With the exception of the first two games, the Persona series is totally fantastic! The first two were okay, but nothing like what is found within the last three games. Had to wait a long time between games as this one took forever to be released, unlike the fourth game which was not released too long after the third. I am happy to report that this one was worth the wait. I do rank this one ahead of the third game, but slightly behind the fourth. Not by much mind you as I give all three a 10 score. I just feel the fourth one had a better and more interesting story and the music in that one was way better too. This one is by far the best looking of the trio, but that would have to be the case seeing as how three and four were both released on the PS2. This one also was a bit overwhelming at first too, due to the large scale of the game making me wish they had released a strategy guide for this one as that really helped my game play experience with the fourth one as it really helped me sort out what I was going to do and I was easily able to max out social links and stats and such. Here, I was taking a stab in the dark a lot of times, which is why I did not max out all that many social links in this one, kind of got to the end and was shocked it was nearly over despite the length of the game.
The story in this one starts out by having a group calling themselves the Phantom Thieves pulling off a heist. You are thrust right into the action only to find your character taken into custody! We then go back in time as the main character is interrogated by a prosecutor about the events leading up to the failed caper. The main character comes to a city where he must live with a guardian due to the fact he is on probation due to an event where he was unjustly prosecuted for assault. He goes about his high school life, but one day he and his friend Ruiji find themselves in a strange alternate version of their school where they meet a strange cat like humanoid named Morgana. Through Morgana they learn the secrets to this alternate school and learn they have the ability to change a person's ways by infiltrating it. They first tackle a man whose sick desires is making people at the school miserable to the point of suicide! Another student, Ann, soon joins the group and soon they are the Phantom Thieves as more join their ranks and they must continue to infiltrate Palaces and this strange realm known as Mementos as they begin to learn the strange truth and try to reform society!
The game play for this one is like the third and fourth game, which was a relief to me. I was afraid they were going to try to change it up like so many other RPG franchises have done in recent years. No, this one still relies on turn based battles, which I prefer as they offer more strategy during the combat. You also still go through your daily life, though there is a lot more to do in this one and you play a more active role during events in this one. You still must max out social links, which is difficult due to the fact I was going at it rather blindly here. You also do the whole fusion thing that is common in this series and the whole Shin Megami series as well. Very little to complain about, as long as you enjoyed the third and fourth game you should enjoy this one as it is like those.
So, this one was a very great RPG game which is my favorite genre of video games. I like that it is like the old school ones where the battles are turn based and the world is not open world that is so prevalent these days. I also loved the fact that the game play is the same as three and four as I was very fearful that they would change things up as that is like the thing to do these days. It was nice that the makers of this series went against the grain and stayed basically the same with just an upgrade in graphics and a bit more interactivity during your daily life. I would say technically this one is the best of the three, but I still have to go with four's murder mystery story as my favorite of the series. This one though was great and worth checking out!
