Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES
by Atlus
Our Price: $19.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $14.00 (click here)
Category: Video Games
See more product details and other editions
Product Summary
Brand: AtlusAudio: English (Unknown)
Published: 2008-04
Release Date: 2008-04-22
Platform: PlayStation2
Number of pages: 370
Model: 53026
Publisher: Atlus
Product features:
- Includes an enhanced version of the original game plus the new FES
- 30 additional hours of gameplay with 17 new music tracks
- 120 hours of gameplay
- Includes a weapon synthesis system and hard play mode
- Includes the ability to change your characters clothes
Video Game Reviews of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES
Customer Review: A Must Have RPG
Summary: 4 Stars
STORY-
[The Journey]
This is the 'main' part of Persona 3, in which you play as a silent protagonist (unofficially named Minato Arisato, in case you're interested) who has come to the city to attend high school. He is supposed to stay in a dorm with other students, but upon his arrival his experiences a strange phenomenon known as the 'Dark Hour' - a time during which most normal people are put into a comatose state and strange creatures called 'Shadows' roam the streets. As it turns out, the rest of his dorm mates are all aware of the Dark Hour, and upon learning that the protagonist is also like them, they recruit him into their organization to fight Shadows with them.
[The Answer]
This is the secondary side-story of Persona 3. It takes place slightly after the events of The Journey, and clears up some plot threads and cliff hangers from the last part of the game. It's rather difficult to describe without spoiling the Journey, so I'll just leave it at that.
The story of Persona 3 is quite engaging, although it takes a while to pick up. It has a sort of a mysterious feel to it, since you don't find out exactly what the Shadows are or who the main antagonist is until you're well into the story. It has some nice plot twists and despite the fact that it basically boils down to another "save the world" story, it never really felt clichéd at all. There were some parts of P3 that were genuinely sad and upsetting - it did a very good job of making me feel emotionally invested in the plot. This is probably one of the best examples of a good story in a JRPG that I've played so far.
BATTLE SYSTEM-
Persona 3 is an RPG, and so it's pretty much a given that the battles will be turn-based. Fights are initiated when the main character touches a Shadow roaming around the field. Striking out with your weapon and hitting the Shadows before they have a chance to attack you will give you the advantage, whereas the opposite is true if you are ambushed. Once you're actually in the battle, it's pretty standard RPG fare. You can attack, swap Personae, defend, give orders to your teammates, use items: it's all relatively easy to understand. The meat of the battles and most of the fun in them comes from switching out your different Personae and using their abilities as needed.
Personae can be fused in a special area called the Velvet Room that can be accessed from the hub. Combining two or more Personae normally produces a stronger one, and there are a huge amount of them that are possible to create. You can also purchase Personae that you have previously owned without having to fuse them again, but the cost will vary depending on its level. It's entertaining to see what kinds of Persona you can mix together and which abilities will be passed down from its 'parents'. All in all, it's a good system that has worked well in previous games and continues to be entertaining to this day.
One thing that's kind of irritating is the fact that you can't directly control the rest of your party members. I have no idea why they decided that it would be a good idea to leave the decision-making up to the CPU while they could have just as easily let the player do it. For the most part, the AI is actually quite good, but I still would have preferred to give them orders myself.
The combat is okay, but it isn't the best or most original system to work with. The 'one more turn' thing can be exploited as soon as you figure out an enemy's weakness, which makes some battles a bit too boring and easy for my liking (of course, if you really want a challenge, you could always try playing it on the 'hard' setting). Switching Personae is pretty cool, but all things considered, P3 follows the formula of turn-based combat to the letter.
GAMEPLAY-
The gameplay of Persona 3 is split up into two basic portions: the daytime segments, in which the hero attends classes at his highschool and interacts with characters; and the nighttime segments, in which you can explore Tartarus and make progress up the tower. Of course, you don't have forever to accomplish this: you have a little less than a year before the end of the game arrives.
