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| Title Frame |
I know the English version was released like a couple of years back. For some reason, I got drawn into playing this game in full.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, A 2009 PSP remake of the first game in the Persona series which was initially released in 1996 for the PlayStation as Megami Ibunroku Perusona (or Revelations: Persona in the US), respectively. Despite the game receiving (mostly) negative reviews, having redundant dungeon designs and an annoying control scheme in some parts, I decided to give it another chance since I'm also curious of how the story goes in this game since I haven't played the original version.
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| The Main Character and the gang encounters... her for the first time. |
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| Imagine going through these same passageways for hours. |
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona centers around the (unnamed) protagonist and his classmates at St. Hermelin High School in Mikage-cho. Hidehiko Uesugi talks all of his friends into playing a game called "Persona", which is played much like the ritual game "Bloody Mary". While playing, the students lose consciousness and meet Philemon, who gives them the ability to summon reflections of their personalities, which are known as Personae.
A short time later, the protagonist and several of his friends go to visit Maki Sonomura, who is ill and bed-ridden. During their visit, they discover that the town is changing and demons are roaming the streets. More unusual events occur in Mikage-cho afterwards...
A short time later, the protagonist and several of his friends go to visit Maki Sonomura, who is ill and bed-ridden. During their visit, they discover that the town is changing and demons are roaming the streets. More unusual events occur in Mikage-cho afterwards...
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| Battle Screen |
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| Oh, Hi there, Igor. |
Okay, as far as gameplay is concerned, The first-person dungeon crawler was good but it gets boring later on because of the repetitive, empty designs. You just walk through passageways with the same walls and ceilings with no one there. The directional movements when inside rooms can also get confusing for first timers. The battle system's fine. It's just your regular, 5-person party turn based battle, common in JRPG's. The 'Auto' function is quite useful when you need to do the same attacks over and over again. It's just the limitations of the attack ranges that somewhat bugs me.
For graphics and audio, well, most of the graphics are the enhanced versions of the PS1 version. The added animated cutscenes were also well made despite the not-so-good voice acting. Shoji Meguro did a good job on the new soundtrack, especially the battle themes. It really heightens up the mood when playing.
Can we get something if we replay after beating the game? Definitely. Just like any other Megami Tensei game, you'll have additional quests in Persona. You can play three additional quests here: first is the Snow Queen Quest, an alternate route that you can take wherein a different story will take place. Second is the The Depths of the Mikage Ruins which can be obtained after beating the main story of the game and third is the Summit of Devil's Peak which can be accessed after successfully finishing the Snow Queen Quest. All in all, it's still 20 or more hours of gameplay, you'll also get stronger Personae and it really is worth checking out if you want to see how everything in the story fit together.
That's the shortest summary that I can say for now. Somehow, Persona is still enjoyable. If you are a fan of classic Shin Megami Tensei games or curious with how Persona's story goes just like me, I'd suggest to try this game out. Otherwise, save your money up for Persona 3 Portable or the upcoming remake of Persona 2: Tsumi
For graphics and audio, well, most of the graphics are the enhanced versions of the PS1 version. The added animated cutscenes were also well made despite the not-so-good voice acting. Shoji Meguro did a good job on the new soundtrack, especially the battle themes. It really heightens up the mood when playing.
Can we get something if we replay after beating the game? Definitely. Just like any other Megami Tensei game, you'll have additional quests in Persona. You can play three additional quests here: first is the Snow Queen Quest, an alternate route that you can take wherein a different story will take place. Second is the The Depths of the Mikage Ruins which can be obtained after beating the main story of the game and third is the Summit of Devil's Peak which can be accessed after successfully finishing the Snow Queen Quest. All in all, it's still 20 or more hours of gameplay, you'll also get stronger Personae and it really is worth checking out if you want to see how everything in the story fit together.
That's the shortest summary that I can say for now. Somehow, Persona is still enjoyable. If you are a fan of classic Shin Megami Tensei games or curious with how Persona's story goes just like me, I'd suggest to try this game out. Otherwise, save your money up for Persona 3 Portable or the upcoming remake of Persona 2: Tsumi
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| An excerpt of the town map. |
