Persona 3 Portable review: a messy, lovable RPG comes to next gen

the success of persona 5 Captivated by stories of teens using their inner power to fight injustice and save lives, it has created millions of new Persona fans. persona 3 portableis being re-released on Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox platforms, and Nintendo Switch means many of these newcomers will get a history lesson (warts and all) about the franchise’s roots. . Endangered.

And it really will be a blast from the past. Persona 3The port is a heavily optimized version of the PlayStation Portable released in 2009, itself an improvement over the PlayStation 2 original released in the US in 2007. There are no big leaps from the PSP version here. It’s the same game available to a much wider (and active) audience. And this is especially important given that Sony’s older platform stores are becoming obsolete.

persona 3 portableThe option to choose a female protagonist is a welcome change after two reticent men. Her dialogue is more fun and the option to date a man is refreshing, but sadly same-sex pairing is still off the table in this port: the game is played the first time and the female protagonist plays her the second time I warn you that it is to be done, but dive in anyway.

persona 3 portable It tells the darkest tale in the modern Persona franchise. yes, persona 4 It follows a murder mystery, but with a lot of levity and humor. Persona 3however, Death hits me at every turn. Every student has a deeply tragic past. Many are orphans or have strained relationships with their parents, even if they are alive. And most of the social connections I spend my afternoons and nights developing involve tragic figures struggling with depression.

The game’s supernatural event, the Dark Hour, which lasts past midnight, turns all non-participating humans into glowing coffins, causing Persona users to go on a rampage. This is made even more spooky by how party members summon their persona powers. Put a fake gun to your head and pull the trigger. These guns, Evokers, are neither real nor preloaded, but they symbolize the sacrifices required to wield a Persona in this universe.

Speaking of which, here’s a content warning for people considering playing for the first time: I’ve seen party members pretending to shoot them in the head every time they activate their Persona in battle.

Persona 3The turn-based combat portion of . Scaling Tartarus’ myriad floors is key to gaining experience before the massive boss battles that take place once a month when he’s on a full moon. This means spending hours scouring randomly generated floors with barely changing color schemes, sneaking up on shadowy enemies and aiming for their weak spots over and over again.

Battles and their menus are very similar persona 4 goldenbut there are no different dungeons. persona 5 Having enhanced the dungeon experience by giving that palace a unique gameplay conceit, the return for players like me playing the series in reverse chronological order will be very tough. I may have over-prepared for each boss fight by running multiple times, but at the time I felt the need to make sure the character was strong enough. But sometimes you need a podcast to break the monotony.

Image: Atlas

Characters can only move freely during Tartarus and boss battles. Daytime overworld map sections are limited to a fixed overhead view and cursor. This feels a bit sluggish and doesn’t mean you’re wasting your time navigating the labyrinth of Gekkokan High, but it also means that the social component is fleeting. Subsequent Persona games added more activities and distractions to the calendar-based aspect of Slice of Life. By comparison, persona 3 portable Reduced. For the first few months, I had little to do in the evenings other than studying, working in cafes, and chatting with the one social link I quickly ran out of. I was afraid I had missed something crucial.

I appreciate some simplicity. You have three social stats to manage instead of five: Academics, Courage, and Charm. This streamlines your activity choices and eliminates the need to stress increasing kindness. However, some social links are gated behind the highest stat levels. I haven’t finished the game, but I don’t think I’ll ever be a genius enough to hang out with the terrifyingly icy Mitsuru, who is also the student council president and founder of the team on a motorcycle. (Mitsuru is cool, but maybe not 100 hours. new game plus How nice. )

Image: Atlas

It also takes much longer to reach the meat Persona 3story takes longer between important story beats compared to later entries. In July, we finally met our main enemy. They benefit from Dark Hour and will do anything to stop my attempts to end it. The plot actually kicks off in September when he’s full, but after meeting his full cast and having a bevy of characters he can drag along his crawl through the dungeons. October and he had over 60 hours by November and I finally understood the danger. I think this story is something every new persona changer should experience, but without the new game variety (both slice of life activities and dungeons), it’s a huge challenge. This port is a nice up-res version of the aging classic, but I’m surprised it doesn’t add much beyond the ability to quicksave and return to the title screen in Tartarus and elsewhere.

Even so, after being sucked in persona 5 In 2017 I was totally going to play Persona 3 After so many people telling me it was their favorite entry. The system doesn’t hold up when layered with new titles, but I find its bleak tone more endearing and endearing It takes work to get to the end, but the intricate, messy, and bizarre story is worth it.

persona 3 portable Re-releases January 19th on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Game Pass. This game has been reviewed on Steam using a pre-release download code provided by Atlus. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.]