Persona 3 (2006)

Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus USA, Atlus, Koei
Platforms: PlayStation 2
Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Adventure
Rating: 4.6 of 5, 123 player ratings
Main story: about 105 hours
Completionist: about 138 hours
Where to get it: Website

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The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A haunting rhythm of ordinary school days and midnight monster-hunting that builds into a deeply melancholic meditation on mortality and connection.

melancholicatmosphericemotionally heavymethodicalbittersweetcontemplativetensegrind-heavy

About

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus. In the game, the player takes the role of a male high-school student who joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), a group of students investigating the Dark Hour, a time period between one day and the next that few people are aware of. During the Dark Hour, the player enters Tartarus, a large tower containing Shadows, creatures that feed on the minds of humans. To fight the Shadows, each member of SEES is able to summon a Persona, a manifestation of a person's inner self. In addition to the standard elements of role-playing games, Persona 3 includes elements of simulation games, as the game's protagonist progresses day by day through a school year, making friends and forming relationships that improve the strength of his Personas in battle.

What players say

Players describe a darker, more melancholic and somber RPG than later Persona entries, built around themes of death and what it means to live, blending high-school social bonds with profoundly heavy emotion. Despite (or because of) its depressing tone, fans regard it as a deeply human, emotionally resonant cult favorite.

Screenshots

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