Persona 3 Game

[Niehaus]

You shoot yourself in the head for magic powers in this one.

[dirked]

A generic JRPG then?

[tony-kun]

it's just another japanese rpg type game right

A generic JRPG then?

Yes and no. From a combat point-of-view, it is just a turn-based J-RPG. However, the style is very fresh. I play a lot of RPGs, and this is one that feels completely unique.

Rather than the typical quest nature of RPGs, P3 is centered around the idea of being a Japanese high school student during the day and a guy using supernatural powers to fight monsters at night. The game's timeline follows one school year. During the day you go to school, where you can work on Social Links, which is sort of like a dating sim. You can also join clubs. When you go back to the dorm, you can choose to do a dungeon run, study, go to a karaoke club, etc. Then you go to sleep and it goes on to the next day. It follows a real Japanese school calendar, including things like Golden Week, exams, and summer vacation.

The story behind the combat portion is that there is a hidden hour that occurs at midnight called the Dark Hour. Normal humans are transmogrified into coffins during this time and don't realize the Dark Hour exists. Certain special people are awake during this time, and some of them can summon special guardians called Persona - this includes your characters. During the Dark Hour, your high school transforms into a tower called Tartarus, and monsters emerge and attack people not in coffins. They steal the emotions from normal people, leaving them with Apathy Syndrome, where they basically just stand around like zombies all day. Your party explores Tartarus to try to find the secret behind the Dark Hour.

The music is far different from typical RPG fare. The songs are mostly upbeat mixes of j-pop, eurobeat, electro, and acid jazz, and is pretty much a love it or hate it thing. The art design is pretty cool, particularly the character portraits, Personas, monsters, and menu screens. The game is also localized by Atlus, which pretty much does the best localizations in the business. The voice acting is actually good enough that you don't want to skip through the dialog, and the writing is really good. Whoever wrote the dialog that you get when playing the MMORPG has clearly mastered the internet.

The game is also pretty damn long. It starts in April, and I've put in around 45 hours to get to October, so it looks like it will be around 80 hours to finish. If there is a New Game+ option, I'll probably play some more since I'm not going to be able to complete all the social links by the end of the school year.

But, this game is probably not going to be everyone's cup of tea. There is a lot of character development, but it's not a very plot-centric game. You spend most of your time doing the social links and dungeon runs, so it can get a little repetitive at times. Also, don't expect elves, dragons, chivalry, and a sweeping orchestral soundtrack - this game is very contemporary; in fact, it takes place in 2009. Anyway, I think I'm going to go play for a while.

[HondaCivet]

So instead of sucking up to real people, I have to spend money to buy a game where I have to spend time sucking up to digital cartoon people?

[tony-kun]

So instead of sucking up to real people, I have to spend money to buy a game where I have to spend time sucking up to digital cartoon people?

Don't you have a subscription to the SA forums?

[tony-kun]

Atlus has announced that they will be re-releasing Persona 3 along with the FES expansion on April 22nd for $30.

You should all buy it. No excuses!

http://theablegamer.com/index.php?optio ... 3&Itemid=1

Atlus Pulls The Trigger On Persona 3 FES® For North America

Revisit the Dark Hour this April 22

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 25, 2008 - Atlus U.S.A., Inc., the vanguard of role-playing games, today announced Persona 3 FES for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the highly-anticipated definitive cut of 2007's RPG of the Year, Persona 3. With two games on one disc-a brand new chapter featuring 30+ hours of gameplay and an enhanced version of the original game loaded with new content and features-Persona 3 FES is the comprehensive version of one of the most acclaimed RPGs of 2007.

Persona 3 FES is a stand-alone product and does not require the original Persona 3 to play. However, players with save files from the original game will be able to transfer some of their saved data, such as their Persona compendium, to be used in the enhanced main story. The new story is accessible from the start and does not require players to finish the original game beforehand.

Persona 3 FES is scheduled for release on April 22nd for an MSRP of $29.99.

For more on Persona 3 FES, please visit the official website: http://www.atlus.com/persona3

About Persona 3: FES
Lead a group of high school students with a dangerous extracurricular activity: exploring the mysterious tower Tartarus and fighting the sinister Shadows during the Dark Hour, a frozen span of time imperceptible to all but a select few. However, the end of their quest is no longer the end of the story-witness for the first time the aftermath of the final battle and the students' struggle to find meaning in their new lives.

