Persona for PSP Reviews by Gamers

The success of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 and 4 have sparked a renewed interest in Atlus' long-standing RPG series and brought in a whole new audience that likely never gave the games a chance in the past. Thanks in large part to the smallish developer/publisher's tireless pursuit of quality localizations, the franchise has carved out a niche to help satisfy the need for quirky dungeon crawlers with a healthy smattering of social interactions without losing any of Persona's inimitable Japanese charm.



But it wasn't always this way. The MegaTen games have stretched back for over two decades, and translations back in the era of the original PlayStation were rarely – if ever – on the level they are now, even from the bigger publishers. Atlus isn't huge by any means now, much less during the 32-bit days, and the original localization of Revelations: Persona was… well, let's call it "troubled" and leave it at that.



The desire to make the series as palatable to the American audience as possible resulted in a number of changes; an attempt to make the whole game take place here in the States, re-coloring of characters' skin and Americanization of their names could be considered excusable given the mentality of publishers at the time, but the complete removal of a fairly major alternate quest from the game and a generally weak localization left the series a shadow of its original Japanese self.



Flash forward a lucky 13 years and we've got the simply titled Persona, which preserves the whole of the original game's setting, characters and content, plus adds more than a few tweaks to make the whole experience shine as it should have. Sure, most of the battle and event graphics are every bit as quaintly dated as they were even when the game first hit American shores, but nearly everything else has gotten a face lift. The result? A game that mixes equal parts first-person dungeon crawling, light introspective philosophizing and, uh, monster conversations and ends up being a genuinely original take on a now-familiar formula.



I never got the chance to play the original game, so I only got to hear about its polarizing nature from both sides of the fence. I can happily report that the update, despite holding firm to its classically hardcore roots, feels gussied up with enough improvements to feel like peeking back in time through the veil of a more modern interface – which is arguably the biggest change to things. With the core game left to present itself as it was originally intended, while everything around it was made to be easier to digest, Persona emerges as something totally unique on the PSP.



But it is hardcore, make no mistake. The encounter rate is ridiculously high, the challenge – particularly in the restored Snow Queen side quest – can be daunting even on the easier difficulty levels and the process of "negotiating" with monsters a little confusing at first. Even still, the storyline starts with an incredibly cool hook: a hospital undergoes a shift that leaves walls behind doors and hallways where there previously were none, then introduces a former chronically bedridden classmate with no memory of being sick into this monster-filled world. The mysterious setup really is timeless in its ability to draw you in.



To get through that story, which branches off into the "main" conflict with mysterious local corporation SEBEC or off into the aforementioned Snow Queen route fairly early on, you'll have to contend with plenty of isometric brawling, but while offing enemies will help you level up both the characters and whichever of their multiple Personas are equipped, it's not the only way to proceed once you're dropped into one of the game's 50 bazillion encounters.



In a surprisingly deep twist on the normal thump-and-run mechanics of traditional dungeon crawlers, you can actually stop combat at any time and just… talk to the monsters you're fighting (or do it before the first blow is ever struck). Each of them have their own particular quirks, but most tend to follow basic patterns, so leering at succubi or dancing for pixies will reward you with a shift in their attitude toward you. By putting that silver or barbed tongue to use (or doing a little foot shuffling, condescension or the wealth of other combinations each party member has to choose from), you can do everything from force a monster to run away to have them take a shining to you, which is the only way to get their spell card.



Spell Cards are perhaps the strongest link to the Persona games as they exist now, allowing you to fuse multiple cards together to create new Personas (an additional fusion item can add more fusion options to some pairings). These trips to the now-familiar Velvet Room are where the game ends up gaining most of its out-of-battle depth (there are no Social Links to worry about this time around, and next to no real exploration of the town); since all your party members can wield multiple Personas, and each of the summoned monsters gain experience separately, there's a ton of mixing and matching to be done – particularly when considering the usual elemental affinities that Personas are imbued with. As the Personas level up, they gain new spells, of course, making for plenty of grind-happy mixing and matching of different Persona levels.



Grinding has always been synonymous with some of the late-game bits of the Persona series, but here's it's definitely front and center – if for no other reason than a lot of the Persona rearing must be done manually, and the game's encounter rate makes for battles every few seconds (yes, really, so if you're turned off by frequent fights, Persona will wear you down very quickly). Add to that the fact that experience is determined by the amount of involvement in battles, that every attack, be it a melee strike, Persona-powered spell or long-range weapon like a pistol, SMG or bow and arrow are all grid-based and you'll run into situations where some characters simply can't attack because nothing's in range.



This strategy RPG-ish element isn't just a throwaway element; formations can be created (and swapped between via the battle menus), every spell's area of effect or applicable range must be considered and the front/back rows of enemies all have to be managed – and that's all before you even dig into analyzing each monster's particular immunities, nullifications and weaknesses. Luckily monster data is constantly being collected as you attack, and is accessible at any time by just tapping a shoulder button – handy for figuring out if that very, very familiar-looking monster is something you've tussled with in the past or is a slightly differently-colored variant with different strengths/weaknesses.



What this creates, then, is a game absolutely packed with gameplay, but much of it will be familiar after just a few hours. If you can handle the series' penchant for dozens of hours of grinding and battles being cranked up to 11, you'll find a fantastic story, likeable and well-defined characters, some fairly deep introspection on their part and plenty of first-person exploration. And then of course there's the second playthrough to let you recruit different characters and take on the Snow Queen side quest (which has you scaling towers in search of pieces of a mirror with a time limit, no save points and some seriously difficult monsters).



I know I mentioned it before, but this isn't an especially pretty game even by PS one standards. The isometric event areas offer little in the way of character detail or animation, even moreso for the battles themselves. This is exacerbated by the addition of some absolutely gorgeous CG cutscenes that do a fantastic job of really highlighting some of the more important events in the story. The jarring transitions from these new scenes to the old graphics end up doing more harm than Atlus likely intended, though the new additions do absolutely help the narrative for those craving some purdy grafix.



The Persona update was actually directed by Shoji Meguro, the composer for the last few Persona games, and the influence is readily apparent. New, infectiously poppy vocal tracks have been added (and they're every bit as good as the stuff heard in Persona 3 and 4), the old music has be re-arranged and cleaned up, and provides a nice counter-balance to the rest of the audio's slightly antiquated feel. The fact that there's really no voice work outside of the newly-added cutscenes and a few battle cries mean that the audio situates itself in a weird sort of half-step between the more modern Persona games and what is obviously meant to be a preserved classic. It's not a bad mix, but like the visuals, it can feel a little clunky and off-balance at times.

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