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 - Persona 3 Fes is an outstanding addition to the Persona seriesAtlus has improved upon one of its best games (who knew this was possible)...The Fes edition has added layers to the original awesome Persona 3 RPG by adding new personas, a weapons creation engine, and new quests to complete. In addition, there is also a new chapter entitled "The Answer", which is a dungeon-crawling, grinding heaven not for the faint of heart. In a word, superb. Rating: - Another great JRPG for your collectionSplit your days building a social network (which boosts your combat capabilities), improving your own stats, and dungeon crawling in this stylish JRPG. Lots of repetition, so not for the casual gamer. Those willing to do the (considerable) time will be well rewarded with an intriuging story and addictive gameplay. Highly recommended. Rating:  - The X-Com of JRPGs?I can't take JRPGs. Not usually. The big eyes plastered to childish bodies. The lengthy, cryptic, expositions. The cookie-cutter characters. The sick-making adorableness. The endless, pointless, series of soul crushing random encounters... But I keep trying. I know there must be something I'm missing because I can't get past my personal tastes (as impeccable as they are) as a Western adult PC gamer whose interests run towards Western RPGs when they're not preoccupied with historical simulations and wargames. Heck, it took me a decade to break down and even buy a console but I was ultimately glad for it. And once again my resolve, or lack thereof, has paid off. Take one part X-Com, the blending of turn-based tactical combat on unpredictable/dangerous terrain with a highly integrated strategic component, and one part Scooby-Doo. That's to my atypical, and slightly disfunctional, brain what Persona 3 FES is. It's an extended series of adventures for the Scooby Gang, or this Japanese version thereof, as they explore a mysterious world beyond ours by night (the Dark Hour's dungeon crawl) and go to school by day. The tactical and strategic interplay of Persona 3 FES is fairly deep. It trades X-Com's map movements and military style tactics and UN members needing placating for chosing which friends to make in the Real World and, as you learn about them, empowering those aspects of your own mind related to them called Personas. As other reviewers have noted the whole stable of personas is massive and they're highly customizable using fusions and having other elements in hand, or timing them right, when they're done. The single most important factor in how powerful a given persona will be is driven by social ties. Now I'm not going to say you don't give up a certain ambience of having your own constructable base, as in X-Com, or the ability to play through the loss of individuals on your team, as in X-Com, or the sheer attraction of commanding an elite squad of commandos. What you gain are the story oriented interactions of more detailed NPCs and a wealth of little details and a whole setting that changes as time goes on. It's so rich with story elements, most of which are not foisted on you in classic CRPG style, that you will have to replay several times and do different things to even see a fraction of what the daytime world has to offer. You can find yourself building up personal stats that, in turn, offer you access to different elements of the game. Most commonly these are new NPC Social contacts. who in turn empower the fusing of persona-spirits matching their own Tarot suit. You might find elements that build up a persona's stats (combat oriented compared to your more social oriented stats - they exist in tandem, not overlapping), have totally random effects, offer items to improve social standings with other characters, provide you with new items and much more. Each of the many NPC Social links has a whole backstory behind it that gets fleshed out as time goes on. Some seem to intersect the main story a bit while others have nothing to do with it. The strategy of figuring how best to spend your limited time in one day and to take advantage of all that's offered, or even finding it (and in some cases learning schedules for certain events - like what days a week certain films are shown or when the karaoke bar is open) is a big concern. Driving all of this is the background knowledge of a couple daunting threats that loom on the calendar: The Full Moon will spawn uberbosses you need to defeat to progress. You have to have the strength to handle these things which you gain both by grinding in the dungeon as well as building up social ties to empower your combatant personas. Possibly more scary: Mid-terms and finals! I'm really not the type who goes for JRPGs but the mix of strategic, tactical, storytelling and freedom to make some of your own choices along with the sheer wealth of options to explore overwhelms having to live in a Japanese High School by day and beat on random encounters by night. My mind's as much on the underlaying strategic consequences of what I'm doing as the candylike graphics and storytelling icing. And, for better or worse, I'm kind liking that too. "Oh, Stupei! You didn't really say that did you?!" Rating: - Interesting Take on an Interesting Title.If you liked Persona 3, FES is a refreshing addition to your collection. While you might be saying "Oh, I've beaten it already" the disc adds hours of bonus content as well as a bonus "second" chapter of the game introducing a new character. You can also upload your save data from Persona 3,bringing certain stats over, making things slightly easier. For those who have yet to play Persona 3, FES includes the main game. (plus the aforementioned extras such as new quests, personas, etc.) Rating: - Amazing Dating-Sim Style RPGLOVED: + incredible social interactions (picking which girls to date) + wide range of demons to summon + live day to day student life + join after school clubs or sports + visit the mall, ramen shop, or bookstore LOATHED: - tedious grinding - almost no replay factor Definitely buy the FES version. It's everything the original was, plus added content. New personas, extra missions, costumes, and more. <3
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