one thing that you always hear about caligula is that it's a persona ripoff or whatever. well, the two series do have a lot of similarities, such as the school setting, focus on characters' psychologies, and mechanics dedicated to forming relaitonships with your party members, so i see why someone would think that.

but what i can also do is say that anyone who does think that hasn't actually paid any attention to what the game is doing. caligula is so much more empathetic, sincere, and understanding than persona that comparing the two actually feels insulting! this is what persona wishes it was! this is what it's too conservative, too cowardly to be!

there are no simple problems, no easy answers... no perfect, unproblematic heroes, and definitely no monstrous irredeemable villains. there are just people. people who have been terribly hurt, and just want to stop hurting. and you can help them, but you're not the chosen one or anything. you're just another person. what can a mere human do to help another...? well, that's the big question, isn't it?

that's not to say that this game is perfect; the writing definitely falters at times, when it's dealing with subjects that it doesn't fully understand... and uh, the gameplay is extremely clunky and boring, which is especially bad when dungeons are enormous.

and yet, despite all its myriad faults, i still want people to play this game. because while a lot of it is bad in ways you've probably seen other games be bad... so much of it is good in ways games never are. in ways that they're never allowed to be.

persona is a baby game for babies.