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| that butterfly just can't catch a break |
Mom and I went to SM Calamba three weeks ago to celebrate Mother’s Day
(late for this year, in advance for next year). If you’re a careful observer of
this blog you should know that when I have saved enough of my allowance ‘going
out’ for me is synonymous to ‘Oh goody! What game should I buy?’, and so this
happened:
I probably spent 30 precious hell week minutes in front of I.Tech’s
shelf debating on whether I should get RPG life-simulation Fantasy Life,
turn-based strategy with deep story Fire Emblem: Awakening, or turn-based RPG
dungeon crawler Persona Q.
[If you want to skip to my initial impressions on Persona Q, scroll
down to The Fool]
I’ve been eying Fantasy Life since its release last year but I
never did some deep research on the game (ok, I took a look at IGN’s review)
but despite the colorful reviews which constantly highlights the game’s class,
combat, and crafting system, when I held the box it kinda turned me off. I
know, it’s a sick habit focusing only on the art and design but considering
what makes this game good, I already experienced most, if not all, in Rune
Factory 4, and that’s what I’m trying to avoid. Looking at Fantasy Life gave me
the impression that it’s the kind of game that would spawn from a Rune Factory
setting crossed with a Drawn to Life design.
Fire Emblem: Awakening is also another game I’ve been eying since
my mom bought my girlfrie – err, I mean 3DS. Let’s just say it’s the best 3DS
game that I never played…yet (I’m not quite sure how far this ‘yet' will go,
though). Everything a turn-based strategy RPG nut would want in a turn-based
strategy RPG is in Fire Emblem: Awakening. So why, in the name of the Golden
Goddesses, have I already played the monstrosity that is Castlevania – Lords of
Shadow: Mirror of Fate and not Awakening? I know, it’s the biggest, most
regretful gaming brainfart that I’ve made. I’m not a stranger when it comes to
strategy games as a matter of fact I love them! It’s a nice departure from
real-time action games in that it really forces you to consider all options
before making a move. Turn-based strategy games are basically the spawn that
comes from D&D and Chess. It’s all a matter of variation, mechanics and
storytelling that separates one from the other. Maybe the reason why I haven't picked up my own copy despite having plenty of chances in the past is because of Awakening being too serious. There's no problem there, as a matter of fact it's actually what makes Awakening oh so good, but the thing is I guess I've spent too much time playing the Nippon Ichi Software's wacky Disgaea and breezy Phantom Brave that the seriousness of Awakening discourages me from even picking up a copy and playing it. The game is also unforgiving. It plays on the concept of attachment and relationships by giving the characters more emotions, all with the looming prospect of perma-kill...it just hurts seeing a potential waifu die in a battlefield. Oh and by the way, Lucina and female Robin are both damn hot!
Now, for my actual first impression on Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (heh, this took a rather long intro, didn't it?).
*Take note all of these are coming from a three hour gameplay session. I'm sure there are plenty of game mechanics to be introduced later in the game so if those are not included here it means I haven't reached that particular part of the game.
Persona Q is another crossover Persona title bringing together the characters of P3 and P4 in a new adventure. I'd like to consider this the first actual crossover Persona game since P4 Arena and P4 Arena Ultimax are fighting games. I do notice a trend here: it's all 3's and 4's. Could this be a testament to Atlus' desire for people to forget about P1 and P2?
Anyway, Persona Q, in a nutshell, is a dumb-down miniaturized version of what an actual Persona game should be. It's cute, bubbly, comedic, and breezy. These changes still impress, though, as PQ is every bit as fun as the numbered Persona titles.
Exploration to different areas is limited, the dating sim element doesn't seem to be present and in turn so is the concept of establishing bonds and strengthening social links. That didn't come as a surprise though seeing as our protagonists begins this adventure in the middle of their own troubles during their own game. This comes off as a disadvantage to those who haven't played P3 and P4 yet since the story branches out from an established plot rather than being completely new.
The general atmosphere of the game pairs well with the new design. The characters of P3 got a slight revamp making them more humorous and less serious (with the exception of Mitsuru). This is most apparent with Aigis and the P3 Velvet Room siblings (Elizabeth and Theo).
Here's a run down of the primary characters in the P3 route of the game:
Emo Protagonist (Minato Arisato/Makoto Yuuki)
I honestly don't know what to call this guy anymore. He's Minato in the games, he's Makoto in the movies. I wanted to give him his original IGN (heh) but it goes above the character limit so this guy in Persona Q is Arisa Minato.
He's still the same emo Protagonist of P3 but at least with the cute design his emotional coefficient goes up to about .05%. There's really no problem with Mr. Emo, at least just keeping quiet and waving his hands from time to time beats being a red-haired protagonist who perpetually flips a notebook to communicate.
Haruno Sakura #1 (Yukari Takeba)
Forgive me Yuka-tan fans but since playing P3P I really think she's just a smarter and more serious version of Haruno Sakura. She's a support character, she's a potential love interest to our Emo Protagonist early in the game before being demoted to a supporting character, and her connections to other characters aren't that much to begin with. Try to guess who Haruno Sakura #2 is, c'mon it's not that hard.
Comic Relief (Junpei Iori)
Junpei's character here is the one who's madly in love with Chidori, the gothic lolita waifu member of Strega in P3. Anyway he's still mostly the humorous idiot of the group who plays second joke to Aigis and Elizabeth.
Ryohei Sasagawa (Akihiko Sanada)
Aikihiko is still the cool boxing senpai. I don't quite remember how his character developed when he recovered from his injuries during the events of P3 but one thing I do know is that whenever he talks about being a badass the next character on this list always butts in.
Erza Scarlet (Mitsuru Kirijo)
Mitsuru is the kill joy of the group. Despite the cute design she's still alphab*tch over being the one who always need to keep the group serious. Junpei makes a joke, Mitsuru frowns. Akihiko wants to be a badass, Mitsuru snaps. I swear she's better off as the leader of SEES than Mr. Emo. And really, she does look like Erza from Fairy Tail.
Man's Best Friend's Best Friend (Ken Amada)
Let's see, just when I thought Ken can't look any younger this happens:
Scooby-doo (Koromaru)
Here's the actual Man's Best Friend. Seriously, they had the guts to make a Scooby-doo joke in P4 but not in P3 where there's actually a dog and not a bear? That's bear-y unacceptable!
Robo-waifu (Aigis)
Aigis is also known as oblivious waifu #1. Her innocence and curiosity is pumped to the max here and whenever she's either with Elizabeth or Theo, or both it's always comedy gold.
Oblivious waifu #2 (Elizabeth)
Here's 1/2 of the P3 Velvet Room siblings. Remember that one part in Persona 3 where Elizabeth and Minato went on a date at Paulownia mall? Yep, still can't forget that 1 million donation to the wishing fountain. Elizabeth has always been at the Velvet Room completely unaware of what we painfully normal humans do on a daily basis. She displays genuine curiosity over everything related to humanity but she takes almost everything too literally. Pair her with Aigis and we get the most comedic oblivious duo in Gekkoukan, and possibly a 23rd Arcana - The Joker(s).
Elizabeth also acts as the nurse healing the party for a price.
Oblivious waifu #2's sibling (Theodore)
Theodore is basically a male Elizabeth. He handles the art shop were new weapons, armors and accessories can be crafted by collecting items dropped by enemies, and bought.
Bonnet-senpai (Shinjiro Aragaki)
Good lord, he's alive!
Human Navi (Fuuka Yamagishi)
Eureka took a break from piloting mechas. Fuuka's role as remote navigator didn't change. However, she is 480% cuter now with a sem-chibi design.
Dark Flame Master(Zen)
Zen is one of the two new characters of PQ. He's not a Persona user but he's still damn strong against shadows. Zen takes being serious a notch higher than Mitsuru but his version of serious is more likable seeing as it fits his design and overall character better. One look at him and you'll know he's a no-nonsense type of guy.
Buffet-waifu (Rei)
Rei is the other new character of PQ. She's always with Zen, and somehow food is also always with her. She has a cheerful personality that shines above the rest of the characters, and with my current progress of the game she's easily the most likable (aside from Elizabeth and Aigis, of course).
Combat
The combat mechanics of PQ doesn't differ much from P3 or P4. Of course visuals are limited but the basic idea is there: Turn-based with speed determining who gets to attack first. All of the enemies that I've encountered (save for the FOEs) in the first labyrinth I already fought with in Persona 3. New additions to the combat mechanics include Boost which allows a character to use a skill with 0 SP whenever an enemy is hit with its weakness. There's also Leader Skill which affects the whole party.
Long explanation short, people keep telling me the combat of PQ is similar to Etrian Odyssey (haven't played that game yet, though, so I dunno).
Exploration
I'm not a big fan of the dungeon crawler style of exploration. It makes me dizzy. I'm also not a fan of using the touch screen to draw a map.
It seems more like a chore, really, but alas it's a crucial part of the game. Maybe it's just there to keep exploration a little interesting. Shadows don't just lurk around anymore, they just appear after a set amount of time.
Well there you have it. I don't know when I'll be posting Part 1 as I'm trying to be busy but really I'm not. I have about 20 caps of my first three hours of gameplay that I'm too lazy to piece together in a blog post. Welp, you know me.
Anyway, if you have a 3DS and you're looking for a new game to play don't ever overlook this game. It's awesome, it's fun, and heck it's a Persona game! That should be reason enough.
Gotta go!
