As far as Japanese role playing games goes, Atlus’ Persona series sits among the top three franchises for me at the moment — especially Persona 4. I absolutely adored Persona 4 and would recommend it to fans of the genre in a heartbeat. But what about Persona 3? It’s not a slouch and it may seem obsolete from a gameplay and design standpoint, but it’s still worth trying. If only there was a way to play Persona 3 with some of Persona 4’s enhancements.
Enter Persona 3: Portable for the PlayStation Portable.
This may be the third release of Persona 3, but it seems to be the definitive version. You may not get the extra content found in Persona 3: FES (The Answer epilogue), but having played it, I think you can safely skip over it. The most notable additions and alterations in P3P include:
direct control of the party
faster pacing and (vanilla P3 was a bit slow)
additional characters to mingle with
They’re significant improvements and with them, I’d easily recommend it. The $39.99 USD price tag seems a bit much, but for a new comer, I’d say it’s fair.
Persona 3: Portable debuts July 6, 2010 for the PlayStation Portable. For more information, visit the official website.
Why have a journalist bother your game director when you can set up your own questions and answers session on his terms.
Kojima Productions did just that with this Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Q&A session with Hideo Kojima. It’s worth a read and I encourage those who’re interested in the 2010 PlayStation Portable title to do so.
They’ve also posted this collection of 1920×1088 screenshots which I scaled back down to reality.
This week’s Famitsu magazine was filled with brilliant news; the most significant being the announcement of Valkyria Chronicles 2 for the PlayStation Portable. Sweet.
I would have loved if the sequel was on the PlayStation 3, but just having a sequel is more than I was expecting.
The sequel will take place two years after the first game and will star a new hero, Avan Hardence. Apparently, it’ll borrow a few touches from Persona’s Japanese school-life style of RPG and merge it with the combat system of the first game. No release date as of yet.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 will feature online co-op missions
Dragon Quest IX scored a perfect 40 point score (10/10/10/10) — the tenth perfect score in the magazine’s history
Katamari Forever (Tribute in North America) scored 33 points (9/8/8/8); best Katamari game of the series!
I’ll most likely be picking up NG Sigma 2 at a lower price point and the same goes with Katamari Tribute. Dragon Quest IX? I tried to play VIII on PS2, but, at the time, it bored me to tears. Perhaps the experience will be different on the Nintendo DS.
Oh, what’s this? A Silent Hill re-telling for non-high definition systems. At long last, my opportunity to play the game that started all. Climax will be the ones retelling this story and will be releasing it for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and the Wii sometime this autumn. I guess I should play Silent Hill: Origins before then, huh?
This year’s Need For Speed is looking very promising. The game obviously looks gorgeous, however that’s not what has me excited. It’s the “realism” approach which they’re taking that’s piqued my interest. Obviously, GRID comparisons are already cropping up, but I didn’t like the feel of that particular racer. I’m hoping Electronic Arts can deliver with Need For Speed Shift. It just may be the first Need For Speed worth playing since Most Wanted.
Why have a journalist bother your game director when you can set up your own questions and answers session on his terms.
This week’s Famitsu magazine was filled with brilliant news; the most significant being the 
