So finally, after what felt like years, I’ve finished P3P. Yay!
In P3P, you can choose to be a guy or a girl. The latter is a PSP exclusive and if you want to have a different “POV”. I don’t have much idea about this game so I start off with the male MC.
First things first. I can’t assure you that there won’t be any spoiler in this post. This is a Recents post so expect lots. You might have sense it in your gut already though lol. Just thought I should warn you again. 🙂
I named my character Sasazaki Takuma lol. Sasazaki from Sasazaki Mami of SCANDAL band while Takuma is a random name I chose haha. Anyway, Takuma transferred to Gekkoukan High School in Iwatodai. He arrives late at night and upon stepping out of the train station, he notices coffins all over the town. When he reaches his new dorm, he is welcomed by a boy who made him sign up a contract (sounds fishy lol). After their meeting, Yukari comes to meet Takuma to welcome him, apparently not aware of the other boy. Takuma goes to school and meets Yukari again and another classmate named Junpei. Other students living in the dorm are his seniors at school, the Student Council President Mitsuru and Boxing Club Ace Akihiko. All seems to go well until one night, Takuma is awoken by a panicking Yukari telling him to go with her. They find out that Akihiko encounters a large Shadow — black, slimy-looking thing — and is now heading towards the dorm. It is powerful that they cannot do a thing about it. Yukari drags Takuma to the rooftop. Meanwhile, the head of the dorm, Mitsuru and Akihiko are all in the Command Room instructing the two on how to fend off the shadow (why don’t they go up there? :O I think it is mentioned in the game but I forgot ;w;). Yukari brings out a gun-like thing called Evoker to summon her Persona. However, she can’t bring herself to shoot herself (in the head no less, I’ll freak out too if it was me.) and the Evoker slips from her grip until it slides towards… Takuma. He is able to use it properly despite being his first time seeing those things (he’s rather calm actually). The fight has taken a toll on his body though and is unconscious for weeks. So much for a warm welcome.
Part of P3P experience is that you get to be a normal high school student at daytime and then grind in Tartarus at midnight. I used guides to help me get through P3P. This one is a social links guide where it guides you with the non-Tartarus part of the game so no tips about fighting Shadows etc. Using this is optional of course but since I often find myself at a loss on what to do during freetime, I opt to use a guide. This helps me have a schedule and not just run around the town cluelessly. I also wanted to max all the Social Links in a single playthrough. Not really needed but well OC tendencies~. This guide is very strict but it could also get vague at times so be warned. I had to improvise and searched through every forums. Also with this guide I tackle one block of Tartarus in one sitting — definitely not for anyone who likes to pace themselves in dungeon crawling.
Social links are the so-called relationships your MC forms throughout the game. The level of your S.Links corresponds to the bonuses you get when you fuse Persona of that Arcana. Once you maxed out a particular link, you will be able to fuse the highest ranking Persona. The perks of maxing out all links is that you’d get a bonus from Igor that allows you to create Orpheus Telos.
Since I have a male MC, I get to build my harem. You can have romantic relationship with all the girls. This might irk other people. What irks me the most though is that why do the girls find him attractive? I mean, yes, he’s like their beacon of hope and pillar of strength but he is basically just a yes man. MC doesn’t have a personality. He is like a fleeting existence in the game and gives answers on what the other person would like to hear.
This one is the guide I used while in the Tartarus. There are tips on how to beat bosses so you could face the battle prepared. There are six blocks in Tartarus and 2 special doors. Since I grind a lot, I have no more energy left for Margaret’s doors. I love Monad though. It’s probably my favorite block in the entire Tartarus! You get to fight high level bosses. So if you fight alone (which I often do when leveling my MC) you’d get a 10k++ exp. Woot! You’ll reach level 99 in no time. 😀
Other than all of the skills, links, and other shizz that you have to increase/complete, you also have to do Elizabeth’s requests as the rewards are quite helpful sometimes. The requests that I really hate though (the ones that totally sap my energy and patience) are the ones that has to do with the golden shadows and rare items. I’m not able to do the request for finding a rare item in Monad and fighting the Ultimate Opponent. I’m just exhausted at this point.
Going back to S.Links, I love the idea of creating and strengthening bonds with other people. I’m a little sad whenever I max a link since that means that character is going away (most of the time). It’s very much like in real life where you meets friends and even if you are away from each other, you know on the other side of the world they are there with the memories you both treasure. (I’m getting sentimental here haha) I just love the impact it makes. Even with the theme of death oozing in every aspect of the game, it only makes me hopeful. Death is inevitable but it doesn’t mean that you have to limit your world. Because the MC and other characters acknowledge and accept death, they are able to live their lives to the fullest. They appreciate things and people they love more. This is I think the stark contrast of the Good and Bad ending. In the Bad ending, the world does not end right away but everyone forgets what happens before that, their friendships and all. They become strangers to each other with no recollection of what happened to them. Then Yukari said this:
They are living in the now but in reality they aren’t. They don’t appreciate life and goes on with it with no direction at all.
Having said that, I just wish that the choices you make in the entire game adds up so that you can go to a certain ending and not just decide between two choices.
I’m pretty neutral about this game in general. Yes I love the theme and some points but it can get repetitive and tiring. The grinding is exhausting (though it must have been me). I get goosebumps when the girls go >///< around the MC like wth haha (I’m looking at you Mitsuru). BUT this is not a reason to stop me from playing female MC (too bad no reverse harem www) and succeeding Persona games.