My Thoughts on Persona Games 3–5 (Part 2: ‘Persona 3’)
This is Part 2 of 3 blogs about my thoughts of Persona games 3–5. In the previous blog, I talked extensively about my opinions on Persona 5, which you can read here.
As you’ve probably read, I will be focusing on Persona 3.
There will probably be plenty of SPOILERS, so if you wish to experience any of these titles with as little knowledge as possible, best save this blog to read on a different day. Consider this your warning folks!
After doing my first playthrough of Persona 5, I took about a week off from anything Persona related as it was one hell of an emotional rollercoaster and I needed some time to reflect about what I had just played and whether it was worth playing for a second time, other than to Caroline and Justine. I thought about what I did and didn’t like about the game and wondered how that compared against the previous titles and I thought whether it would be worth playing them.
Sometime during that week, I took a trip to my local town centre with a friend gnawing his ear off about Persona 5. He is a PC gamer and dragged me into CEX to see what PC parts he could grab for a cheap bargain. I left him to it, as I wandered around the shop that blasted out edgy modern rock music that sounded something that belonged in the Twilight saga.
I then spotted one lone copy of Persona 3: FES next to one lone copy of Persona 4 right next to each other. It was as if it was fate telling me to get start the main course of the Persona meal having just digested the starter. For five English pounds, I bought them both.
When I got home, I booted up my PS2 and loaded Persona 3: FES, with a bit more knowledge than I did when I started Persona 5. The franchise focused around friendship and the summoning on Personas and I knew that the confidants of Persona 5 were called social links, so I printed off an online guide that would allow me to max out every social link on this one playthrough (I now have one prepared for my eventual second playthrough of Persona 5).
The only thing I knew about this game was that it was very depressing, and a lot of people did not like that. When the game booted I was presented with two options, The Journey and The Answer. I was totally unsure what this was, so I did a bit of Googling and worked out what it was. To quote the Wiki:
Persona 3 FES is an enhanced re-release of Persona 3 for the PlayStation 2. It contains an estimated 30 additional hours of gameplay over the original Persona 3, most of which comes in the form of an epilogue called The Answer, also known as Episode Aegis in the Japanese version. The English version contains both The Journey and The Answer, whereas the Japanese Append version contains only The Answer. The Journey is essentially a slightly-enhanced remake of the original Persona 3, while The Answer is an all-new epilogue that continues the story. The term “FES” stems from the word “festival.” — Persona 3: FES Wiki
When I began to play this, I thought Persona 3 looked pretty good, despite being an old PS2 game. It’s somewhat gritty aesthetic fitted nicely with the game’s location of Tatsumi Port Island and Iwatodai City (neither of which exist in real life, which was a tad disheartening when I discovered this). For such a large looking area, it is a shame that there is not a great deal to do. I do not know whether it was down to technological limitations (which I doubt as Persona 4 uses the same engine and there are a lot of similarities in how the two look despite one being based in the city and the other in countryside), or they had more planned for future titles, but it was seriously lacking. When I maxed out everything, I spent a lot of the time sleeping to progress the game. After maxing all of one’s stats, there was no real incentive to do them again for there was no fun behind them.
The characters in your party are an interesting bunch. In Persona 3, your party members are SEES, the Special Extracurricular Execution Squad, a club at Gekkoukan High School. It disguises itself as a completely normal after-school club where nothing supernatural happens, but they are really dealing with an event known as The Dark Hour, which is a secret hour which only a select few with the “potential” are aware of. Anyone who happens to be up and about at that hour transmogrifies into coffins. Shadows (creatures that have been spawning during the Dark Hour) are also causing many people to become victims of Apathy Syndrome (not the best name in the world to be honest), a mysterious condition that puts them into a vegetative trance-like state in which they lose the will to live. Victims are referred to as “The Lost.” You are dragged into all of this once everyone present, including yourself, become aware that you are one of the potential. I liked the setup of its plot. It appealed to me far more than Persona 5’s. It is darker and grittier and much more serious than what is essentially a bunch of kids rebelling against ‘the man’. I mention the plot here because it is quite important for my opinion of Persona 3’s characters and story as a whole, which changed heavily as I played it.
