Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, originally released in Japan as simply Persona 3 (ペルソナ3 Perusona Surī?), is the third video game in the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series of role-playing video games developed by Atlus, which is part of the larger Megami Tensei series of video games. Persona 3 was originally published in 2006 on the PlayStation 2 by Atlus in Japan; the North American release of the game was delayed due to issues with the publication of the official art book. An add-on disc entitled Persona 3 FES, containing a "director's cut" of the original game, as well as a new epilogue, was released alongside Persona 3 in Japan in 2007, and in 2008 in other territories, with a 2012 re-release on the PlayStation Network.

In Persona 3, the player takes the role of a male high-school student who joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), a group of students investigating the Dark Hour, a time period between one day and the next that few people are aware of. During the Dark Hour, the player enters Tartarus, a large tower containing Shadows, creatures that feed on the minds of humans. To fight the Shadows, each member of SEES is able to summon a Persona, a manifestation of a person's inner self. The game's most iconic feature is the method by which the members of SEES release their Personas: by firing a gun-like object called an Evoker at their head. In addition to the standard elements of role-playing games, Persona 3 includes elements of simulation games, as the game's protagonist progresses day by day through a school year, making friends and forming relationships that improve the strength of his Personas in battle.

There are official soundtracks for Persona 3, Persona 3 FES, and Persona 3 Portable, as well as an arrangement album containing music from multiple games in the Persona series. Music from the game has also been performed live at two concerts dedicated to the Persona series. Persona 3 has seen a manga adaption, multiple radio dramas. Critical reception of Persona 3 was mainly positive; reviewers enjoyed the game's social elements, while some found its combat and environments repetitive. Persona 3 FES was said to give narrative closure to the original game, although it was criticized for not featuring the simulation aspect of Persona 3.

A PlayStation Portable version of Persona 3, titled Persona 3 Portable was released in Japan on November 1, 2009, and in North America on July 6, 2010. The remake adds the ability to play as a female protagonist, new story elements and music, and a new interface designed for the PSP. In 2008, an original anime set 10 years after the events of Persona 3, entitled Persona: Trinity Soul, was released in Japan.

Characters

The main character of Persona 3 is a silent protagonist, named by the player at the start of the game.[22] He is a teenage boy, orphaned as a child, returning to the city he grew up in ten years prior to attend Gekkoukan High School.[20] After learning of his ability to summon a Persona, he joins SEES, which is composed mostly of students at his school. In manga, he is named Minato Arisato. : Yukari Takeba, a popular, cheerful girl; Akihiko Sanada, a calm and collected senior who leads the school's boxing team; and Mitsuru Kirijo, the Student Council President and daughter of the head of the Kirijo Group, who provides backup during battle.[23] As the game progresses, SEES gains several new members: Junpei Iori, a class clown and the protagonist's best friend;[23] Fuuka Yamagishi, a shy girl who replaces Mitsuru as a support character; Aigis, a female android designed by the Kirijo Group to fight Shadows;[24] Ken Amada, an elementary schooler whose mother was killed by a Persona-user;[25] Shinjiro Aragaki, a former member of SEES who left the group due to prior events;[26] and Koromaru, a dog capable of summoning a Persona

Story

Persona 3 begins with the Protagonist transferring to Gekkoukan High School, and moving into a dorm in the city.[20] After learning of his ability to summon a Persona, he is asked to join SEES, and is eventually elected its leader in combat. Additional members join SEES over time, all students attending Gekkoukan: Junpei, who had only recently discovered his ability to summon a Persona; Akihiko, whose arm injury prevented him from fighting; and Fuuka, who replaces Mitsuru as the team's support member. After awakening to his Persona ability, the Protagonist is transported to the Velvet Room, which its proprietor, Igor, says is a realm between "dream and reality".[28] Igor explains to him that his Persona ability is special: he is the only member of SEES capable of wielding multiple Personas in battle.[29] In-game, the Velvet Room is where the player may fuse two or more Personae to create a new one. Igor also encourages the Protagonist to meet people and form bonds with them, known as Social Links. According to Igor, the power of his Social Links will determine his potential in combat.[30]

