Persona 3

[monele]

Why is it always the good games that never come...

It's not that it's *always* the good games... it's just that you don't care one bit about the bad games that don't come ;p

[Nafai]

Nearing the end of the game, and yes, I'm still enjoying it immensely.

I don't think the below impressions give out any spoilers, but just in case:

It really does strive to hit almost all the bases of that "High School Life in Japan" ideal that you can imbibe from anime and manga. From tests, to summer vacation, to the school trip, to a typhoon, summer festival, (which you will curse because of what it makes you miss out on) to, yes, the ever popular "Mistaken Hot Springs" scene quasi-mini game, which sort of plays like a very simple, very wet, Metal Gear

The characters are well developed and diverse, though again managing to hit the 'types' that many fans take comfort in: bishonen, precocious child, tsundere, shy girl, loud mouth, ice queen, robot girl and, erm, precocious dog. And that's just the main cast. There's more diversity amongst the people/groups that you can build relationships with, from a MMORPG buddy to a drunken monk.

These relationships are for the most part quite fun to see evolve, and yes, can also be a source of stress - while it *is* possible to take your relationship with everyone to the maximum, once you establish a "link" you really need to make sure you keep in touch - otherwise it can turn sour. This is especially true for the girls, who, once you reach a certain level of closeness with them, will tend to be very sensitive to you spending time with other girls. Since I didn't follow the "maximize all" FAQ, I've had to do quite a bit of running around mending my relationships with the girls - because while many relationships can sour, relationships with the girls can break - and even more than the shame-on-you-you-big-jerk factor, the gameplay penalty is horrid.

(Though no, you do not get shot to death by your loyal robot friend )

One understandable, yet disappointing thing though is that these optional SLINK relationships don't affect the in-game events as far as I can see. You may have broken Fuuka's heart but it's not like she'll give you the cold shoulder during missions. You may have become really close to Mitsuru(!), but she isn't going to treat you with less than her usual professionalism. I know there are 2 endings, but so far I doubt that these SLINKS come into play there.

In short, this is the most fun I've had with a console game since Suikoden V - which is saying a lot. While work on Elect will resume when I'm done with this game, I'm very, very tempted to go into concurrent development with a Persona-ish game. We'll see I suppose... ^_^

[Otaku Dash]

Why is it always the good games that never come...

It's not that it's *always* the good games... it's just that you don't care one bit about the bad games that don't come ;p

Too true... too true

Still a guy can't help but sigh at seeing these "gems" going around the world... and here we are stuck on an "Deserted Island", with a tv and a ps2 screaming "HEY!!! I WANT THAT TOOOO!!! T_T" *laughs*

[DrakeNavarone]

I grabbed this a few days ago, and I'm loving every second of it. Style in spades, nice soundtrack (with bonus OST cd too, and an artbook!) tons of fun, tight gameplay mechanics, and a near perfect incorporation of ren'ai/dating sim and RPG elements. I'm not very far (Fuuka just joined SEES, and Mitsuru-senpai's on the frontlines! YAY, MITSURU-SENPAI!!!) but the story is interesting thus far too. This can easily become one of my top 10 favorite games of all time. Maybe even top five, if it keeps up the good work. I wanna thank everyone who recommended it, it really is greatness on a disc.

[Nafai]

*cheers* Good to hear you nabbed a copy Drake! Atlus games have a tendency supposedly to... become very rare after awhile

Maybe if it sells well enough we can get Atlus to translate P3: FES (Persona 3: Festival) which is basically a bonus disc with costumes, more Personas, more things to do at night and 20+ more hours of gameplay

And yes, Mitsuru is great, only equalled or exceeded by the last female member of your party, whom you get later on. [And who is the focus of much of the extra FES content @_@;]

EDIT: Scanlation of Chapter 4 of the official Manga: http://www.mediafire.com/?1qjxynw3ymx

A bit confusing if you haven't yet gone passed the first time you see the Player's Persona, but the fight scene captures that particular part well ^_^