Title: Persona 3
Xugoh - April 23, 2008 02:25 PM (GMT)
Persona 3
Check the intro.
Persona 3 is the fourth instalement in the Persona rpg saga and another fine release by Atlus, it's a turned based action game well worth checking out.
You are placed in this game as a boy named ?????, yes indeed you are to name your own character, he is the silent type hero, he is the only major character who doesn't have a voice, however you have several dialogue choices that will shape the progress of the game.
The main character is a teenager who's parents have died and who now returns to his childhood town to attend classes at Gekkoukan High School. Shortly after his arrival he finds himself tapped in the Dark Hour a phenomenon that happens at exactly 00:00 hours, when time stops and the world is plunged into a strange dimension, during the dark hour human being are transmuted to the shape of coffins and remain dorment and unaware of what is happening, but there are a few that remain awake. During the dark hour the "Shadows" appear, shadows are basically demons that are bound to this phenomenon and prey on the transmuted humans sucking their soul dry, leaving them in a zombie like state, the shadows seem to come from the grim tower of Tartarus, a maze like tower with several layers that stands in the same place as the school. Every full moon a greater shadow appears.
To fight this menace he joins the SEES (Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad), a group of students who share a special ability, the use of Personas. Basicaly a persona is a spirit that dwells inside you and is formed by your emotions and life experiences. The Persona is summoned with the Evoker, that is shaped like a gun, you use it by blowing your own brains off (neat huh?) no this doesn't kil you, however it does use some MP. All of your team members have one Persona each that reflects some of their trates, but not you, you are special and thus you can use a whole pletora of creatures that you gather as you defeat enemies. You and your fellow SEES members all live in the same dorm, which adds a nice touch to the game as you cn feel the bounding between characters.
The SEES's activities include regualar excursions to the tower of Tartarus, research on the Shadows and stoping the end f the World. You are allowed to go to Tartarus just about every night, but you may choose not to do so. Of course that come that dreadful full moon you'll be in bg trouble for not leveling up.
I told you so.....
The shadows only come out during the Dark Hour, so what do you do during the day?
Well you are a student aren't you? So you go to school with your friends, you have classes, which actually don't seem to be as boring as the real ones, and you should pay attention too and not fall asleep or the teacher might just ask you to answer a question in front of the whole class and it would be embarassing to get it wrong. (this actually happens so pay attention in class ^__^) You also have tests and exams that collect many of the questions put to you during the year, they are mostly about the japanese culture and history. As a dedicated student you are also expected to study outside of school, to increase your academic stats, these are important since they unlock later options and might grant you some good items.
Yeah! And it just took me three hours!
Right you are Junpei-kun.
Since no man is an island, you will also interact with your classmates, members of SEES and otherwise, by hanging out with them after classes and joining other school clubs and activities, you will build up social links, that will enhance the atributes of your Personas. This also presents you the option of dating several girls, however keep in mind that you should be loyal to one since cheating will result in a blow to your persona once the other finds out.
To make your relationships grow you enhance your charm stats by using items (gifts) and make the right dialogue choices.
Oh, you are so ON!!!
In the tower enemies are visible on the map so you can see them walking around before they see you and charge, giving you the option to avoid them if your party is too weak or if you are just in a hurry to get to the upper floors. Sometimes a special boss will appear randomly, it's The Reaper! You can know he's coming by the noise of his chains, he is absolutly unbeatable in the early part of the game and even towards the end when you have most of your abilities available he can still be a fearsome foe due to the fact he has no weakness at all. So if you hear that noise.... RUN!!!!!!
Like i said the battles are turn based. Your partners have a great A.I, the game actually controls their actions so you just have to worry about your own. Of course it's not fool proof, so sometimes (mainly in boss battles) you'll have to assign one of them to heal your party more often, or simply chose to select their actions manualy. The A.I is very good on easy mode, since they'll search for the enemies weekness and use the attacks that are most effective and will heal you whenever there is a need to.
The battles however can become rather repetetive and somewhat dull once you have an idea of what the weakness of each monster is. The tower floors all look pretty much alike with very slight variation as you go up. There are also quite a few loading times that slow down the pace of the game.
Dude you can't go sayan on them... -__-''
The game has a good sound track that can be found Here!
The game art is fresh and has a few enjoyable anime sequences.
A remake of the game is to be released this week for the PS2 named Persona 3 FES, to the original content was added more characters, more side quests, more Personas, more items an all new weapon synthetis system, an extra chapter and a "Real Ending" that picks up where the other version ended. Even if you played this first release i bet the FES version will be worth the purchase, i know i wont regret it.
I give it a 9/10. :thumbup:
Credits: Game by Atlus, vid from Youtube, images found on Gamespot and review by Xugoh.
Check the intro.
Persona 3 is the fourth instalement in the Persona rpg saga and another fine release by Atlus, it's a turned based action game well worth checking out.
You are placed in this game as a boy named ?????, yes indeed you are to name your own character, he is the silent type hero, he is the only major character who doesn't have a voice, however you have several dialogue choices that will shape the progress of the game.
