By day, you’re an ordinary high school student; by night, the monster-fighting savior of the human race. Thus is the general set up of *Persona 3 *(PS2), the latest entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series, which takes the franchise’s trademark weirdness and balances it beautifully with ordinary day-to-day teenage activities like studying for exams and shopping at the mall.
The mundane maintenance of your high school life is more than just a distraction, it's an integral part of your Persona arsenal. Personas are creatures that you can summon during the turn-based, menu-driven combat to do your bidding. Making friends forms a Social Link that will give boosts to Personas that share the Link’s Arcana, but there are only so many hours in the day, so you’ll have to decide which Links are of greatest benefit to you.
The ability to Fuse Personas adds a strategy element that keeps the combat fresh and engaging lost past the point where it might've become tedious in other games. As you collect Personas, you can either level them up in combat, or Fuse them together to create new, stronger Personas. Fused Personas keep some skills from each parent, but lose others, and you’ll find yourself spending hours happily pondering all your mix-and-match options.
Persona 3 is beautiful, addictive, and nearly perfect. A few minor annoyances, like the frequent (though speedy) loading and the background music (it’ll stick in your head for days), can’t detract from the sheer joy this game provides. A must-have for RPG devotees.
--Susan Arendt
Wired: Beautifully balanced gameplay elements (socializing vs. monster-bashing) and some hilarious localization
Tired: I still have that stupid five-second loop of background music in my head
$49.99, Atlus
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