Thread: Persona 3 Portable Review

Introduction

Persona 3 Portable, released by Atlus, is a remake of the third game in the Persona series. Players take control of a young man, or as a new addition to the series, a young woman, as they attend school and form friendships, all while harnessing the power of their personas, other aspects of their personalities, to uncover the secret behind a hidden 25th hour that only a few people can experience.

Gameplay

In this remake, large changes have been made to much of the gameplay. Battles flow much more like the battles in Persona 4, where the player can take full control of all party members during battle, or opt to let them use their own strategies. Along with this change are new knock-down moves for each character, and the removal of fusion attacks that can be used when you have the correct two persona. In place of the fusion attacks are now items that can be purchased which perform the same functions.

From a more socializing aspect, the addition of several new social links on the female side add a lot more depth to many of the male main characters, and even a few chances to change significant events in the story slightly. The females romance options, however, are significantly more limited, with only four options, and only two of which can be interacted with from the games start to finish.

The roaming aspects of the normal world have also been changed. Rather then pick an area and then be able to control your character as they travel through that area, you instead use a cursor and can talk with static sprites of characters.

Graphics

The graphics in this game are on par with it's PS2 counterpart. The graphics are okay for a PSP game, but with no major faults or benefits. A big change from the original game, however, is the removal of animated cutscenes. These scenes have been replaced by either static pictures of scenes, or in-game graphical cutscenes.

Storyline

The storyline follows either of the main characters, the male or the female, as they awaken to the power to summon their personas and explore the mystery of the Dark Hour, a time that exists between one day and the next. Both characters follow the same storyline, with the only real differences being their possible social links, and several lines throughout.

The story of the female main character can be argued is slightly more in depth with its characterization, due to the inclusion of social links with many characters that tie in more closely to the main plot.

Music

One of the better aspects of the Persona series is the amazing soundtrack which can easily evoke any emotion that the game requires, and this game is no exception. In addition to many of the cool, mellow songs from the original game, the female campaign has a few of it's own, more upbeat songs to create a significantly less melancholy mood.

Conclusion

The Persona series have always consisted of great games, and this game is no exception. With the improved battle system, addition of an extra female campaign, storyline changes, and added portability, Persona 3 Portable goes beyond the port that it needed to be, and becomes possibly the definitive edition of Persona 3. Highly recommended for any fan of role playing games, or heavily story driven games.

Persona 3 Portable is available for the Playstation Portable on both UMD, and for download on the Playstation Network.

Im over 50 hours in so far and im loving it