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Chronicles Conclusion :
Recommended with a few details
For the followers of TL;DR
Pros:
Great story
Characters are well crafted
Social Links(Boy& Girl Route)
Aigis
Fusions are engaging
Battles are interesting
Cons:
Not useful and painful large tutorials
Excessive Hand-Holding sections for the player
Exploration are very limited
The Tartarus is very repetitive
Beginning feels very slow
Story tends to not go anywhere the half of the game
Hello dear readers, welcome to a new Chronicles Review.
With the remake on the road, I decided that making a retrospective of Persona 3 was the best way to wait.
A thing to note is that I wanted to review the FES version but I couldn't get it so here it's the Portable version, available in all current gen consoles so it was a lot easier to get it.
We won't be taking about the differences between versions, we will be talking about Portable as the unique version available (for better understanding), only a few things like the change of "anime" to 3d segments that had to happen for the PSP to run it well.
The Story:
If you're new to the saga or to this game, do yourself a favor and start by the original story, the precursor of all the loved interactions between characters of Persona 4 and Persona 5 started here in a little less polished style but the heart is there.
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| Portable has the boy (Original Story) and girl (Alternative Route with their respective social links, the game is overall better on the social side on my opinion but at the end it's non canon so pretty much first enjoy the original one) |
The story starts with you (the MC) starting on a new school "Gekkoukan", all typical of a new kid on the hood, you meet some characters, round around the school knowing the layout and then take your respective lessons to the end of the day go to your designated dormitory.
This is were the things starts to get interesting, you will see that your building has few persons and they're from all the grades, not taking much importance, the revelation that gives the game a reason to be remembered start.
The game states a strange disease that makes the person affected seems like a shell without soul, after all this information the game starts.
You're introduced to the "dark hour" the moment when all the population sleeps on coffins around the city and you for some reason are free from that.
Some things happen and you have to fight the enemies of this entry, the shadows with an "evoker" a gun that when you shot yourself reveal your "persona" a demon inside you that helps you fight.
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| This scene on the PS2 is better because the anime style fits so well on this saga |
That's all about the story, from my opinion this is by far the strongest point of the game and the saga in general so no spoilers (I don't care that is a PS2 game), the twists and gigs on the story makes the long journey worth it but stick around because the game is far from perfect.
The gameplay:
It's unpopular to say that the gameplay holds well to this day and that's exactly my opinion, the game works well but without the QOL of the next sequels(not directly) but it's enjoyable, the problems lays elsewhere.
We face a classic turn based combat with the peculiar quality of the weakness, when you hit or get hit by your weakness, the game gives you or the enemy that hit you an extra turn, if you're hit two times in a row(or vice versa) the victim will be stunned and maybe will lost the next turn.
Also you have partners with their own strong points and weakness, every one of them is the archetype of a class and you can use the party with 4 active at once, chosing the other 3 by your taste.
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| Don't forget the co-op attacks when you stun an enemy |
I won't enter much more to the combat, works and works well, also all the fusions than Shim Megami Tensei and the others Personas made, are here too and the system is as satisfying as you remember, don't forget that your MC is a very powerful Persona user and it's not limited to only one, so the diversification is on point.
The Tartarus:
Hey, remember those cool dungeons & palaces from subsequent Personas?
Well don't forget them because they will be missed a lot here.
The Tartarus is the giant tower that works as an arena and at the same time is one of the central points of the game.
In specific chapters you will be on dungeons outside the Tartarus but to be fair the layout and the similar textures don't help to be different, so you feel that you never got out of Tartarus
Also you have little side quests from some charismatic people that you meet here, nothing to fancy but does the job.
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| The problem with Tartarus are the repetition, more than 200 floors looking very similar without any difference in the layout. |
The Social Links:
I know that I skipped a lot of content, just the social links means giant part of the experience but as a Retrospective, I wanted to be the most brief possible to get the grasp of the game and at the same time incentive those afraid of P3 being to old to be enjoyable.
Just to say a little, the social links are great (not at the level of P5 but they're the fundamentals of those, the game works the same, you must maintain a balance between your social life and the Rpg aspects, the links makes the fusions of certain signs to be far more stronger but this game is very strict with the time.
For you to bring all the links on one round, you must follow a very strict guide to get it, I don't recommend that because kills the organic feelings of choosing your friends and romance.
As a peculiar situation the links of the female feels more polished and overall better but don't forget the no canon if that are important for you.
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| Persona 3 Portable wins a lot by the better combat but FES and the original wins a lot more for me with the 3D experience of the events. |
I will be brief, the game is awesome and holds well to this time but the Tartarus and the visual novel style, throws a lot of the charm.
If you like the Jrpgs and the other personas then it's a must, this one or the FES version, the story alone worths it, the problems are more subjective but they're here, the Tartarus will be more like that homework that you don't want to do but don't have options, ignoring that fact, the game is extremely good.
Thanks for reaching the end!
We see you on the next one.
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