Is Persona 3 any good?

[Nuke]

Well, not unless Atlus goes insane/people stop buying PS3s over here in favor of PS2s......
Looks like I'll have to import -_-

[Erinu]

Koei "have no plans" for Fes, but we'll probably see it in 200..9.

[MX7]

For some reason I picked this up, despite my massive reservations. It was only £25 in my local indie (which is cheap for a UK new release). I'm about 12 hours in and I adore it. The atmosphere is fresh and fun, and the dungeon crawling really complements the main game. The music isn't what I'd listen to normally, but it really helps the atmosphere of the game. For the first time since I left high school, I've actually been getting up extra early to fit a few hours of this in a day. The dating aspect makes me feel a bit of a peadophile, but it's harmless fun (or so I keep telling my girlfriend). It's the first megaten game I've been able to stomach since SMT2 on the SNES, and for that alone, it deserves some kind of medal. After picking up so many RPG's recently and not being able to get beyond the first 3 or 4 hours, it's an amazing feeling to actually be able to enjoy a new RPG

[it290]

Hmm... I was thinking about playing an RPG (I really don't know why), but would I be better off with this or Baroque? I tend to like less (crappy) story, and more gameplay.

[Big Pockets]

I bought this for my wife about half a year ago. She really loved it as she likes rpgs and social networking/dating type games. I really like watching her play for all the unique visuals and fitting music. She said she would get scared playing by herself when the Reaper guy would show up in Tatarus. I guess he made an ominous chain rattling noise or something. Alas, I have yet to play it myself. I am watching Persona -Trinity Soul- however.

[honorless]

Hmm... I was thinking about playing an RPG (I really don't know why), but would I be better off with this or Baroque? I tend to like less (crappy) story, and more gameplay.

Probably Baroque, if you're only considering those two. It's a roguelike more or less, so you'll be spending 90% of your time actually dungeon crawling.

Persona 3 has dungeon crawling, but you'll also be spending hours and hours talking with NPCs and doing other random stuff to raise your stats (going to class, going to karaoke booths)

AFAIK, both games have random dungeons.

If neither one sounds like your thing but you still need to scratch that RPG itch, you might want to think about getting Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne instead. It's relatively cutscene-light and quite challenging—more of an "old-school" JRPG, I guess. And since Atlus recently reprinted it, you wouldn't have to pay $100 for it.

[ForceDevice]

Hmm... I was thinking about playing an RPG (I really don't know why), but would I be better off with this or Baroque? I tend to like less (crappy) story, and more gameplay.

Baroque by a long shot.

P3 has a fairly cliché story (for Megaten standards), one big and *mind-crushingly* boring dungeon and a totally screwed up battle system. Inputting commands for only one character in turn-based battles = worst idea ever. Still, even though I said all that, I still like P3 a lot. The Social Link system is an awesome addition, and the characters are all interesting and worth spending some time talking to. The non-Tartarus portion of the game is so great I *hated* when I had to explore Tartarus again.

Baroque is much more gameplay-focused, shorter and less complicated than P3. The story is there and it's pretty darn good, but most of the time you'll be fighting monsters and exploring areas, not reading text and watching pretty CGs.

For the P3 lovers out there: if you disagree to what I said on this post, just ignore it. I'm NOT going to discuss or try to convince anyone that what I think about P3 is right. -_-

[MX7]

was reading a review on Gamefaqs ( ) that came to the opposite conclusion: That the dating aspect was worthless and the grinding was the only reason to play the game. The magic of the game is you can choose how to play it: Either as a crawler, a life sim, or something inbetween. Once I realised this, I could play the game differently, depending on what mood I was in at the time.

In other news, I've almost managed to convince the ugly, nerdy girl to go out with me. Life is awesome.

[ForceDevice]

was reading a review on Gamefaqs ( ) that came to the opposite conclusion: That the dating aspect was worthless and the grinding was the only reason to play the game.

And by reading this, I came to a conclusion: there are more retarded reviewers on Gamefaqs than I thought.

The above comment shouldn't be taken too seriously. I do have a Gamefaqs account after all. lol

[MR_Soren]

Hmm... I was thinking about playing an RPG (I really don't know why), but would I be better off with this or Baroque? I tend to like less (crappy) story, and more gameplay.

