Portable lets the player control the entire party, so the game no longer feels needlessly punitive thanks to AI goofs. On the PlayStation 2, you only had control over the main character's actions, and AI commanded everyone else. Portable is, without a doubt, the better version of Persona 3's battle system. Conceptually and visually, a looming hell tower that ruptures the city skyline every night absolutely rules, but in practice, it adds hours of endless are-we-there-yet grind to the journey.Ĭombat hurts and helps. You'll have the option to visit Tartarus on most nights, but the skyscraper-like dungeon isn't nearly as dynamic as those found in Persona 4 or Persona 5. While Persona 3's art direction, cast, and constant ruminations on fear make it one of Atlus' best, the monotonous dungeon crawling does not. It's a long way upĪ looming hell tower that ruptures the city skyline absolutely rules, but it adds hours of endless are-we-there-yet grind Pivotal story beats retain their themes with either protagonist, but I find those turning points more fulfilling after deepening relationships with the crew. Getting to know characters like Junpei-the resident tough guy nuisance-makes his foot-in-mouth babbling more empathetic. A few members of your core team (Shinjiro, Akihiko, and Junpei) only have Social Links available through her path, but you'll still maintain friendship options with the other high school girls in your party. By selecting the female route, I found several friendships and day-to-day interactions change for the better. Portable cleans up the writing in some areas, too. Neither path needs context from spin-offs or the FES-exclusive epilogue to bring its story to a satisfying end. Her iconic blue-bobbed counterpart is the guy referenced in more Persona 3-related spin-offs, and the game has a weird moment in character selection where it claims his arc is the better first experience. I default to Portable's female protagonist primarily out of preference for a few Social Link changes made from the male version, and some new music. Their creepy distortions make climbing the hellish structure less dull, even when I get caught up in comical games of tag trying to sneak up on them. The Shadows inhabiting the massive dungeon come in all matter of unnatural shapes and movements. Grungy layers of green, blue, and yellow coat the world in shades of anxiety, while the way Tartarus towers over everything establishes its horrifying scale. Everything feels haunted, and when the clock ticks over to the Dark Hour, Persona 3 taps into cosmic unease with style. I miss those sequences, but the world's discomfort and struggles with mortality come through in the writing and art. There's not much animation in the original, but this is one of the few moments where the absence hurts.īy selecting the female route, I found several friendships and day-to-day interactions change for the better The moment's tension, once highlighted with an anime cutscene, doesn't come through with just the in-game models. Those highs and lows start early, when the main character summons their Persona for the first time with the gun-like Evoker pressed to their temple. Portable's PSP origins have grown obvious with age-some scenes work just fine without their original animations, while others fall a bit flat-but the setting remains just as eerie as it was years ago. It's better in some ways and questionable in others. The PC debut is a port of the 2009 PSP retelling, which is divisive for its changes to the sort of "director's cut" version of the game, the PlayStation 2's Persona 3 FES. You'll do the usual persona collecting and Shadow slaying along the way, desperately searching for the omnipotent big bad torturing the city during its nightly Dark Hour. At night, the focus shifts to dungeon crawling through the mysterious labyrinth Tartarus. There's the day-to-day studying, flirting, exams, and other school-life woes. Persona 3 shares most of the social RPG hallmarks I adored in Persona 4 and Persona 5. You've got a year to figure out who, or what, the race is against. This RPG blend of high school and gothic apocalypse welcomes you with a litany of reminders that time is always running out, and before you even know what it's counting down to, Persona 3 starts the clock. Persona 3 Portable's fretful cast must share that midnight dread with me, though they have more supernatural terrors to blame.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |