I have been playing this game for two months straight now, and it is really damn good. It is actually amazing how addictive it is, in spite of being so different from regular Persona.
First up, the gameplay- whereas I suppose I have objective appreciation for Etrian Odyssey, I am no big fan of it myself, as in, I won't play the games because they don't appeal to my personal tastes. But Persona Q takes the basic gameplay of Etrian Odyssey, adds a Persona spin to it, and makes it work. It's an amazing game, with all of its mechanics benefitting from each other, to deliver something that is mechanically far better than either Etrian Odyssey or Persona.
I mean that. The two big weaknesses of Persona have always been said to be the dungeons and the battle system. Persona Q addresses that problem very well- the dungeons are vast, intricate, huge puzzles that will constantly challenge you, and can legitimately tire you out due to how well designed they are; it actually becomes very important to keep a map of the dungeon for yourself, because otherwise, you'll be lost before you know it, going round and round in circles. The combat, too, has been spruced up, taking a page from Etrian Odyssey, allowing for class specialization, and battle formations (which are fully customizable and should depend entirely on each character's type of attack, and defensive capability); Boost States, Leader Skills, and the fact that each character can equip and use multiple Personae also makes this a far mechanically superior and intricate game than either Persona 3 or 4.
The Etrian Odyssey side benefits too- the Persona specific enhancements (Boost states, weakness exploitation, All out attacks, Sub Personae, and so on) obviously enhance the battle system, but the dungeons benefit from the surreal setting that Persona brings with it, meaning each dungeon is visually differentiated, interesting, and just some place you want to explore and don't tire of that easily. All of this, of course, also helps with the map keeping.
But it's not just gameplay where the game shines- it does well in nearly every other aspect as well. It has the Persona series' strong writing, storytelling, incredible characterization (even though S.Links are gone, the game brings in a new feature called Strolls which basically is like Fire Emblem Awakening's character interaction system) which compensates for that, it has great voice acting, and the music is exemplary, following in the footsteps of Persona 4, and being every bit as good. I do not say that lightly,Persona 4 is literally my favorite game soundtrack of all time.
It even addresses the flaw of the Persona series' lack of difficulty, as the game poses a significant challenge, with a potential for stray deaths if you don't watch out, even on the lowest difficulty. It is, in other words, an amazing game, and if you own the 3DS, and are a fan of Persona, you owe it to yourself to play the game. It's a celebration of all things persona, with its crossover of Persona 3 and 4's stories, and their characters; hell, even Persona 1 and 2 are celebrated, via the first person point of view, and the ability for each character to use more than one Persona.
This is every bit Persona- a very true Persona game and an excellent JRPG. It is, in fact, the best JRPG released all year (not counting Pokemon as a JRPG, because sue me, I won't), far better than anything else out on the Vita or the 3DS, and certainly better than anything on the consoles. Why have you not got it yet? Get on it!
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