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Shin Megami Tensei
Persona 3 FES
Shin Megami Tensei:
Persona 3 FES has finally arrived on Australian shores that is dark
fairy tale set in the world of Japanese anime RPG. Immediately, the
story draws you in from its prophetic words "Memento Mori", remember
that you are mortal as you continue from where the previous game left in
the latest addition to the franchise with some great new chapters and
addons.
So what exactly does
Persona 3 FES offer? Apart from one of the most engaging RPG experiences
on the PlayStation 2, Persona 3 FES offers a truly innovative gaming
engine that although contains quite a steep learning curve is definitely
worth the effort.
In the latest
incarnation, the game revolves around the Gekkoukan High School where a
group students called the Specialised Extracurricular Execution Squad
join together to fight the forces of the dark that turns this "peaceful"
world into a hellish nightmare where citizens are locked in coffins at
night and
the "stuff" of nightmares are unleashed on mankind.
Fortunately the world of
man, you are privy to this dark knowledge and with your friends, it's
time to liberate the world and bring an end to this chaos. At it's core,
Persona 3 FES is oozing with Japanese RPG goodness as you use a variety
of "magics" and weapons in your search for liberty. What makes the
game so entertaining are the twists and turns of the story and you can
never guess what happens next.
You even have access to
a bevy of cards that are used during battle to assist you with the
enemies that you encounter and can be quite engaging albeit frustrating
at times due to the unlimited combinations. Thankfully you have a group
of friends or allies who assist you in the battles that although
reminiscent of the Final Fantasy genre is still quite different and
stands on its own two feet.
Your main character has the ability to summon various
"persona's" to aid you in battles, however to keep things fair, you have
a limited number of mana and hit points. The biggest change to the
franchise is the ability to "personify" weapons, allowing you to create
some impressive, strange and powerful weaponry. Definitely a great
feature, however it does require some trial and error.
The RPG menu is a little
confusing at first, however allows for some great involvement and
"ownership" of the game as you mix and match your items, statistics and
magics. Control wise, the game is perfectly mapped on the DualShock
controller with everything in easy reach.
Graphically, the title
is still visually stylised and quite impressive on the PS2 with a great
colour palette and some good animation. Match that with a Japanese
inspired soundtrack and "sound" effects and this title is the complete
package. My only complaint are some of the special effects look a
little "cheap" at times. Even so, it's great to see developers still
releasing games for the PS2.
In conclusion, Shin
Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES is a very engaging game that will take
average gamers around 25 to 30 hours to successfully complete. Even if
you have a PS3, you might want to check this game because it's probably
one of the better RPG titles available at present.
Just be warned, it's
part of a franchise! |
