Shin Megami Tensei: Persona Review

In the PSone era, Persona was an obscure spin-off series. Now, after picking up a fresh contingent of followers with its last two PS2 entries, it is one of the RPG genre’s big names. Leveraging this recent success, Atlus is giving fans the chance to see where it all started with this enhanced port of the original.

Demonic forces are invading present-day Tokyo, and you’ll fight back by controlling a group of high school kids who can summon magical guardians called Personae. The unusual premise is still interesting after all these years, and this version’s story is made even better with the inclusion of new cutscenes. Most problems from the PSone release have been addressed with features like shorter load times and the ability to skip battle animations, leaving you free to enjoy the depth of the combat system. The strategic battles, along with collecting and fusing various monsters, are compelling and addictive even by modern standards.

Controlling your characters in first-person and the angled third-person view feels awkward at first, but you’ll get accustomed to it after an hour or two. I should also note that this entry doesn’t have the focus on the social simulation found in more recent games in the series. If you’ve only played Persona 3 and 4, Persona on PSP may not be what you’re expecting, but it’s a landmark RPG regardless.