Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (ペルソナ3 Perusona Surī?) is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus, and chronologically the fourth installment in the
Persona series, a subseries of the
Megami Tensei franchise.
Persona 3 was originally published in 2006 on the PlayStation 2
by Atlus in Japan; the North American release of the game was delayed
due to issues with the publication of the official art book. An add-on
disc entitled
Persona 3 FES, containing a "director's cut" of the original game, as well as a new epilogue, was released alongside
Persona 3 in Japan in 2007, and in 2008 in other territories, with a re-release of
FES on the PlayStation Network in 2012.
In Persona 3, the player takes the role of a male high-school
student who joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad
(SEES), a group of students investigating the Dark Hour, a time period
between one day and the next that few people are aware of. During the
Dark Hour, the player enters Tartarus, a large tower containing Shadows,
creatures that feed on the minds of humans. To fight the Shadows, each
member of SEES is able to summon a Persona, a manifestation of a
person's inner self. The game's most iconic feature is the method by
which the members of SEES release their Personas: by firing a gun-like
object called an Evoker at their head. In addition to the standard
elements of role-playing games, Persona 3 includes elements of simulation games,
as the game's protagonist progresses day by day through a school year,
making friends and forming relationships that improve the strength of
his Personas in battle.
There are official soundtracks for Persona 3, Persona 3 FES, and Persona 3 Portable, as well as an arrangement album containing music from multiple games in the Persona series. Music from the game has also been performed live at two concerts dedicated to the Persona series. Persona 3 has seen a manga adaption, multiple radio dramas. Critical reception of Persona 3 was mainly positive; reviewers enjoyed the game's social elements, while some found its combat and environments repetitive. Persona 3 FES's
epilogue was said to give narrative closure to the original game,
although it was criticized for not featuring the simulation aspect of Persona 3.
A PlayStation Portable version of Persona 3, titled Persona 3 Portable was released in Japan on November 1, 2009, and in North America on July 6, 2010. The remake
adds the ability to play as a female protagonist, new story elements
and music, and a new interface designed for the PSP. In 2008, an
original non-canon anime set 10 years after the events of Persona 3, entitled Persona: Trinity Soul, was released in Japan and later in North America. Two fighting games that continued the storyline of select members of S.E.E.S., Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, were released in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
Contents
- 1 Gameplay
- 1.1 Personas and Social Links
- 1.2 Tartarus and Combat
- 2 Plot
- 2.1 Setting
- 2.2 Characters
- 2.3 Story
1 . Gameplay
Persona 3 is a game that combines elements of traditional role-playing games and simulation games.
The game follows the protagonist character, balancing their daily life
of going to school and building relationships with other people with
fighting evil beings known as Shadows during the mysterious Dark Hour.
Each day is divided up between various time zones, the most common of
which are "After School/Daytime" and "Evening". With the exception of
scripted events, such as plot progression or special events, the player
is free to choose how each day is spent, with most activities causing
time to pass on. The types of activities and characters that can be
interacted with vary depending on the day of the week and time of day.
Additionally, some activities are limited by the protagonist's three
attributes; Academics, Charm, and Courage, which can be built by
performing various activities or making certain correct choices.During the evening, players can choose to visit Tartarus, the game's
main dungeon, where they can build their party's experience and gain new
items. On the day of the full moon, players will participate in a boss
battle in order to progress the story.
1.1 Personas and Social Links
The main element of the game are the Personas, various creatures and monsters which are associated with the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Each Persona has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, and possess
various abilities, ranging from offensive and support abilities, to
passive abilities that support the character. Whereas each of the game's
main characters has their own Persona, some of which change form as the
story progresses, the protagonist is capable of wielding multiple
Personas, which can be switched between during battles. New Personas can be created by visiting the Velvet Room and fusing
together multiple Personas, passing along certain moves from the
Personas used. The Personas that a player can create are limited by the
current level of the protagonist.
Personas can also be obtained from Shuffle Time following battles, and
previously obtained Personas can be summoned from the Persona Compendium
for a fee.
The Velvet Room additionally allows players to take on quests, such as retrieving certain items, in order to obtain a reward.
New to the series are Social Links, bonds that are formed with
several of the game's characters, with each Social Link representing a
specific Major Arcana. By spending time with these characters, these
Social Links increase in rank. When creating a Persona of a particular
Arcana, an experience bonus will be granted if that Arcana possesses a
Social Link, with greater bonuses awarded depending on the rank.
Performing certain activities or carrying a Persona of a respective
Arcana can help bring a Social Link closer to increasing in Rank. Maxing
out a Social Link gives players the ability to create specific Personas
of each Arcana. Conversely, negative actions, such as incorrect
dialogue choices or dating multiple characters, can result in a Reversed
Social Link, which can prevent players from summoning Personas of that
Arcana until fixed. In the worst-case scenario, a Reversed Social Link
can break, effectively removing all Personas of that Arcana from the
game.
