Between work kicking my ass for the past several months and my propensity to play long games (and in some cases, multiple times), I haven't had much opportunity to try out some of the newer releases as of late. Now that I have some free time on my hands (all hail the staycation), I'm prodding at my backlog a bit and checking some of these games out. Tonight, I finally turned on my Vita for the first time since...sometime last year, I guess. My copy of Dragon's Crown was still in it.

I guess as a quick aside, I should just state some thoughts on the Vita in general. I really, really don't get nearly as much use out of it as I feel I should. I have games for it and the desire to play them, but when it comes to the actual Vita itself, I just find so much about the thing just offputting. I don't really like the combination of the touch screen and touch pad on the back (which has more to do with the fact that I have yet to play a game that uses the touch pad in a way I find meaningful), I'm not a fan of the UI design and structure, and between this and the PS4, just feel that Mark Cerny should never be allowed to oversee the design of a user interface ever again. I am pretty sure that he is actually a robot and I would be willing to cite Knack in this argument. But anyway.

Tonight, I started playing MIND=0, which some of you may recognize as that RPG that at first glance looks like an off-brand Persona. Obvious inspirations aside, that really isn't giving the game enough credit; at least from the couple of hours that I've played so far. I've just completed the first actual dungeon and have gotten through a lot of expository story bits, and the game has just opened up to give me more options on where to go and what to do.

But first things first. How Persona-esque is this game? Well, strictly speaking, each party member has a MIND; a sort of spiritual creature that's bonded with them. But there's no fusion or collection element, and the main character Kei isn't a wild card that can swap between them at will. From the way it appears, at least early on, the MINDs the characters get when they first awaken are the MINDs they stick with. In battle, when a MIND is summoned, it can attack and perform various skills, but any damage that the character takes is inflicted on the MIND, draining MP rather than LP (Life Points). If MP is taken to zero by an enemy attack, the MIND is knocked out for a minimum of two turns. When the MIND isn't summoned, the human character can still attack, but can also charge MP by defending. So, from what I've been able to experience in my limited combat so far, battles are heavily focused on knowing when to summon your MIND and when to dismiss them to recharge, or determining if keeping them out is worth experiencing a MIND Break (as the human characters do not suffer LP drain from enemy attacks when MINDs are in play).

Dungeon exploration is more akin to the original Persona than any of the sequels. Exploration is in first-person, and the mini-map fills in as you explore more. The dungeons in this game take place in an alternate dimension space called the Inner World (the normal human world being the Outer World). At the point in the story where I'm at, the party is still pretty much clueless as to what the Inner World is, what MINDs are, or why any of this insanity is happening in general. The police, meanwhile, have an interest in hunting down MIND users, with a couple of police officer characters that will probably play into the story more as it goes on.

The only real explanation that the party has gotten is from the Undertaker. No, not the WWE wrestler. This lady:

The Undertaker is the proprietor of a special "shop" that the characters wind up in when they're attacked by a MIND for the first time (although there are other methods that allow entry). And rather than Philemon going "'Sup!" an imparting Persona abilities or signing a contract with Igor, the members of the party get their MIND by choosing their weapon from among the shop's large selection. And this choice is essentially like Indiana Jones picking out the Holy Grail in The Last Crusade. Pick wisely, and you live. Pick wrong, and you die. And when you pick the right weapon, a MIND bonds with you. These MINDs (and the weapons themselves) are invisible to most people, save other MIND users and some select special individuals.

Where all of this is going, I have no idea. Again, the characters are completely clueless as to what's going on. But the party members I've acquired so far are an entetaining bunch. Kei, the protagonist, is pretty serious and sullen. He's also a voiced character with dialogue like everyone else. Sana is an athletic tomboy and was the first of the group to awaken to her MIND. And then there's Leo, who's...actually kind of a shithead, believing in the power of "As seen on TV" ghost hunting toys and getting caught up in the excitement. He also manages to fuck up his weapon selection a bit. He doesn't die, but his arm becomes demonic. Oops.

Like I said, I'm still really early in, and there's not much of the overarching story I can really talk about at this point because I really don't know what's going to happen. Still, it's been entertaining enough that I'll probably stick with it. Goodness knows my Vita would probably appreciate the attention for once.