Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Keith Schleicher

The Shin Megami Tensei spinoffs have been a series of games that has a small but growing following.  The most well known spinoffs of the series are Digital Devil Saga, Devil Summoner, and Persona.  These games have been typically considered games for hardcore RPG players because of their high encounter rate, mature themes, and time to complete.  The Persona games haven't been very well known RPGs on the original PlayStation.  Issues with translation and how the game was produced cause the game to get harsh reviews.  Now, despite all the failings in the U.S. of the previous Persona games, Atlus brings us the next Persona game with the Shin Megami Tensei moniker on it, Persona 3.

In Persona 3 (P3), you play as a new student at the Gekkoukan High School in the town of Port Island where you lived about ten years ago until your parents were killed.  Now at high school you meet new people, make friends, take classes, charm the ladies, and fight demons.  Typical stuff of a high school student, right?

The games in the Shin Megami Tensei series are known for their dark emo-like settings and the odd cast of characters.  The characters in the game are similar to what you'd see from an anime setting.  This is pretty typical for the series, but there are a few subtle differences.  While most of the characters in P3 are dark, a few of the characters are actually light and whimsical.  In fact, the intro of the game is an incredibly well-done anime and it is probably one of the most intense pieces you'll ever see.  It mixes the dark aspects of the game with the lighter aspects of the town you are in.

In P3 you are restricted to specific areas.  There is the school, the local mall, and the dorm.  You can see details in the tiles at the school, the carpeting in the dorm, and the signs at the stores of the mall.  Unfortunately these areas that should be brimming with life and excitement often feel dead.  While it’s understandable that there wouldn’t be that many students in the dorm, there should be more activity at the school and the mall.

The characters all have a sense of smoothness with their animation.  Watching the way the characters walk around looks natural and not like they are missing frames of animation.  Using weapons against enemies or moving to use items looks better than what you’ve seen in most game.  The game almost looks like an anime and not a game.

The Personas that you meet in the game are some of the most unique characters you’ll ever see.  They all have some kind of mystic flare to them, but their look is almost alien.  You have never seen such a creative number of characters in a game quite like this.

Bad voice acting of characters can make the best game in the world lack something.  While not every line is spoken, a large number of The voice actors in P3 all match the characters well.  You’ll actually recognize Vic Mignogna from Full Metal Alchemist and other games, and Yuri Lowenthal from countless video games and cartoons.  While it can be a bit distracting hearing these people who have done a large number of voice work, they play the parts so well that you don’t mind hearing the same voices again.

The music is lighthearted during your school day, while the combat goes into a hard-driving metal mood.  While some people won’t care for that style of music, it fits the dark theme and urgency of the combat.

Moving around in P3 isn’t much more than just moving the left analog stick.  The right analog stick and L and R buttons rotate the camera.  Hitting X interacts with the environment or talks to someone, hitting Triangle opens the command menu, and Square gives a command while in Tartarus.  In combat X confirms your selection, Circle cancels the pervious selection, Square makes the character stand by, and Triangle toggles your player to auto battle against enemies.

About the only thing that is awkward with the controls is the fact that the command menu is in the form of a circle.  Sometimes it is a bit confusing which way to hit on the control to move the command menu.  It’s nothing that detracts from the game too much.

If you are a fan of Japanese RPG titles with a mature theme, then all you need to do is run out to your local game store and pick up a copy of P3, as it’s one of the deepest and enjoyable games that have come out for a while.  While the game is still deep and has lots of options, it is still is accessible for newcomers to the genre, which says a lot about the quality of the game.

In P3 you pay as a single character without a pre-given name, even the game names you only as “Main Character.”  You enter a name at the beginning of the game to give the character, and that is what is used throughout the game.  As in most RPGs, you go to different areas, talk to characters, and progress the plot forward.

A Persona is a second soul within a person.  Most people aren’t aware of their Persona, as it is only revealed when something from the outside world attacks them.  Persona-users are able to hone in their Persona ability to confront these Shadows.  They are the last hope to the physical world.  When you are confronted with a Shadow, your Persona is revealed, and you become a part of SEES, the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad.

As you find more about yourself, it is revealed that you are special in that you are able to control multiple Personas.  However, you must build relationships with others to gain Social Links to use those Personas.  You do this during the normal day, spending time with others hanging out after school or by getting involved in other extracurricular activities.  At first you don’t have many Social Links that you need to balance, but as the game progresses you have several Personas and Social Links that you need to determine which ones are more important than others.

The game is played using a calendar.  Each day is a little different.  Some days you’ll overhear some rumor as you are walking to school or talk to some classmates after the school day is done.  Other days you’ll need to decide whether you take a quick nap to increase your health or if you stay up in class to increase your Academics.  Each action you take will affect your statistics in some way, and while there aren’t any wrong decisions, some decisions can be very difficult.

Each day doesn’t have just 24 hours in P3.  There is a time just after midnight called the Dark Hour.  It's a time that most people aren't aware of.  During this time the school is transformed to a place called Tartarus.  Here the Shadows show up and you do battle specifically here.  As you travel with your party members, you see the enemies on the screen.  Some enemies run around while others aggressively see you out.  If you attack a Shadow before it sees you, you will gain an advantage, but a Shadow can attack you and if you are late for the attack the Shadow gains an advantage.  This can influence the outcome of the battle and make you more vulnerable to status ailments.

In combat, you only control the actions of your own character.  The other characters are all controlled by the AI.  While this could be an issue, most of the time the AI controls your party members realistically.  While all the decisions made by the AI aren’t always the ones you might have made, it does a good job and speeds up the battles.

As you battle through Tartarus, the physical condition of you and your party members declines.  As it declines, your party members become less effective.  You need to be aware of your party’s status and head back to the first floor if everyone is too tired.

The Personas are the put into action during the battles by placing your SEES weapon that looks like a pistol to your head and firing it.  This image is a bit disturbing when you see it the first few times, and could be a reason for some controversy around the game.  It’s important to pick the correct party members and to have a stable of Personas that you can use that have abilities that can complement each other.  You also have the ability to fuse Personas together and create a new and more powerful Persona.  You can take two or three Personas and fuse them together.  This will increase the number of Personas you have.

In the game you have one attack called the All-Out Attack that uses all of the characters in your party.  If you exploit the weakness of an enemy you knock out the enemy and earn another attack.  If you nock down all of the enemies then all of the party members will charge the enemies and defeat them swiftly.

Sometimes after a battle you participate in a Shuffle.  Cards will be shown and then flipped.  The cards are then shuffled and you choose a card.  Sometimes you can earn new Personas that route, money, weapons, experience points, or health for your party.

While the game seems complicated, and the Social Link portion of the game don’t feel like they fit into the framework of the game, P3 guides you down and makes the game accessible to just about anyone.  The mix of styles works well together in a way that hasn’t been seen before in another game.

P3 is a single player game with a single storyline.  The game is long, but it is easy to spend five hours in a single play session and feel like you have done something different the entire time you are playing.  If you want to mess around with the Personas and try to find the best way to fuse them together, you can spend a lot of time doing that, especially because there is a large number of Personas that you can acquire, and several that you’ll need to create by fusion. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is a surprisingly good RPG that is deep enough for veterans of the genre and yet accessible for newcomers.  If you can handle some of the mature themes behind the game and the anime stylings, then P3 is easily recommended.  The PS2 is ending on a note, especially in the RPG arena.  Give the game a spin and you will easily see what is one of the best RPGs on the PS2.

Gaming Trend Score

88

1. Graphics: 86
2. Audio: 84
3. Controls: 88
4. Gameplay: 92
5. Value/Replay: 88
6. OVERALL:88