Funnily enough, while our takeaways about MP are similar, we come from different ends of the spectrum.
I think limiting MP as much as possible is integral to a great dungeon, because now every encounter is something to think about. How much MP do you spend? Is the EXP worth the investment? How much damage should you take - how much healing do you still have? And some more. The answer to the question “How can I survive this encounter with the minimal amount of resources?” will shift with your gear, level and resources. Dungeons are all about resource management.
If they are not, they become boring. Every encounter will be the same, and you just use the same moves, which are usually your strongest ones. The answer to “How can I defeat this encounter as fast as possible?” will be the same each time. Especially with Press Turn as implemented in Persona games. You start every fight with advantage and kill everything in the first turn, nothing short of a boss would ever hit you if you’re not forced to use weaker moves or even rely on auto-attacks for some things to preserve MP. Also, without a limiting resource, endless grinding within a dungeon becomes an option, and I don’t think it should be.
Sadly, outside some Persona games and Etrian Odyssey, a proper dungeon seems to be a lost art. Older Pokémon games kind of went for that sometimes, but with healing around every corner and before every major fight, there isn’t much left there either.
Funnily enough, while our takeaways about MP are similar, we come from different ends of the spectrum.
I think limiting MP as much as possible is integral to a great dungeon, because now every encounter is something to think about. How much MP do you spend? Is the EXP worth the investment? How much damage should you take - how much healing do you still have? And some more. The answer to the question “How can I survive this encounter with the minimal amount of resources?” will shift with your gear, level and resources. Dungeons are all about resource management.
If they are not, they become boring. Every encounter will be the same, and you just use the same moves, which are usually your strongest ones. The answer to “How can I defeat this encounter as fast as possible?” will be the same each time. Especially with Press Turn as implemented in Persona games. You start every fight with advantage and kill everything in the first turn, nothing short of a boss would ever hit you if you’re not forced to use weaker moves or even rely on auto-attacks for some things to preserve MP. Also, without a limiting resource, endless grinding within a dungeon becomes an option, and I don’t think it should be.
Sadly, outside some Persona games and Etrian Odyssey, a proper dungeon seems to be a lost art. Older Pokémon games kind of went for that sometimes, but with healing around every corner and before every major fight, there isn’t much left there either.