How Does 2007's RPG of the Year For the PS2 Get Better? An Extended Version Released For A Lower Price!
You play a male protagonist as the main character (who you get an option to name eventually) who comes to Tokyo and moves into a new dormitory for high school. You are greeted by a mysterious young boy who asks for you to sign a contract that states simply "You are responsible for your actions." To consent is to advance the game. Little do you know just what happens next. By playing through a tutorial of the high school setting for a couple of in-game days, you soon discover a deeper truth with the game. Strange demonic entities called Shadows exist and appear out of nowhere. Just when it seems like everything is lost, your character whispers "Persona." And with a surprising method of summoning, your character conjures his soul into the form of a demonic guardian known as a Persona. After that...the game gets rolling into learning combat. It'd take a couple of hours in order to escalate into the game since you're thoroughly learning about the high school feature and also the dungeon that you explore. I will not give you any more surprises. You'll just have to play the game and find out for yourself.
Every character you encounter in the game can conjure their own Persona, which evolves with leveling up. They learn new abilities and have their various strengths and weaknesses to attacks and elements. What makes your character so unique is the fact you can wield multiple Personas. In the progress of the game, your character's Personas can level and gain abilities. They can eventually be fused with one another to create stronger Personas. Needed a lower level Persona for a summon? Not a problem. You unlock the option through the game's progress to buy back 'registered' Personas and add them to your live roster. Of course, there is a catch: in order to unlock the strongest Personas, the next feature of the game comes into writing: high school.
Your day-to-day activities involve demonstrating your aptitudes in Intellect, Charisma, and Courage. These aptitudes serve to reflect how you do based on classes, after-school activities, and interacting with various characters. One feature the game encompasses is that the main protagonist can 'date' the girls he meets in the game, including the main female characters. By going through all of these activities, you build up Social Links. Social Links are key to Persona fusion, as higher levels in Social Links allow for higher level fusions and experience bonuses. Maxing out a Social Link will allow for the highest level Persona to be created. It also gives depth to the game, allowing for the 'side-quest' aspect to be fulfilled and allow you to experience characters that have their own 'demons' (not literally) to tangle with. Could you be the one to help them?
Combat is very strategic. Having an effective arsenal of Personas handy with the main character is crucial in exploring the ever-changing dungeon you work to crack. Yes, it has a reason to be explored. Throughout the game, higher levels unlock themselves, each with a very challenging guardian to tangle with between levels. The fights in-between will allow you to gain experience and additional Personas, but be careful. Once you enter into the dungeon, it is all survival. Have plenty of healing items. A tough crew of Personas. And luck. If you make a single slip up, it will cost you having to reload your previous save. You will also have your share of boss battles, and plenty of time in order to prepare for them. And that's a big thing in Persona 3: time.
To effectively play the game, you need to work in the time (in-game) to complete activities (which do occur on different days of the week), find the time to tackle the dungeon and level up, and build up your Social Links to unlock stronger Personas. Of course, it is all but impossible to tackle the game in a single playthrough and do everything. It is possible, but it requires a lot of planning. No worries. But you will not need to worry since the game has a New Game + feature. Wanna replay through it and obtain the Personas you couldn't nab, max out Social Links you couldn't accomplish, or even tackle some activities you missed? You sure can.
There's some new features in the Festival aka FES version. The integration of new Personas, dialogue and quests (as well as the option to date the female assistant to Persona fusion, Elizabeth) are fresh meat to the original game. Also, a playable 30 hour chapter focused around Aigis, one of the game's main characters, is present and separate from the original game, allowing you to experience the events following the original game from her perspective.
This game is one of the underground hits that the PS2 has had in a slowing list of new releases for the console as most developers are making their transition to the PS3. And the fact that this game can be found at a great price (average of 15 to 20 bucks) at some retailers at this point makes it a worthwhile title for PS2 owners to try if they are looking for a great and very recent RPG.