PixlBit

This game is really the one that put persona on the triple A game mark. Persona 3 is a drastic departure from the rest of the Megami Tensei series. Although it still focuses on demon-fighting high schoolers in modern day Japan, the game is a hybrid of a dungeon crawling RPG (think Diablo) and a life/dating sim.

Every night at midnight, time stops, and a mysterious phenomenon known as the "Dark Hour" occurs. During this time, strange things begin happening around town, including the appearance of a mysterious tower called Tartarus that erupts from beneath the school. The only humans conscious of this event are a group of students who fight through the tower and try to prevent the end of the world. Naturally, you're one of those kids.

During the day, you attend class, talk to fellow students, join various clubs and explore the city. In these segments, you build up various statistics, including Intelligence, Charisma, and Courage. You also need to be well-rested. Want to get in a few extra winks? Just take a nap during class, which will sacrifice intelligence but will get you rested for combat. Want to spend the day singing karaoke, or watching a movie, or chilling at a ramen cafe'? Go right ahead. Your statistics then influence the people that you meet and befriend. This is important, because these relationships, dubbed "Social Links", affect the strength of your Persona.

At night time, you can elect to enter Tartarus and do some demon slaying. Each level of the school is a randomly generated maze, with the only goal being to get treasure and find the exit. There are occasional boss fights, to mix things up, although you can only travel so far before getting tired. Thankfully, there are transporters every few flights, so you can easily resume progress is you need to call it quits for the night.

All enemies are visible on the playing field, and if you can whack them with your sword, you'll get an edge in combat. The game uses a variation of the Press Turn system found in SMT Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga, although you can only control your player character. Your fellow companions are AI-controlled, and while they're pretty smart, it feels weird that you can't directly influence their actions. You can give them new weapons and change orders, but you can't change their Personae. The most controversial element of Persona 3 is the method of demon summoning, in which one of the kids takes a gun to their head, pulls the trigger, and forces the Persona out of their head to attack. There's no real blood or huge symbolism behind it - it just looks kinda cool. If you manage to knock down all of the enemies, then you can execute a hugely powerful charge attack.

   

Japanese Version           American version

Other than a few standard (but excellent) rock tracks (one which features the Velvet Room melody), Persona 3's soundtrack is a huge departure from the series. It's much hipper and more modern, with a heavy pop feeling, similar to Jet Grind Radio - most of the songs have vocals, including some silly French whispering in one song and some English rapping in the battle theme. It might seem initially off-putting, and some of it certainly gets grating, but much of it is surprisingly catchy. Although most of the Personae were designed by Kazuma Kaneko (and many lifted from older games), the character artwork was done by Shigenori Soejima, who also did the in-game character artwork for Persona 2, as well as the Atlus SRPG Stella Deus.

Persona 3 takes place over a whole school year. For most of the time, you're simply going to school, then fighting in the tower, day in and day out. The plot only moves when certain periods of time have passed, which might feel a bit strange, especially since its in the background most of the time. The only major problem with this is its inherent repetitiveness - slowly, the daily grind begins to set in, and the endless corridors of Tartarus do little to distinguish themselves. Still, it's stylish and addictive, and a good change from the RPG norm. The North American release was shipped in a deluxe box that includes a nice artbook, as well as a single CD soundtrack.