Pong and Beyond

541st played so far

Genre: Role-Playing
Platform: Playstation 2
Year of Release: 2006
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus

Persona 3 is an interesting game. Part dungeon descending role playing game, part life sim role playing game. That’s not really a revelation – it’s sort of what the Shin Megami Tensei series is based on. The fourth game caught our eye some time ago, but the third is one that we have to play first – and over halfway into the project, it’s long overdue.

Our Thoughts

Persona 3 is an interesting game. Not quite what I expected (but I am not sure what I was expecting), although as good as I was expecting.

There are actually two games in here that affect each other. One part, that’s strong at the start, but gets equalised down the line, is the life simulation. You go to school, make friends and decide on activities that increase stats and give you access to power for the second part, a roguelike style dungeon crawler that has you fight through a spirit world place (with so far unknown destination).

The dungeon crawling is pretty decent, your initiative based on whether you can catch the enemies off guard. You explore a floor at a time, gathering cards to use spirits that determine your stats and otherwise doing fairly standard JRPG combat. Each floor you beat stays permanently beaten (although I suppose there might be a way back up). It’s interesting and deep enough, with some interesting powers unlocking later in the game, but not necessarily exceptional on its own.

The life simulation is more interesting. It’s a pretty straight forward setup, walking around the city, going to school or focusing on other activities to increase your stats and become friends with people in the world, something that powers up your spirits in the dungeons. There’s quite a bit of time management involved (and some sneaky activities that cost more than expected). While it might not be the most in depth area, it feels more interesting and different.

Final Thoughts

Persona 3 is a great-looking game that contains two good games. The RPG section is solid, focusing on spirits to switch classes and provide you with powers. It works well there. It’s difficult, at least at this stage, to lift specifics out. The life simulation may not be quite as in depth in its systems, but the variety and difference add a lot of character to the game that’s as much fun to follow up on.