I’m an RPGer and I’m also a fan of Japanese culture, so of course JPRGs are a big hit with me. And the ones that will always have a place in my heart are the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series. Set in Japan, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona puts you in the role of teenagers who have to save the world from evil. Yes that’s right, teenagers. Of course not all teens are moody, whiny, little emos, some are; hyper, cute, mysterious, confused about their sexuality and are pop idols! And those are just the character types from Persona 4! But I’m going to look at the latest instalment, which is Persona 3 Portable or P3P.
The PSP instalment of the game offers many different paths to the player, such as a female protagonist, new social links, different menu layouts, two new difficulty levels and also some styles from Persona 4’s battle system such as being in control of all A.I.s on the battlefield – a God send when you really need members to be dishing out healing spells instead of random attacks.
The game has been re-made especially for the PSP. The character no longer runs through halls in school or upstairs in the dorm, but by a quick selection made by the square button. It’s a great idea because you don’t lose game time trying to locate a person, when you can press square, have a quick scan of the screen for that individual and you’ve found them! The dungeons remain the same, moving the character and your party through Tartarus battling evil Shadows. When playing as the female protagonist, your menu and battle colours all become pink and purple instead of the cold blues you get with the male character. It’s still the same layout, but with pretty colours for the girl gamers out there.
The story remains the same as Persona 3; you are a new student at a new school and are thrown into the world of Persona (summoning monsters) and Shadows. You live with your fellow Persona users in your dorm and have to journey to Tartarus during the Dark Hour in order to defeat the Shadows from consuming your world. Oh and you have to do this within a year! Think of Persona as Pokemon but without the cute little monsters and pokéballs. Instead you summon your Persona with an Evoker (basically a gun) and there is nothing cute and cuddly about these monsters! Except for Jack Frost I guess. I urge gamers to experience the Persona series as it’s one of the best JRPG collections out there and once you get hooked, you won’t let go.
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