"Remember, we all have to die someday..."

[Wolf Kanno]

So I picked up Persona 3 today and all I can say so far is "GODDAMN!". Let me start off by saying that most game companies have nothing on Atlus' sheer packaging skills. That artbook and sound track sample are of exceptional quality and the game...oh lord is the opening a wonderful mood setter. It's incredibly creepy and not from a traditional "creepy setting" that most occult horror goes by. No monster, no demons, no creepy serial killers...(SPOILER) just a girl holding a gun to her head and a child asking you to sign a "contract"...

Damn it's looking to be a good game so far!

[LunarWeaver]

Tell me if the difficulty is as random as the DDS games .

[Captain Maxx Power]

I spend a lot of time reading up on and playing computer games, and I've never, EVER heard of the Persona series. Is it some obscure product of some kind or is this a strangely elabourate trick topic to showcase people's ignorance?

[JKTrix]

If you've been a fan of Atlus for a while, you might have heard of Persona. It's part of the 'Megami Tensei' series of games/spinoffs. The first 2 games were on the PS1. I never played them myself, since I don't have a PS1. But I've heard lots about Persona 3 for a long time, and I've been anxiously waiting for it.

As for difficulty, I've heard that while the random monsters might not be too challenging, the bosses are hard. The battles are supposed to be pretty fast.

You actually only control your character, despite having a party for most of the game. You can influence your party members actions, but you never directly control them. In the dungeons, there are times when you can 'split up' your party, and they will spread out and find stuff (treasures, exits, etc).

Aside from the standard dungeon hack, which is during the night, you have to go to school during the day. There you form relationships with people to either build your party up or strengthen your own 'Persona'. A little bit of a dating sim. Weird as that sounds, I heard it's pretty good.


This game probably won't reach my shores for another several days. If I don't have it by this time next week I'm just gonna order it online.

--Edit: You can see some of the pics from the artbook here

[Zeromus_X]

My friend and I picked this game up today, and I can say it's very awesome. It immediately grabbed my interest, and I've never touched any of the Megami Tensei titles before. I just have a thing for the types of games where your decisions determine a certain outcome of whatever, and the game's atmosphere really appeals to me as well, with the surrealism of Tartarus and the tarot and religious references, etc. Might have to look into this series a bit more.

The art book and soundtrack that came with the game was pretty awesome as well.

I hope (SPOILER)Mitsuru joins the party sometime.

[Wolf Kanno]

Outside of the school stuff (standard sim affair but wonderful to boot. I'm trying to get the main character hooked up with the track team's equipment manager ) The gameplay is more like SMT3 than previous Persona. Basically taking advantage of enemy weakness' allow characters to have extra turns.

You no longer get to chat with demons which is sadly missed (though the Link system satisfies that urge) and only the main character gets to do fusion spells but overall I must say the combat is much better. Streamlined in a very good and intelligent way. Hell now I don't have to worry about choosing whether to kill the demons for experience or talking to them to get Free Tarot cards

Also the Velvet Room works like the SMT Cathedral of Shadows so you must fuse Personas to get better ones. Also it looks like you will get the ability to fuse more than just three...

To those playing the game... Am I the only one who's jaw dropped in the scene where the main character used his Persona for the first time?! Damn that scene was just amazing!

[JKTrix]

Yeah, that was pretty freakin' intense.

I've only been playing for 2 hours, but I was a little confused about the 'Evoker'--the gun they use to 'evoke' their personas. At first I was curious if it actually hurt them when they used it, because in that same scene Yukari shoots herself several times and seems a little freaked out every time she does it. But I guess it doesn't.

Can't wait till I have time to play it some more, this is great stuff.

[Ashi]

Just got it today.

Persona 2 was one of my favourite games growing up. I'm amazed it was even sold where I lived since the gaming community isn't really that big.

But now with Persona 3, I am very impressed. It's making me so nostalgic, even though - so far it's not giving me the 'dark' feel that Persona 2 did. I won't have the chance to play much more today, but I can't wait to get back and do that!

