Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable
10
10
2
2
More than just the original
Having played Persona 3: FES, I really looked forward to this game, especially with the female protagonist... I couldn't wait to annoy Akihiko! I was somewhat unsuccessful, but the change in the social links, as well as being able to work part-time made the game seem quite different from the original. I also found the beginning more enjoyable, whereas the original (after playing Persona 4), I had found quite boring until almost halfway through.
Very entertaining, and though I've played through it already, I couldn't help picking it up again! There are so many different things to do. Highly recommended :)
9/9/11
P3P is an excellent PSP game that you must play!
I've been a fan of the Persona series for quite some time now. Persona 3 being my very first Persona game. After that I played Persona 4 and the PSP remake of Persona. When I heard they were remaking my favorite Persona game, I HAD to get my hands on it. It's quite the excellent game. They basically took all the updated menus and battle gameplay of Persona 4 (which is a good thing. You can finally control your whole team manually!), and put it into Persona 3 Portable. Making the game easier to play and enjoy, in a sense. Not to mention they added a female protagonist to have a different, new perspective! The story in Persona 3 is very interesting and has quite a few twists. I don't want to give to much away but there is a "hidden" hour every night at midnight called the "Dark Hour" where many people transmogrify into coffins, all electronic equipment goes out, a giant tower called Tartarus appears and there is blood everywhere. The main character, of course, can funtion during this hour, along with his/her other dormates. Together, these high school students form SEES (Specialized Extraxurricular Exicution Squad), a group dedicated to climbing Tartarus and fighting monsters called Shadows that dwell inside the tower. While it might seem straightforward, it gradually becomes complex. The gameplay of P3P is quite interesting. It is a mix between a social simulation game and a traditional RPG. During the day, you are a normal high school student attending Gekkoukan High School--a private school. So, during the day, you go to class, attend clubs, study, socialize with other students, and whatnot. And while you are hanging out with people, you experience "Social Links". While hanging out with these people, you can strengthen your Personas. So hanging out with friends is important. After school, you're free to roam the city (Not directly though. Since they didn't have enough memory or something along the lines of that, you are a blue or pink circle on the screen that you use to move around). In the evening, you can choose to go climb and fight Shadows in Tartarus with the other members of SEES. You can fight using your weapon and your Persona. A Persona is your inner self. It represents who you are. For example, Junpei Iori, a character in the game, is a very talkative, friendly guy. So, his Persona is Hermes, the messenger of the gods. The main character has the ability to wield multiple Personae which they are able to switch in battle. Battling works like a typical RPG. It's turn based and you choose each character's move (To attack with weapon, use magic/skill with Persona, use item, guard, run away). Also, you can fuse new Personae in the Velvet Room--a place where you can accept requests and fuse a Persona or two. It's basically a dungeon crawling RPG with a mix of simulation which is quite the interesting combination. This game has a lot of replayability value. If you play as a boy the first time, you can replay once again as a girl and have new Social Link, a slightly altered story, and a new perspective. Not to mention you can try different Social Links and Personae each playthrough to make things interesting. The music in P3P is nice too. It has a J-Pop feel to it. The battle themes are intresting rap songs and the music played around town is nice as well. Also, the majority of the music changes when you play as female protagonist. The music played as a male is the standard P3 stuff. It's nice though. When you play as the female protagonist, the music in school, around town, and battling changes so when you replay as the female protagonist, you'll have new music to enjoy! Overall, Persona 3 Portable is a great PSP game with good gameplay, story, characters, music, and balance of simulation and battling. The graphics are alright as well. If you own a PSP and enjoy RPGs, you should really get this game! Even if you have already played Persona 3 or Persona 3 FES, you should still get this game to enjoy the new perspective as the female protagonist! This is one of the best PSP games I've ever played. I've recommended it to my friends and they all enjoy it as well! I'd reccomend this game to anyone.
5/27/11