Dusting off the journal, and Persona 3 first impressions.

[aruru]

Oh wow, it's been like what - more than 2 months? - since my last post. O_o Oops. Some of you might've noticed that I was still around lurking and replying sporadically, though. Still, I'm sorry if I made anyone worry! ^^;

There have been a few things going on with me in "real" life, including one which may lead to my having less time to putz about online in the near future. I may or may not discuss them here some other time, depending on my mood/whim. We'll see.



Anyway, in gaming news, I bought Persona 3 back on Wednesday. I didn't get to actually play it until today, though. I did, however, check out the extra goodies it came with in the meantime. The artbook was pretty good, though short, and I rather liked the soundtrack CD. More companies should add extra swag of this quality to their games! :D

As for the game itself, I only played through the tutorial run in Tartarus and to the next day, in which I shopped for some new armor/shoes and healing items (I got lucky and received an extra 1000 yen to spend when I visited the shrine beforehand and tried out getting my fortune told. AND I also got an Academics boost when I made an offering during that visit. w00t! :D), and checked out a little bit of the town before quitting for dinner.

So, first impressions of the game:

- Voice acting, though not superb, isn't bad at all. I'm not cringing at anyone I've met yet, at least.

- Thus far, all of the main cast members I've met seem like they're going to be pretty cool people. I think I'm going to like them all.

- Speaking of which, thus far, it's looking like Junpei'll be my favorite. I know it's a little early to tell for sure, but I guess I just have a soft spot for the class clown. ^_^

- Battling looks like it's going to be plenty of fun, even though I don't get to control anyone but the main hero. Hopefully the other members' AIs are good - I haven't really tried out the Tactics command yet to see.

- I really wish you could check the party's equipment all at once rather than having to ask each chara individually to see their respective inventory and stats. I know they're trying to get you into the whole "camaraderie" feel, but it's slightly annoying to have to go one by one. :\

- Lastly, I have to agree with ruaki that, while at first glance, it seems amusingly WTF, the whole "shooting yourself in the head with a fake gun to 'kill' your consciousness and summon the unconscious (aka Persona)" bit is really good symbolism. Go game designers! :D

That's about it for now. Oh, and in case anyone's wondering, I called the hero Kai Aomori. "Kai" just because I like the name and the character "looks" like the name fits him, and "Aomori" in honor of rikoshi's time as an ESL teacher there so many years ago. All hail the Frozen Land of Tsugaru! ;)




ETA: My bad, it was only a month since I was "absent" from my journal. I keep reading the dates backwards. ^^; Still, if I worried anyone, apology still stands.

Comments

[aruru.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're doing well. It's always fun/interesting to hear from you. :)

Ah, I see. I'm not too used to truly non-linear games (I tried the first SaGa Frontier as a rental once, and got pretty lost.), but if I decide to give them a chance again, I'll consider it. ^^

Well, hopefully you'll get it before it disappears - you know better than I how Atlus is famous for their small print runs and all.

What other games are you playing, by the by?

[jurhael.livejournal.com]

I'll be getting it in the month.

As for RS, there's FAQS available at gamefaqs.com.

I finished Shadow of the Colossus last month, Final Fantasy XII before that, and I'm still going through Devil Summoner.

[aruru.livejournal.com]

Heh, that's a lot of games. Then again, I haven't really flexed my gaming muscle in a pretty long while, so 1-2 games a month seems impressive now.

Devil Summoner! redconverse posted regarding that game about a month ago. She really liked it, so much that it made me curious and I bought my own copy. Haven't tried it out myself yet, though - I wanted to play P3 first. Ah well, hopefully soon!

[jurhael.livejournal.com]

Not really. They were beaten in a span of a few months.

Devil Summoner is worth it. Has some great characters.