Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

Overview

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona is a remastered port of Revelations: Persona for the PlayStation, which was originally released in 1996. This 2009 PSP remake features changes and enhancements to nearly every area of the game, save for the original in-game graphics.

Some of these changes include:

• A total re-localization which stays truer to the original Japanese storyline, and removes the changes seen in the original North American release.
• New voice acting and sound effects.
• Remastered cutscenes with a new artistic style.
• An entirely new original soundtrack composed by series veteran Shoji Meguro, who also served as the remake's director.
• The re-inclusion of the Snow Queen quest, absent from the original North American release.
• An enhanced interface, including widescreen support for the PSP screen and simplified menus.
• A rebalanced level of difficulty with multiple difficulty settings.

Gameplay

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona is a first-person dungeon crawler RPG that features turn-based battles that are triggered at random while the player is attempting to navigate the area. Players move from location to location in the city of Mikage-cho through an overworld town map. Interior areas also contain "safe areas"; rooms viewed from an isometric third-person perspective in which the player can interact with NPCs or collect treasure from chests while remaining safe from enemy harm.

As a remake of the original Persona, the game features a streamlined menu system meant to smooth out the flow of gameplay and increase the pace of combat. The player's party can be comprised of up to five members, and each can be fully equipped with protective gear, melee weapons, and guns. Each party member is also able to hold up to three Personae at a time; as in the other games in the series, a character's Persona determines their special powers, abilities, and elemental strengths and weaknesses.

New Personae are crafted through fusion, which is performed by Igor; a resident of the Velvet Room. Entrances to the Velvet Room can be located throughout the game. Persona fusion also requires cards, which the player can acquire through the act of negotiating with demons.

Collector's Edition

The North American UMD release was bundled with a two-CD soundtrack. To compare, Persona 3, Persona 4 , and the PSP remake of Persona 2: Innocent Sin each only included a single CD containing only a portion of their respective soundtracks.