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Persona 3 FES

  • Players: 1
  • Vibration
  • Widescreen
  • Multitap
  • Eyetoy
  • Disc: 1
  • Digital Control
  • Analog Control
  • Pressure
  • Headset
  • Network
  • Save Size
  • Progressive
  • Online
  • ESRB: M

High School Reunion

Persona 3 FES has finally made it to American shores, and one of the best RPGs ever made just gets better.
Author: Sam Bishop
Published: May 16, 2008
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FES Updates
Outside of a couple small tweaks, the core game, now accessed from the main menu under "The Journey," has a few key differences: Some Personae and equipment had their names changed or updated, the music while in dungeons can now be changed, school tests have been redone, and some of the S-links and eventual dating have been tweaked/updated and the arcade in the mall is now filled with bonus games. An additional, harder difficulty level has also been added for those that weren't quite beat on enough.


The real treat here, however, is "The Answer," which, as the name would imply, ties up many of the lose ends and answers questions from the main story. Taking place a bit after the final events, it presents an all-new threat, a new character and shifts the focus from The Journey's main character to Aigis, his robotic guardian. Something in the order of 30 hours and dozens of new Personae have been added, which is good because finding them while scouring the all-new dungeon are really all that's available. Yes, there is a bit of exploration of the world, but it's nowhere near as involved as the original game.

For the hardcore, though, this will likely be bliss. The monsters can actually be quite a bit tougher, but the payoff is obviously in seeing the story to its full, "proper" conclusion. The addition of a handful of absolutely gorgeous new animated sections slaked my thirst for seeing more of the characters and situations presented in this way, and the scenes are well worth watching.

There's something almost comforting about going back to a world that seems almost eternally on the cusp of slipping into ruin. The music (of which there are new tracks to join the old ones), the characters, the localization, the voice work and the storyline are all absolutely top-notch and if for some reason you missed playing through Persona 3 the first time... well now you have no choice. Or option. You absolutely need this game in your library. Trust me.
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The Verdict
10.0

One of the best PS2 RPGs simply gets better. Now even more friendly to newcomers and tougher on the fans of the original and absolutely packed with stuff to do, you're looking at well over 100 hours of game to play. And you must. Oh how you must.

9.5Graphics:

Great character designs, fantastic art direction, a slight framerate, awesome monster and Persona designs. God, this is such a pretty game.

9.5Sound:

Though the soundtrack isn't absolutely perfect, nor the voice acting, the parts of them that are strong make up for it and then some.

10.0Control:

I seem to be saying this a lot, but in a game like this, it's hard to mess up the controls; the menus are zippy and responsive, the camera easy to control and the game just plays great.

9.0Gameplay:

Yeah, sure, there's a healthy amount of level grinding if you don't want to get your butt handed to you, but there's also a ridiculous amount of stuff to do on the side that eases that load. It also means a crapload of replay value.