Atlus Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Nintendo 3DS Standard Edition

I will admit, I'm a Persona fanboy. Persona 4 was my favorite game ever (up until P5 happened), while P3 came really close to that spot. So I'm kind of biased towards this one, seeing how it's a cross over between those two. I apologize, I can't help it.I'll start with gameplay, but I won't get too specific so this doesn't go for too long. I've never played an Etrian Odyssey game (the base for this one's gameplay) before, but if this is what they're like, I really gotta track 'em down 'cause this really good. The combat is difficult (even on Normal difficulty) but feels fair (most of the time at least, I'm looking at you Evil Spirit's Club), and the dungeon exploration is made far more interesting as the game requires the player to draw their own maps on the touch screen, whilst also solving various puzzles and avoiding traps. I know the map thing sounds horrible, but believe me when I say that it slowly grows on as time goes by. I will say that while the gameplay is fun, this style of gameplay CAN get a bit tedious over long play sessions for people new to the genre, so keep that in mind.As for the story/characters, it's great, but somewhat flawed. First off, if you haven't played both Persona 3 and Persona 4, don't even bother touching this one. 60% of the dialogue is made up of references or in-jokes from those two games. Plus, the game assumes that the player played those games before and dives into some pretty heavy spoilers quite often. The actually story behind it very odd, as it manages to somehow be both predictable, and shocking at the same time. I'll stop there though.The characters though, that's perhaps where the game is at it's weakest. While the characters are still fun, recognizable, and charming as can be, due to somewhat large roster (with about 24 characters in one small space, and all but 6 of them being playable), some of the characters personalities and quirks were simplified and exaggerated to make them stand out more among the crowd, leaving a few of them (Teddie, Chie, Akihiko, and Theodore in particular) feeling somewhat shallow and poorly written. It can be bothersome to the people who liked those characters in their original games, but the game gives somewhat equal screen time to everyone in the cast, so it isn't too noticeable.I'll stop here. I promise.

Es un excelente juego de RPG. Su twist es que se trata del subgenero de dungeon crawling lo que lo hace muy entretenido. Definitivamente no creo que un jugador que no sea apasionado del genero RPG lo disfrute. Es dificil, hasta los enemigos comunes son capaz de destrozarte si no te preparas.No es necesario conocer a los personajes de la saga Persona para disfrutar el juego, aunque el hacerlo le da un plus.

3ds games are regan locked so while amazon will ship out of the us the cartrage will not work ok UK 3ds

This game is not a regular Persona game for the 3DS. That has to be put out there before continuing. There is no social gaming, no year-long adventure, no exploring outside the dungeons (labyrinth), no nothing. It's a very bare bones experience. Instead, what you do have is a whole lot of dungeon crawling and fan service (err, not that kind). This isn't lethal to the whole experience and if you go in with your expectations tempered in advance then you'll find yourself having a fun time re-entering the world of  Persona 3  & Persona 4  and enjoying the character interactions that were the best thing about those games.The gameplay in this game owes little to Persona and everything to Etrian Odyssey. Those games feature a similar dungeon system, the same basic controls, and the same lack of options. They're also by Atlus, so it's not that surprising that they would copy their own system for this game. The way the dungeons work is this: you walk around in first person mode moving one square at a time using the directional button. The analog stick only allows you to look from side to side. After a certain amount of moving you will be attacked (you generally have warning when this is about to happen) and the game switches to a combat system not that dissimilar to the regular Persona one except that you have to manage which players are in the back row and which are in the front.There are also big monsters (F.O.E.s, short for the atrociously ungrammatical fusis oikein eidolon, or creature to live in ghost. Yikes) who you should really avoid wandering around. These show up on your screen. They only move when you do and they follow set patterns that you can figure out pretty easily, so avoiding them is usually not that tough. The really unique feature of this system is that you are not provided with a map but have to create your own as you go along. This does increase the difficulty of your exploration but it also provides you with a certain satisfaction from actually completing it. Outside of combat there's little to do. The main screen in Yasogami High only has a text menu of options for things like buying new items, healing, or saving the game. The majority of your time will be spent in the labyrinth.Is this system a perfect fit for Persona? No. I don't think they'd have lost anything by giving you the option to run around your school outside of combat and interact with the various zombies outside. It would have given the world a slightly less limited feeling while not requiring a large amount of storage room or effort. But in general I think the gameplay works well for what it's trying to do. At the least it isn't jarringly distracting.The big thrill here of course is playing with these characters again, and that's where the real fun in Persona Q comes in. The characters are back and they're as well done as ever. All the voice actors have returned and bring their customary liveliness to the roles. Sure, you can't talk to them in private like you could in the main games, but they do have frequent conversations throughout your adventure. They have also been given a design overhaul to better match Etrian Odyssey, which doesn't take long to get used to but can feel a little weird. They look a bit chibi. Plot and characterization has not been the strength of the Etrian Odyssey series. Until the last one ( Millennium Girl ) they didn't even bother with them. That's why I never had much time for them. But the addition works really well here and makes the game feel more like Persona.The really impressive thing here is how they've managed to incorporate two separate stories in the same game. At the beginning of the game you chose whether to follow the Persona 3 story or the Persona 4 one. Whichever one you chose, the cast from that game are the ones you'll be travelling with. Sure, you'll meet up with the other crew eventually, but for the most part (especially in the beginning) you are on independent quests. It's a lot of fun to play the game from both sides since, while they cover the same ground, the way they get there is often completely different. For example, since the game takes place in pseudo-Yasugami High from Persona 4 the arrival of the Persona 3 crowd is rather disorienting and you're thrust into the adventure rapidly and against your will. With the Persona 4 crowd the transition is more subtle and mysterious and involves a mysterious clock tower appearing in the courtyard. Neither storyline suffers from a feeling of being an afterthought, so you can essentially enjoy two games for the price of one!So should you buy this game? If you're a fan of Persona strictly for the social gaming then no. There's nothing like that here. And it's not as in-depth a game as Persona 3 & 4. But if you really loved those characters and just want to see them in an adventure again (and together this time!) then this game will probably be perfect for you. The difficulty curve can be a little steep, but aside from that the game is a lot of fun. I'm getting a little sick of the spin-offs from the main series. Sooner or later it will run out of steam and make both those games feel tired and stale. But that moment hasn't come yet. It may be waiting for  Persona 4: Dancing All Night , but Q isn't the disaster people might have expected. If they're still bringing this level of quality to their spin-offs I say bring on Persona 5! Persona 3Persona 4Millennium GirlPersona 4: Dancing All Night

The game was in great condition, very satisfied with my purchase.