THE PLOT:
A high school student, orphaned ten years ago by mysterious circumstances, transfers to Gekkoukan High School. He comes late to his new dorm, arriving during a hidden time period known as "The Dark Hour." During this time, most people are transformed, and the high school itself changes into an ominous tower known as Tartarus. The people who don't change fall into two categories: prey for demonic beings called Shadows, and those with the power to summon Personas to fight the Shadows.
The transfer student's new dorm is actually home to the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), a group of high school age Persona users trying to explore Tartarus, to learn its secrets and stop the Dark Hour. Mitsuru Kirijo, the heir to the powerful Kirijo Group, recognizes the newcomer's unusual abilities, and appoints him leader. The recovery of a taped message from ten years earlier points to a chance to stop the Shadows permanently. But they will soon find that not all Persona users are allies - and even some allies ultimately can't be trusted!
CHARACTERS:
Characterization continues to be a strength for the series. The protagonist is largely a blank slate - Your dialogue choices can make him compassionate or callous, committed or unconcerned. The remaining personalities, however, are very well-defined. Mitsuru is a born leader, but as the story unfolds we see that she is driven by a sense of guilt. Dorm-mates Yukari and Junpei feud in a way that recalls Innocent Sin's Eikichi and Lisa... But Yukari's jibes often come across as unintentionally hurtful, particularly when Junpei reacts to her bad nickname for him ("Stu-pei").
I'll admit I had little patience for Ken, a plucky 10-year-old who is made part of the group about halfway through. To be fair to the writers, he is given a decent backstory. I just couldn't quite overcome my disbelief that the members of the group would be on board with allowing someone that young to risk his life. Somehow, his presence on the team ended up feeling more ridiculous than Anime Robot Aegis (who, incredibly, ends up becoming possibly the game's best character) and Koramaru, the Persona-using dog. Still, for the most part the main cast are engaging and reasonably likable, and I grew strongly attached to the group long before the game was over.
 |
| The party begins its exploration of Tartarus. All 264 floors of it. |
GAMEPLAY:
Persona 3 is a world away from its PS1 predecessors, both in terms of graphics and gameplay. Settings are more detailed, combat animations are more visually interesting, the soundtrack is more varied, and there is a substantial amount of voice acting. This doesn't make it better than its predecessors (I rate Eternal Punishment considerably higher overall) - But this feels like a modern game in a way the PS1 titles didn't.
The game sets the template for those to follow, splitting itself basically into two parts. During the day, you explore the city, increasing stats such as Academics and Courage and befriending various characters, maxing out "Social Links." Each Social Link effectively acts as a little slice-of-life subplot. Some of these are genuinely involving, such as a member of a sports team who is jeopardizing his health by ignoring a knee injury, or a dying young man who is trying to write a fable before he passes. Some are humorous - I loved the conversations with Tanaka, a corrupt business magnate who has become rich by fleecing the public. Others tend toward the dull (foreign exchange student Bebe can go take a very long hike back to his home country, thanks), or even downright creepy (classmate Kenji and his stalker-like crush on a teacher). Overall, though, I thoroughly enjoyed this addition, and regretted having to make choices as to which links to advance and which to ignore as the game went on.
The other half of the game involves dungeon crawling and combat as you ascend Tartarus. In most respects, I found Tartarus much less enjoyable than the dungeons of the PS1 Persona games. First, it's very long, spanning well over 200 floors. It's visually uninteresting. The walls change color every time you get to a new "block" (about every 30 - 40 floors). Other than that, there's not much to catch the eye. Oh, and you can only save at the entrance. There are two-way teleports every dozen floors or so, just in front of a mini-boss... But if you leave at any point before you reach those teleports, you have to start your ascent from the last such checkpoint. This gradually turns the climb into a joyless slog.
I will say that the combat is pretty good. As in previous games, each enemy has weaknesses. Use the correct attack, and the enemy will collapse. In this game, the collapse will trigger an "all-out attack" - basically, a pile on from all the members of your party that, in most cases, will result in an insta-kill. Gone are the myriad menus of previous games. Now, you have a streamlined wheel from which you can select your attacks, use items, or issue commands to your teammates.