I'd actually suggest heading to play-asia and picking up the Nocturne reprint. I think you'll like it more than either of the games you listed.

[MX7]

was reading a review on Gamefaqs ( ) that came to the opposite conclusion: That the dating aspect was worthless and the grinding was the only reason to play the game.

And by reading this, I came to a conclusion: there are more retarded reviewers on Gamefaqs than I thought.

True say. I still find it interesting reading sometimes, but I always take the opinions posted there with a pinch of salt.

[The n00b]

It's been awhile since I played a jrpg but I had to pick this up since it was only 30 bucks. These games usually tend to go up in value before I get a chance to play them too.

I was expecting more of a Final Fantasy Tactics feel but this really feels more like a traditional jrpg albeit with a beefy battle system that emphasizes exploitation of enemy weaknesses and when to use a certain persona.

The school and dating elements are cool too. I find I don't find them girley or strange if I just think of it as training a fighter albeit an extremely effeminate one.

About the only thing I hold against the game is how some enemies employ instant death spells. This shit is annoying and 60% of the time, there's no way you can guard against it.

[CMoon]

Picked up Persona 3 for the measly $30 it is going for. A really weird game that isn't necessarily shining in any particular department but has been pretty enjoyable nonetheless. About 5 hours in.

Seems to be more about choosing how to budget your social life than anything else!

Anyone want to report out on Nocturne?

[Zebra Airforce]

Anyone want to report out on Nocturne?

Nocturne is a turnbased title with a somewhat classic approach to battles.

Battles are turn based, with a set alottment of moves per turn. Some actions, like hitting an enemy with their weakness or performing a critical hit, will only require half of one turn, allowing your team to perform more attacks in a single phase. The battles are heavily based around enemy/player weaknesses, buffing your characters, and keeping the enemy's buffs in check.

The game is quite long, as dungeons are large, mazelike, and often require several visits to survive the entire length. Using saves as teleports will alleviate some of the backtracking, but you'll be frequently encountering enemies.

Most enemies can be enlisted by talking to them, and going through a little conversation branch where you'll often have to convince them to serve you. Some are too stupid to understand, though I believe it's possible to possess every monster if you're clever, and perform the correct fusions.

Going to the Dark Lab (or something to that effect) will allow you to fuse monsters together, as well as save the ones you have in order to be called back infinitely--for a fee. Fusing together monsters will allow to recieve new ones that can be stronger or weaker, or of a different family, or with new powers... There are even special monsters used just for weakening and strengthening monsters in their family so that you can explore the selection even more deeply.

Overall I'd say if you want something meaty this is a good choice. It's one opf the few RPGs I can really tolerate, and I have no idea why. I think it's the buttrock soundtrack.

[Diabollokus]

Yep Noctunre kicks ass both graphically and visually + the plot is nice and mature, no kids with spiky blond hair whining about women or big swords.

I found it hard as hell, battle system is great but still a few too many random battles. Dragon Quest 8 is still a better choice imho, yet design wise nocturne has the best enemies I have ever seen.

[CMoon]

Well I ordered Nocturne as though I don't have enough rpgs to play right now. Mentioning it within the same breathe as Dragon Quest 8; that and it seems to be pretty rare pushed me over the edge.

When it comes down to it I don't feel like there are really that many GREAT rpgs; in part because the whole premise involves suspending disbelief in what is otherwise a pretty tedious process. More often than not I find myself either put off by the interface or not intrigued by whatever novel thing they've added for the sake of complexity. Well maybe I'll like Nocturne (ha! $50 to find out!) I do like the idea of recruiting and fusing demons (the whole fusion thing seems fun in persona 3 as well) and the premise of the game sounds promising. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Ayanami]

Sorry for the revive, but I had a quick question about FES.

I have heard that the original game "The Journey" has many new features but also some stuff is taken away. I heard some of the character interactions are not as long and drawn out. I tried looking around on the net but all I seem to find is just information on the additions.

Is there anything taken away from the original quest in P3 FES?