Their choice of bgm is always very interesting. I got Persona 2's soundtrack and I still listen to it today. I haven't gotten around to listening to the soundtrack that came with the game yet. And if the tracks differ from the other Persona 3 soundtracks that are released by themselves - they're mine!

[Wolf Kanno]

But now with Persona 3, I am very impressed. It's making me so nostalgic, even though - so far it's not giving me the 'dark' feel that Persona 2 did. I won't have the chance to play much more today, but I can't wait to get back and do that!

I know what you mean, I do miss that aspect of the world. Then again, as you get farther along the game gives you those MegaTen moments and you realise that the normal drudge of everyday life is there to lull you into a false frame of mind. I have reached a point where the story has really begun to move about with several sub plots going on everywhere and it's starting to have more of the Persona feel. The "normal" world is starting to feel more like the illusion than the Dark Hour.

[Ashi]

Wolf Kanno: Did you play Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner? I played it some months ago and it also made me very nostalgic towards Persona 2, even though the similarities between the two games are very scarce.

Did anyone notice how they say, "No one believes rumours anyway"? Persona 2 (Eternal Punishment anyway) had a rumour system where once the rumour is spread it becomes real. And then that MMORPG called Innocent Sin Online (There was a Persona 2: Innocent Sin that occured -as I understand it- before Eternal Punishment).

I didn't mark these things as spoilers because they are trivial matters and so far I don't believe they really affect anything in gameplay.

Junpei reminds me of someone I know irl.

[JKTrix]

Related to the 'Innocent Sin' MMO, the girl calls herself Maya and calls you Tatsuya. The main characters of both Persona 2 games.

[Ashi]

Yeah. It made me grin. And I recall them commenting on how, "I didn't know many people played that!" if you say you found it clever.

[Dragonsoul]

I rented the game and played it for three hours. The story, characters, and voice acting were the strengths I think. The other aspects of the game I think are just ok.

Currently I am renting Bioshock and it's kinda good but I don't like first person shooters.

[Wolf Kanno]

Wolf Kanno: Did you play Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner? I played it some months ago and it also made me very nostalgic towards Persona 2, even though the similarities between the two games are very scarce.

Did anyone notice how they say, "No one believes rumours anyway"? Persona 2 (Eternal Punishment anyway) had a rumour system where once the rumour is spread it becomes real. And then that MMORPG called Innocent Sin Online (There was a Persona 2: Innocent Sin that occured -as I understand it- before Eternal Punishment).

I didn't mark these things as spoilers because they are trivial matters and so far I don't believe they really affect anything in gameplay.

Junpei reminds me of someone I know irl.

I have yet to play Avatar Turners (Digital Devil Saga) or the new Devil Summoner games. Chances are, I'll give them a lookup when I finish Persona 3...

Ashi: you absolutely need to find a translated script for Innocent Sin and read through it. It makes Eternal Punishment far more creepy...
So far the only hint of a connection to the previous games is in the MMO and I believe their was a reference to Nate's company from Persona 1 and Eternal Punishment.


Today I finally met a boss that completely owned me and my only option is to power level cause the guy likes to spam high level Almighty spells. Throw in the fact I accidentally screwed up my personas by fusing a whole bunch in order to get a persona I was unaware of being too high in levels for my party. I'm at the end of September and on the 135th floor of Tarturus for those who are wondering.

[Raven Nox]

I really like this game so far, though I'm only in July. I haven't been able to play it much for a few days but tomorrow I plan to spend quite a lot of time on it.

The bosses will sometimes kill me right when I get them on their last leg, but that only really happens the first time I fight them. Judging from what others have said though, I don't doubt that in the game's next few months I'll find a lot more that can completely destroy me. But I think I'm a tad under leveled anyway, and I need to start fusing my Personas more.

This game makes me feel really bad that I didn't get Persona 2 when I saw it a few years ago. But, I'm going to hunt down other Megami Tensei games after finishing this one. It seems like a really interesting series.