A classic PS2/PSP game that made its makers a JRPG powerhouse | Persona 3 Portable - Review
A classic JRPG from the PS2 and PSP era has now been brought forward in time, re-released and remastered for modern systems, and in my opinion, they ported the wrong version.
It’s a questionable design decision from the makers why they chose to port and remaster only exactly Persona 3 Portable for the PSP, instead of the much more detailed Persona 3 for the PS2, with its 3D explorable environments during normal-life sequences and fully animated 3D cutscenes.
The Portable version is not without its improvements though, with the addition of a female character option complete with an altered story and controllable party members. I was half expecting that they will combine both aspects together and come up with a sort-of Persona 3 Royal, but alas, this was not what had transpired.
The storytelling experience of Persona 3 Portable mostly resembles playing a visual novel or even watching an anime. It’s a passable experience and somewhat still entertaining, especially when you factor in the amazing upbeat soundtrack, but I can’t help but think that it’s such a downgrade from the original in-game 3D sequences. If it’s any consolation, at least the navigation is much faster since the setup is now point-and-click instead of actual 3D free roam.
Persona 3 Portable is a heavily narrative-driven game that focuses on a group of characters with special abilities, including the player named main character. Most of them can summon a personal mystical being called ‘Personas’ to battle monsters called 'Shadows' while in the Dark Hour; a mysterious hidden time period that occurs during midnight between each passing day — time is paused, and only select people can perceive it alongside a much different world than normal.
The characters are mainly investigating a dark hour labyrinth called Tartarus which sets the stage for the dungeon crawling aspect of Persona 3. You explore the dungeon along with your party mates, either as a group or split — if they’re powerful enough to survive on their own. Hitting or getting hit by a roaming monster will activate a battle instance.
These aforementioned battles are turn-based. Attacks can either be a basic attack or one of many skills, performed thanks to the character’s summoned Personas.
Compared to the singular Persona of the NPC party members, the main character has the ability to summon many different Personas at a time, with the capability to collect them as cards and even fuse them together to build new ones. As with traditional JRPGs, there is a complex rock-paper-scissors weakness system in place.
The battles are tactical and engaging. Playing on normal difficulty, Persona 3 Portable presents a formidable challenge to the player and will require careful planning in bringing in consumables, strategic selection of skills, personas, and decision making in pushing through the dungeons or maybe resting for now, living to fight another day.
When you’re not battling monsters in the dark hour, you are put in a slice-of-life setting where you need to go about your daily life as a student. Maintain friendships with schoolmates, attend school to study, join clubs, and visit other places in town. A traditional visual novel gameplay.
These aren’t just inconsequential mini-games or additional flavor detached from the actual gameplay mechanics, these activities that you do outside battles will affect your character’s stats and attributes, such as your ability to collect and form new Personas, or change and improve skills.
I feel bad for complaining, but for an important game that put its makers on the map as a JRPG powerhouse, this re-release was a wasted opportunity with how the content was handled. Persona 3 deserved better. In any case, Persona 3 Portable is still a worthy game to play that will take you roughly over 50 plus hours to finish. It is still addicting once you get hooked by the story and the dungeon crawling. Especially if you're a series latecomer itching for more Persona content that you have missed.
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