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BOXART
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INFORMATION
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Platform: PSP
Release Date: July 6, 2010
MRSP: $39.99
Genre: RPG
Developer: Atlus
**Pre-order bonus: Junpei's Cap**
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Table of Contents
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I. Story
II. Characters
III. Gameplay
IV. Changes from FES
V. Videos
VI. Soundtrack
VII. Avatars
VIII. Reviews
IX. Notes/Credits
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I. STORY
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Shortly after transferring to Gekkoukan High School, the main protagonist (male or female) is attacked by shadows, terrible creatures that lurk in the dark, preying on those who wander into the Dark hour – a hidden hour between one day and the next. The assault awakens his/her Persona, Orpheus, and shortly after discovering this special ability, he/she joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES). As a member of SEES, you must wield your inner power—Persona—and protect humanity from impending doom. Will you live to see the light of day?
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II. CHARACTERS
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III. GAMEPLAY
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"LIVE A DOUBLE LIFE AS A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT AND A HERO"
Persona 3 combines elements of traditional RPG and dating simulation. The game employs a calendar system where the game progresses from day to day, and each day is broken up into several parts such as ‘Morning’, ‘After School’, and ‘Evening’. During the day, you live your life as an ordinary high school student: you can participate in a sports team or club meeting, study, work, eat at a restaurant, or hang out with a friend.
It is at night when you live a life as a shadow hunter as the game makes the transition from dating sim to RPG. At night, you are able to explore Tartarus, a 250 floors dungeon. The floors of Tartarus are randomly-generated, each containing shadows and a stairway to advance to the next floor. Shadows are visible in each floor, and combat commences once you come into contact with a shadow.
**COMBAT**
Battles are turn-based, but Persona 3 employs some twists to these battles. First of all, you can decide whether you want to control only the protagonist or the whole party. If you decide to only direct the protagonist, you can assign your party members roles such as support. Each character can attack with a weapon, but the most efficient way to inflict damage to shadows is by summoning your Persona to cast magic. Enemies, as well as your party members, have their own strength and weaknesses, and exploiting your enemies’ weakness causes them to be knocked down and grants you with another turn to attack - the same thing applies if an enemy strikes your weakness. When all enemies are knocked down, your party can deliver a devastating all-out attack.
**PERSONA**
Each SEES member carries a unique Persona, and each Persona has its strengths and weaknesses. Personas can learn new abilities and grow stronger as you battle and gain experience. Only the main character can change Personas, and switching Personas alters his/her strengths and weaknesses. Personas are obtained via a card-game after a battle or by fusion. Fusion is the process of combining two or more Personas to create a new, stronger Persona, and the new Persona inherits skills from the Personas used in the fusion process. The Personas you used for fusion won’t be lost forever as you can retrieve them for a price via the Persona Compendium. Be sure to register your Personas regularly and save before fusing Personas.
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IV. CHANGES FROM FES
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- New female perspective
- Full party control
- Combat assistance from party members like in Persona 4 (take a fatal blow, perform a follow-up attack, etc.)
- Completely revamped interface and presentation, with 2-D backgrounds and faster "visual-novel" style cutscenes, as well as faster text and fast-forward mode.
- Anime cutscenes have been replaced with in-game graphics.
- New social links for both the male and female protagonist.
- New music for the female protagonist
- New floor tricks and hazards in Tartarus
- Hall of Doors: an extra dungeon that allows you to refight bosses.
- Part-time jobs
- New costumes and outfits
- Five difficulty levels: beginner, easy, normal, hard, and maniacs
- Skill card system: lets you give skills directly to Personas outside of the fusion system.
- You don’t get tired during dungeon exploration.
- The main character can only use one type of weapon.
- No ‘The Answer’ story
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V. VIDEOS
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US DEBUT TRAILER:
PERSONA 3 PORTABLE WALKTHROUGH #1: THE PERSONA 3 EXPERIENCE
PERSONA 3 PORTABLE WALKTHROUGH #2: WHAT'S NEW IN P3P
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VI. SOUNDTRACK
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You can't have a Persona thread without its catchy soundtrack.
SOUL PHRASE (OPENING THEME)
A WAY OF LIFE (FEMALE OVERWORLD THEME)
WIPING ALL OUT (FEMALE BATTLE THEME)
DANGER ZONE (FEMALE BOSS BATTLE THEME)
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VII. AVATARS
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200 x 200 (scaled to 100 x 100)
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VIII. REVIEWS
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GamerVision: 10/10
"Over the last few months, as I followed the development of Persona 3 Portable, I hypothesized that it could actually be the definitive version of the game. Even though P3P doesn’t include the epilogue story from FES, it’s probably the version I would most recommend to new and returning players. After playing the 100-plus-hour game twice before, I still found myself immediately sucked in once again, and the improvements push the already fantastic game over the top. If you missed out on Persona 3 when it first came out, and skipped FES in 2008, then now is your chance to rectify that. Persona 3 Portable is one of the strongest games in the PSP catalogue, and a shining example of a role-playing game done right."
1UP: A-
"The perspective of the female character makes it feel like a side story instead of just a rehash, and after a series of disappointing RPGs this year (from my perspective, at least) in games like Final Fantasy XIII and Resonance of Fate, I found it strangely soothing to go back to a familiar, classic roleplaying experience. It may be a while before Persona fans get that next big release in the series -- this year's E3 was frustratingly absent of any info on a potential Persona 5 -- so we need to latch on to any morsels Atlus throws our way in the meantime."
VGChartz: 9.0/10
"Overall, Persona 3 Portable makes a successful transition to portable gaming. The same elements that made Persona 3 a revered game three years ago are all present once again, with the new wrapping paper that is the female main character and her different experience of the same story. PSP fans can rejoice that such a grand RPG has arrived on their system of choice, giving them the thrill of spending countless days in the world of Gekkoukan High."
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IX. NOTES/CREDITS
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**NOTES - PLEASE READ**
- Tag any spoilers including the male protagonist’s story. (Not everyone has played the original or FES)
- If you find any mistakes or would like something to be added to the OP, please inform me and I’ll make those changes.
- Feel free to discuss anything SMT related
One way to tag spoilers is by using HTML, located under 'paragraph'
Click HTML and Insert the following Font tag:
<FONT COLOR="WHITE"> Insert your spoiler </FONT>
Once you're done, click update, and the text should appear white. I advise you to do insert the Font tag at the end. Otherwise, any other text that's after the spoiler might be tagged as well.
**CREDITS**
ATLUS
ATLUS USA
megamitenseiwikia.com
animefan0000 (for providing the soundtrack)
