat feel more engaging, and P3R added a weaker form of Baton Pass for the flexibility. SMT V was just boring, so I don't think I'll pick up Vengeance when it releases.
P5R combat has the player striking weaknesses for a One More (allowing the character to act again), which can be Baton Passed to a different character, which not only restores a small amount of HP and SP but also confers a power boost - these effects only increasing with each successive Baton Pass, until the 4th and final one (if possible) allows the usage of skills without the HP/SP cost.
Further, inflicting ailments is actually worthwhile, as they can be comboed via the Technical mechanic - each status has at least two elements that combo off it. Landing a Technical hit also grants a One More, leading to the above Baton Pass chain, so it's an alternative to hitting specific weaknesses (especially if the Shadow doesn't have a weakness, or one you can exploit with the current character).
There's also Persona Traits, which provide a variety of benefits (such as reducing SP costs for specific elements, increasing the chance of inflicting ailments on foes, various types of power boosts, and many more), which makes Persona Fusions and Persona building a lot more interesting than just whacking eight useful skills onto a Persona and maxing out their stats.
Meanwhile, SMT V has...none of the above. You can directly recruit the various "Personas", and there's a completely different skill-tree mechanic, but as for combat itself - the Press Turn mechanic isn't nearly as interesting as One More, due to it not being as guaranteed, I guess. Like, some actions can take up two action orbs, especially failed actions, which can mean a party member doesn't get to act that turn - which is frustrating. There's also a limit on how many Turns can be Pressed, depending on party size, when P5R's Baton Pass mechanic means up to 8 actions can be done.
From what I've played of SMT V, the Press Turn mechanic feels a lot more luck-based and less fun than Baton Pass.
SMT V also lacks Technicals and Traits, making combat feel incredibly one-note, and recruited demons can't even use items at the start of the game, nor are all eight skill slots immediately available either - these things, which are available by default for Persona characters, have to be unlocked through Miracles, for some weird reason.
Because of this, I was never really hooked by SMT V, unlike P5R; even without Technicals and Traits, the basic One More mechanic alone makes P4G combat feel more engaging, and P3R added a weaker form of Baton Pass for the flexibility. SMT V was just boring, so I don't think I'll pick up Vengeance when it releases.