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| thou has established a new bond |
*Take note all of these are coming from a three hour gameplay session. I'm sure there are plenty of game mechanics to be introduced later in the game so if those are not included here it means I haven't reached that particular part of the game.
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| PQ |
Anyway, Persona Q, in a nutshell, is a dumb-down miniaturized version of what an actual Persona game should be. It's cute, bubbly, comedic, and breezy. These changes still impress, though, as PQ is every bit as fun as the numbered Persona titles.
Exploration to different areas is limited, the dating sim element doesn't seem to be present and in turn so is the concept of establishing bonds and strengthening social links. That didn't come as a surprise though seeing as our protagonists begins this adventure in the middle of their own troubles during their own game. This comes off as a disadvantage to those who haven't played P3 and P4 yet since the story branches out from an established plot rather than being completely new.
The general atmosphere of the game pairs well with the new design. The characters of P3 got a slight revamp making them more humorous and less serious (with the exception of Mitsuru). This is most apparent with Aigis and the P3 Velvet Room siblings (Elizabeth and Theo).
Here's a run down of the primary characters in the P3 route of the game:
Emo Protagonist (Minato Arisato/Makoto Yuuki)
_Render.png) |
| you can't be emo without bangs partially covering at least one eye |
I honestly don't know what to call this guy anymore. He's Minato in the games, he's Makoto in the movies. I wanted to give him his original IGN (heh) but it goes above the character limit so this guy in Persona Q is Arisa Minato.
He's still the same emo Protagonist of P3 but at least with the cute design his emotional coefficient goes up to about .05%. There's really no problem with Mr. Emo, at least just keeping quiet and waving his hands from time to time beats being a red-haired protagonist who perpetually flips a notebook to communicate.
Haruno Sakura #1 (Yukari Takeba)
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| she's the probably the most normal character of the bunch...y'know like Chie |
Forgive me Yuka-tan fans but since playing P3P I really think she's just a smarter and more serious version of Haruno Sakura. She's a support character, she's a potential love interest to our Emo Protagonist early in the game before being demoted to a supporting character, and her connections to other characters aren't that much to begin with. Try to guess who Haruno Sakura #2 is, c'mon it's not that hard.
Comic Relief (Junpei Iori)
Ryohei Sasagawa (Akihiko Sanada)
 |
| life was hard after Katekyou |
Aikihiko is still the cool boxing senpai. I don't quite remember how his character developed when he recovered from his injuries during the events of P3 but one thing I do know is that whenever he talks about being a badass the next character on this list always butts in.
Erza Scarlet (Mitsuru Kirijo)
Man's Best Friend's Best Friend (Ken Amada)
Let's see, just when I thought Ken can't look any younger this happens:
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| I actually mistook this kid for a girl way back in P3P |
Scooby-doo (Koromaru)
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| such shibe. very persona. wow |
Robo-waifu (Aigis)
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| her charm increased by 500% |
Aigis is also known as oblivious waifu #1. Her innocence and curiosity is pumped to the max here and whenever she's either with Elizabeth or Theo, or both it's always comedy gold.
Oblivious waifu #2 (Elizabeth)
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| a.k.a a bonfire night dance |
Elizabeth also acts as the nurse healing the party for a price.
Oblivious waifu #2's sibling (Theodore)
Bonnet-senpai (Shinjiro Aragaki)
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| he still looks like he's selling domestic killing devices under that coat |
Human Navi (Fuuka Yamagishi)
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| I'd love her to serenade me with "Hey, listen!" all day |
Eureka took a break from piloting mechas. Fuuka's role as remote navigator didn't change. However, she is 480% cuter now with a sem-chibi design.
Dark Flame Master(Zen)
Buffet-waifu (Rei)
Combat
The combat mechanics of PQ doesn't differ much from P3 or P4. Of course visuals are limited but the basic idea is there: Turn-based with speed determining who gets to attack first. All of the enemies that I've encountered (save for the FOEs) in the first labyrinth I already fought with in Persona 3. New additions to the combat mechanics include Boost which allows a character to use a skill with 0 SP whenever an enemy is hit with its weakness. There's also Leader Skill which affects the whole party.
Long explanation short, people keep telling me the combat of PQ is similar to Etrian Odyssey (haven't played that game yet, though, so I dunno).
Exploration
I'm not a big fan of the dungeon crawler style of exploration. It makes me dizzy. I'm also not a fan of using the touch screen to draw a map.
Well there you have it. I don't know when I'll be posting Part 1 as I'm trying to be busy but really I'm not. I have about 20 caps of my first three hours of gameplay that I'm too lazy to piece together in a blog post. Welp, you know me.
Anyway, if you have a 3DS and you're looking for a new game to play don't ever overlook this game. It's awesome, it's fun, and heck it's a Persona game! That should be reason enough.
Gotta go!
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