Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth is an RPG for the Nintendo 3DS in the vein of the ' series headed by the director of ', Daisuke Kaneda. It crosses the cast of Persona 4 once again with the characters of Persona 3. The main theme for the game is Maze of Life.

Plot
The story of Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth revolves around a rumor that involves the so-called "Seven Wonders of Yasogami High", a mysterious clock tower, and a labyrinth that appears out of nowhere on the school grounds, during the Yasogami Culture Festival. According to said rumors, whoever hears the sound of the tower's bell will die. The bell's chime is also heard in Tartarus by the members of SEES, who find themselves transported to Yasogami High. The only way to return the world to its original state seems to be hidden within Zen and Rei. However, both of them have lost their memories.

It is eventually revealed that the world that they are being held in was created by Zen, actually a part of Chronos. Twelve years ago, when he came to guide the soul of a girl, Niko, who had just passed away, he was intrigued by her despair and first created the world in order to get her to speak, and then, wanting to save her, wiped her and his own memories, also giving the two of them new names in the process. The characters of Persona 3 and 4 restore Zen and Rei's memories and awaken the remaining part of Chronos that wants to fulfill its duty, and together with Zen defeat it, allowing Zen and Rei to pass on to the afterlife.

Persona 4 Route
Set during the Yasogami High School culture festival shortly following the cross-dressing pageant, the protagonist meets Margaret at school. She invites him and his friends into the long-nosed fortune teller's booth only for them to find it opens into a platform connected by three broken stairs. When they attempt to leave the booth, Naoto Shirogane notices the school now has a large clock tower outside-- something Chie Satonaka claims has not existed at Yasogami High since when she was an elementary student. While looking for a booth, they come across one that was not on the program-- a door marked You in Wonderland where they discover they can summon their Personas outside of the television and find Shadows inhabiting the area.

Gameplay
The gameplay of this title is deeply grounded in its Etrian Odyssey roots: Players explore a seemingly endless labyrinth in a first person perspective and battle Shadows in a turn-based fashion similar to like in Persona 3 and Persona 4. Players can compose teams of five from the twenty playable characters and dialogue will change according to the party's composition. The new characters Zen and Rei will function as a singular unit, with Rei focusing on healing skills and Zen using physical attacks. The twenty playable characters do not include support characters like Fuuka Yamagishi and Rise Kujikawa, who can be picked for the role and have support skills of their own. Party members and support characters can be swapped out as needed during the game. Unlike their originating games, the game will not end when either protagonist loses all their health.

Persona Q gives players the choice to control either the protagonist from Persona 3 or the protagonist from Persona 4 at the start of the game. The dialogue and events will vary depending on the player's choices to follow either the Persona 3's SEES or Persona 4's  Investigation Team.

Unlike the previous games, all party members are able to use a variety of "Sub-Persona", which is explained in the story as having to do with the meeting of the two protagonists. These sub-Persona can be assigned to other characters and can be obtained as rewards for winning battles. The sub-Persona system is designed to allow players to use characters they like even if they share similar focuses by giving players the option to diversify their skill sets. By equipping sub-Persona, players are able to boost the stats of their team. Unlike previous games, character skill points can be distributed by the player upon leveling up and can be used to unlock a variety of skills.

Shadow of the Labyrinth also introduces a boost meter mechanic, which is built up by exploiting enemy weaknesses or dealing critical damage. When the character deals weakness or critical damage, it grants the particular character the "boost" status which has multiple functions: The skill performed during "boost" status does not cost any HP or SP, also the entire party benefits as follow-up attacks and All Out Attacks have higher chances of occurring. The more characters in a boosted state, the higher these chances become. Boost status wears off if the character receives damage or the next action they take does not score another critical or weakness hit. Unlike "Smirk" status in Shin Megami Tensei IV, Boost status only benefits the player characters and can sustain infinitely if the character in effect deals consistent critical/weakness hit and receives no damage at all.

Like Etrian Oddyssey, players must make their own maps in Persona Q. Certain chests are unlocked by mapping out a dungeon's floor, however those chests can also be unlocked by spending 3DS Play Coins.

Original Characters

 * Rei: She is a student in the parallel world Yasogami High and is known for her strange behavior. She is constantly seen eating. Her memories were stolen.
 * Zen: Just like Rei, Zen is another student in the parallel world Yasogami High and is always with Rei. He is seemingly overprotective of Rei and loses his collected facade when Rei is in danger. Along with Rei, his memories were stolen.

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Persona 3

 * Protagonist
 * Yukari Takeba
 * Junpei Iori
 * Akihiko Sanada
 * Mitsuru Kirijo
 * Fuuka Yamagishi
 * Aigis
 * Koromaru
 * Ken Amada
 * Shinjiro Aragaki
 * Elizabeth
 * Theodore


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Persona 4

 * Protagonist
 * Yosuke Hanamura
 * Chie Satonaka
 * Yukiko Amagi
 * Kanji Tatsumi
 * Rise Kujikawa
 * Teddie
 * Naoto Shirogane
 * Margaret
 * Marie
 * }

Antagonists

 * Queen of Hearts
 * Merciful Clergyman
 * Clockwork God

Trivia

 * In a collaboration with Pasela Resorts, a Persona Q-themed menu was served for a short period of time.
 * The existence of the Velvet Room is made aware by both cast members, having heard about it from their respective leaders. In the games, however, they are not aware of the Velvet Room's presence, thus only the leaders know of its existence.