1.2 Tartarus and Combat
Tartarus is the game's main dungeon, which can be visited during the
evening, provided the conditions allow it (e.g. the absence of some
characters may prevent the player from visiting Tartarus that night).
The player may order the other party members to split up to explore the
area, or automatically attack Shadows on sight. Players will eventually
come across boss floors, in which the player must defeat powerful
Shadows in order to continue their progress. Additionally, certain
floors halt further progress through the tower until the story
progresses.
Occasionally, innocent civilians will wander into Tartarus, winding up
on certain floors. Rescuing these civilians safely before a full moon
appears grants bonus rewards obtained from the police station. Spending
too much time in Tartarus may cause characters to become "Tired" or
"Sick", which can affect their performance during battle. Additionally,
if the protagonist becomes Tired or Sick, some activities, such as
studying at night, may be hampered. Players can recover their status by
taking certain items, visiting the infirmary, or going to bed early.
Battle occurs when the player comes into contact with a Shadow
roaming the floor, with the battle party consisting of whoever is in
close proximity. Attacking the Shadow without being noticed will give
the player an advantage, whilst the enemy gains an advantage if the
player is attacked first.
Battles use the "Press Turn" system, in which both allies and enemies
take turns to attack using weapons, items, or Persona abilities.
Using the Tactics option, the player can assign specific battle AI to each party member (in
Persona 3 Portable, the may also choose to issue direct commands).
Offensive attacks are divided into three physical types; Strike, Slash,
and Pierce, and six elements; Fire, Ice, Electricity, Wind, Light, and
Dark, attributes of which both Personas and Shadows may possess
strengths and weaknesses against. Physical abilities use up HP whilst
elemental and support magic use SP. By exploiting an enemy's weakness or
performing a critical attack, characters can knock the opponent down,
granting that character an extra turn, though enemies can also take
advantage of an ally's weakness to gain an additional turn.
If the player manages to knock all opponents down, they may be granted
the opportunity to perform an All-Out Attack, in which all able party
members assault the enemies for massive damage.
Allies who lose all of their HP can be revived using revival items and
abilities, but if the protagonist loses all of their HP, the game will
end.
When a battle is won, players gain experience points which are
divided amongst the party members. Earning enough experience allows
Personas to increase in level, granting improved stats and new
abilities.
Some Personas may also grant Skill Cards, which can be given to other
Personas to teach them new abilities. Raising the protagonist's level
will allow higher level Personas to be summoned in the Velvet Room, as
well as allow the player to carry more Personas. At the end of certain
battles, a minigame known as Shuffle Time may appear, in which players
select a card from a set that is shuffled around. These can grant
bonuses, such as additional experience points, cash, or restored health,
or give the player new Personas. However, selecting a cursed card will
cause an extremely powerful monster, Death, to appear on the current
floor.
2 . Plot
2.1 Setting
The story of
Persona 3 takes place in a 2009 CE Japanese city called Iwatodai
(巖戸台?),
built and funded by the Kirijo Corporation. Experiments carried out ten
years ago created the Dark Hour, a period of time that exists between
one day and the next.
During this time, most people are transmogrified into coffins and are not aware of the Dark Hour; however, there is a select group of people who aren't.
The Dark Hour bends reality; Gekkoukan High School, where most of the
characters attend school during the day, becomes a huge labyrinthine
tower called Tartarus, and beasts known as Shadows roam the area,
preying on the minds of those still conscious.
The Shadows leave their victims in near-catatonic states outside of the Dark Hour.
To investigate and learn about the Dark Hour, Shadows, and Tartarus,
the "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad", or SEES, was created.
SEES is a group of high-schoolers capable of summoning beings known as
Personas to combat Shadows.
The
Persona 3
instruction manual describes Personas as being "a second soul that
dwells deep within a person's heart. It is an entirely different
personality that emerges when a person is confronted with something from
outside his world."
Persona-users usually summon their Persona by firing a gun-like object called an Evoker at their head.
2.2 Characters
The main character of
Persona 3 is a silent protagonist, named by the player at the start of the game.
He is a teenage boy, orphaned as a child, returning to the city he grew up in ten years prior to attend Gekkoukan High School.
After learning of his ability to summon a Persona, he joins SEES, which
is composed of students at his school: Yukari Takeba, a popular,
cheerful girl; Akihiko Sanada, a calm and collected senior who leads the
school's boxing team; and Mitsuru Kirijo, the Student Council President
and daughter of the head of the Kirijo Group, who provides backup
during battle.
As the game progresses, SEES gains several new members: Junpei Iori, a class clown and the Protagonist's best friend;
Fuuka Yamagishi, a shy girl who replaces Mitsuru as a support character; Aigis, a female android designed by the Kirijo Group to fight Shadows;
Ken Amada, a middle schooler whose mother was killed by a Persona-user;
Shinjiro Aragaki, a former member of SEES who quit due to past events;
and Koromaru, a dog capable of summoning a Persona.