I can remember when I first started my playthrough, I absolutely hated it because I thought the characters in my party were not behaving as I expected them to. As the three of you (to begin with) are suppose to be dealing with a potentially dangerous Shadow that has appeared on a train station. Junpei, one of the party members, becomes jealous that you were made the leader, decides to play the noble hero and dashes off on his own. Yukari, the third party member) had been really arrogant up until this point as well and I just didn’t like her. It angered me that none of the cast got on with each other as they did in Persona 5.
But this ultimately became one of my favourite parts of the game. As I started doing various social links and getting on with the limited side activities, I would slowly realise that they are all independent characters who get on with their lives without you! Unlike Personas 4 and 5, where sod all of your party are social links and do not need you to moan at. The dudes in SEES can get on just fine without you. Only the girls are social links, and that is purely for the purpose of finding your potential waifu.
You are not needed to help the various members of SEES find their Ultimate Persona. They find it themselves by discovering their purpose for living, which is a constant theme in this game. That and inevitable death. None of you in SEES (your party) are really friends. You are part of a group of magical students who have a common purpose, so all that is need is to get along and get a job done. It is only in the very last cutscene where everything is hunky-dory with almost everyone. I thought all the main characters contributed something, story-wise and were all really likeable, even the antagonists Strega, a group of three nutters (well, two and a half) who can summon Personas like you in SEES but have to take some weird suppressing pills to control them and stop their Personas from killing them. I found that interesting that there were people in that universe who not only had that power but could not control it properly which almost made the whole Haru thing acceptable. I say almost, cause ATLUS does a better job explaining Strega’s setup than they do with Haru. As I previously stated, they don’t bother with Haru. The Evokers were an interesting tool as well which is obviously some clever metaphor that I don’t understand.
There is one character that didn’t connect with me, and that is Ken. As upsetting it is that his mother was killed by Shinjiro not being able to control his Persona, I feel little pity for him because he is quite frankly an ass. Try and convince me that Ken has any redeeming features whatsoever. I’m prepared for you to try and persuade me.
The game is incredibly depressing and very dark and poses lots of questions to be answered about its world and established lore. I had no problem with that really because compared to Persona 5, it was far more consistent in its themes, despite the occasional confusing plot points. I really enjoyed this more serious tone and I hope ATLUS adopts this again in a future Persona game. I have to say that it had been quite a while since an ending for a game had me in such a state. It was an incredibly sad ending, especially if you played ‘The Answer’ as well (which I will come too).
What helps to move the story along I think is the change of music during certain parts of the story. You will hear the cue ‘Want To Be Close’ during the first semester at Gekkokukan High School. I really liked this upbeat, but peaceful cue. There was a sense of exploration in this cue, which I think did a fine job at reflecting that you are the new kid on the block. I was a bit sad and surprised that it changed to ‘Changing Seasons’ during the second semester as I’d gotten used to the former cue. That said, I loved this one just as much, partially because it was now disco (and I love disco!) that has that weirdly seductive spoken French. It was more serious sounding, if still happy and upbeat. At this point, you feel part of the school community as you have made some good friends by now and know your way around Port Island, which is made all the more enjoyable with ‘ When the Moon Reaches for the Stars’ cue accompanying your travels outside of school. This is one of my favourite cues in the game! The ‘Iwatodai Dormitory’ cue is fantastic as well.
Some people have complained that that Persona 5 didn’t do this constant change in music throughout the terms, but I do not think it was a terribly huge issue as its music changed from ‘Tokyo Daylight’ and ‘Tokyo Emergency’ rather frequently, and I thought that worked rather nicely.
