Games for Lunch: Persona 3 FES
In a nutshell: The best game I've ever watched, or the best anime I've ever "played."
6/13/2008 5:22 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 5
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Release Date: April 22, 2008
System: PS2
ESRB Rating: M
Official Web site
0:00 All I really know about this game is that
the guys from Penny Arcade liked it and that Atlus gave me a free copy of the recent "FES" update, whatever that means.
0:01 Japanese singing over a confusing, jump cut-strewn anime. Then an equally confusing English rap over more jump cuts -- there's one every second or so! Flashes of people walking around school, RPG-style battles, a girl in a French maid's outfit, a white tiger, a gun to the face, a shop, and much more that I don't have time to write down.
0:03 In contrast to the frenetic intro, the title screen is dressed in mild greens with a gentle piano soundtrack and a full moon outside a window.
0:04 My menu choices are "The Journey" and "The Answer." Um, I was actually looking for "New Game"" or something. I guess that's kind of like a journey.
0:05 There's "New Game," along with my old friends "Load Game," "Config" and "Return to Title." Whew!
0:06 The game offers to tell me about the new features in this game, but since I've never played a Persona game, I decline. Normal difficulty is for "experienced gamers." I will "be able to enjoy the normal challenge of battle, which requires a certain degree of strategy." I'm going to hold them to that.
0:07 A blue moth on a black background. "Time never waits. It delivers all equally to the same end..." A moon goes from white to red. It zooms out to become a light in a giant sign on a busy street. People play arcade games, listen to their MP3 players, and wash their hands in a constantly running sink. The camera lingers on some scary toy bears dangling from a suitcase. The hand-washer has a gun and points it at her head! She's breathing hard and closes her eyes, but she can't do it. The gun is labeled F.E.S. Very artistic, but very confusing. I'm trying to just go with the flow here.
0:09 On a subway now. An announcer apologizes for the delays. Jump to the blue moth again. As the clock hits midnight, all the power goes out and the clock starts bleeding? Even the portable music player is dead. The moon is green and the streets are littered with coffins and blood, but the guy with the music player seems nonplussed. He opens an ornate door. "You're late. I've been waiting a long time for you," says a creepy girl in a striped mime shirt. "Now if you want to proceed, please sign your name there. It's a contract. Don't worry, all it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff." DON'T DO IT, YOU FOOL!
0:12 My first bit of direct interaction! I get to enter my name. I choose as "2+2=5" because I'm a jerk -- and a casual Radiohead fan.
0:13 "No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes. And so it begins." That mime girl is SO CREEPY! A woman in red arrives in the foyer. "Who's there?" She reaches for her gun, but another woman in a white blouse and huge bow tie tells her to stop. The music player comes back on.
