I did not think this game would take this long. After a hopeful battle with the Strega, the rogue group of Persona users, the point of the game which I thought was the end, led to another big segment of the game. This is probably the longest role playing game I've played in the last five years. I was pushed to the ledge, and guess what? There's another ledge after that.
The twelth Shadow turns out to be the Hangman, and it was pretty much that. A creature that hung from his skin on a cross, one of the grossest bosses I've ever fought. But he was not that difficult to defeat. After you break the statues in front of him, just unload on him with Ziodyne; if you have the perona Thor, it is a piece of cake.
After the ordeal with the Strega and around the 70th hour of gameplay I learn that the director for SEES, Itsuki, is behind it all. He wanted you to defeat the twelve boss shadows to unite them into one super shadow to summon the "FALL", which is an event that would transform all living things into mindless drones; known as the "LOST". By this time, everyone has lost someone dear to them (and in this I realize why they really had to make this game rated-M). Akihiko lost his dear friend Shinji, Mitsuru loses her father, and Junpei loses his dear friend Chidori. And in retrospect, Yukari has already suffered the loss of his father; Ken has lost his parents due to Shinji; and Koromaru lost his master from the temple. I guess death is a unifying theme in Persona 3. With the over-coming of grief comes the birth of new and stronger Personas. One of which is most important is Yukari's, because she solidifies her role as the main healer of the team.
There is a brief episode of humor as the school kids go on their field trip to Kyoto. For a time being, you forget their high school students and it's a nice breath of fresh air away from the Dark Hour. The trip has a lot of campy jokes and a nice animated sequence for you to watch. It all culminates to a spa scene that gets the boys in a bit of trouble. Boys will be boys right?
But with that done, comes the heavy stuff. The new student, Ryoji Mochizuki is not a student. Actually he's not even human. With the coming of the full moon on December 2nd, a new terrifying revelation occurs. Ryoji is an adversary of AIGIS, and they fight again at the Dark Hour. They had fought before, and Ryoji was the embodiment of the thirteenth shadow, Death. Who else commands death? of course, the young boy in the striped pajamas, Pharos. We learn that AIGIS fought with Death ten years ago and could not defeat him, therefore she did what was next best and sealed him inside a young boy - the narator. But with the defeating of the twelve boss shadows, the powers of Death awaken and is molded into human form, Ryoji.
It's all very confusing. But with his arrival one thing is affirmed, the FALL becomes imminent. Ryoji is known as the "Appriser" to the maternal being known as "NYX". And with her return, all will be lost. She is an entity as old as the world itself and defeating her is not an impossibilty. Ryoji gives you an ultimatum. Either join the world of the LOST and live everyday lifeless and in pain, or delay the effect and have your memory wiped by killing Ryoji himself, with it the Dark Hour and Tartarus will disappear - but he doesn't guarantee that the delay of Nyx will be long. This all shall happen on New Years Eve; so the final battle awaits.
Time elapsed: 86 Hours.
