Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable (2009) (PSP) (Atlus)
0The Persona 3 port for PSP was an intriguing surprise when it was announced earlier this year. Of course, it does make perfect sense for Atlus to return to the one game that, at least in the West, did most to catapult them into the mainstream and make Shin Megami Tensei well-known outside the sect of Atlus faithful.
The Japanese version of Persona 3 Portable has now been released and it's in many ways a streamlined version of the PS2 original. Surprisingly large amounts of the voice acting is intact but a lot of the cutscenes have been replaced by still images, as have all the 3D environments outside of Tartarus. This effectively speeds up the gameplay considerably and allows the player to quickly zip between locations and get through the story exposition much quicker. And thankfully, direct control over all party members have now been added. Also new are a few songs which are sure to please fans of Persona 3 and 4. Arguably the most important change, however, is the addition of a new female main character, and I suspect her story will be the main reason for me to pick up the inevitable localized copy of Persona 3 Portable whenever it gets released.