Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, known in Japan as Persona 3 (ペルソナ3, Perusona 3?), is the the fourth video game in the Persona series of console role-playing games developed by Atlus. The game is also a part of the larger Megami Tensei series of video games. Persona 3 was originally published in 2007 on the PlayStation 2 by Atlus in Japan; the North American release of the game was delayed due to issues with the publication of the official art book. An add-on disc entitled Persona 3 FES, containing a "director's cut" of the original game, as well as a new epilogue, was released alongside Persona 3 in Japan, and in 2008 in other territories. A PlayStation Portable remake of Persona 3, titled Persona 3 Portable will be released in Japan on November 1, 2009.

In Persona 3, 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. The game's most iconic feature is the method by which the members of SEES release their Personas: by firing a gun-like object called an Evoker at their head. 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. The North American release of Persona 3 includes the aforementioned art book, along with a selection of music from the official soundtrack.

Setting

The story of Persona 3 takes place in a modern Japanese city, built and funded by the Kirijo Corporation. Experiments carried out ten years ago created the "Dark Hour", a period of time that exists between one day and the next.[4] Most people are enclosed inside coffins and are not aware of the Dark Hour; however, there is a select group of people who are.[4] The Dark Hour bends reality; Gekkoukan High School,where most of the characters attend school during the day, becomes a huge labyrinthine tower called Tartarus, and beasts known as Shadows roam the area, preying on the minds of those still conscious.[5] The Shadows leave their victims in near-catatonic states outside of the Dark Hour.[6] To investigate and learn about the Dark Hour, Shadows, and Tartarus, a group called the "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad," or SEES, was created. SEES is a group of high-schoolers capable of summoning beings known as Personas to combat Shadows.[5] Persona-users summon their Persona by firing a gun-like object called an Evoker at their head.[7]

Characters

The main character of Persona 3 is a silent protagonist, named by the player at the start of the game.[8] He is a teenage boy, orphaned as a child, returning to the city he grew up in ten years prior to attend Gekkoukan High School.[4] After learning of his ability to summon a Persona, he joins SEES, which is comprised of students at his school: Yukari Takeba, a popular, cheerful girl, Akihiko Sanada, a calm and collected senior who leads the school's boxing team, and Mitsuru Kirijo, daughter of the head of the Kirijo Group, who provides backup during battle.[9] As the game progresses, SEES gains several new members: Junpei Iori, a class clown and the Protagonist's best friend[9], Fuuka Yamagishi, a shy girl who replaces Mitsuru as a support character, Aigis, a female android designed by the Kirijo Group to fight Shadows[10], Ken Amada, a middle schooler whose mother was killed by a Persona-user[11], Shinjiro Aragaki, a former member of SEES who quit due to past events[12], and Koromaru, a dog capable of summoning a Person

Story

Persona 3 begins with the main character transferring to Gekkoukan High School, and moving into a dorm in the city.[4] After learning of his ability to summon a Persona, he is asked to join SEES, and is eventually elected its leader in combat.[13] As the group continues to gain new members and explore Tartarus further, they discover that one of twelve powerful Shadows, represented by a major arcanum, appears in the city during a full moon. In addition, by destroying all of these Shadows, Tartarus and the Dark Hour would disappear forever.[14] Ten years prior to the events of Persona 3, a series of experiments were performed in an attempt to harness the power of Shadows; however, the experiment went awry, creating the Dark Hour and Tartarus, and leading to the escape of the twelve greater Shadows.[15] After defeating the twelfth and final Shadow, SEES learns that they had been mislead by Shuji Ikutsuki, the team's lead advisor. By destroying the greater Shadows, they have freed parts of a being known as Nyx, which will bring about the end of the world if it is fully restored.[16]

Nyx, or the "maternal being," is the creator of Shadows;[17] she is drawn to Earth by The Appriser, or "Death", a Shadow of the Death arcanum. SEES encounters The Appriser disguised as Ryoji Mochizuki, a recent transfer student to Gekkoukan High School.[18] The Shadow experiments performed ten years earlier created the Death Shadow, albeit in an incomplete state.[19] Aigis, unable to defeat the Shadow, sealed it inside the Protagonist, who was still a child at the time, in an act of desperation.[20] By defeating the twelve greater Shadows, the Death Shadow was recreated.[21] Its purpose is to usher Nyx into the world, who would bring about the extinction of the human race.[22] Ryoji insists that Nyx cannot be defeated;[23] however, he offers SEES an alternative. If they were to kill him, their memories of the Dark Hour and Tartarus would vanish, allowing them to leave in peace before the world ends.[24] On December 31, the player is given the option to kill Ryoji or let him live. If Ryoji is spared, then the game continues, and on January 31, SEES climbs to the roof of Tartarus to face Ryoji, who is now the Nyx Avatar.[25] While they are able to defeat the Avatar, Nyx continues to descend to Earth. The Protagonist is able to use the power of his Social Links to seal away Nyx from the world.[26][27] The world returns to normal, though the memories of the past year are lost to the members of SEES.[28] As they finish school, they come to realize that they each promised to gather on the school's roof should they make it to Graduation Day.