Persona 3 Portable Review
January 30th, 2015
With
the sheer impact and gripping force that Persona 4 had on me, it was inevitable
I was going to eventually try some other game in the series. While originally I
had intended on starting from Persona (the first one) and working my way up, I
found the first entry to be a very standard RPG that, I would come to find, had
none of the social links and going into a second world that I adored about P4.
Rather, in the first two entries the world itself begins to be infested by the
shadows which is interesting enough for some but the gameplay didn’t engage me
on the same level and it was lacking the balance of what made Persona for me as
it had not been integrated into the series yet. The first entry to implement
these features was Persona 3 of which I became curious given the crossover
storylines of P4 arena and in Persona Q. Most fans consider the P3-P4 universe
its own anyways due to certain similarities and I’m sure some of those
questions will be answered in the previously mentioned crossover sequels.
For
now though I have the honor of reviewing the similar game in the vein to my
sixth favorite game of all time (Persona 4) which is none other than Persona 3.
How does it stack up? Well it’s worth mentioning these games have a very
distinctly different tones from one another. The feeling of Persona 3 is an
insistence on saving the world and braving the corridors of Hell to climb a
single while fighting shadows on the side in the Dark Hour of the real world.
The Dark Hour is a 13th hour added onto the day just past midnight
where the true nature of humanity is shown while most sleep soundly. The
objective of P4 is more personable in the sense that you deal with the shadows
of individuals who eventually join your team once you’ve saved them. There’s a
distinctly more characterized quality to Persona 4’s way of connecting you to
the characters. While Persona 3 has this its more told through cutscenes and
dialogue which could make it harder for some people to get interested. You have
to make investments in the characters rather than having seen their darkest
secrets upfront.
This
isn’t much of a problem though. I feel like there are some really memorable and
interesting characters here just like in P4, you just get less chances of
interaction given your cut off from
their social links until you max any one stat, of which there are 3 not 5,
Academics, Courage, and Charm. From the start I knew I was going to make Yukari
my girlfriend so I constantly did events to raise my charm. These can be found
through answering questions in class right or doing odd tasks like karaoke.
There were certainly a lot of ways to improve stats. The system is vastly more
simple than it is in P4 to where certain things were unavailable certain days.
I really like the variety of shops and areas though. Vincent from Catherine
even makes an appearance in the club Escape. There were also a ton of little
references and connecting threads like Rise’s show being cancelled getting
mentioned, the teacher, Tannaka being a social link, as well as all the
references made in the Tastumi Island segment of Persona 4 in which the
characters in that game visit Gekkoukan High, the high school Persona 3 centers
around.
In
that regard the high school setting as well as the city are all cool locations
and feel pretty alive. Tarturus was a great concept but it really lacked visual
life and uniqueness for me. Perhaps it was just the small screen and the PSP’s
limitations showing but it’s a mood point given I originally played the lively
and very unique dungeons of Persona 4 on the PS Vita. Other than that, I
quickly adjusted to the point and click style and honestly the world looks good
enough for what the PSP could do.
One
thing this game does really well is pushing social links and clubs on you which
was a good way to get me to notice whose social links I had access to. Most of
the secondary characters and their social links were done very well. The only
problem is that they are a minefield when it comes to not getting into a
relationship. As I stated previously,
much like Yukiko in P4, in P3 I made a commitment in my mind from the start to
date Yukari. I dodged every bullet with the numerous other girls I did social
links with and in an eleventh hour social link somehow I managed to make Yuko
also think I was interested when I specifically turned her down many times
previous. Luckily there wasn’t a situation at that point to fuck up with
multiple relationships but it still sucks to feel like I was unintentionally
cheating on Yukari with Yuko. But hey, you can give your girlfriend a Jack
Frost doll or flowers and other gifts so that’s neat! Too bad that wasn’t
carried over to P4. There’s also reverse links if you say or do something
stupid which is hilariously bad if you pick the worst option in a conversation
or just weren’t paying attention. Anyways, the social links were good and with
the choice addition of the female lead (basically deemed noncanon by the fact
that the boy main character appears in Q) allows you even to do a social link
and relationships with characters like Akihiko and Junpei, so score one for
equality! You can even date the much younger grade school student apparently
which is weird and uncalled for but you know Japan can’t stay classy so yeah… I
just feel like you connect more to the characters in P4 because you get to see
their inner turmoil and fears upfront thanks to the midnight channel and their
shadows when you help them face
themselves. To me that’s a much more resonant concept. No disrespect though,
the characters here work together well and are special in their own right.
While
social links are my favorite part of this game, the story was no slouch. The
ideas about the lost and ridding the world of shadows as well as facing Nyx
were great but again the mysteries in Persona 4 really were a better framing
device. It’s not that P3 is framed bad, just differently and it works in that
right. There are genuinely emotional moments like the passing of certain
characters and just some dismal moods that often hang over the crew for various
reasons. I really felt the mood of January’s inevitability and it resonates. The
story is really interesting and it’ll be a joy to see if Tarturus or the Dark
Hour have anything to do with Arena or Q’s story lines.
A
quick note about the music, it sets the darker, creepier atmosphere very well
and while not as hip and upbeat as the masterful tunes of P4, it catches a more
edgy vibe. Not to say some of the stuff for the school and malls aren’t upbeat
because they are, just there’s a lot more rap and electronica here than j pop
and rock. In a way that’s a really good comparison for the games as well.
The
other half of these Persona titles is dungeons and combat which feels a bit
more of grind here due to the optional climb to whatever barrier is blocking
you further path. This can result in a determined player like me who wants to
do on block in a single go having to ascend anywhere from 20-50 floors as
opposed to the 10-13 level floors of P4. The floors seem shorter and are
definitely a lot easier skip as the stairs are often right next to you but
still it feels more tedious given how often your expected to do so. Not to
mention once you get to the top, another night Elizabeth will tell you that you
have to save people who sometimes wind up in Taturus somehow which means
scaling most of those floors again to search for those dumbasses. It’s not
actually that bad though. In the original PS2 release you couldn’t even control
your characters actions which was thankfully fixed here. Personas and fusion is
all the same. The combat is fine and fun and its awesome they milked that
Earthbound surprise your enemies from behind thing for it’s worth. There’s mini
bosses at certain intervals in Taturus or on full moons there is 1 of 12
shadows to fight. The final boss Nyx was pretty awesome given you have to fight
every Arcana one by one which makes for a super great fight all while a pumped
up rendition of Aria of the Soul plays. It’s something brilliant.
So
I’m super tired after having finished this so I know this review isn’t the most
complete picture of this game. Even though I mostly compared it to Persona 4
its just because that’s the one I personally love more and why not? It’s the
superior game for my tastes but that doesn’t mean Persona 3 isn’t just as
badass in its own right because it is! Persona 3 has great social links,
fantastic characters, a gripping narrative, a sweet location, a decent dungeon
system, kicking tunes, and solid combat all balancing out to a pretty
spectacular RPG when stood on its own merits. It has most of the charm and
appeal of P4 and it was almost as addicting too. The magic certainly shines
through. It’s one of Atlus’s best titles and it has their signature passion and
flair in terms of quality. I loved it. 9/10. I’m definitely making another run
so I can date Aigis, the android that develops feelings and pretty much becomes
human. I really liked her character a whole lot. Now onto P4 Arena finally!
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