Persona 3 Portable (P3P)

Because I've been dying to rave about this game but every moment was spent playing it or crazily stalking the fandom on the internets instead X3 Anyways, I finished it 2 days ago so this shall be part review and part whole lot of fangirling~

One of the BEST japanese rpgs ever imo ♥ Its only like 2nd to my love of FF7.

This game has almost everything final fantasy like battling monsters with a mix of Sims where I control how to study and earn money and make friends and and and and and is part otome game!!!! Don't you just love to pick your own love interest X3

Trailer and gameplay. Picked the Japanese one because it shows more of the game.

So I saw this game on the PS website a long time ago and was like should I? Because it had fairly high ratings everywhere and people were gushing about it but when I youtubed the gameplay I was like meh and skipped out. Till last month where I was so bored and noticed that my psp was totally untouched (feeling guilty coz I made daddy buy it for me) that I decided to give it a try and omg worst decision ever coz it was the week before finals and I nearly had to chop my hands off to not play it like the addict I became T__T

Long review short, its a PS2 port with the addition of a female main character (MC) and you're supposed to choose your time wisely in between juggling studies, club activities, dates, and battling monsters etc. Or even shorter: student by day, evil monster fighter by night.

So you can decide to play as MC who is the PS2 original and goes by the manga-official name of Arisato Minato or as the psp exclusive nameless girl known in fandom as FeMC/Mshe/Minako/Hamuko. I prefer Minako because I hate the name Hamuko which makes her sound like some ham eating cow sloppily swathed in a way too long kimono.

Ok I guess I shall ramble about parts of the plot first. So MC is an orphan who transfered to Gekkoukan High in Port Island where unknown to many, there are 25 hours in a day with the 25th hour known as the Dark Hour where monsters known as Shadows come out to prey on unfortunate humans. Most people are transmogrified into coffins during this hour, keeping them safe, but those that aren't are either preyed on or possess the potential to fight the Shadows with the final fantasy equivalent of summonable entities (like Shiva, Ifrit...) called persona. Those with the potential are recruited into a group called SEES who seek to eliminate the Dark Hour. Enter MC who has the special power that allows him/her to wield multiple personas and save the world obviously. Story wise, I think its pretty good with all the twists where I was sniffling and blinking away tears at the end ;A;

Oh btw, you call forth your persona by shooting yourself in the head with a gun-like evoker. Some think its cool some think its controversial but I don't really care. I much prefer to shoot the Shadows with it if you ask me. The best thing about the battle system is no random encounters!!! Ugh how I loathe random encounters stupid crisis core or any older FF series for the matter where I take a step in any direction, I have to fight a monster, walk few steps oh shoot wrong direction, backtrack one step ANOTHER RANDOM ENCOUNTER (!*#$!%! OK. Here, you see a monster, you chase after it; if you're powerful, it runs from you, but if your level is pitiful, it uhm chases after you :\ Also, battles and school life is kept separate so you can just pick a night to grind to your heart's content and spend the rest of your days flirting haha.

NOW. To the fangirling part~♪

Lots of artwork because there is nothing much to screenshot in game.

So you get to initiate social links with tons of characters in the game to which you must max out in order to create the ultimate persona of each of the 22 species.

Now the fun part is some S.Links allows you to romance the characters based on the answers you choose. Romanceable characters have special cutscenes at the end of the game if you did it right. Tip: If you, like me, want to romance alllll the dateable characters in one sitting, use this guide so you won't accidentally be friendzoned. I have no patience nor time to input another 100+ hours for trial and error ok so imma be a player and get all in one playthrough. Heck, if I could even date the girls to see the scenes for Minato's side, I would. Because I am lazy just like that hurhur.

Mshe's own personal harem ✌

The 3 guys you can romance are Akihiko, Shinjiro and Ken. Very unfair compared to MC who gets to romance all the girls available. Why does he get to be a super player but Mshe can't? Pffft.

So, this is Akihiko...

Yes. I know. "But he is not hot!!!!" you wail. That was my initial thought too and couldn't for the life of me understand why the heck everyone was raving about him finally being dateable. Further gameplay only proved  that the rest of the guys were far from bishies too and I was giving up all hope until I met....

Theodore OMG FINALLY. THIS IS MORE LIKE IT. 2nd sis says he looks like slutty flight attendant hahaha!

Then I realized that he has no S.Link wth booo you Atlus although at the very least you still can go out on dates with him. He is not human and therefore has very little knowledge of the human world which makes his dates so amusing. Theo is sexy as hell :d But he is useless because he cares too much about rules and basically chose rules over Mshe in the end wth. Also, refuse to give me free personas but still make me pay thousands for them even though we are 'dating'? Minus points hmph.

But he is still very hot so I shall just spam pictures of him and Minako because I can.

Too bad his english voice suck big time though. So either play the Japanese version or the undub.

He has two older sisters -Elizabeth and Margaret- who treat him like crap hahaha. You can choose Liz instead of Theo if you want but really, who in their right mind would? Scary nostrils up there is Igor. Stuff nightmares are made of.

Hotness 8D

The Velvet Siblings. So gorgeous and clueless in the human world....

But an evil terror when in battle mode. Beating them is like near impossible and you need a guide to actually accomplish it which is so incredibly long and complicated I gave up.

Am I the only one who find this pic so incredibly hot? Is Theo hunting MC down for dating his sister? And Minato not only uncaring but warning him to stay the eff out of their bizness? Although he really shouldn't unless he wants to be megidoloaned to death. Guuuh, makes me want to play as Minato so badly. As an assassin. With real guns.