[nietzschedancing]

Sorry for the revive, but I had a quick question about FES.

I have heard that the original game "The Journey" has many new features but also some stuff is taken away. I heard some of the character interactions are not as long and drawn out. I tried looking around on the net but all I seem to find is just information on the additions.

Is there anything taken away from the original quest in P3 FES?

This is my third time playing through Persona 3 and the FES version is the standard version with additional scenes/requests/persona etc. What was in vanilla is here too - from what I've seen, everything is identical (bar the FES additions, obviously). Is it possible you've read about the S Links being easier to rank up? They've certainly been expedited. I takes fewer points to rank them up and thus they grow much faster. Nothing has been removed from my experience.

CMoon - Nocturne is an incredible game. If it's your first SMT game it may prove a little difficult and will take some getting used to. If you can triumph over that, you're in for something very special. Demon fusing is what I love about the games. If you enjoy the whole mythology surrounding the demons it's even better.

[MadSteelDarkness]

Hey guys, that date with Elizabeth was kind of cool.

Playing this concurrently with Nocturne. I think my head is kind of imploding.

[MX7]

Just read that Persona 4 is on the way PS2 as well. Here's hoping for at least a US release.

Better hurry up with 3!

[CMoon]

4-5 hours into nocturne and need to thank everyone for the recommendation. This is definitely great stuff; a bit more to my liking than P3--but I'm convinced that P3 is its own thing and isn't really much like other rpgs anyway.

I am enjoying how much more input I have in character growth in nocturne (never mind actually being able to control battles...)

Edit: Can I ask for any feedback regarding the digital devil saga, and whether they are hunting down or not? My impression is Nocturne is the best of the lot for the PS2.

[Etrian]

Is there anything taken away from the original quest in P3 FES?

No.

[BulletMagnet]

In case you hadn't already seen it, here is an overview of the SMT series that can at least give you some idea of what to expect. In my experience Nocturne is the most impressive of the PS2 offerings, though the DDS titles certainly aren't bad buys either, if you're not put off by their style/setting.

[nietzschedancing]

Edit: Can I ask for any feedback regarding the digital devil saga, and whether they are hunting down or not? My impression is Nocturne is the best of the lot for the PS2.

Interesting plot spoiled by poor gameplay. They're barely Shin Megami Tensei games in my eyes but they do have quite a strong following. I believe they've also had a reprint recently so you can probably find them for a fair price.

A heads up if you read the HG101 on Digital Devil Saga - stay away from the article about DDS 2 as it's predictably spoiler-tastic.

[ForceDevice]

Edit: Can I ask for any feedback regarding the digital devil saga, and whether they are hunting down or not? My impression is Nocturne is the best of the lot for the PS2.

The first DDS:

Story is original but its development is pretty weak, in part because there isn't much to develop anyways. The poor translation doesn't help it either.

Characters are great and have way more personality than in Nocturne, and you actually have fixed party members. There's no demon recruiting in DDS, and this is the main reason why SMT fans don't like it. I like recruiting demons, but DDS is just so good I can't imagine having this feature making it any better. But that's just me anyways.

Dungeons are much better than in Nocturne IMO, they are more fun to explore and have more puzzles. There's no world map to explore like in Nocturne though, only a "choose destination" Grandia-like map.

The battle system in DDS is exactly the same as Nocturne except for the addition of using a "human form" in addition to your demon form, which allows some neat combos and even more strategy to the random battles. If you liked the Press Turn system in Nocturne, you'll like it in DDS for sure.

And last, the soundtrack is FANTASTIC. Shoji Meguro's best work so far. I'd say it's among my 3 favorite game OSTs EVER.


DDS2:

The plot is AMAZING. It explains everything that remained a mystery in DDS1, and does so in such a fantastic way it feels like DDS1 only existed to make you curious.

Unfortunately, the rest of the game isn't quite as good. The first three or four dungeons are cool, but the later ones suck ass. It looks like the developers suddenly lost all their creativity and decided to throw in a bunch of empty rooms and straight corridors only so that they would keep the player busy between a cutscene and another. >_>

Also, the soundtrack is pretty weak if compared to DDS1... although the random battle theme rocks.



