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Most JRPGs follow pretty much the same formula: You travel the world, moving across mountains, plains, rivers, dungeons, and towns and eventually end up saving the world from some crazy guy (or girl) that is trying to kill everyone. This isn’t a bad thing, but it would be nice to see something different.

Persona 3 takes the JRPG genre to a new level, and does things its own way. It is majorly different from your typical Final Fantasy or Tales of game.

Based on a recommendation from a friend, I picked up Persona 3 FES immediately after it came out. And guess what? I actually didn’t like it. It was so different than what I was used to, I just wasn’t willing to accept it. I also found it very repetitive, as the game constantly has you doing the same things over and over again. It wasn’t until well after a year later that I finally decided to give the game another shot. This time, I started out already knowing that this game was different, and would be something I’d have to get used to. And I did get used to it. And Persona 3 has become one of the best RPGs I have ever played.

STORY

In Persona 3, you play as an unnamed character (you name him whatever you want) who has just moved into a new town and transferred into a new school. You soon come to realize that some things are quite mysterious about this town. Many of the residents are suffering from a disorder commonly known as “Apathy Syndrome.” In addition to that, your dormmates have told you that there is a “hidden” 25th hour in every day called the “Dark Hour.” During this time, most people turn into coffins and experience nothing; to them, it’s as if nothing has happened. However, a select few people, including you, are able to live through the Dark Hour, during which time creatures known as “Shadows” appear and wreak havoc upon humans. These Shadows are said to be responsible for much that goes wrong in the world. It is also during this time that your school transforms into an enormous tower known as Tartarus.

The story doesn’t really pick up until well into the game. Much of the beginning 2/3 or so of the game simply involves you going to school, talking to people, and then going to Tartarus during the Dark Hour. However, once the story does pick up, you’re in for a real treat. Playing all the way through is well worth your time and effort, as Persona 3 has one of the best endings I’ve ever seen in a video game.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay in Persona 3 is where it truly shines. It’s quite different from what you see in most RPGs.

In Persona 3, not only do you have to worry about your characters’levels and stats in battle, you also need to worry about the real world. Forming “Social Links” with people by talking to them is a necessary aspect of the gameplay, as it indirectly affects your performance in battle.

The game uses a calendar system, starting in June 2009 and ending in January 2010. Every day, you wake up and live the life of a normal high school student, with the obvious exception of fighting Shadows at night. For example: during school, you can get called on in class and be asked a question. After school, you can decide to meet someone, or you can go to the arcade, sing karaoke, watch a movie, among many other things. At night you can decide to study, go to sleep early, or go to Tartarus.

The choices you make can have an effect on certain stats – Academics, Courage, and Charm. These attributes affect how people react to you in different situations and the choices you can and can’t make. In addition to that, you have to maintain your condition. Spending a lot of time in Tartarus will make you tired or sick, and you may require some days of rest before you can go back there.

The battle system is one thing I really loved. Similar to many other RPGs, the battle system is turn-based. Battles are not random; they are engaged when a visible enemy runs into you. The main focus of battles is to “knock down” all your enemies. You can do this by either exploiting their weakness or landing a critical hit on them. You can scan your enemies for free – it takes 2-3 turns for the scan results to come in, but once you scan a particular enemy, you’ll never have to scan them again. Scanning the enemy will tell you what they’re weak against. So if they’re weak against Wind, cast a wind spell on them, and knock them down. Once all your enemies are knocked down, your characters can perform an “all-out attack” which will, in most cases, finish them off. Boss battles are a different story, however, as the vast majority of the bosses don’t have weaknesses. So the game still requires plenty of strategy.

Battles involve the use of Personas, which essentially are demon-like beings that are manifested from within your soul. Each Persona has a unique set of spells and abilities, and they each boost your character’s stats in different ways. Similar to item synthesis in other RPGs, Persona fusion is an important part of this game. In order to get the spells, abilities, and stat bonuses you need, you must fuse your Personas by combining them. This is very user-friendly, as the game tells you what you will get before you start the fusion, and there is no monetary cost to fuse Personas.

Climbing Tartarus is a key aspect of the game. The massive tower consists of over 250 floors, with a boss about every 12 floors. Every boss floor has a teleporter that will take you back to the first floor, where you can restore your health for free, save your game, fuse new Personas, and then instantly return to the boss floor. Even with all this leeway, boss battles can still get very frustrating.

About once each month, you’ll have to perform a special mission which usually involves defeating a large Shadow. Because of this, it’s important that you constantly level grind in Tartarus so you can prepare for these battles. The game gives you plenty of time to prepare for these, so there’s no need to worry about the game “going too fast for you.”

There are many gameplay aspects of Persona 3 that I did not like, however. One constant complaint about the game is that if your character falls in battle, the game is over. It doesn’t matter if your allies have revival items or spells – you lose instantly. This is especially infuriating when you consider the fact that many enemies in the game will throw instant kill spells at you, which can essentially put hours of hard work to waste. There are various methods to prevent an instant kill spell from affecting you, but in the beginning of the game, many of those methods are not available. In addition to this, some gameplay elements seem unbalanced. It’s quite easy for normal enemies to gain a huge advantage on you in battle, and this can cause great amounts of frustration.

One thing that deserves attention is the massive length of this game. Persona 3 took me a little over 125 hours to complete, and is officially the longest RPG I have ever played. There is also an enhanced version of the game available, called Persona 3 FES, which includes a sequel story consisting of another 40+ hours of gameplay, in addition to various gameplay enhancements. If you do pick up Persona 3, make sure you get the FES edition.

VISUALS & SOUND

Ooh yeah, do do do do do do do do do, baby baby…

The visuals & sounds used in Persona 3 are very distinct and help define the game. The art style seems to be a combination of common anime styles and American art styles, which at first turned me off, but I grew to like it.

The music is something completely different than what you’ve seen before in RPGs – and it’s great. Much of the game’s most common scores are actually vocal pieces – including the battle theme, which is a rap tune that will most likely make you cringe upon hearing at first, but will eventually grow on you. Most of the game’s song lyrics are in English, sung by a Japanese singer with an awesome accent.

Perhaps the best piece in the game is the song that plays during the credits at the end of the game – “Kimi no Kioku” (“Memories of You”) sung by Yumi Kawamura. It’s a really beautiful upbeat song that has been on repeat on my iPod for several weeks now. Look it up on YouTube if you don’t mind music spoilers.

OVERALL

Persona 3 may seem like a very repetitive game. And well, it is. But there’s something about it that makes it so damn addicting. Its excellent gameplay is a key factor in what makes this massive RPG so good.

If something I mentioned in this review turns you off from the game – don’t be discouraged. Try it out yourself, because you may end up finding one of the best RPGs ever.