The main character is a teenager who's parents have died and who now returns to his childhood town to attend classes at Gekkoukan High School. Shortly after his arrival he finds himself tapped in the Dark Hour a phenomenon that happens at exactly 00:00 hours, when time stops and the world is plunged into a strange dimension, during the dark hour human being are transmuted to the shape of coffins and remain dorment and unaware of what is happening, but there are a few that remain awake. During the dark hour the "Shadows" appear, shadows are basically demons that are bound to this phenomenon and prey on the transmuted humans sucking their soul dry, leaving them in a zombie like state, the shadows seem to come from the grim tower of Tartarus, a maze like tower with several layers that stands in the same place as the school. Every full moon a greater shadow appears.
To fight this menace he joins the SEES (Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad), a group of students who share a special ability, the use of Personas. Basicaly a persona is a spirit that dwells inside you and is formed by your emotions and life experiences. The Persona is summoned with the Evoker, that is shaped like a gun, you use it by blowing your own brains off (neat huh?) no this doesn't kil you, however it does use some MP. All of your team members have one Persona each that reflects some of their trates, but not you, you are special and thus you can use a whole pletora of creatures that you gather as you defeat enemies. You and your fellow SEES members all live in the same dorm, which adds a nice touch to the game as you cn feel the bounding between characters.
The SEES's activities include regualar excursions to the tower of Tartarus, research on the Shadows and stoping the end f the World. You are allowed to go to Tartarus just about every night, but you may choose not to do so. Of course that come that dreadful full moon you'll be in bg trouble for not leveling up.
I told you so.....
The shadows only come out during the Dark Hour, so what do you do during the day?
Well you are a student aren't you? So you go to school with your friends, you have classes, which actually don't seem to be as boring as the real ones, and you should pay attention too and not fall asleep or the teacher might just ask you to answer a question in front of the whole class and it would be embarassing to get it wrong. (this actually happens so pay attention in class ^__^) You also have tests and exams that collect many of the questions put to you during the year, they are mostly about the japanese culture and history. As a dedicated student you are also expected to study outside of school, to increase your academic stats, these are important since they unlock later options and might grant you some good items.
Yeah! And it just took me three hours!
Right you are Junpei-kun.
Since no man is an island, you will also interact with your classmates, members of SEES and otherwise, by hanging out with them after classes and joining other school clubs and activities, you will build up social links, that will enhance the atributes of your Personas. This also presents you the option of dating several girls, however keep in mind that you should be loyal to one since cheating will result in a blow to your persona once the other finds out.
To make your relationships grow you enhance your charm stats by using items (gifts) and make the right dialogue choices.
Oh, you are so ON!!!
In the tower enemies are visible on the map so you can see them walking around before they see you and charge, giving you the option to avoid them if your party is too weak or if you are just in a hurry to get to the upper floors. Sometimes a special boss will appear randomly, it's The Reaper! You can know he's coming by the noise of his chains, he is absolutly unbeatable in the early part of the game and even towards the end when you have most of your abilities available he can still be a fearsome foe due to the fact he has no weakness at all. So if you hear that noise.... RUN!!!!!!
Like i said the battles are turn based. Your partners have a great A.I, the game actually controls their actions so you just have to worry about your own. Of course it's not fool proof, so sometimes (mainly in boss battles) you'll have to assign one of them to heal your party more often, or simply chose to select their actions manualy. The A.I is very good on easy mode, since they'll search for the enemies weekness and use the attacks that are most effective and will heal you whenever there is a need to.
The battles however can become rather repetetive and somewhat dull once you have an idea of what the weakness of each monster is. The tower floors all look pretty much alike with very slight variation as you go up. There are also quite a few loading times that slow down the pace of the game.
Dude you can't go sayan on them... -__-''
The game has a good sound track that can be found Here!
The game art is fresh and has a few enjoyable anime sequences.
A remake of the game is to be released this week for the PS2 named Persona 3 FES, to the original content was added more characters, more side quests, more Personas, more items an all new weapon synthetis system, an extra chapter and a "Real Ending" that picks up where the other version ended. Even if you played this first release i bet the FES version will be worth the purchase, i know i wont regret it.
I give it a 9/10. :thumbup:
Credits: Game by Atlus, vid from Youtube, images found on Gamespot and review by Xugoh.
Neloangelo - April 23, 2008 05:27 PM (GMT)
Yo. Gotta say this does look very intersting indeed. I'll take your word for it man. I gotta check out 1 and 2 first.
Clone 00 - April 23, 2008 05:32 PM (GMT)
wow xugoh, nice review. id definetly a game id like, i like the lesson and that kind of stuff in games. yeah i know im wierd lol
Xugoh - April 23, 2008 06:18 PM (GMT)
You don't have to play persona 1 and 2. Besides those two are for the ps 1 i think...
The previous games have nothing to do with this one. It's pretty much like FF.
The previous games have nothing to do with this one. It's pretty much like FF.
Mushroom Cloud - July 5, 2008 03:10 PM (GMT)
Awesome. Might play it.