I've mentioned Persona 3 multiple times, and that is because I am in love with it. I'm late to the party, as I have just recently picked up the game. Persona 3 is ridiculously innovative; I can't say I've ever played a game like it. As such, I wanted to outline some of the highlights of the game (and copy Allistair, sorry about the shameless copy, it's retitled now :P), and why I like it so much.





1. Dating Sim Elements


I've played JPRGs, and I've played dating sims. I've never played a mixture of the two. Persona 3 has a day-to-day system where time passes and you have to choose how to spend your day. You can increase stats of academics, charm, or courage to open up different opportunities in the game. You can also choose to increase your "social links" which give power to the personas you create. This system immerses you in the game and makes you feel as if you are really living your character's life. To me, it feels like playing a manga as a video game, so if you're into manga, I'm sure you'd enjoy it.


2. Personas


I am an avid Pokemon fan. Personas share similarities to Pokemon. According to the game, personas are facets of your personality. You use them to fight in battle. Your personas can level up and learn new skills. However, leveling personas is a chore, and you are encouraged to fuse personas as opposed to leveling them up. Fusing personas yields different and stronger personas. The persona system keeps the JRPG battle system fresh and adds a lot of fun factor to the game. I could sit and try fusing different combinations of personas for a great length of time.





3. The Art Style


Despite being a Playstation 2 game, Persona 3 looks great. The cell-shaded-esque graphics fit the world well and still look great today. Some of the graphics of games from the last generation did not age well and can affect the enjoyment of a game, yet this is not the case with Persona 3. Its graphics have aged quite well.


4. A Compelling Storyline.


The storyline of Persona sucked me in early and I'm still engrossed in it. I find the story very interesting and I'm always excited to progress it further. While it may contain cliche anime tropes, it is by no means an overly trite story. I feel like this is a game that would not have worked without its plot. It is definitely an integral part of the experience.





I'm not quite sure how to state this last bit, but it's something that stood out in the game for me. At one point, one of the characters calls out the main character for being perfect, and how he does everything right. I've never seen a game acknowledge the invulnerability of a protagonist before, yet it's a trope that's seen in almost every game or series. This moment stuck out in my eyes as one of the most memorable situations in the game.

I do recognize that Persona 3 has flaws. If you are opposed to grinding, then you probably would not like the game. The battle portions of the game are pretty much one large grinding section. This is not enough to dampen the experience for myself, but I'm sure others may see it differently.

I may be rather late to the party with this post as well as playing the game, but I want to express what I like about the game. My hope is that someone will read this and give Persona 3 a shot. It's a game that has stuck out among many others in a very good way for myself, and I would like for someone else to be able to experience it as I did. If you haven't picked up the game and it sounds good, I strongly suggest playing it. You can buy it on PSN for $10 or hunt down the PS2 version, if that suits you better. Alternatively, you can buy Persona 3 Portable on PSN for the PSP.


Edit: The music. How on Earth did I forget the music? The soundtrack to Persona 3 is easily one of my favorite parts of the game, and one of the most remarkable parts as well. Its soundtrack is highly diverse and unique. I can't remember a game I've played with music anything like it.

When I first downloaded Steam and started playing PC games, Portal was one of the first games I played. I loved Portal. I have beaten the game multiple times and it is absolutely brilliant.

So why do I hate Portal 2?





Portal 2 was a huge disappointment for me. I barely made it about halfway through the game before I quit playing it. The game is just boring to me. They barely changed up the formula from Portal; most of the puzzles are quite similar. Having already completed Portal multiple times, I was tired of the same exact gameplay.

The second issue I had with the game was the action sequences. This is most likely the part that killed the game for me. I got tired of sitting and watching the action sequences so often. The sequences didn't even have a feel of action of urgency. You never ran anywhere; you walk at the same pace you do in game, which is a mild speed. These interruptions were quite jarring.

The story of Portal 2 was entertaining. However, I never found it quite gripping. I never became engrossed in the story and really cared about it. (As opposed to a game like Bioshock.) When these annoyances added up, I couldn't bring myself to like Portal 2. Despite both critics and my friends raving about the game, I found it a chore to play.





Now that brings me to my question. Does anyone else feel the same way I do? Was anyone else sorely let down by Portal 2?

