This review contains spoilers
persona 3 is incredibly thematically dense. it goes all out guns blazing, investing nearly every fibre of its being into expressing its overarching theme of death, and how our short time on planet earth means we need to cherish our time with the people we love for as long as we have them. from a storytelling perspective, persona 3 is one of the best videogames i have ever played. those characters and their struggles will stick with me for a long, long time.
but its gameplay really really irks me. its combat systems works wonders for bosses, but it really falls apart during regular enemy encounters, which often come down to fufilling the terms needed for an all out attack and then the enemy dies, rinse and repeat. ad nauseam. this makes tartarus a total slog to get through unfortunately, and it makes up the majority of the game's rpg side
the social links are hit and miss. the sun and hanged man were my favourite non party member links, the sun especially because it might as well be the game's whole message distilled into one side story, and its wonderful.
however, a lot of the other ones are more frustrating, either due to the characters themselves being terrible (nozomi, kenji) or the game forcing you to encourage their bad habits in order to progress the links (kazushi, hidetoshi). not to mention the fact that you have no choice but to date every girl that you have a link with, which of course triggers a jealousy mechanic and in general makes female sls a pain in the ass to do, which sucks because they tend to be really fun otherwise. also, male party members not having links is a fucking crime against humanity and i still think its the most baffling thing about this game today. i did love aigis's sl the most though. it was wonderful and super sweet
the finale is kickass in every sense of the word. i dont care that its cliche, the power of friendship is wonderful nearly everytime i see it used, in any piece of media. if i had any final complaints though, its that i wish i could have spent more time with sees as a whole. the whole sushi disscussion at the moonlight bridge is one of my fave scenes in the game and i wish there was more moments like it
but to tie this mess of a review together, persona 3 is a game i like a lot. its incredibly special, but also supremely flawed at the same time. as a result, i dont think i will ever revisit persona 3 (or at least, not this version) but, for all its issues, it was still an unforgettable experience
i am excited beyond belief to see what the other games in the series have to offer. That's 1/3 in the Modern Persona Binge!
but its gameplay really really irks me. its combat systems works wonders for bosses, but it really falls apart during regular enemy encounters, which often come down to fufilling the terms needed for an all out attack and then the enemy dies, rinse and repeat. ad nauseam. this makes tartarus a total slog to get through unfortunately, and it makes up the majority of the game's rpg side
the social links are hit and miss. the sun and hanged man were my favourite non party member links, the sun especially because it might as well be the game's whole message distilled into one side story, and its wonderful.
however, a lot of the other ones are more frustrating, either due to the characters themselves being terrible (nozomi, kenji) or the game forcing you to encourage their bad habits in order to progress the links (kazushi, hidetoshi). not to mention the fact that you have no choice but to date every girl that you have a link with, which of course triggers a jealousy mechanic and in general makes female sls a pain in the ass to do, which sucks because they tend to be really fun otherwise. also, male party members not having links is a fucking crime against humanity and i still think its the most baffling thing about this game today. i did love aigis's sl the most though. it was wonderful and super sweet
the finale is kickass in every sense of the word. i dont care that its cliche, the power of friendship is wonderful nearly everytime i see it used, in any piece of media. if i had any final complaints though, its that i wish i could have spent more time with sees as a whole. the whole sushi disscussion at the moonlight bridge is one of my fave scenes in the game and i wish there was more moments like it
but to tie this mess of a review together, persona 3 is a game i like a lot. its incredibly special, but also supremely flawed at the same time. as a result, i dont think i will ever revisit persona 3 (or at least, not this version) but, for all its issues, it was still an unforgettable experience
i am excited beyond belief to see what the other games in the series have to offer. That's 1/3 in the Modern Persona Binge!