While the original Persona still exhibited many foundational ties to the core SMT series, Persona 2: Innocent Sin marked the point at which the beloved RPG series found its identity. While retaining core series mechanics like demon negotiation and party-building, Innocent Sin was ultimately defined by its far greater emphasis on character and story over surviving long dungeons, eschewing the tradition of first-person dungeon crawling in favor of a third-person view of the ever-escalating insanity. The story unfolds through lovingly crafted sprite animations and dialogue portraits, which were current series artist Shigenori Soejima’s first contribution to the Persona games, but it’s the characters who shine most, from the memorable villains to the fully fleshed-out main cast to the vast array of people they meet along the way.