I decided to stop writing about Persona 3 after the delay because I felt like I would be torturing everyone with stories about how great it is while they are anxiously waiting for their copy. Since it’s coming out tomorrow it’s time to bring it up how awesome it is again. Plain and simple if you like RPGs you’re going to love Persona 3.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is really a two part game and we covered both aspects of it. By day you’re a high school student. You go to class, occasionally answer trivia questions rooted in Japanese history (good luck with that!) and socialize after school ends. By making friends with your classmate that has the hots for a teacher or trying to date the team manager you “level” your character up. Each relationship you build has a corresponding social link that strengthens Personas fused in the Velvet Room. Since Personas are the source of skills and magic you’re going to want to go around town building as many social links as you can. The concept is clearly different from other RPGs, which only rely on enemy encounters to strengthen the team. You end up spending more time exploring the world than running in circles searching for random battles. And since the protagonist is “silent” except for your choices there is a stronger connection between his world and the player. Atlus also did a good job to make the sub-stories and characters you meet atypical from RPG traditions. Just look at the party you have a demon fighting robot and a dog that casts in instant death (Mudo) spells.
At night you run around randomly created floors of Tartarus. All of the enemies are visible black blobs that chase you down. You can creep up behind a shadow and hit it with your sword to initiate a surprise attack, a full round of commands before the enemy gets to move. Compared to the other Shin Megami Tensei games Persona 3 tends to be “easier”. You aren’t flustered by a large amount of enemy encounters (a plus for the casual RPG fan) and the slight modification to the press battle system allows you to finish most fights in Tartarus in a single round. If you exploit an enemy’s weak point you knock it down and gain an extra turn. Knock down all the enemies and an option appears to hit all of the enemies with a critical strike. To keep balance the difficulty out the game ends if the protagonist runs out of HP, similar to Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. However, you won’t get the game over screen if you’re hit with instant kill attacks like mudo or hama. You can pick up disposable homunculus items from the antique store to shield you from instant death. It seems like a minor detail, but you’re not going to throw your controller down in frustration when mudoon dispatches your character.
These elements are tied together through an in game calendar. Every new moon you’re going to face a challenging shadow. That gives you about thirty days to climb Tartarus and make friends with the slimy business man hanging out by the train station. Once the thirty days pass you move into a new stage of the story and into a new cycle. The mysteries behind the hero’s power and the dark hour unfold at your pace. If you’re dying to find out more you can quickly cycle through the days and speed the game up. If you want to take your time and explore you’ve got that option.
The last thing I haven’t mentioned much is the story, mainly because I don’t want to spoil it. All of the key mysteries are laid out in the opening sequence. Immediately after seeing it you’re going to wonder why the hero has the Persona power, why the dark hour exists and who is the mysterious boy that keeps appearing in your room. Persona 3 slowly unfolds with the answers and a handful of anime cutscenes for the major events. You don’t get the sense of urgency that you need to rush out and save the world like in other RPGs. Instead the world sucks you in with a barrage of clever social link subplots.
So far Persona 3 has been the best thing I’ve played all year. It pulled me away from playing the Legend of Zelda: the Phantom Hourglass, which is going to sit on my shelf and gather dust until I’m done with it. Persona 3 is just that good.
