Under-appreciated gem. A mix of RPG and monster collection, packaged in a dark and convoluted storyline.
Combat is the meat of this game, and is handled through side-view screen of your characters, with enemies on the far side. Depending on character locations (front or back row) different combat options are available, similar to Ogre Battle games. One twist is that you can attempt to converse with an enemy before most battles, in order to get them to like you, flee, or get mad. If you pick the correct person and conversation style, you can get a card of that monster's persona.
A persona is an alter-ego that your characters can call forth to perform magic. Different equipped personas also grant different immunities or weaknesses to your character. There are many different personas, wich can be leveled just like your character, including some hidden Personas that are very difficult to obtain. There have been long faqs dedicated simply to the worthiness of certain personas over others. You can combine 2 persona cards, as well as other optional materials, to create personas for your characters.
Outside of combat you are either in a first-person perspective (dungeons), 3rd-person overhead w/character models (in buildings and cut-scenes), or overhead map mode (in the city). The graphics are good for PS1 standards, but today are quite dated.
The story itself can be a little confusing, especially since Persona features multplie ending options. If you make the wrong responses at one point in the game, your game experience is a good10 hours shorter and you miss most of the end material. This is irritating, mostly due to the fact that the Japanese translation is not always that good. Some conversations take a while to muddle through due to direct translations, and some monster conversations make you wonder what response the monster wants.
The game can get repetitive if you want to level up several different personas, but on the flip side, this allows you to get your level higher if you are having trouble in a new area. Simply walk around town or earlier dungeons, beating up bad guys. You can also go to the casino in the mall and play, blackjack, poker or the 0ne-armed bandits to get credits and buy rare items.
If you are a fan of turn-based role-playing, and also like to have more than traditional swod and sorcery RPGs, you need to try ths game. I still have it, along with Persona 2, and never plan on letting it go.