Persona 3: FES for PlayStation 2 Reviews by Gamers

I've never heard about the Shin Megami Tensei series until I read up about Persona 3 on GameFAQs.
When I heard that FES was coming out, I thought "Why not give it a shot? After all, I haven't tried the original before.". There were a few shortcomings, but FES quickly became one of the most enjoyable RPGs I've ever played.

Gameplay - 10/10

You start out by choosing a new game. If you've played the original P3, you can transfer save data and have most of what you managed to get(social links, compendium, academics, charm, muscle, etc.). There's now a new hard mode for those people looking for a challenge as well as easy and normal.

You'll eventually join a club dedicated to defeating Shadows called SEES. You'll be exploring a tower called Tartarus, trying to exterminate as many Shadows as possible and see what's at the top. You'll have boss fights with the 12 arcanas(Fool, Magician, Death, Justice, Hierophant, etc.) after you get into the game long enough. You have your standard turn based combat and personae which can help with spell resistances and certain attack resistances along with granting you attacks to defeat the Shadows.

While you're exploring Tartarus at night, you'll be building up social links(to buff up personae and be able to use personae with more power) and stats(to pass tests, be able to start new social links, etc.). This goes on basically until the end of the Journey.

New to FES, there's the Answer. The Answer explains all that happens after the end of the Journey. It's basically the same as the Journey except that you just go through different dungeons until the end.

Graphics - 7.5/10

The environment is kind of bland, honestly. You'll be seeing it 24/7 throughout the game. Kind of good at first, but quickly gets old. The animated cutscenes do look rather decent though.

Sound/Music - 9/10

All the good music is in the middle and end of the Journey and Answer.

Overall - 9.3/10

FES will easily last you 60+ hours. Buy it when you have $20-30.

Anyone who likes RPGs with a excellent plot and a fresh battle system I have to give this game a really high recommendation.

This game has a real immersion factor to it that keep you playing for a very long time. The plot has some interesting twists as well as one of the most shocking endings I have ever seen. Most of the plots twists in RPGs are pretty predictable. This is one of the few that does surprise you in a very good way. This game has a very depressing mood to it and will actually resonate with you for awhile once you see how it ends.

The battle system is something new to me as this is the first Persona game I have played. I loved it. It keeps its challenge throughout most of the game(esp on hard mode, it is brutal) and not not a chore at all.

Graphics are not very important to me so I will not stress them but for a PS2 game they are fine. The character design has a good balance of seriousness and wacky looking characters.

The only thing I mark down on this is the fact the game can be TO depressing sometimes. However I love games that do something different in a world of shooter clones and happy storylines.

The soundtrack can get a bit repetitive but that is not a real issue. The main points of a RPG are very strong here, battle system and plot.

To sum things up

+ Amazing Storyline
+ Battle system as a whole is very enjoyable and doesn't get old
+ Immersion factor that I have not experienced since Xenogears.
+ Long play time(76 hours my playthrough) and it doesn't feel like it is dragging on. In fact you don't want it to end.
+ Very good character development throughout the story.

- Soundtrack a bit repetitive.
- Sometimes TO depressing but this is minor.
- Tartarus(the main area you will be exploring) can sometimes be a chore to explore.

If I could give it a 9.7 I could. 10 to me is perfect and while this game is not perfect it is close. It got me into Shin Negima Tensei games. I have Nocturne coming now. Can't wait for Persona 4.