A while back, I picked up Modern Warfare 2. This was only my second foray into the Call of Duty series (I had rented World At War in the past) and I really only picked it up because everyone was talking about it. I ended up loving the game and I poured about 250 hours into it.





However, when Black Ops was released, I didn't feel compelled to buy it. I didn't want to waste $60 on a yearly update. The same applied to Modern Warfare 3. I jumped on the hatewagon and began ripping on Call of Duty as most everyone does nowadays. The game certainly does deserve the criticism received for its yearly rehashes; however, it should not be perceived as being less than any other shooter on the market today.

I came to this realization today, when I picked up Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad. The game had been on my Steam wishlist for quite a while, so I bought it when the Steam Summer Sale began. I have been itching for a World War II shooter, as strange as that may sound. I booted up the game as soon as it finished downloading.





I figured I would start with the campaign and I began playing the first mission. The tutorial was fairly simple. However, once I got to the first real mission, my mindset changed dramatically. I was playing the game on the normal difficulty, yet I kept dying and dying. I couldn't even complete the second objective before becoming frustrated and giving up.

Griping over the campaign, I decided to try the multiplayer. I was met with gameplay equivalent to if not more frustrating than the single player mode, though I should have expected that. There was no way I could compete with anyone online. Terribly frustrated at this point, I shut the game down. I don't know if I'll come back to it later or not. I don't think Red Orchestra 2 is a bad game. I just can't get into it.





At that moment, I reached my revelation. Call of Duty isn't a bad game. It's not a game for idiots, and it's not a game for those of a lower level. Call of Duty is a great game because it is so easily accessible. I can jump into a game of Call of Duty and have loads of fun after not having played it for years. Anyone can jump into Call of Duty and have fun. That is the essence of the game, and that is why I like it.

I'll never look down on anyone for playing Call of Duty again. Well, besides blowing their $60 on a yearly rehash, but Call of Duty isn't the only series guilty of that. I'm not saying it doesn't deserve criticism for that, because it certainly does. It does not, however, deserve the hateful treatment it receives from a lot of the gaming community.

Obligatory introduction post. I apologize in advance for stupid formatting; I'm not good with BBcode or whatever. I've lurked on Dtoid quite a bit but I figured I might dabble in writing sometime. I guess I'll put up 10 things about me and whatnot.


1. I love cats.





Yeah, I'm a cat lover. That's a picture of my youngest cat when he was a little kitten. I don't really have very much to say about this one. I just love cats.


2. I'm 15 years old.





I am indeed 15. I hope this doesn't invalidate any of my opinions. I promise you won't hear any stupid teenage drivel from me, though. That's a picture of me.


3. Being 15 sucks in the gaming world.





I've missed out on more classics than you could name. Final Fantasy 7, Ocarina of Time, etc. Basically any game pre-PS2 era went right by me. (And even then, I missed out on gems like Persona 3, which has recently become one of my favorite games.) On the positive side, I jump for joy a little when HD versions of classics are released.


4. I don't have a favorite genre of games.





Honestly, I'll play most games. I don't discriminate. I love FPSes, JRPGs, music games, etc. Basically the only genres I don't like quite as much would be sports games and racing games. I'm not into sports and I can't play racing games worth anything. (Test Drive games are an exception. They're just too fun.)


5. My favorite games include the following.





I guess I'll just drop a list here, in no particular order. Borderlands, Halo games, Test Drive unlimited games, Persona 3, Bayonetta, Devil May Cry games, Fable games, Fallout 3, VVVVVV, Super Meat Boy, Bioshock, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the Elder Scrolls games, and last but not least: the Star Wars Battlefront games. I'm currently playing Persona 3 and in love with it so have a Persona 3 picture.


6. I'm a weeaboo.





I love watching anime and reading manga. I'm a Japan lover. Sometime in my life I would love to see Japan through my own eyes.


7. I'm a musician.





I play percussion instruments and piano. (which is technically a percussion instrument, but whatever.) I'm also in the marching band at my high school. I love what I do, and music is a huge part of my life.


8. I love listening to music.





I tend to listen mostly to rock and electronic music. I love dubstep, but don't judge me as a dudebro because of it. My favorite bands are probably Andrew Jackson Jihad and Imagine Dragons.


9. My name is Payton.


10. I ran out of facts about myself.


Sorry about the overusage of pictures........and that's all.