HOWEVER... In the PS2 version, you can only issue general commands. You have no direct control over teammates, which means that every so often, they will do something extremely counter-productive. Most of the time, this is a minor irritation - But in tough combats, your companions' insistence on, say, spamming low-hit charm skill "Marin Karin" instead of actually doing something useful can get you killed and cost you 30 - 40 minutes of progress.
Persona 3 is a world away from its PS1 predecessors, both in terms of graphics and gameplay. Settings are more detailed, combat animations are more visually interesting, the soundtrack is more varied, and there is a substantial amount of voice acting. This doesn't make it better than its predecessors (I rate Eternal Punishment considerably higher overall) - But this feels like a modern game in a way the PS1 titles didn't.
The game sets the template for those to follow, splitting itself basically into two parts. During the day, you explore the city, increasing stats such as Academics and Courage and befriending various characters, maxing out "Social Links." Each Social Link effectively acts as a little slice-of-life subplot. Some of these are genuinely involving, such as a member of a sports team who is jeopardizing his health by ignoring a knee injury, or a dying young man who is trying to write a fable before he passes. Some are humorous - I loved the conversations with Tanaka, a corrupt business magnate who has become rich by fleecing the public. Others tend toward the dull (foreign exchange student Bebe can go take a very long hike back to his home country, thanks), or even downright creepy (classmate Kenji and his stalker-like crush on a teacher). Overall, though, I thoroughly enjoyed this addition, and regretted having to make choices as to which links to advance and which to ignore as the game went on.
The other half of the game involves dungeon crawling and combat as you ascend Tartarus. In most respects, I found Tartarus much less enjoyable than the dungeons of the PS1 Persona games. First, it's very long, spanning well over 200 floors. It's visually uninteresting. The walls change color every time you get to a new "block" (about every 30 - 40 floors). Other than that, there's not much to catch the eye. Oh, and you can only save at the entrance. There are two-way teleports every dozen floors or so, just in front of a mini-boss... But if you leave at any point before you reach those teleports, you have to start your ascent from the last such checkpoint. This gradually turns the climb into a joyless slog.
I will say that the combat is pretty good. As in previous games, each enemy has weaknesses. Use the correct attack, and the enemy will collapse. In this game, the collapse will trigger an "all-out attack" - basically, a pile on from all the members of your party that, in most cases, will result in an insta-kill. Gone are the myriad menus of previous games. Now, you have a streamlined wheel from which you can select your attacks, use items, or issue commands to your teammates.
HOWEVER... In the PS2 version, you can only issue general commands. You have no direct control over teammates, which means that every so often, they will do something extremely counter-productive. Most of the time, this is a minor irritation - But in tough combats, your companions' insistence on, say, spamming low-hit charm skill "Marin Karin" instead of actually doing something useful can get you killed and cost you 30 - 40 minutes of progress.
I also think the game has streamlined the demon encounters a little too much. Gone are the demon negotiations that were often so much fun in the PS1 games. Instead, you gain Personas and other power-ups through a tedious and frustrating shell game. I cannot overstate how much I don't find this to be an improvement.
 |
| Your first Persona: Orpheus, Master of Strings. |
THE MANY FACES OF PERSONA 3
When Sony released the PSP handheld system, Persona 3 was reissued for it as P3P: Persona 3 Portable. Many improvements were made for the handheld. You can set the combat to input direct commands, allowing you control over your teammates' attacks. This makes the battles less frustrating, though sometimes at the cost of making them too easy - Though it's a simple matter to change it back if you prefer.
The most significant new feature is the existence of an optional female protagonist. The main storyline is the same regardless of the route chosen, but many of the Social Links are different - including links with the male members of SEES, further developing their characters. In many cases, the writing for these interactions is noticeably better than the writing for the male protagonist, particularly as the Female route allows most of these relationships to be non-romantic (whereas one could be forgiven for thinking that the male protagonist plans to defeat the Final Boss by unleashing as many STDs as possible).
