Becky's raised it to an art form.

Persona 3 is the latest "last great game" for the Playstation 2, one with addicting gameplay that has ensnared my fearless artist comrade.  He assures me it is a beautiful cage, gilt with rich social linking and dungeon crawling.   Upon further inspection, I found similar refinements, little things like the different ways the characters shoot themselves in the head to summon their ghostly proxies.  I was at once disturbed and entranced by Yukari's preferred method of holding the gun to her forehead with both hands, and using her thumb to pull the trigger.  Stylish.

In any other game, I'd have thought it a gimmick used to create controversy.  But, being as this is an Atlus game, developed and published by the crowned kings of limited run niche games, it becomes a stylish and evocative conceit that adds to the aesthetics of an already solid game.  The compelling gameplay mechanics make whatever fluffy, whipped confection Atlus chose to show us as the face of the game more substantial.  Fusing personae, grinding in random dungeons hundreds of floors deep, and enjoying a story at once dark and oddly heartfelt (embossed if you will by the nearly dating-sim-like approach to forging alliances in the game).

Just as Rich's soul has been taken by the game, so has mine.  I'm ravenous for it, not just the game itself, but the ancilliaries:  the strategy guide, Japanese character art book, the figures I haven't purchased yet, but have pined over… I only hope I can get through the game before I go completely broke.

~Matt 

This entry was posted on Monday, September 24th, 2007 at 12:01 am and is filed under Comics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.