Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3 FES

Persona 3 in general is an interesting spin on the RPG genre as a whole. The main difference is you don't control your other party members. This was merely an experiment on the programmers part.

This is one of the games one has to replay. Not only is it good, but unless you are a supreme master of appointment calendars, there is an anguishing choice of which story lines to choose. All of them are profoundly powerful. While it may be easy to write off the setting as a high school at first, the people you meet there and around town are individuals you will never forget. Then, off course there is the brawling. I love climbing the tower so much that there is the perpetual anguish of deciding whether to brawl that day or concentrate on upping card stats by hanging out with the well-crafted side cast. I have not played the bonus content before but the core game of it had me sold. A warning- it has some gritty scenes so it is definitely not tamed to fit kid show standards. It embraces the dark sides and realities of human experience- and loves them.

The dark plot of this game is as beautiful as it is depressing. This is one of those games that draws you into its world and makes you wish it would never end. The battle system is very fun; you can choose to fight or not. The social links you build really lets you connect with the characters on a deeper level than I've ever seen in a game before. The cutscenes pale in comparison to the graphics throughout the game. The voice acting is wonderful. Overall, this is one of my favorite games, and definitely one of the best made in the SMT franchise.

Anyone who likes RPGs with a excellent plot and a fresh battle system I have to give this game a really high recommendation. This game has a real immersion factor to it that keep you playing for a very long time. The plot has some interesting twists as well as one of the most shocking endings I have ever seen. Most of the plots twists in RPGs are pretty predictable. This is one of the few that does surprise you in a very good way. This game has a very depressing mood to it and will actually resonate with you for awhile once you see how it ends. The battle system is something new to me as this is the first Persona game I have played. I loved it. It keeps its challenge throughout most of the game(esp on hard mode, it is brutal) and not not a chore at all. Graphics are not very important to me so I will not stress them but for a PS2 game they are fine. The character design has a good balance of seriousness and wacky looking characters. The only thing I mark down on this is the fact the game can be TO depressing sometimes. However I love games that do something different in a world of shooter clones and happy storylines. The soundtrack can get a bit repetitive but that is not a real issue. The main points of a RPG are very strong here, battle system and plot. To sum things up + Amazing Storyline + Battle system as a whole is very enjoyable and doesn't get old + Immersion factor that I have not experienced since Xenogears. + Long play time(76 hours my playthrough) and it doesn't feel like it is dragging on. In fact you don't want it to end. + Very good character development throughout the story. - Soundtrack a bit repetitive. - Sometimes TO depressing but this is minor. - Tartarus(the main area you will be exploring) can sometimes be a chore to explore.