Ok back to Aki. He is the school's bishie and Mshe's main romantic interest where you are forced to be his girlfriend or watch in horror as your hard earned S.Link shatter into oblivion the #@$%#! Thank goodness for saves. I did that on a whim ok coz I felt rebellious and wondered what could possibly happen if I rejected him.

Because talking to him at times is worse than talking to a wall

Akihiko is the epitome of the 'its complicated' relationship. Really. Emotionally and socially retarded I srsly don't get his popularity.

But after getting to know his back story, he *begrudgingly* did became cuter in my eyes but is still a muscle head and not worthy of Minako imo.

If only he was assertive like that *snorts*

Also has effing crazy fans who would glare daggers at Mshe all the time that I wished I could just have her pull out her persona and maragidyne them all to crisp *annoyed

Moving on we have Shinjiro....

...who is Aki's best friend and the 2nd most so sought after dateable character to which as usual I couldn't fathom why because he looks even uglier than Aki. But stupid game has this way of pulling you into each character's story and background so much that you cannot help but fall for them.

Also, Shinjiro x Minako is like the ultimate pairing in P3P kays!

And apparently fandom agrees with me too judging from the amount of minako/shinji pictures and fics out there :3

Why are they soooo cute!

So he is like this gruff character who is secretly stupid soft inside and is a great cook (also, most manly one in the game) and I swear he and minako makes the cutest couple ever what with mshe being this bouncy hyperball of cheerfulness that breaks down all his walls against his will. I cannot help but snerk at the 'he is secretly happy' line and his hidden smile whenever you ask him out and he grudgingly accepts like Mshe is a bother when we all know otherwise heh.

Yes you get a bus stop sign as a weapon. Indeed.

Have I mentioned just how much I love love love minako? One of the cutest female game character ever made imo. Of course, technically its up to how you want her to act but from her lines you get to choose its either a stoic personality or the cheerful one and judging from her in game avatar, its def the latter.

Although Shinji isn't the main like Aki, he is the only one where you can go 'i love you senpai!' to lols. So yes, the real relationship is theirs *bias. And at least I know he doesn't screw up my S.Link if I say no unlike a certain someone *still irritated.

SPAM SPAM SPAM!!!! :DDDD

Yes, Mshe was all rawr over Shinji in the game it was so amusing to watch XD

This is why I love her. She would XD

She would do anything to make him succumb I swear. With an air of feigned innocence nonetheless ha.

WIN. Most perfect depiction of Mshe's true self XD lol at her admirers behind.

Totally random but....

I lol'ed. Hard XD

If you played the game, you would get it. I would so buy this I swear hahahahahaha.

Sigh. Even with the little screentime they have together, there is more emotion/connection between these two than any other. I don't care if Aki is the official main, Shinji was the one secretly made for her. She was the only one who could change his fate ok and no that is not a spoiler.

There is also Ken who is an annoying 10 year old shota and has a major crush on mshe who is 6 years his senior. Why is he romanceable is beyond me and what is it with him trying to seduce mshe into sleeping with him srsly shoo. I can never grasp the fascination with shotas. It's technically pedophilia no matter how I see it :\

Came across a grown up Ken the other day:

NOW WE'RE TALKING. That was what should have been ok. srsly.

Enough Ken. More Ryoji, the cute transfer student everyone in MC's class was gushing about :D

Who yes yes how the heck is he cute but trust me he will be before you're even halfway through his S.Link.

idk man. But Ryoji/Minako is like the most tragic pairing ever. Even more than Shinji/Minako and thats saying a lot. I cannot say much because his story is a major part of the plot but srsly. My heart T___T

Theodore and all his fancy to the ends of the earth if I could promises are nothing compared to Ryoji's.

Talking about this pairing makes me want to bawl.

Of happier moments

Sadly, you cannot romance him. You can still date him though but there is no lovers route like the other 3.

Another pairing I like that is impossible is MC/Mshe or Minato/Hamuko. I prefer her here as Hamuko simply coz Minako is too confusing lols.

Let it be known that I ship Minato x Hamuko with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns ♥

omg how can anyone not want this pairing?!

Ok I admit I never bothered but then all this pics of them kept popping up and I just realized how much I want this *__*

It's impossible because they are one and the same, just different gender and thus cannot appear together in the game. It's one or the other. Half of fandom like to think of them as siblings but I think they make a better couple ♥

Perfect

They need moar fics ok! The current amount of minato/hamuko fics is so pitiful I can cry ;A;

Ok ok ok I need to stop yapping about all the pairings but I am a girl and very rarely do I come across a game with pairings I actually really like. As much as I love final fantasy, all the girls left much to be desired. P3P however... omg I want to marry Mshe lol. That's just how likable she is X3

So anyways, there are also other female characters like Mitsuru who is rich and beautiful but cold as ice and Yukari whom everyone seem to hate because I heard she was downright irritating if you played as Minato but as Minako, she was pretty ok. Needs to shut up more imo and stop being such a bitch to guys and then whining about why she is not as likable as Mitsuru coz no one would ever like her ok if she keeps dissing all guys who compliments her. Especially Junpei, who is the kindest soul ever.

Junpei. Strictly friends only though coz he has the hots for a gothic loli.

AND OMG HOW CAN I FORGET KOROMARU???!!!

Any game that gives me a doggy is an instant plus in my book ♥

To wrap everything up, P3P is a highly enjoyable game to play where you can start a New Game+ after beating the 1st to either play as the other gender or replay it to get all the S.Link you previously missed with your levels, personas and items intact. Its quite difficult to juggle everything though so you might need a guide or do what I do where I spent one day per month (in game not irl) just grinding away in tartarus to level up and stuff and spent the rest of the month socializing whatever.

Now excuse me while I go and replay the game as Minato this time~♪

*if you want all those persona pics and more, here's the link to the folder :)