|
The first days of Persona 3 FES take place in the middle of the Japanese school year. Players step into the role
of the new kid -- a loner transferring to a strange school mid-term. We learn the ropes of this new setting by going to school
in the morning and heading back to the dorms at night, watching the days peel away on the calendar. There's more to
Persona 3 FES than just simulating the social life of a Tokyo teen. A violent, supernatural undercurrent ripples
beneath all the homework and after-school clubs. It may just be a coincidence, but one of the first days in the game's arc
is April 20th. The date is remembered by many as a holiday for stoners, but it's also the day of the Columbine killings. The
synchronicity here may be a coincidence, but it one that's hard to ignore. Persona 3 FES's magic-using teens summon
their powers by putting a handgun to their temple and pulling the trigger. A game that inspires such bold comparisons begs
a second look.
Now With More Grinding!
 Persona 3 FES lies somewhere between sequel and re-release. Nearly all Atlus’ games go out of print, fetching high
prices on eBay. Persona 3 was no exception. This game delivers an altered version of Persona 3, with a slew
of additional Persona powers and quests shuffled into the game. There's also an all-new chapter, “The Journey”
-- a spoiler-laden follow-up that mops up the aftermath of the original game. Here you play as the android Aegis and the whole
school year motif is thrown onto the back-burner, paring the game down to combat and crafting. It's a more-difficult and,
ultimately, less engaging version of the original game. It's beefy, offering dozens of hours of dungeon-crawling and Persona-making
for the hardcore fan. But the real reason to play is the original game, “The Answer.”
Going Up!
 Persona 3 FES has many faults. It's plagued by uneven localization and a profoundly tacky J-Pop soundtrack. Beneath these
largely superficial problems lies a smart reworking of three classic gaming formulas. At its core, the game is a “roguelike”
role-player, continuing the tradition of pared-down dungeon crawlers like Etrian Odyssey, Mystery Dungeon: Shiren
the Wanderer, and Rogue, the 1980 game that the genre is named after. In Persona 3 FES, a mystical
tower appears looming over Japan. The player and his mystically empowered classmates must explore the dungeon floor by floor
working their way up to the evil that waits at the top. Taken alone (as it is the game's “The Answer” add-on)
this kind of grind would be boring, but Persona 3 FES breaks up the monotony with the school day. Every day the player
forms and juggles relationships with classmates and shopkeepers, much like a dating sim. These bonds feed into the titular
Personas, buffing up the summoned creatures that grant the player different powers. Personas are won in battle and can be
combined via a crafting system to create new, more powerful creatures. These three mechanics are cleverly woven together,
using a dash of Pokemon, a bit of Nethack, and a dollop of The Sims to create an engrossing role-playing
experience.
Hearing Things
 There aren't many games that tackle high school life very well. Bully now stands as one of the best American games
to examine the life of the teenager. Square-Enix's surprisingly effective The World Ends With You covers much of
the same territory as Persona 3 FES and it pulled it off with less embarrassment. Persona 3 FES falls prey
to the same localization issues that plague most Japanese imports. Stiff voice acting and ellipsis abuse cause many scenes
to lapse into cliché. For every muffed line, there's a sharply written, lively character like Junpei. And Igor, the mysterious
gentleman with the oversized schnoz in the game's Velvet Room, delivers some of the best voice acting we've seen in an Atlus
game. The game's perky music, especially the track with the funky rap bits, is downright embarrassing. As role-playing games
have continued to prove, all this junk can be forgiven if the nuts and bolts of play are compelling enough. The three interwoven
role-play threads in Persona 3 FES are so deftly sewn that it's easy to tune out the rest of the noise.
|
|
| 6.0 |
Graphics
The graphics are ok
but could be better. |
| 5.5 |
Sound
The sound is bad and plus
the music is embarrassing. |
| 9.5 |
Gameplay
Good:The gameplay is pretty good it really reminds me
of bully lol but in japan, Rougelike dungeons that make the game shine , tons of new personas, and great quest and stories.
Bad: This game messed up on minor mistakes like what I said about the embarrassing music, also the turn-based
dungeon crawls can get old, and finally uneven voice acting that can get annoying |
| 8.0 |
Last Thoughts Buy or Don't Buy |
8.5
Ok |
Ok this is a tough one but this is a definit buy because this is awsome and great
might have a few bumps but all games do. But this game can give you some joy so good luck!
OVERALL
|
|
