Persona 3: FES - PS2 (part 4)

Back again, for the last time on this epic game. Where I last left, the Persona users of Gekkokan High School were given an ultimatum by Ryoji, the avatar of Nyx. They had until the 31st of January to fight the bringer of Death. What this translates to is "it's time to get your act together".

I began by leveling up some more and trying to get the final personas and fusions. This was not as easy as I thought as the stronger personas required the highest social links and higher character level of the main character to create. I had maximized about 10 social links by then but there were a couple more that I knew I could do. I wanted to do Akinori's, which only occurred on Sundays and Mamoru's, which took more time than I thought. And some new ones opened up once you got the highest personal traits: Badass for courage, Genius for academics, and charismatic for charisma. But as the game dragged on, I realized I couldn't get them all in this first run, so I just tried to finish it after the 110th hour.

The battles after the 252nd floor of Tartarus were not too difficult, all the way until you battle Nyx. Sure, you'll fight Jin and Takaya again - and you learn about their origins. The fight's are pretty much a joke with my guy at level 82 and some of the strongest personas at my disposal. I do want to say something about Nyx. He's not a push-over.

The fight with Nyx takes endurance. You should reserve about 2 hours for him and the ending that comes after. I made the mistake of playing it and having to meet someone for lunch and had to shut off during mid-battle. It's a long drawn-out fight and it would be smart to bring a lot of items (especially precious eggs for MP). My final party was Main character, Yukari, Junpei, and AIGIS. I think any party would do, but I do recommend a healer and AIGIS because she has a lot of status increase skills. You'll have to use tactics often. Nyx can be tough if you let him get advantage of your low HP, so I recommend wearing Vitality rings that add 30% more. Nyx has about 13 forms, as you could have guessed by the big stress on Arcana in this game. While most of the forms have about 1200HP, the last one has 6000HP. I learned that the hard way.

Here's what you have to watch out for. First there is his defensive spell, "Night Gown". When he does this, a reflective barrier appears and every attack that you unleash upon him will be reflected to you with an added damage. Usually this hits about 500+ HP to a character, so I highly advise not to attack or have any of your guys attack when this is up. You'll have to set characters like Junpei to "Wait" almost. It's also a good time for you to heal yourself. Secondly, he uses "All Mighty" often. This spell is like a severe holy strike spell, but he does it after he does mind charge or power charge, so it doubles the effect. You have to have defenses up if you see him do his charges; it can wipe you out if you have low HP. Lastly, there is his most animated attack, "Night Queen". This attack is similar to Final Fantasy 4's "Big Bang" attack. It's a magical attack that damages and sets random effects to your characters. Here's the thing, be sure to dis-charm those that have been charmed! A person that has been charmed with the Diarahan (full-heal) spell will use it on Nyx. That's how I found out he has 6000 HP. From there it's pretty much unload on him as usual. I use Norn with Mind Charge and "Panta Rhei" spell on him mostly, and it gets the job done.

After the battle it goes to a super charged anime scene that throws all your guys into darkness. You're in an one-on-one fight with Death himself. He's angry and pissed-off. Your guys think it's the end and find themselves stranded in space, similar to limbo. All they can do is send you their powers. Your only hope is, well as corny as it sounds, a wild card in the arcana deck. Story ensues, and you use the "Great Seal" send subdue Nyx's fury. Everything turns white, and well, you wake up days later.

The ending is good. One of the better ones for role-playing games in recent memory. A very weird scene in the end includes the main character resting himself on AIGIS's lap. She does all the talking, and you just rest there, on the school's rooftop: half awake, half exhausted from the battle. I really loved this game. Will I play the "Answer" featuring AIGIS? Nope, not in the near future. After 100 hours of this game, it's time to move on.

Completion: Beat the game,

Collected 87% of all Personas,

Maxed out personal status (academics, charm, and courage)

Hours Spent: 111 hrs and 41 mins (+ 3 hrs of dead time)

Persona 3: FES - PS2 (part 3)

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.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - NDS (part 2)

So it finally ends, with a lightning spell to a big brown dragon - the Shadow Dragon. 

For some reason, this game felt amazingly long. I spent only nineteen hours on it in recorded time, but it felt like fifty. I guess it was because of the agonizing defeats along the way. 

Fire Emblem revolves around Marth, our displaced hero of Altea out to get revenge for those who destroyed his kingdom. Of course there is a conniving neighbor king, an evil wizard, and a dragon. I won't go into detail about the fellows he met and joined his cause, but it does help putting some names down for my final roster. I kept Abel (level 9 Paladin) and Cain (level 1 Paladin) and Frey as my knights. Then I had Wolfe, Merric, and Shiida. Tiki, the dragon princess, played a sacrificial role. I had to use Beck, the ballistician, to knock off other ballistas. I had one swordmaster and two heroes also, but they just played minor roles.

To defeat the end, I think you'd either have to have the Falchion sword, or bring the wizard up to the dragon and have him use Thorn. I didn't think it was that easy so I spent a lot of time restarting; trying to find the perfect way to get all my ways to the end without dying. It was impossible for me, so I ended up sacrificing a lot of key characters. In the end, the plan worked, and I was awarded a simple ending. I got to see Marth and Shiida finally come through with their feelings, and the credits began to roll. 

All in all, I think this was a good game for the NDS. It took advantage of the dual screens nicely; one for profiles, and one for the map. The menus were fast, and the story was quite compelling - although it was recycled from the 1990's version. I think if you can get through the defeats (and you will see the game over screen often), you'll enjoy this game. I don't think I'll be replaying it though. Next up: Valkyrie Profile, the covenant of the plume. 

Completion: Finished the game (with deaths)

Hours Spent: 18 Hrs 53 mins + 4 Hrs (dead time)