Persona 3 Portable

Persona 3 Portable (ペルソナ3ポータブル, Perusona 3 Pōtaburu) is an enhanced port of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, released for the PSP. The game allows the player to choose the gender of the protagonist, which possibly opens up new routes and scenarios in the story. The theme of the game revolves around the "Butterfly effect", reflecting the changes that happen should the player pursue the path of one protagonist over the other, and the Latin phrase "Memento mori" which translates as "Remember your mortality. Remember you must/will die", as shown in the opening sequences.

Release Date

 * Japan: November 01, 2009
 * South Korea: February 12, 2010
 * North America: July 06, 2010
 * Europe: April 29, 2011

Gameplay
The setting takes place according to "the Journey" of Persona 3. The presence of the female protagonist means that there will be considerable amount of change in the story, such as new social interactions as well as Social Links. Even so, the Persona of the female protagonist is a more feminine Orpheus. The Velvet Room, if the player pursues the female protagonist path, they will have the choice of selecting Elizabeth or a male-equivalent named Theo to be Igor's assistant.

"The Answer" (Episode Aegis) mode, exclusive to P3 FES, isn't available in the P3P. The Desert of Doors will still appear however in an extra feature known as the "Vision Quest". In this mode, the party can fight stronger incarnations of the Full Moon shadow bosses (except for Magician) and get into special battles that test the party's abilities. When all of the battles have been successfully met, a second optional boss can be fought which is Margaret, Igor's assistant in Persona 4.

Another addition is the ability to pick who the player spends the last moments of the game with. This feature is only accessible on a New Cycle, and you can only select members of SEES with whom you have maxed social links and are romantically involved with. Both male and female protagonists have 4 choices to choose from (1 is the default Aigis Ending, and 3 from the others.)

World
Navigation in P3P overworld is menu based. Players could not roam around as in the PlayStation 2 version, although interactions still retain the "visual novel" feel. Overworld characters are rendered in sprites.

There are now two overworld save points: Aside from the log book in Iwatodai Dorm, there is also one on the main character's school desk.

The facilities in town where the player can increase the protagonist's social stats still function the same way, but some of them even offer part-time jobs at certain days, which pays a large amount and can increase two social stats instead of just one.

In Paulownia Mall, the Police Box is now the only place where you can buy equipment and sell items. Aohige Pharmacy is now a buy-only store, and Be Blue V is just a part-time work site and hangout to improve the main character's condition.

Battle
The game features five difficulty settings from easiest to hardest - Beginner, Easy, Normal, Hard and Maniacs.


 * Beginner: Enemy damage is significantly toned down, and the player is given 30 Plumes Of Dusk to continue in case of a game over.
 * Easy: Enemy damage is toned down, and the player is given 10 Plumes Of Dusk to continue in case of a game over.
 * Normal: Standard difficulty. Enemies deal average damage
 * Hard: Enemies deal 1.5 times more damage than normal and can gain a higher chance of Enemy Advantage when not taken by surprise.
 * Maniac: Enemies deal 2 times more damage than normal, can gain a higher chance of Enemy Advantage when not taken by surprise, and certain weapon fusions cannot be performed. Moreover, when starting a New Cycle from any difficulty level to Maniac, no data from the prior game carries over to the new one (character level and social stats start at 1, the Persona Compendium will only have records of recently-gained Personae, and the doors for Vision Quest and Monad will not be present early in the game).

New battle costumes have been added: Butler Costumes for the male party members, and Santa Costumes for the female party members (however, there are no variations of the aforementioned costumes for any of the protagonists). Battles now adopt the Persona 4 approach; the "Guard" command is added to the battle menu, and other party members now can be controlled by selecting the "Direct Command" in the Tactics option. Additionally, Fusion Spells from the original Persona 3 have been removed. Instead, you are able to acquire items that have similar effects by trading gems at the antique shop.

In Tartarus, returning to the main lobby no longer automatically restores the HP and SP of party members. Healing can be availed via the Save Point, and now costs money (the amount varies between the date and current status deficits).Also, when leaving a block via a one-time access point, the team can return to the last floor they escaped from by using the entrance. There is no longer a stamina limit for explorations, but exiting Tartarus will automatically inflict "Tired" status on all party members. An exception to this would be when the protagonist's condition is at Great (when leaving Tartarus after a short exploration, the protagonist's condition will only drop to "Normal") or when leaving the night before a Full Moon Operation.

Persona Development, New Skills and the Skill Card System
Some Personae from P4 are added to the lineup with altered levels and arcana affinities. The system of fusion remains relatively the same, and Heart Items released by specific Persona are still intact. However, all Personae now have the ability to produce a Skill Card when raised to a specific level. These cards can teach a Persona a new skill regardless of the inheritance restrictions. Aside from Personae, Skill Cards can also be obtained by trading gems in Shinshoudo Antiques, bought through mail-order in Jika Net Tanaka, granting Elizabeth's requests, topping exams (rewarded by Mitsuru along with minor arcana stat-booster cards) and finding certain people trapped in Tartarus (gained from Officer Kurosawa).

Due to the Protagonists being able to use a single weapon (instead of multiple ones like in the original and FES), the Skills "Fist Master", "Bow Master", "1hdSwdMaster" and similar were all combined into a single skill called "Weapons Master" Its skill card is called "Phys Boost", and all Personae which learned a "master" ability (like Cybele with Bow Master) now learn "Weapons Master".

Besides Weapons Master, there's another new skill in P3P, called "Magic Skill Up". It can only be learned by Messiah, and strenghtens any Magic Skill it has, including Almighty ones.

The Inari Sushi in Naganaki Shrine no longer grants random bonuses for item gaining and Tartarus explorations. Instead, it offers to duplicate Skill Cards, which will take 5 days to complete.

Almost all abilities can be learned through Skill Cards, except for Sukunda, Masukunda, Ragnarok, Thunder Reign, Niflheim, Panta Rhei, Samsara, Die For Me!, Morning Star and Black Viper.

Music
Music is written by Shoji Meguro. The official soundtrack was released on 25th November 2009. New tracks have been composed for the female protagonist's path.