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persona + horror date sim = ?

yes, by Persona i mean Atlus's Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series in this blog


so, after seeing a bunch of miside mentions and getting into Persona 3, i had a weird thought

why not making a Persona-like date sim? or rather, utilize the concept of the Dark Hour instead of straight up horror elements? so, let's ponder a bit!


first of first, for people who know nothing about SMT: Persona:

i probably should explain what Dark Hour in Persona lore is in short. The Dark Hour is a "hidden" period of time occuring every night exactly at midnight. only a few people can experience it and be aware of it - rest of people transmogrify (turn into sorta coffin-shape things). also during this period of time creatures known as Shadows are active and preying on non-transmogrified people (i won't give detailed explanation of Shadows as they are irrelevant to my talk here).


and now, to the idea itself

so, the idea is - imagine Doki Doki Literature Club or MiSide, but nothing scary normally happens. at all.

but this turns it to just a plain dating sim, tomo, doesn't it? well, i hear you, hold your horses. im not mentioning Persona for no reason~

so, at some point, the player gets introduced to a sort of Dark Hour - a period of time occuring at midnight, in which the ugly truth comes out. weird machinery appears embedded into walls, observation rooms appearing, and cute girls you were dating are now skinless robotic automata. but this is the most interesting part - you are to figure out what this simulation is, why it exists, why a mind of a cute girl is trapped in a cleverly disguised automata, and how you can free her from this prison of fakery, instead of keeping her alone in this theatre play and let her eventually break down from feelings to you turning into neediness. 

as psychological horror in games isn't my cup of tea, and it's same for many people, so, this mystery twist on a creepy date sim seemed interesting to me


and what are your thoughts?~



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Nehiri

Nehiri's profile picture

I'm pretty sure this is kind of a plot in one of the fnaf short story books lol. Seen this concept a couple of times but I think for a more persona-ish vibes the cute girls you've been dating start acting off. Since Persona and shadows are all about your subconscious and hidden away feelings, during the dark hour the worst parts of the girl's personalities that they try to hide start to shine. During regular gameplay there can be hints to these flaws and they can their main personality trait during the dark hour


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i swear, fnaf similarities are accidental^^;

taking deeper connections from Persona lore is interesting though...~

by tomohaze✧; ; Report

ironically enough, this was kind of portrayed in persona 4 too. Every member (except the protag) of the investigation team had a 'dungeon' where their true thoughts/feelings were exposed to the others, and they had to embrace this hidden part as their own. combining that with p3's elements would make a pretty interesting romance game ^^

by oranjeguice; ; Report