My experience with the Persona series has been limited and all over the place. I don’t fare very well at turn-based combat and at the kind of strategy necessary to win fights consistently. It’s a bit strange because my favorite genre is turn-based strategy rpgs. I think it must be how things are laid out like on a chess board, and my brain immediately reconfigures itself to study the landscape. It’s not that I don’t lose battles or perform poorly sometimes, but there’s a kind of beauty in strategic thinking by using a set of systems and different character abilities within a limited range of movement and attack. Being able to use the terrain to my advantage is a must. In turn-based fights, not so much. This may be due to a lack of habit because, contrary to many people my age, I didn’t grow up playing these kinds of games.
Too much choice is my enemy because I can easily get overwhelmed. When combat in Persona 3 Reload came into play, I didn’t know what to do. At first, I intended to fully focus on the story and relegate the combat to something I had to do to progress. I was more interested in time management, upgrading social skills and links, talking with everyone, giving correct answers in class, and sticking my nose in every nook and cranny. However, in the course of my exploration in Tartarus, and due to the extremely easy difficulty I chose, I’ve learned so much more than on older Atlus’ games I’ve tried, given the frustration factor wasn’t at play. The number of skills and variety of our own Personas is maybe a bit too much to my liking, therefore I was very pleased to learn that my companions could only control one Persona. Bad for them, good for me! This gave me a pointer on how I could synergize with them and still use my most powerful Personas.
All in all, this isn’t a game I’m playing for the combat, the meta or the optimal strategy. It’s for the story because what a dark and gripping story it is! Everything is shrouded in mystery! From the moment we aimlessly react to whatever is thrown at us, until the moment the plot starts opening up and unraveling its secrets, it passes a long time. The main story progresses slowly between full moons and, somehow, I could never shake a feeling of uneasiness. At the start of the game, when we arrive in our city and are walking towards the dorm, we experience the Dark Hour like it was nothing. Then we meet a mysterious boy who asks us to sign a contract. We do it without asking questions. Was it just to input our in-game name or there’s something more to it? Who exactly is this boy and who exactly are we? Did our parents really die in an accident? So many questions!
Then, after meeting our first companions, we awaken to the powers of the Personas and the ability to control them. Our special power is the ability to control, build and even fuse many Personas. After this point the daily student life starts, and the school year takes a big part of our life. The social sim elements manifest themselves in interactions with other Gekkoukan High School students, with teachers, in class, in part-time jobs, and several activities around the city that increase our social skills. Then, when the Dark Hour kicks in after midnight, the air saturates with green fog, the time comes to a halt, Tartatus tower appears in high school, and we can explore it to our heart’s content until we reach a blocked path or run out of SP to trigger attacks. Oftentimes we can find the Reaper and need to flee from the floor we’re in and sometimes he follows us to the next floor. It gets harder to pick up treasure when he’s following us at high speed, but I managed to dodge him in tight places. One time I tried my luck at fighting him and the result of that fight doesn’t have to be told.
I enjoyed building my social links and respective Arcanas since the start and now I already have some maxed out social links. A maxed-out Arcana allows me to fuse more powerful Personas and to gain access to the most powerful Persona of that Arcana. I didn’t explore the recipes under Special Fusion that much, only to fuse Black Frost, which I’m still using. I’m still learning the game and the fusions are a great mystery to me. I’ve been learning a lot with the help of long-time fans of the series and by googling how to fuse specific Personas with specific abilities. Elizabeth from the Velvet Room has many requests for me about fusing with specific combinations of Personas and abilities. I’ve been learning how to complete those.
I feel that Fire Emblem Three Houses must have gotten some inspiration from Persona games in relation to the social interactions. I got a sense of familiarity when I bonded with my classmates and experienced their side-stories. Better yet, the interactions are much more meaningful than in Three Houses and for me to say this shows the love I have for this game. It’s not easy to make all social interactions appear meaningful and complementing the story almost to perfection. It shows a lot of dedication in creating unique and memorable characters. Take Bebe, for example, or the elderly couple. Those interactions were very wholesome, and I won’t forget them easily. The same goes for the annoying Student Council guy or the Track Team manager who decided to train little kids with my help. You don’t need to like them, but they’re well built. From those I remember, let me see, the businessman was a much more interesting and deep interaction than I thought. The classmate who had a weird relationship with a teacher was led into believing he would find true love from an adult woman.
From our S.E.E.S. team I’ve only unlocked Yukari and already maxed her out. It was a nice interaction that could end in romance if we so choose. I chose to stay friends with her because I have other plans. I’m very torn between Aigis and Mitsuru. However, I absolutely won’t pass the opportunity to romance Elizabeth, if she’s ok with it! You see, Elizabeth is one of these exalted characters who sees the world through a spiritual lens. It’s almost too good to be true. The way she contemplates things we take for granted shows an almost childlike curiosity and her reactions while engaging in several activities at Naganaki Shrine or at Gekkoukan High School come always with commentary about the mysteries of our world and the peculiarities of our exotic ways. Those guided tours with Elizabeth in the city gradually evolve into something more. She tries to interpret her feelings, and even though it’s very clear where this is going, the way that information is expressed to us is very sophisticated.
Oh, this game is good. Storywise this wasn’t my experience with Persona 5 Royal at all! Nevertheless, one thing I’ve learned is that mindset is everything. Sometimes we don’t connect with a game, movie, or book, not because we don’t like it, but because it’s not the right time. Sometimes said time never comes, but when it eventually does, we can’t stop dwelling in it! Well, I think I’m going to wrap up here. I feel that I didn’t say much about the game, but anyway. It’s not a new game and I’ve played Persona 3 Portable a little bit. I didn’t click much with it at first but I felt the story was very interesting. Still, it wasn’t enough to avoid getting distracted by other games. Maybe I prefer games with a modern presentation and many qol features. Whatever Atlus did, it made me stay, and I’m glad I did.
Discover more from Sword of Seiros
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Sword of Seiros 