A new paradigm door allows you to defeat previous bosses that now fight with greater ferocity, all for satisfying rewards. You can spend upward of 90 hours fleshing out social links and fusing personae, as both are highly addictive and expansive a second play-through is practically required to unlock all content.

Regrettably, the animated cutscenes have been dropped because of storage issues, but their absence doesn't mar the experience. The soundtrack includes 10 new songs, and while most are hit or miss, they're upbeat and suit the game's ambience. Character models move fluidly and register pretty closely with their console counterparts but are slightly rough around the edges. Detailed character portraits express a variety of emotions during naturally voiced dialogue. Clean static backdrops replace the crude 3D environments of its predecessors, allowing for intuitive fast travel that lets you quickly maneuver without scrolling through the map. The game boasts a stylish and smart exterior. Additionally, you can fuse your strongest personae into unique weaponry to craft elite gear, which is quite satisfying. New skill cards let you teach a persona a specific ability without fusing, which makes the process easier without undermining its addictive qualities. There are roughly 170 personae, including four new creatures for a minor roster boost, that have numerous abilities with which to experiment. You're able to modify personae by leveling them to acquire new abilities or by fusing them together to unlock new personae, passing along inherited skills they wouldn't otherwise learn. The game's greatest highlight has to do with its robust customisation, which allows you to develop the ultimate persona team. Though enemies are clever, many standard battles devolve into routine elemental casting to capitalise on an enemy's weakness fortunately, a lightning-fast autobattle option serves to lessen any repetitiveness.

This handy adjustment is the game's most welcome change, as advantageous bosses use status ailments such as charm to turn your own attacks against you, increasing your need to assume direct command. You can issue specific instructions for teammates, or, for the first time in P3, you can seize direct control of your allies. Fortunately, you can now use the main entrance to continue exploring from the floor you left off of, so you won't have to teleport to a previously completed block and work your way back up to where you were -a long-awaited adjustment.Ī variety of tactical options help you manage your team in tough situations. Quests are somewhat challenging but repetitive, often requiring that you backtrack through previous floors to find items or defeat specific foes. New rescue missions attempt to spice up the labyrinth, but they're overly simplistic, involving little more than searching a set range of floors to locate a missing person. You're given little to break up the monotonous exploration aside from the occasional boss and a change in textures. Tartarus is segmented into blocks, each containing numerous floors that operate as random mazes littered with shadows. Deepening your friendship bonds - perhaps even falling in love - increases your ability to summon stronger personae, giving you a decisive edge.ĭungeon exploration suffers from an outdated maze mechanic and excessive backtracking. The new social links alter your dating options and let you learn more intriguing details about the males in the main cast, which should appeal to P3 veterans. Social links are interesting side stories, often surprising you with exciting twists that add to the main plot's intensity. In addition to offering the original male character, P3P introduces a new female lead that implements eight new friendship bonds called social links. You're cast as a high school student fighting alongside friends to destroy the shadow menace, relying on the power of personae - ancient beings that represent the many facets of the soul. The macabre, rich story begins by unveiling the Dark Hour, which is when a towering dungeon called Tartarus appears and releases vile shadow monsters.

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