Megami Tensei is a Japanese console rpg series that is big in Japan, not so much stateside. The series has generated a lot of games since the days of the original NES, and a lot of spinoff series as well. Not many of them have made their way stateside, but it looks like American gamers and the American division of Atlus, the publisher behind the series, have got on board because the Playstation 2 generation saw most, if not all, of the SMT games get North American localizations.
I’ve been hooked since the release of Persona for the Playstation. It was the second RPG released in the States for the Playstation, and gave RPG gamers something to get excited about while they were waiting for Final Fantasy VII.
Persona suffered from an abysmal translation that didn’t make sense much of the time, but if you were paying attention you could see that the character design, music, gameplay, sense of humor, and darker theme came together to make a special RPG that was different from the standard established by previous 8 and 16 bit console RPGs.
I loved it, problems and all, and hoped that the future would bring more games in the series. Rumors abounded of American localizations of games in the series being denied by Sony and Sega during the Playstation and Saturn era, and I bought quite a few imports just for the sake of owning them, although with my miniscule knowledge of Japanese I never wandered too far from the title screen.
Sony rubbed more salt in the wound by giving Persona: Eternal Punishment the green light for Playstation, but denying it’s prequel Innocent Sin.
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne on Playstation 2 made up for that sin of omission to some extent. It was the best localization English speakers had received from the series, and an excellent game to boot.
I am a little late getting around to playing Persona 3, but I sold my Playstation 2 in anticipation of the Playstation 3, and then ended up not buying one right away. I have been catching up on my Playstation 2 games since August, and I finally got around to playing Persona 3.
Wow! I am 70 hours into this game and sad to see it coming to a close. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but they have successfully reinvented the “fetch-it quest”. The social link system is easily the greatest innovation in console RPGs in the last decade. My consolation is that I have SMT: Persona 4 on the bookshelf, still in cellophane. Judging by the editorial reviews, I may have an even better game waiting for me when I finish Persona 3.
I’m not going to give a detailed review of Persona 3. There’s a hundred or so out there already. If you are a console gamer and have any inclination at all toward Japanese console RPGs, you really need to check out this game. Even my wife, who initially ridiculed me about the game has become involved in it, and I don’t dare play through any important sequence when she’s not around lest I incur her wrath.
Great game Atlus! Check it out.
