Psychic schizophrenia at its finest

By Erin Chupeco, hackenslash Contributor
INQUIRER.net

PICTURE this: you are a recently orphaned student who has just enrolled into Gekkoukan High — a prestigious establishment that seems normal by all outward appearances — that is, until the stroke of midnight, when the world literally changes. People are transformed into “coffins,” to protect them from hordes of enemies called Shadows that patrol the area, seeking fresh meat to feed upon. Fortunately — or perhaps unfortunately — you are one of the chosen few with the ability to summon Personas; entities that are a part of your character’s psyche, that can be used to combat these Shadows. You are, however, the only one in the student body to switch and use multiple Personas in combat, granting you leadership of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, formed to defeat the Shadows once and for all. And it only gets weirder.

In terms of storytelling and plot concepts, Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is a revolutionary breakthrough, playing and telling its story like no other franchise to date. While players do not need to be aware of previous Persona installments to understand the game, fans will find a few similarities in the game with its predecessors.

Optimism, rainbows, puppy dogs, and general happiness; these are not necessarily things that you will find while playing Persona 3. The game presents different complex concepts, raising issues like the psychological implications of sanity, paradigm shifts, and even mock “suicides” — most of the characters for instance, can only manifest their Persona during battle by pointing an Evoker (a gun-like weapon made to force Persona out of one’s soul) to their heads and pulling the trigger.

Hardworking student by day, Shadow killer by night

Life in Persona 3, however, isn’t all raindrops and emo music. Players get to experience the life of a regular student during the day — the character gets to study (increasing his intelligence if successful), plays sports and extracurricular activities (increasing his strength), or even watch chick flicks to increase his charisma. More importantly, relationships with other characters can be established and further developed — this plays an important role during the Dark Hour, which lasts from midnight until 1 in the morning. The level of friendships that you maintain with other characters can determine the type of Persona or bonuses that you can receive once the battle is done. How you choose to spend your day will adversely affect your combat abilities at night, and the limited time available forces you to prioritize the abilities that best suits your playing style.

As the only character with the ability to use and switch among multiple Persona (each with their own specialty ranging from attack to support), the player also has the ability to combine multiple Persona in order to form a new and more powerful entity, and there are almost unlimited possibilities for combination. The Persona themselves can range from the insufferably cute, to forbidding warriors, to fantastic beasts, to even strange brain-like entities with appendages. After every battle, a small card game is played, where players can earn new Persona or bonus items, though these can depend on the character’s relationship with other members of the party.

The downside to Persona 3’s gameplay, though, is that you are unable to control other characters in your party; instead these are relegated to AI, which allows these characters to fight depending on their current health status. Players however, can set tactics to determine the type of combat they should engage in during battle. While the AI acts intelligently for the most part, players may find it frustrating that fights can’t be finished faster by commanding other characters to place elemental or status attacks against Shadows weak in that particular element, or because another character heals yours a little too late.

Abandon hope and a sense of direction, all ye who enter

Another restricting feature of the game may revolve around Tartarus — the dark, uninhabited building where most of the battles will be taking place. There are no random battles that take place here, and upon spotting any one of the Shadows lurking around the corridors, one can have the opportunity to launch a first strike — not always an easy task, because your inability to control the other characters in your party can cause them to obstruct the path. While floor layouts change frequently with every exploration, many may find this aspect of leveling up and battling their way through repetitive mazes of virtually similar-looking doors and rooms very tedious. Some floors can only be unlocked through story sequences, so players will find themselves going through the same levels again and again as dictated by the storyline. The longer you explore Tartarus, the lower your party’s physical status becomes — once it drops to “tired” or “sick,” their combat ability becomes limited. Leaving Tartarus and spending a good night’s sleep replenishes their health.

The music heard throughout the game mixes a hefty dose of rap, rock music, and urban accompaniments — which would have worked well for the game, had these not have been repeated over and over again. Graphics-wise, Persona 3 does not boast the best visuals of most 3D games, but they are nonetheless appealing eyecandy. Most of the character art during dialogues are well-drawn in mature anime themes, and every Persona is well-rendered and visually creative. Battle sequences are masterfully crafted, although perhaps the most visually shocking sequences in the game are when characters shoot themselves in the head with their Evokers, sending what may or may not be figurative glass-like “brain matter” shooting outwards.

Multiple personas, multiple fun

Controversial or not, Persona 3 does work in terms of its singular storytelling and gameplay, and its masterful take on themes where most other companies fear to tread. Once you get past the sometimes grueling leveling, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is a decided must-have for every gamer who’s keen on trying something new and challenging — it encourages players to plan out the skills and fighting styles they would like their characters to possess, and ultimately, plan out how they would like to play the game.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
Genre: Role-Playing Game
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

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