Unfortunately, because of the limits of the PSP system, other parts of the game were compromised. Gone are the fully-animated cutscenes of the PS2 version. The eerie opening sequence is much less effective when transformed into a series of still frames. The emotional ending still hits... but some of the impact is blunted. Other moments, such as the humorous "dates"with Velvet Room attendant Elizabeth, just aren't as funny without the visual element.
When Sony released the PSP handheld system, Persona 3 was reissued for it as P3P: Persona 3 Portable. Many improvements were made for the handheld. You can set the combat to input direct commands, allowing you control over your teammates' attacks. This makes the battles less frustrating, though sometimes at the cost of making them too easy - Though it's a simple matter to change it back if you prefer.
The most significant new feature is the existence of an optional female protagonist. The main storyline is the same regardless of the route chosen, but many of the Social Links are different - including links with the male members of SEES, further developing their characters. In many cases, the writing for these interactions is noticeably better than the writing for the male protagonist, particularly as the Female route allows most of these relationships to be non-romantic (whereas one could be forgiven for thinking that the male protagonist plans to defeat the Final Boss by unleashing as many STDs as possible).
Unfortunately, because of the limits of the PSP system, other parts of the game were compromised. Gone are the fully-animated cutscenes of the PS2 version. The eerie opening sequence is much less effective when transformed into a series of still frames. The emotional ending still hits... but some of the impact is blunted. Other moments, such as the humorous "dates"with Velvet Room attendant Elizabeth, just aren't as funny without the visual element.
In addition, town exploration is rendered into clicking a cursor on characters and objects, rather than the full exploration of the PS2 game. This point-and-click presentation is initially off-putting, though I will say that I adjusted to it completely after the first few hours, as I got sucked into the story all over again.
Oh, and though I'll be splitting it off into its own review, it should be noted that The Answer, a sequel campaign created for FES, is not available on Portable. I'll admit to not being The Answer's biggest fan, but its absence on the PSP version is worth mentioning.
Oh, and though I'll be splitting it off into its own review, it should be noted that The Answer, a sequel campaign created for FES, is not available on Portable. I'll admit to not being The Answer's biggest fan, but its absence on the PSP version is worth mentioning.
All of which leaves FES as the overall better version. Still, if you have the ability to play both, I would recommend it, as each route offers strong moments not available in the other. Maybe, in this age of endless remasters and re-releases, Atlus will release a definitive version that includes all the features at some point.
 |
| Takaya, the leader of Strega, tries to stop you from ending The Dark Hour. |
THOUGHTS:
Persona 3 is a very good game, but for me it falls just short of being a great one. The reason for that can be summed up in a single word: Tartarus.
I did not enjoy Tartarus. The tower is boring. The actual combat is fun, but I'm not a fan of the way it is initiated. Shadows crawl around on the floor, and you run up and hit the Shadow with your weapon of choice. But if you don't hit fast enough (or if you miss, which is annoyingly easy given the imprecision of the PS2 input), then the enemy goes first. Some of the combat is annoyingly luck based... and since, practically speaking, you have to ascend around 12 floors before saving if you want to make any actual progress and even one bit of bad luck can wipe that all out in a heartbeat, this combines to create a high level of frustration.
Long before the end, I realized that I was playing for the story, the characters, and the Social Links, and was merely tolerating Tartarus. Which is fair enough, as I'm sure many players found the social life material dull and skipped through it as quickly as they could to get back to the combat. Still, I'm not sure that it's entirely a good thing that my least favorite part of the game was... Well, the game-like part of it. Junpei, Akihiko, and your character wandering around a beach, failing miserably in attempts to pick up women? Amusing and, for the most part, realistically awkward. Battling your 20th Shadow in a row on your way from Floor 109 to the visually-identical Floor 110? Largely tiresome.
Still, I won't deny that the game held me in its grip for almost 200 hours of combined playtime (between the two versions). Nor will I deny the emotional impact of the game's final stretch. As I said: Taken as a whole, this game is good. What I like about Persona 3, I love. But there's too much that I don't like for me to rate this as highly as I might like to.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
Review Index
To receive new review updates, follow me:
On Twitter:
On Threads:
No comments:
Post a Comment