Persona 3 - FES edition

[abigsmurf]

Can't believe there isn't a thread for this.

After surprising myself by how much I enjoyed Persona 4, I went back to have a play on Persona 3 (which I had skipped as I wasn't sure if the series would appeal to me so I tried playing the most recent one first).

It's surprised me how very close the games are. They've taken a very different design approach to Persona 3 and 4 but the engine and the central mechanics are largely unchanged. That said, Persona 4 has that extra lick of polish, you seem to spend that little bit extra time looking at loading screens, there're fewer 'quick jump' options when exploring and the story side of things (at least initially) isn't as in depth and guiding as in personal 4. The characters (at least initially) aren't as instantly likable either (although the dubbing in 4 is much better)

I'm not that far in (about floor 7) and there are good and bad points. Sneaking up on monsters is fairer this time and not having to worry about escape items is nice but the "tired" aspect is fairly horrible, especially as it doesn't take a great deal of fighting to suffer from it (please tell me the number of fights you can get into before getting tired improves). It's also a nightmare not being able to control your party members and being able to view their equiptment at the police station but the manual hints you get full control over them at some point.

It's a bit unfair to compare it to it's sequel but they feel more like two different teams given the same engine and rules to work with rather than games produced one after the other.

Also, I'm early in and this game has been around a while, please avoid anything spoilerish

[abigsmurf]

I'm a fair way through this now, on floor 57 (the knight boss is incredibly hard, need to grind heavily for him). Enjoying it but not as much as Persona 4. The main characters aren't as likable and don't get as much dialog and the story is much more barebones.

Can you actually get soul links for other party members? There's hints that the president can be dated if you get high academics but other than that, I've not come across any obvious ways of building relationships with them. It's annoying as you're only one unlucky crit away from a game over and you can go 10+ floors without being able to escape (unless you want to start from the bottom)

[abigsmurf]

No one's reading this but I finished the main game yesterday and I'm moving on to FES now.

Enjoyed it but I thought Persona 4 was better. Better story, more complex and likable characters, tougher (largely due to extra turns on any weaknesses or crits at all), actual themed dungeons and shadows and lots of tiny bits of polish (changing party's equiptment outside of dungeons)

[prinnysquad]

So about how long are these games?

[toythatkills]

So about how long are these games?

P3, 80 hours or so.
FES, 30-40 hours

[abigsmurf]

I'd say 50-60 hours for a typical playthrough, 80 hours if you really make an effort to fuse powerful persona and grind a lot and up to 100 hours to do the hidden newgame+ stuff.

I'm not sure how long the FES part of persona 3 is (it's like an expansion pack that takes place after you finish the game), I've heard it's around 2/3rds the length of the main game.

Oh yeah, and be prepared for a final boss that takes 2 hours to beat

->Open Spoiler<-

going through every arcana, some of which have a 'high chance of crit on everyone' moves? Grrrrrr

[prinnysquad]

Hmm. So what are the mechanics of this game like? Is it a FFVII random-battle fest? Or can you see them, like Dark Chronicle? Is it a pure grind, or can you get through the game without having to whore to progress? I've heard the story is good and there are loads of social aspects to it.

[Malc]

Prinny, if you want to see what Persona 4 is like, as I believe they're all rather similar in terms of gameplay, length etc. Then check out Giantbomb's endurance run of Persona 4: http://www.giantbomb.com/endurance-r...t-114/17-1057/

They are currently on part 114 and there still seems no end in sight.

[prinnysquad]

Well I do have some time off work, I'll start to plough through them,

[Malc]

Good luck!

Even if you watch just a few, you should get an idea of what the games are like. Also, the two guys from Giantbomb who are playing it offer some comedy now and again whilst playing it which should make the viewing more entertaining, rather than just some random youtube video of the game. They do one part everyweek so you could just watch the game being completed if you don't fancy it yourself.

[abigsmurf]

Hmm. So what are the mechanics of this game like? Is it a FFVII random-battle fest? Or can you see them, like Dark Chronicle? Is it a pure grind, or can you get through the game without having to whore to progress? I've heard the story is good and there are loads of social aspects to it.

The dungeons are randomised but you can see the enemies and sneak up on them. In P3 it's one giant tower, in P4 it's a collection of themed dungeons.

You don't really have to grind much in P3, so long as you're strong enough to get to the top of the tower before the full moon, you're strong enough to beat the bosses.

In P4 there are much more dramatic increases in shadow strength between floors so you have to spend a bit more time on each floor (but the dungeons have less floors and you can exit with an item and return to your last floor).

[abigsmurf]

Completed FES now and I've the typical empty feeling you get after playing a game so long.

Was incredibly surprised at the ending:

MAJOR SPOILERS (obviously)

->Open Spoiler<-

The main character stays dead and they choose not to try to alter his fate when given the chance to. Right up until the game went back to the title screen I was expecting them to show or hint that the MC had returned but they resisted the urge to undermine the message and give a happy ending.

Gave FES a bit of a 'well, what was the point of all that then?' feel but I still admire the writer's choice to do this.

May be my last SMT game for a while until SMT Strange journey (or Persona 5) is translated. Not sure about the other ones, heard they vary between incredibly sadistic difficulty and dull stories (although I've loved every one I've played so far).