The PSP edition of one of the PlayStation 2’s best Japanese role-players finally comes to the UK – and it proves well worth the wait for fans new and old.
We’re still a little shocked that this game never caused an explosion of tabloid outrage when it was first released. It may be a hardcore Japanese role-playing game but it features teenage school students pretending to commit suicide on a regular basis.
But because it’s not published by any of the big companies it seems to have completely passed the moral majority by. Considering the game features more simulated suicides than a Disney wildlife documentary a more cynical mind might wonder whether the fuss for the likes of Bully weren’t just a carefully orchestrated press campaign.
Like most Shin Megami Tensei (MegaTen to its friends) games this is set in contemporary Japan and its connection with the other games is only in terms of themes, not specific plots. Here you’re a secondary school student who fights demons by pretending to blow his brains out with a magic gun.
Doing so unleashes a persona – a demonic familiar which can be levelled up in both the normal role-playing fashion and by making friends and influencing people.
The guts of this release are the same as Persona 3 on the PlayStation 2 (or rather the director’s cut Persona 3 FES). There are new PSP-only features though, such as the ability to play as a female lead, and a number of nips and tucks to make the game work on a portable format.
In terms of the actual gameplay the turn-based combat is not in itself extraordinary, despite being nicely streamlined. Instead the game’s unique charms come from the way your actions at school affect your abilities after dark.
You’re given free rein to do what you want after lessons, from joining a sports club to studying or chatting up girls – with success in each upgrading your Courage, Academics or Charm stats. Apart from simply increasing stats the relationships you make directly affect the kinds of personae you can create.
You’ll quickly gain quite a store of different types, which you can then fuse together to make more powerful creatures. This means that the daylight socialising and persona creation often becomes more interesting than the fighting, much of which is restricted to a randomly generated dungeon.
In terms of changes for this PSP version the only truly disappointing one is the absence of the anime cut scenes from the original. You’re also no longer able to wander round the school in third person mode. You now just select places to visit with your cursor, which loses something in terms of immersion but does speed the gameplay up.
In terms of positive new features you can now control all the members of your party directly in battle, rather than just giving them vague tactical directions. This idea has been borrowed from the newer Persona 4, as have other minor options such as being able to guard other players. Also, playing as a girl means a lot of the dialogue has changed and the all-important social connections have some very different spins.
As with all the Shin Megami Tensei games the artwork (some of which is new on the PSP) is superb, with battles becoming ever more outrageous in terms of monster design.
The Collector’s (and apparently only) Edition of the game comes with a 48-page hardback art book to prove it, as well as six art cards, and an A3 poster. We haven’t seen these ourselves but it seems a good deal since the price is still the same as a normal PSP game.
However, none of this can hide the intrinsically repetitive structure of the game, as you slowly work through the inflexible Japanese school calendar.
Considering the freedom you have to spend your virtual days though that almost seems an unfair criticism. Especially as this is the most accessible version yet of what continues to be the most approachable and absorbing of all Japanese role-playing series.
In Short: It might be the third time round but this is the best version yet of one the greatest Japanese role-players of the decade.
Pros: The same imaginative, atypical role-player with great artwork and plot. Works well on the PSP and the new character and extras are welcome.
Cons: Combat is fairly unoriginal and the structure purposefully repetitive. The loss of the animated cut scenes and 3D school environment is a shame.
Score: 8/10
Formats: PSP
Price: £34.99
Publisher: Ghostlight
Developer: Atlus
Release Date: 15th April 2011
Age Rating: 12
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