2.3 Story
Persona 3 begins with the Protagonist transferring to Gekkoukan High School, and moving into a dorm in the city.
After learning of his ability to summon a Persona, he is asked to join
SEES, and is eventually elected its leader in combat. Additional members
join SEES over time, all students attending Gekkoukan: Junpei, who had
only recently discovered his ability to summon a Persona; Akihiko, whose
arm injury prevented him from fighting; and Fuuka, who replaces Mitsuru
as the team's support member. After awakening to his Persona ability,
the Protagonist is transported to the Velvet Room, which its proprietor,
Igor, says is a realm between "dream and reality".
Igor explains to him that his Persona ability is special: he is the
only member of SEES capable of wielding multiple Personas in battle.
In-game, the Velvet Room is where the player may fuse two or more
Personas to create a new one. Igor also encourages the Protagonist to
meet people and form bonds with them, known as Social Links. According
to Igor, the power of his Social Links will determine his potential in
combat.
On nights when the moon is full, the city is attacked by a Shadow
more powerful than the ones found in Tartarus. After several of these
incidents, Mitsuru is forced to reveal to the team the origin of
Tartarus and the Dark Hour. Ten years earlier, the Kirijo Group, a
research company founded by Mitsuru's grandfather, began amassing and
containing Shadows. They studied and performed experiments on them, in
order to harness their power. However, the experiments went awry,
allowing the Shadows to escape and assemble into twelve larger
creatures.
Each is affiliated with one of the twelve Major Arcana.
SEES's leader, Shuji Ikutsuki, informs them that, if they were to
defeat all twelve of the greater Shadows, Tartarus and the Dark Hour
would disappear forever.
As the year continues, the group adds two more Persona-users to their team: Ken and Koromaru. While vacationing in Yakushima,
Junpei, Akihiko, and the Protagonist encounter Aigis, who had recently
escaped the laboratory where she was kept, despite having been
deactivated for years.
For reasons she cannot explain, she has a need to be near the
Protagonist, even breaking into his dorm room at night to monitor him.
Aigis is also enlisted in SEES. After defeating the twelfth and final
Shadow, SEES learns that they had been mislead by Shuji Ikutsuki. By
destroying the greater Shadows, they have freed parts of a being known
as Nyx, which will bring about the end of the world if it is fully
restored.
Nyx, or the "maternal being", is the creator of Shadows; she is drawn
to Earth by The Appriser, or "Death", a Shadow of the Death arcanum.
SEES encounters The Appriser disguised as Ryoji Mochizuki, a recent
transfer student to Gekkoukan High School.
The Shadow experiments performed ten years earlier created the Death Shadow, albeit in an incomplete state.
Aigis, unable to defeat the Shadow, sealed it inside the Protagonist, who was a child at the time.
By defeating the twelve greater Shadows, the Death Shadow was
recreated. Its purpose is to usher Nyx into the world, who will bring
about the extinction of the human race. Ryoji insists that Nyx cannot be
defeated; however, he offers SEES an alternative. If they were to kill
him, their memories of the Dark Hour and Tartarus would vanish, allowing
them to continue life unaware of their impending death.
Aigis, who now realizes why she wanted to protect the Protagonist, begins to believe that she is useless.
She urges SEES to kill Ryoji, as they cannot defeat Nyx. Through
encouragement from her friends, however, she gains the resolve to join
with SEES as they attempt to fight Nyx.
On December 31, New Year's Eve,
the player must decide whether to kill Ryoji. If the protagonist kills
him, the game cuts to Graduation Day, with the entirety of SEES (barring
Aigis) losing their memories of the Dark Hour and the Shadows, ending
on a dark note as they prepare to celebrate in blissful ignorance until
Nyx inevitably brings about the fall. If he is spared, then the game
continues, and on January 31, SEES ascends to the roof of Tartarus to
face Ryoji, who has transformed into the Nyx Avatar.
While they are able to defeat him, Nyx continues to descend to Earth.
As this is happening, the Protagonist is summoned to the Velvet Room,
where Igor reminds him that the power of his Social Links would
determine his potential. The Protagonist hears the voices of his friends
encouraging him. The strength of his Social Links grants him the power
of the "Universe", allowing him to seal away Nyx from humanity.
The world returns to normal, though the memories of the past year
related to the Dark Hour are lost to the members of SEES. However, Aigis
and the Protagonist do remember. On Graduation Day, the two go to the
roof of the school, where the members of SEES had promised to meet
should they stop Nyx and live to see their graduation. As Mitsuru gives
her graduation speech, she and the rest of SEES suddenly regain their
memories, and the group rush to the roof to fulfill the promise they all
made. It is here that Aigis thanks the Protagonist for giving her a
purpose in life: protecting him.
