Gonna preface this review by saying P3 is my favorite game of all time, and all my bias for the hodgepodge of weird quirks and gameplay design choices that perfectly collided into making this bizarre and wonderful game is unavoidable.
I think there's a lot of games out there that do far better in terms of individual metrics like gameplay or graphics - but what makes this game truly special is how everything flows together. Nearly all of it's gameplay functions - no matter how egregious or tough to work with they might seem - have a purpose in it's story, and it all flows together in a cohesive masterpiece unlike anything I've seen before.
A perfect example of this is the way you cooperate with your teammates; there's no direct control over the other characters. Most people hate the AI control to the point where they don't want to even give it a chance - but being a dysfunctional group that slowly learns to depend on each other is exactly what the main characters are and the way this gets expanded on by the range of tactics that you're able to assign your teammates expanding each month you survive together is absolutely brilliant.
The main character is also my favorite silent MC (and one of my favorite characters of all-time, even) because of how well him being a silent MC is implemented; which I can't quite mention without going too deep into the story, but he has such a genuinely fantastic reason for being the way he is and it truly makes sense for him to adapt to a different mask for every person he comes across.
People like to think of him as the same blank slate silent main characters they're used to when they start the game (especially if they've played P4 or P5 beforehand and aren't expecting much) but trust me, he'll end up being so much more than that.
I think the game's definitely a slowburn, and the pacing regarding that isn't perfect by any means, but it is absolutely worth it.
I've never experienced a more gripping and genuinely warm story of love and hope despite how bleak the world might be, and I'm so glad I found it exactly when I needed it.
So yeah, if you're looking for some game you'll enjoy for revolutionary gameplay alone; you're probably better off looking elsewhere.
But, if like me, you adore it when a game makes use of all it's quirks and design choices to make the message it's trying to send even stronger, you're in luck. I don't think I'll ever find a game that does that as strongly as Persona 3 does.
This game is.. incredible. I think personal circumstances had a lot to do with it, but I genuinely wouldn't know where I'd be without it.
And for that, I'll love it through all eternity.
I think there's a lot of games out there that do far better in terms of individual metrics like gameplay or graphics - but what makes this game truly special is how everything flows together. Nearly all of it's gameplay functions - no matter how egregious or tough to work with they might seem - have a purpose in it's story, and it all flows together in a cohesive masterpiece unlike anything I've seen before.
A perfect example of this is the way you cooperate with your teammates; there's no direct control over the other characters. Most people hate the AI control to the point where they don't want to even give it a chance - but being a dysfunctional group that slowly learns to depend on each other is exactly what the main characters are and the way this gets expanded on by the range of tactics that you're able to assign your teammates expanding each month you survive together is absolutely brilliant.
The main character is also my favorite silent MC (and one of my favorite characters of all-time, even) because of how well him being a silent MC is implemented; which I can't quite mention without going too deep into the story, but he has such a genuinely fantastic reason for being the way he is and it truly makes sense for him to adapt to a different mask for every person he comes across.
People like to think of him as the same blank slate silent main characters they're used to when they start the game (especially if they've played P4 or P5 beforehand and aren't expecting much) but trust me, he'll end up being so much more than that.
I think the game's definitely a slowburn, and the pacing regarding that isn't perfect by any means, but it is absolutely worth it.
I've never experienced a more gripping and genuinely warm story of love and hope despite how bleak the world might be, and I'm so glad I found it exactly when I needed it.
So yeah, if you're looking for some game you'll enjoy for revolutionary gameplay alone; you're probably better off looking elsewhere.
But, if like me, you adore it when a game makes use of all it's quirks and design choices to make the message it's trying to send even stronger, you're in luck. I don't think I'll ever find a game that does that as strongly as Persona 3 does.
This game is.. incredible. I think personal circumstances had a lot to do with it, but I genuinely wouldn't know where I'd be without it.
And for that, I'll love it through all eternity.