[nighttime]
Oh boy, here we go. A gigantic building with about a billion floors which you have to reach the top of by the end of the game! Sounds sort of like Dark Cloud, except even Dark Cloud didn't take place in one spot for the entire game. You can pick three of your multiple allies to join you in climbing the tower, and then off you go. Every floor of Tartarus is basically just a small maze of corridors in which Shadows muck about. To advance to the next floor, you must find a staircase. The dungeons themselves are nothing to get excited about. They're all randomly generated, and they all look almost exactly the same. These floors are divided even further into 'Blocks'. After each Block, the decoration of the floors will change. It's certainly a relief to see something different once in a while, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still basically the same thing each times. Certain floors have bosses which you need to fight in order to advance up the tower. Luckily, there are transporters on these floors that will let you return to the main hall and then go back again if you want to.
I'll admit, I'm not exactly a fan of dungeon crawlers, but luckily, P3 has other elements to its gameplay besides that one. The level design is certainly a little repetitive, and it can get a bit boring if you insist on carrying on for a while, but the game actually seems to discourage players from trying to grind a lot, and encourages using more time on other activities.
[daytime]
So, now you not only get to go to school in real life, you also get to attend classes in P3 (yaaaaay). It's okay though, because school mostly serves as a stepping stone for forging Social Links. Social Links are basically different people that you meet throughout the game, and by interacting with them, you level their particular Links up. So why would you want to do that? Because each particular Social Link corresponds to an Arcana, and each Arcana has a set of Personae that belong to that Arcana. And the more you level up an Arcana, the more sweet EXP bonuses you get when you fuse Personae in the Velvet Room. Not a bad deal, right?
You can meet different characters by joining clubs, raising different stats or completing specific tasks. Small events will take place every time you level up your Social Links, most of which expand on the character's backstory and personality. You also get opportunities to answer their questions or give them advice, usually by choosing from about three different dialogue options. If you give them an answer they like, their affection for you will go up. In this sense, it's kind of like a dating sim (in fact, you can actually get a girlfriend: or multiple girlfriends, if you're into that sort of thing). There are tons of Social Links, and you have a limited number of days to finish them, so it's actually pretty unlikely that you'll be able to max everything on your first playthrough. It's definitely difficult to juggle Tartarus and the Links, but that's part of the fun, no?
The gameplay of P3 is solid. It never got boring for me because there was always something new to do, whether it was raising stats or fighting new bosses in Tartarus or leveling up different Social Links. It's got a good balance of dungeon-crawling and other activities that helps keep it fresh.
VISUALS, CHARACTERS, AUDIO AND WRITING-
The graphics of P3 are what I would call 'clean'. They lack some of the bells and whistles of more recent PS2 games, but they are also void of unnecessary clutter and they are still pleasing to the eye. Most of the time, the characters are represented by fairly simple looking 3D models that lack much detail but are passable by most games' standards. The actually character models themselves don't seem to be the focus, though - whenever you strike up a conversation with someone, a sort of static portrait will pop up of the character that is speaking. They usually have a range of emotions and as they speak they'll change their expressions. It's not the most cutting edge game on the PS2, but it's still pretty awesome nonetheless.
The characters of P3 are great. Very rarely do I ever find a JRPG where I can tolerate all of the characters, let alone actually LIKE them. The dialogue doesn't feel really forced, and the voice acting work really helps to make the characters more human (except maybe in Fuuka's case). The writing also helped tremendously to flesh out your party members. Whoever did the translation for this game should be commended, because none of the lines sound awkward, out of place or poorly switched from Japanese to English. They're not the 'deepest' characters written, but they are quite impressive by video game standards, and I found myself actually caring about them as the story progressed.
The music of P3 is sort of a weird mashup of techno, hip-hop and J-pop. The soundtrack itself is quite good, although your mileage may vary regarding the songs with vocal work in them (hellooo, gratuitous Engrish!). There are a few really catchy tracks, and the boss themes are intense, so all in all it's above average.