The music changes for a third and final time to the cues ‘Memories of The City’, ‘Memories of The School’ and an arrangement that combines ‘Living with Determination’ and ‘Iwatodai Dormitory’ when you are travelling around the school, Port Island and Iwatodai Dormitory respectfully. This is all very sad and serious as they appear on December 31st, when the party has worked out that they are probably going to be destroyed by Nyx along with everyone else, but they are going to try their best anyway. These cues connect very nicely with what happens in the story and is an incredibly powerful moment. I was choking back tears the whole time. These three cues and a few others also hint at the ending credits song ‘Memories of You’, which is probably one of my favourite songs ever. I was gone then, booing my eyes out!
Like the rest of the party, Aegis took a very long time to grow on me but by the time the final moments of the game rolled, I absolutely loved her/it (she is an android and thus is not human). She and Junpei really mature and blossom into fantastic characters (in my opinion) even though I am still unsure how she can have a Persona as she is not human. I would occasionally forget she was a robot/android because of the amount of emotion and intense thoughts she would verbalise with her party members. Junpei’s narrative arc is incredibly tragic as well, which had me in tears (again) when Chidori, his love interest died, as she helped him mature as an individual. As I stated already, Persona 3 is an incredibly morbid game and I have no problem with that as it tells a bloody good story with the themes of life and death constant throughout the game. It is about finding your purpose for living, making the most of every second and not letting even the most tragic events defeat you, which is in complete contradiction to… *cues drum roll*…
Persona 3 Portable
I do not own this game (or a PSP for that matter), so I am going to be quoting bits and pieces from the Wiki about the changes made to the game’s plot and the introduction of a female protagonist option, as that will do a better introduction of it than I will. I will admit that all of my knowledge of this came straight from the Wiki (other than the female protagonist option, as I heard/read that from multiple sources) and various online sources and YouTube videos.
The game allows the player to choose the gender of the protagonist, which possibly opens up new routes and scenarios in the story. (the male route is the canon route) The theme of the game revolves around the “Butterfly effect,” reflecting the changes that happen should the player pursue the path of one protagonist over the other, and the Latin phrase “Memento Mori” which translates as “Remember your mortality. Remember you must/will die,” as shown in the opening sequences… The storyline of the female protagonist features many differences from that of the male protagonist, such as new social interactions as well as Social Links. The Persona of the female protagonist is a more feminine Orpheus. In the female protagonist’s path, players have the choice of selecting Elizabeth or a male-equivalent named Theo to be Igor’s assistant in the Velvet Room…
However, unlike with the male protagonist route, her story can be slightly altered. If she initiates the Moon Social Link with Shinjiro Aragaki and maxes it before the October 4th Full Moon Operation, his death will not occur, and he will instead spend the rest of the game in a coma. During the last days of the female protagonist’s route, a student will speak of his discharge from the hospital. Another addition to the Female Route is that the player can choose who Igor’s assistant is. Igor will ask the player whether they think his assistant is male or female, and selecting “male” will allow the player to unlock Theo as Igor’s assistant, rather than Elizabeth. Theo is only available to the female protagonist, and cannot be unlocked for the male protagonist. In the Female Route, the player can choose to pursue a romance with Ryoji, Theodore/Elizabeth, Shinjiro, Akihiko, Aigis and/or Ken. At the end of the game, she uses her power to defeat the Nyx Avatar. By default, Aigis meets with her on the roof. It’s also possible for Akihiko, Shinjiro, and Ken to stay with her. — Persona 3: Portable Wiki
It is incredibly odd that a female route is introduced in this entry of this franchise only. From what I have read and seen of this title, I find that it is completely baffling, as it disregards the story’s themes! Having a relationship with Junpei seems odd given his feelings towards Chidori, a relationship with Ken is most certainly illegal and an upbeat female protagonist in the dark world of Persona 3 is just weird. It should be noted that this happened sometime after Persona 4 was released and a fair amount of people complained about Persona 3 being incredibly depressing and ATLUS listened to what the fans wanted and tried to fix it so that does make sense in a way, so I applaud them for listening to their fanbase. That said, I am very glad that ATLUS have said that this is not canon.