On nights when the moon is full, the city is attacked by a Shadow more powerful than the ones found in Tartarus. After several of these incidents, Mitsuru is forced to reveal to the team the origin of Tartarus and the Dark Hour. Ten years earlier, the Kirijo Group, a research company founded by Mitsuru's grandfather, began amassing and containing Shadows. They studied and performed experiments on them, in order to harness their power. However, the experiments went awry, allowing the Shadows to escape and assemble into twelve larger creatures.[31] Each is affiliated with one of the twelve Major Arcana. SEES's leader, Shuji Ikutsuki, informs them that, if they were to defeat all twelve of the greater Shadows, Tartarus and the Dark Hour would disappear forever.[32]

As the year continues, the group adds two more Persona-users to their team: Ken and Koromaru. While vacationing in Yakushima, Junpei, Akihiko, and the Protagonist encounter Aigis, who had recently escaped the laboratory where she was kept, despite having been deactivated for years.[33] For reasons she cannot explain, she has a need to be near the Protagonist, even breaking into his dorm room at night to monitor him.[34] Aigis is also enlisted in SEES. It is revealed soon after that Shinjiro accidentally killed Ken's mother by losing control over his Persona; during an altercation between the two, Takaya threatens them both at gunpoint, when Shinjiro throws himself in front of his revolver, saving Ken's life and leading to his own death. After defeating the twelfth and final Shadow, SEES learns that they had been mislead by Shuji Ikutsuki. By destroying the greater Shadows, they have freed parts of a being known as Nyx, which will bring about the end of the world if it is fully restored.[35] Nyx, or the "maternal being", is the creator of Shadows; she is drawn to Earth by The Appriser, or "Death", a Shadow of the Death arcanum. SEES encounters The Appriser disguised as Ryoji Mochizuki, a recent transfer student to Gekkoukan High School.[36]

The Shadow experiments performed ten years earlier created the Death Shadow, albeit in an incomplete state.[37] Aigis, unable to defeat the Shadow, sealed it inside the Protagonist, who was a child at the time.[38] By defeating the twelve greater Shadows, the Death Shadow was recreated. Its purpose is to "usher Nyx into this world", bringing about the extinction of the human race. Ryoji insists that Nyx cannot be defeated. However, he offers SEES an alternative: if they were to kill him, their memories of the Dark Hour and Tartarus would vanish, allowing them to continue life unaware of their impending death.[39] Aigis, who now realizes why she wanted to protect the Protagonist, begins to believe that she is useless.[40] She urges SEES to kill Ryoji, as they cannot defeat Nyx. Through encouragement from her friends, however, she gains the resolve to join with SEES as they attempt to fight Nyx.[41]

On December 31, New Year's Eve, the player must decide whether to kill Ryoji. If he is killed, the game skips to Graduation Day, with SEES's memories of the Dark Hour, Tartarus and Nyx are erased, allowing them to live the rest of their lives in ignorance and Nyx exterminates humanity. If he is spared, then the game continues, and on January 31, SEES ascends to the roof of Tartarus to face Ryoji, who has transformed into the Nyx Avatar.[42] At the end of the battle, he shrugs off the damage and Nyx continues to descend to Earth. As this is happening, the Protagonist is summoned to the Velvet Room, where Igor reminds him that the power of his Social Links would determine his potential. The Protagonist hears the voices of his friends encouraging him. The strength of his Social Links grants him the power of the "Universe", allowing him to seal away Nyx from humanity.[43] The world returns to normal, though the memories of the past year are lost to the members of SEES. However, Aigis and the Protagonist retain their memories. On Graduation Day, the two go to the roof of the school, where the members of SEES had promised to meet should they stop Nyx and live to see their graduation. It is here that Aigis thanks the Protagonist for giving her a purpose in life: protecting him. Meanwhile, the other SEES members regain their memories, and run out of the graduation ceremony to join the other two. Shortly afterwards, he closes his eyes. The protagonist's fate is revealed in The Answer, included with the FES version of Persona 3.

dikutip dari :wikipedia