PROS AND CONS-
+ Interesting gameplay that mixes dungeon crawling with sim elements
+ Tons of demons to fuse
+ Cool story
+ Well-developed characters
+ Catchy music
+ FES contains another side-story to play through (it's difficult as hell, though)
- Dungeon crawling can get a little repetitive
- Can't control your party directly in battle
- Bosses and enemies can be extremely cheap at times
CONCLUSION-
P3: FES is a great game, not just because it provides bonus content, but because it mixes two different types of gameplay smoothly and keeps the player from getting bored with it. This was my first foray into SMT games, and I'm glad I picked it up. I'd recommend it to anybody who enjoys RPGs, anime, dating sims, dungeon crawlers or monster collecting (well, it's not exactly 'monster collecting', but it's close enough). If you haven't already played it, you should definitely grab a copy. It's well worth the price.
Description of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES
A brand new chapter of Persona 3 featuring 30 plus hours of gameplay and an enhanced version of the original game loaded with new content and features, Persona 3 FES is the comprehensive version of one of the most acclaimed RPG's of 2007. Over 120 plus hours of total combined gameplay, numerous additions and enhancements, and critically-acclaimed game and art design.PlayStation2 Games
Computer and Video Games
Bestsellers in PlayStation2 Games
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2Playstation; The 3DO Company; Release date: 2001-03-21; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $50.00
Blue Thunder Racing WheelPlayStation2; Video Games
AC CablePlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $9.98
V3fx Racing Wheel 2Logitech; Performance; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $124.50
Sly 2: Band of ThievesSony; Sony Computer Entertainment; Release date: 2006-06-15; Published: 2004-09; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $11.00
Price in other shops:
Eye Toy Groove (No Camera)Sony; Sony Computer Entertainment; Release date: 2006-06-15; Published: 2004-04; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
Universal Game System RF AdapterMadcatz; Nintendo 64; CE
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
DDR Multi-Platform Super Sensors Energy Non-Slip Dance Pad (PS/ PS2/ Xbox/ PC/ Mac) with DDR Extreme (PS2)DDR; PlayStation2; Video Games
DDR Energy Wireless Dance Pad (PS/ PS2 & Xbox) and DDR Game Flow (PS2)DDR; ddr; PlayStation2; Video Games
Dance Dance Revolution Tournament Metal Dance Pad with DDR Konamix (PS1 & PS2)DDR; PlayStation2; Video Games
Price in other shops:
Similar Video and PC Games
Disgaea: Hour of DarknessAtlus; Atlus; Release date: 2008-09-02; Published: 2008-09; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $13.45
Price in other shops:
PlayStation 2 Memory Card (8MB)by Unknown
Sony; Sony Computer Entertainment; Release date: 2006-09-21; Published: 2006; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed KingSquare Enix; Square Enix; Release date: 2006-06-15; Published: 2005-11; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $11.49
Price in other shops:
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 PortableAtlus; Atlus Video Games; Release date: 2010-07-06; Published: 2010-06-30; Sony PSP; Video Games
Best price: $19.79
Price in other shops:
Tales of the Abyssby Unknown
Namco; Namco; Release date: 2006-10-10; Published: 2006; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $28.11
Price in other shops:
Star Ocean Till the End of Timeby Unknown
Square Enix; Square Enix; Release date: 2006-06-15; Published: 2004-08; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
Shin Megami Tensei Digital Devil Saga 2Atlus; Atlus; Release date: 2005-10-05; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $19.99
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil SagaAtlus; Atlus; Release date: 2005-04-05; Published: 2008-11; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $19.99
Shin Megami Tensei NocturneAtlus; Atlus; Release date: 2004-09-13; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $19.99
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4Atlus; Atlus; Release date: 2008-12-09; Published: 2008-12; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $19.65
Price in other shops: