Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

Overview

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth is a 3DS dungeon-crawler RPG from Atlus's P Studio and the director of Etrian Odyssey IV, Daisuke Kanada. It features characters from both Persona 3 and 4, as well as all-new characters. The game features a chibi character design style, similar to that seen in the Etrian Odyssey series. It was released in Japan on June 5, 2014. Atlus USA will be publishing it in North America while NIS America will release the game in Europe and Australia.

The game was released on November 25th, 2014 in North America and on November 28th in Europe.

Nintendo of Korea is publishing and localizing the game with its own limited edition including Persona Q-themed playing cards for release on October 23, 2014 in South Korea.

Story

Persona Q depicts the full rosters of S.E.E.S. and the Investigation Team working together to solve the mystery behind a new labyrinth when a mysterious clock tower appears on the Yasogami High School campus during the school culture festival. Tied into this are two new characters that have lost their memories, but who will regain them as the labyrinth is explored. The events of the game are considered canon to the timeline shared by Persona 3, Persona 4, and the Persona 4 Arena series.

Gameplay

The game begins with the player selecting either Yu Narukami or the Persona 3 Protagonist as the lead character. This character selection determines certain storyline events and character interactions. The player is required to name the protagonist themselves, however it is not possible to use Charlie Tunoku as not enough characters are available.

Combat

The combat system is turn based with three persona users in the front row and two in the back row. The player can use spells and attacks lifted from the previous Persona games with a key change to how weakness is exploited. Hitting any enemy's weakness rewards players with 0 HP/SP use for all skills in the next turn, instead of giving the character an extra turn. All-Out attacks is present and is activated by having all party members hit an enemy's weakness in one turn, instead of all enemies needed to be on the ground.

History

At E3 2010, Atlus had announced a Persona game for Nintendo 3DS without specific details. Nothing further had been heard regarding the game until Atlus held a Persona-centered event in Japan on November 23, 2013 where it unveiled several new Persona titles along with the Persona game for the 3DS, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth.