Shin Megami Tensei Persona Review

Written by KEIN on 06 October 2009.

The PSX remake of Persona has been given the tags Shin Megami Tensei, revamped graphics and the additions of FMVs make this a winner.

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STORY [9/10]

 

The story is not unlike your basic RPG. Students at a regular school find themselves using beings called Persona to survive to coming demon onslaught. It all begins on a regular day at school find some teens playing "the persona" game, it was a myth that by doing a sort of ritual brought forth these beings. Once they do so,they doze off and have the same dream. Then they go to the hospital to visit a wounded classmate, when suddenly an earthquake terrorizes the hospital, rearranges the building`s structure and brings forth demons.

VISUALS/GRAPHICS [7.5/10]

Unfortunately, I wish I could say the same about the in game graphics... however the sprites don`t look particularly good or very detailed in some occasions and it all ends up looking very outdated. Even the battle sequences look and feel dated, using some good animations (a plus for these sprites) and flashy particles which consist the major part of it`s flair, I say however that this style of graphics bring a slightly creepy feeling to the game, which is very unlike the newer Persona games, such as Persona 4 which looks like a normal town with normal denizens while looking futuristic in it`s own right.

Even the dungeon`s in the game feel like the older Shin Megami Tensei games, which make it feel dated, but gives it a feeling of danger unlike the newer Persona games, which I personally like and dislike at the same time.

SOUND [9.5/10]

I`m loving the new tracks the game has been given. The new tracks consists of the new type JPop the newer Persona games, which to me, is a HUGE plus, it makes it feel like these new Persona games and not just another Shin Megami Tensei game. In battle, the new voices for the characters, even though mostly one linners do sound good and carry enough emotion to give the characters feeling and empowerment, it`s like you feel they are trying their hardest to survive and gives the game soul. Everything from the overword to in battle and to the FMVs sound good, the Voice actors did their job right. The only thing I dislike about the sound, which made me drop half a point, is minor, but still noticeable, no lip synching with the FMVs. Although that has more to do with japanese translations, it still looks off.

Overall - New revamped sound makes it feel like the new modern Persona games while giving it it`s own unique feeling.

GAMEPLAY [8.5/10]

It`s still the same old game it was back in the day, which is great. To differ from the modern Persona games, this one features the 1st Person View found on the older Shin Megami Tensei games and to further complliment those old games, it uses a dynamic over the top/board style field. However, this isn`t any old SMT game, It`s Persona! and as such all characters use their Personas to fight, and train. Reaching higher ranks nets you more moves for that particular persona, however, to differ from the newer games, if the MC dies, you don`t get a Game Over and all characters in your party can have up to 3 different Personas.

Like the newer games, you can talk to Igor to create new Personas, however to get the items for the fusion you need to contact the demons, which is a throwback to Shin Megami Tensei III - Nocturne, making them eager to know you and if at a high enought level, you can ask for their Spell Cards, which is key to fusions. Making the demons Happy, Sad or Angry varies per demons and their traits, example, making a demon scared of you can either make em run away or not attack for a period of time.

Overall - A great throwback to the old classic SMT gameplay.

REPLAYABILITY [9.5/10]

A long game, whith plenty of stuff to do in it. From the main quest the SEBEQ storyline, which can net you 20 hours easy and then there`s the newly added Snow Queen Quest which adds about 10 - 15 extra hours, add to that the amount of time you can spend and mix up Personas to bring out the best of them.

Plenty of stuff to do, an a new quest to extend replayabilty even more, and multiple endings.

OVERALL - [8.5/10] - Great!

 

 

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