In short, DDS and DDS2 kinda complete each other. They both are my favorite games on the PS2, so you should take the above comments with a grain of salt. lol but in this humble fanboy's opinion, DDS2's story and DDS1's everything else > Nocturne, P3 and whatever else I compare them to.

[Diabollokus]

I'm playing DDS1 at the minute got stuck in that fairy tale castle level, think I'm about 40% through the game haven't even started DDS2. Its very good but I just wish I had more time to play rpgs. I'm going to restart nocturne and finish it someday but 80 hours is hard to find...... + I'm not as patient with games as I used to be, playing Halo 3 at an insane level will do that to you!

Isn't any point in me buying persona 3 until I beat the others really

[Mortificator]

How's Devil Summoner? I've never played the Megaten games (except Jack Bros. ), but the various PS2 games look interesting, DS in particular.

[ForceDevice]

Diabollokus: The Coordinate 318 castle is the 4th dungeon in DDS1, and there are 8, so yes, you're about halfway through. And Nocturne isn't that long... I beat it in 43 hours. Unless you're going for the secret ending.

Mortificator: DS: RK is possibly the most underrated jRPG on the PS2, but I love it.

It's the only Megaten on the PS2 that doesn't have a HUGE flaw keeping it from being perfect IMO (Nocturne's lack of character development, DDS1's story, DDS2's level design and P3's battle system and tediousness). None of the aspects of DS:RK is outstanding, but none is terrible either.

The story is really interesting and a good history lesson (not only of "real" history, but also of Megaten history), the characters are all likeable and the soundtrack is fantastic - if you don't mind some jazz influences on videogame music, that is.

One of the things I like the most about DS:RK is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. The setting is dark and full of religious references like in all Megaten games, but at the same time it's lighthearted and full of jokes and funny situations. Good if you're looking for something that makes you laugh rather than trying to impress you.

I should warn you though, DS has a real-time battle system, even though the battles are random. Battles are quite simple, but they're pretty fun, if you can stand the demons' crappy AI. And you can recruit and fuse demons to help you in battles too... BTW, their lines during combat are HILARIOUS "That's peachy! Well done, me!"

[MR_Soren]

Nocturne's lack of character development

One could argue that Nocturne has the best character development as your choices and answers impact the game's ending, and your character develops as you decide.

I realize it doesn't contain a melodramatic epiphany scene where the main character finds some new resolve or set of morals, but you, playing the role of the main character, can have that moment yourself. I find that role-playing is more satisfying than watching, and it's something most console RPGs completely lack.


What I've noticed that most people dislike about Nocturne is that there is no pre-scripted banter between party members. Personally, I think that's one of the things that makes Nocturne better than most RPGs.

Isn't any point in me buying persona 3 until I beat the others really

You might want to snag a copy now as it could become difficult to obtain later.

[ForceDevice]

Nocturne's lack of character development

One could argue that Nocturne has the best character development as your choices and answers impact the game's ending, and your character develops as you decide.

I realize it doesn't contain a melodramatic epiphany scene where the main character finds some new resolve or set of morals, but you, playing the role of the main character, can have that moment yourself. I find that role-playing is more satisfying than watching, and it's something most console RPGs completely lack.


What I've noticed that most people dislike about Nocturne is that there is no pre-scripted banter between party members. Personally, I think that's one of the things that makes Nocturne better than most RPGs.

By "lack of character development" I meant the characters have absolutely no personality whatsoever. They have objectives, "reasons" and ideals, but they're still empty, soulless, and there's no interaction between them except for "do you agree with me? [yes/no]". They're just plain forgettable, and are like secondary characters when compared to their objectives.

It's perfectly fine if you don't like this kind of interaction, but for me it's essential to keep me interested in the story. I don't like to "role play", I like to see the story develop regardless of my existance as a "player", and without trying to make me feel like I'm a part of it, as if I was reading a book in second person.

Then again, I shouldn't have described this as a "flaw" on my previous post, I guess. It totally cripples the game to me (since I play RPGs exclusively for story - or should I say, for character interaction - most of the time), but there are obviously people who prefer it this way, and to these people Nocturne is nothing short of "perfect".