Key Features:
- Acclaimed by critics and fans - Experience the definitive cut of 2007's award-winning Persona 3, which garnered tons of critical acclaim and the adulation of a devoted fanbase.
- More than just an expansion - Persona 3 FES contains an enhanced version of the original game, loaded with new Personas and cutscenes, a weapon synthesis system, additional quests and events, a hard difficulty mode, and the ability to change your characters' clothes.
- 30 additional hours of gameplay - Take the role of Aigis in a brand new Persona 3 episode that plays as a full game with an original story, extra cutscenes and objectives, and seventeen new music tracks.
- Incredible value - The enhanced version of the acclaimed Persona 3 game and the brand new episode make for 120-plus hours of gameplay, packaged together at a suggested retail price of $29.99.

Persona 3 FES has been rated M for Mature with Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes, and Violence by the ESRB.

About Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
Located in Irvine, California and founded in 1991, Atlus U.S.A., Inc. is a publisher of compelling video games for a variety of platforms, including Nintendo DSTM, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, WiiTM, Xbox 360TM, and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The Atlus library of critically acclaimed video games includes Odin Sphere, Trauma Center series, Magna Carta: Tears of Blood, and the award-winning Shin Megami Tensei series. For more information, visit http://www.atlus.com.

©2008 ATLUS. Licensed to and published by ATLUS U.S.A., Inc. "PlayStation" is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment.

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[Ilpalazzo]

The game is also pretty damn long. It starts in April, and I've put in around 45 hours to get to October, so it looks like it will be around 80 hours to finish. If there is a New Game+ option, I'll probably play some more since I'm not going to be able to complete all the social links by the end of the school year.

But, this game is probably not going to be everyone's cup of tea. There is a lot of character development, but it's not a very plot-centric game. You spend most of your time doing the social links and dungeon runs, so it can get a little repetitive at times. Also, don't expect elves, dragons, chivalry, and a sweeping orchestral soundtrack - this game is very contemporary; in fact, it takes place in 2009. Anyway, I think I'm going to go play for a while.

I have to agree with Tony on this game. It is a LOOOOOONG game but well worth the time. But I sure would like that New Game Plus feature because I'm on 11/5/09 and I still haven't discovered the social links for The Empress, Judgement and The World. At this point I'm at about 110 hours. Being the purist that I am I wont use any strategy guides the first time through. The only thing that irritates me is that I've hardly discovered any Fusion spells besides the ones listed in the manual.

My SPAMM social link has now reached level 2! I'm now able to create Personas to convince you naysayers that not all J-Rpgs suck.

[tony-kun]

I completely missed one of the social links during my playthrough

Yes there is a New Game +. You get to keep your Persona compendium, Courage/Int/Brave levels, the items not equipped during the final battle, and your $$. You can import your game into FES, but you only get the compendium and C/I/B levels.

It's a little easier to do the social links in FES because they move some of the events to night-time. You also get an ending scene with your maxed links in FES, which you don't in P3.

FES also has a hard a hard mode and of course a prologue episode that explains what happens after the somewhat.....surprising ending of P3.

[spoiler]Also you can dress your female characters as maids in FES[/spoiler]

[tony-kun]

ONE MORE WEEK!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j12-ZUIJ ... D0&index=0

[Floyd]

ONE MORE WEEK!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j12-ZUIJ ... D0&index=0

I actually found a guy that uploads videos of this game. It looks really interesting. Apparently, you use these guns to shoot yourself in the head, and that causes enough stress on your body to force your persona to come out. You fight in this area called Tartarus, which was created as a result of some sort of experiment gone awry. There is also a dating sim feature, where you build relationships by responding in a certain manner.

Check it out.

[Beaver Chief]

I actually found a guy that uploads videos of this game. It looks really interesting. Apparently, you use these guns to shoot yourself in the head, and that causes enough stress on your body to force your persona to come out. You fight in this area called Tartarus, which was created as a result of some sort of experiment gone awry. There is also a dating sim feature, where you build relationships by responding in a certain manner.

Check it out.

Yeah...it's been discussed