Persona 3 Doujinshi and Comics

Persona 3, released outside Japan as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, is a 2006 role-playing video game developed by Atlus. It is the fourth main installment in the Persona series, which is part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. Atlus originally released the game for the PlayStation 2 in Japan in July 2006; the North American release of the game was delayed until 2007 due to issues with the publication of the official art book. Persona 3 FES, an extended version containing a new playable epilogue among other changes, was released in Japan in 2007 and worldwide the following year.

In Persona 3, the player takes the role of a high-school student who joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), a group of students investigating the Dark Hour, a time period between one day and the next that few people are aware of. During the Dark Hour, the player enters Tartarus, a large tower containing Shadows, creatures that feed on the minds of humans. To fight the Shadows, each SEES member can summon a Persona, a manifestation of a person's inner self. The game's most iconic feature is how the members of SEES release their Personas: by firing a gun-like object called an Evoker at their head. In addition to the standard elements of role-playing games, Persona 3 includes elements of simulation games, as the game's protagonist progresses day by day through a school year, making friends and forming relationships that improve the strength of his Personas in battle.

The reception of Persona 3 was mainly positive; critics enjoyed its social elements, while some found its combat and environments repetitive. Persona 3 FES's epilogue was said to give narrative closure to the original game, although it was criticized for not featuring the simulation aspect of Persona 3. An abridged PlayStation Portable version, Persona 3 Portable, was released in Japan in November 2009, in North America in July 2010, and in Europe in April 2011. Further releases of Portable are scheduled for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in 2023. This version added the ability to play as a female protagonist, new story elements and music, and a new interface. Two fighting games that continue the story of SEES, Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, were released in the early 2010s. Persona 3 has also seen other related media released, including a rhythm game, multiple soundtrack albums, musical concerts, radio dramas, a manga, an anime series, and an episodic animated film series.

The story of Persona 3 takes place in 2009 and is set in a Japanese city called Iwatodai, built and funded by the Kirijo Corporation. Several experiments carried out ten years ago created the Dark Hour, a period of time that exists between one day and the next. During this time, most people turned into coffins, and they are not aware of the Dark Hour; however, there is a select group of people who are. The Dark Hour bends reality; Gekkoukan High School, where most of the characters attend school during the day, becomes a huge labyrinthine tower called Tartarus, and beasts known as Shadows roam the area, preying on the minds of those still conscious. The Shadows leave their victims in near-catatonic states outside of the Dark Hour. To investigate and learn about the Dark Hour, Shadows, and Tartarus, the "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad," or SEES, was created. SEES is a group of high-schoolers capable of summoning beings known as Personas to combat Shadows. The Persona 3 instruction manual describes Persona's being "a second soul that dwells deep within a person's heart. It is an entirely different personality that emerges when a person is confronted with something from outside this world." Persona-users usually summon their Persona by firing a gun-like object called an Evoker at their head. An effect that appears to be broken glass comes from the user's head when the Evoker is used.

Hide