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| Cover design, minus clutter.. From left to right, Top Row - Thanatos (A persona.) and Aigis, Bottom (Starting lower left corner) Yukari Takeba, Akihiko Sanada, Mitsuru Kirijo, Male Protagonist, Female Protagonist, Junpei Iori |
Disclaimer (Again. Sorry, but I play old games.) - This is a game that was released in 2010. The original game was released in 2007, and it's updated re-release FES was released in 2004. I understand this, but this does not make the game any less purchasable or playable.
Story - 10
The Persona games have some of my favorite storylines. This one is made even better by the ability to go through as either the male or female protagonist (You choose one at the beginning, and do not get to use the other unless you play through the game again and select the other. One theory is that they were in a car crash when young, and whomever you play is the one that survived.) There is no major difference in the overarching storyline, but many, many, smaller changes. You have different social links, certain events happen slightly differently, and your initial persona looks different.
The base Idea is that you are the Protagonist (You choose your own name. The canonical name [As per the upcoming movie] is Makoto Yuki.) and you must fight the shadows of the hidden hour. There are also 22 social links (21 in the original, as they exluded Aigis.) which each have their own sub stories and tie ins. Together there is a large and moving story, that is beautifully written.
Graphics -5
The graphics in the PSP version are worse than those on the Playstation two, unfortunately. I do not have a comparison, but for reference purposes, below is a screenshot of the PSP version of the game.
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| The best picture I could find. It makes sense in context. Which I refuse to give you (Spoilers. I refuse to spoil Persona 3. In anyway. Except for the bare minimum of origin plot) |
Features - 8
The fighting in the game is actually very similar to that in Pokemon. You choose a persona and use it's powers to fight shadows. Each persona has it's own special abilities. However, the most interesting feature of this game are its Social Links. The social links are relationships you form with people around the city, and the higher the social link, the more bonuses you receive when creating Persona's of a a specific arcana that is tied to the person you have the social link with. They are the bonds you create with people that you spend time with, and there is a story within each of the 22 social links that develops as you advance it.
Gameplay - 6
The actual playing of the game is enjoyable, but not as enjoyable as sitting back and just enjoying the story. I actually sadden whenever I have to go to Tartarus and advance the levels of my Persona's. I prefer to go through the daily high school life and develop my social links, which I enjoy because of their story more than their gameplay purpose.
Content - 7
The original game, via the male protagonist storyline takes about 70 hours to complete (With an additional 30 hours in FES's epilogue. This epilogue was not included in the portable version, and is only available as part of FES) A second run-through would take substantially less, as you stay the same level, with the same equipment, as before. The secondary characters, however, have all been reduced to level one. This could be done to complete social links you weren't able to complete, or collect and fuse persona's you missed. After doing all this you may want to do the female protagonist's run-through, which should be a little shorter if you do it afterwards, as you will probably skip some of the repeated dialogue. Still, skipping repeated dialogue, it would take about 65 hours starting from level one.
Difficulty -6
The normal difficulty is difficult, but not super hard. There is a useful tutorial that appears when necessary that explains nicely how everything works. These are usually short paragraph descriptions of features. There are several difficulties, with "maniac" being the most difficult, and beginner being least. The difficulty curve is not extreme, but can be annoying while training in Tartarus. The bosses are generally difficult, but, towards the endgame, you could easily be over-leveled making them rather easy. And then there is the optional "ultimate boss" who is nigh impossible, even on the easiest setting.
Soundtrack - 8
The soundtrack is pretty great. I really like the lyrical songs, although some of them are half or all Japanese.
Burn My Dread and Soul Phrase being my favorites of these. Some of the basic background songs are really pretty annoying though. One plays during some social link events that sound like it's saying "double-brown double-brown triple-brown meow triple-brown triple-brown triple-brown meow" over and over.
Voice Acting - 8
There is voice acting, and it is very well done. My largest complaint is that there is not enough of it. It is only used during storyline advancing conversations, and not in social links. It would have been better if it was in social links. I also would have liked to be able to toggle it to Japanese, but that's kind of a big stretch.
Rating - M
Deserved. Some of the Persona's have slightly suggestive designs, and there are mild amounts of offensive language. Plus there's the second picture up there, something slightly mature in theme.
Overall - 9
As with the other games I have reviewed so far, this is one of my all time favorites. The story alone makes it worth playing for anyone that's a fan of anime or fantasy or really just good stories. The gameplay is rather unique and interesting, and is easily grasped. My recommendation - if you don't have this or have never played it, buy it immediately. If you have a PSP or a Vita get the Portable version (It's available on PSN). If you have a Playstation 2 get FES and play that one. If you have both, go for portable. You may not get the epilogue, but you get the entirety of the female protagonists storyline.
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