I do like Theodore as a Velvet Room attendant and would like to see another male assistant sometime soon, but I don’t think anyone can beat Elizabeth. Lavenza (from Persona 5) showed potential but came in far too late to make any real impact. Caroline and Justine of Persona 5 were cool for me if annoying, through their rudeness and arrogance, but they just aren’t the eccentric and curious Elizabeth.
Right, now back to Persona 3 proper!
The Answer
This is the expansion of the main game that takes place not long after the main game finishes. First and foremost, this DLC is hard! It is not for the faint of heart. I would only recommend playing it if you were like me and wondered how everyone in SEES got their Personas. If you don’t like Persona’s Hard modes, you may as well just watch some Lets Play of it on YouTube. Here is what the Wiki has to say about The Answer’s overall plot:
The events of The Answer begin on March 31, 2010, a few weeks after the end of The Journey. During the opening sequence, it is revealed that the protagonist peacefully died in his sleep while he was resting with Aigis. A confused SEES can only speculate that his death is related to him using his life force to defeat Nyx. The school year has ended, and the dorm is to be closed down soon. Aigis reveals to the group that she will not be attending school next year. During their last dinner party, the SEES members discover that they are trapped in their dorm, and that the day March 31 is repeating itself. Later, a large door-like hole opens in the floor of the dorm, and SEES is attacked by Metis, an anti-shadow weapon similar to Aigis. In the midst of fighting Metis to protect her friends, Aigis’s Persona, Athena, transforms into Orpheus, the original Persona of the protagonist. She also gains the protagonist’s Wild Card ability. Aigis is able to subdue Metis, whose actions were an attempt to end the time skip and save Aigis, who she calls her “sister.” Underneath the dorm is the Abyss of Time, the cause of the time skip. The Abyss contains seven doors, the insides of which contain multi-floor dungeons, similar in design to Tartarus; it is in these areas that the game’s combat takes place. At the top of each dungeon, SEES witness an event from the past of each member. After seeing several of these flashbacks, SEES discern that the event shown in each door relates to how that member had awakened to their Persona. — Persona 3 Wiki
If this sounds interesting to you and you want more Persona 3, go and check it out! That is, once you have experienced Persona 3 in a way that isn’t Portable.
I can happily say that Persona 3 is my favourite out of my the 3 Persona games that I have (and will) discuss(ed), even if it doesn’t have as much to do in its world. Its use of music is far more effective than Persona 5. For example, it’s exam cue ‘Junior Exam’ run through the exam weeks with no interruptions, which is something I wish happened with Persona 5’s ‘Life Goes On’, so it can be done. Even though it has a less ‘polished’ sound, which I remark in a positive way, as much of the soundtrack, like the game, is rather gritty with punchy hip-hop and rock getting you through The Dark Hour. I will say though that because I played FES, I do not recall hearing the original opening track ‘Burn My Dread’ often, only at the very end with the fight with Nyx. There was nothing wrong with ‘P3 FES’ but I would have personally loved to have heard ‘Burn My Dread’ more. This is my fault rather than the design of the game for not properly doing my research before making a purchase!
I personally can find little faults with this game, just like with Persona 5. I am glad that I had a stronger connection with this game than I did with Persona 5. To put it shortly, I just think Persona 3 is a better game.
Before you read about the final game in this blog, here are some of my favourite cues from the Persona 3 that haven’t been included in this entry already, in no particular order, for you to listen to as you read the next entry on this list. There are also some tracks that appear on the ‘Burn My Dread Reincarnation’ arrangement album that I loved as well that I couldn’t possibly ignore on a blog like this!
What is your favourite piece of music from the soundtrack? What part of the game made you cry the most? If you are not a soppy git like me, what did you find most depressing?
Let’s start a conversation people!
