Revelations: Persona

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Revelations: Persona
Developer(s)	Atlus
Publisher(s)	Atlus
Platform(s)	PlayStation
Release date	20 September 1996[1] 1996
Genre(s)	RPG
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Kids to Adults
Media	1 CD-ROM

Revelations: Persona (女神異聞録ペルソナ, Megami Ibunroku Perusona^?, literally "Record of Another Goddess Story Persona")[2] is the first in a series of role-playing games for PlayStation consoles – one of several spin-off series within developer Atlus' Megami Tensei franchise. In Japan, it has the Roman-character tagline "Be Your True Mind".

The story is set in contemporary times, with high school teenagers serving as the heroes of the game. Armed with weapons and imbued with magical beings known as Personae, they band together to repel demons that are invading their city.

[edit] Revelations: Persona

[edit] Differences between Megami Tensei and Persona

Unlike the Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei games, the plot of Persona does not involve "devil summoners". Instead, the main party consists of a group of "normal" teenagers equipped with firearms and melee weaponry.^[1] Each can summon a Persona – other "selves" from within their souls – and wield great power with them. Personae do not participate in melee attacks; instead, they function as a source of magic spells, a traditional element in role-playing games.

Although Persona was among the first of the Megami Tensei games to feature angled third-person viewpoints, dungeons are still navigated in first-person. Both these vestiges of the parent series would be dropped in later Persona games. Another MegaTen trademark, an icon displaying the lunar phase, also appears in the first Persona.

[edit] Game mechanics

Three party members battle a horde of zombies.

Like the games in the Megami Tensei series, battles in Persona need not always be about fighting. Instead, the player has the option to "Contact" the demons they encounter in an attempt to communicate with them. However, certain enemies (usually bosses and human-type enemies) cannot be contacted no matter how much the player might try. Each playable character has a set of different Contact commands, which will affect the selected demon in one of four ways: Joy, Anger, Fear or Interest. There are occasional questions posed by the demon, and the chosen answer will also have an effect on its mood.^[1] By making a demon interested three or four times in a row, they will offer the player their "Spell Card". These Cards can be used in the mystical Velvet Room to summon new Personae.^[2]

While not engaged in battle, the party wanders the city streets via an aerial view map. Unlike future entries in Persona series, dungeons and outdoor areas are navigated using a scrolling first-person perspective. However, whenever the party enters a room, the camera shifts to an angled third-person perspective, where party members and non-playable characters can be seen and interacted with.^[3][1]

Battles are also from a third-person view. Each party member is confined to a space on a grid, which dictates the range of their attacks and where they can move during their turn. Ranged weapons can travel over many 'squares' to hit an enemy, while melee attacks are confined to one square. Enemy demons are positioned in front and rear lines on the grid; When the front line is defeated, the rear line advances to take their place.^[2]

A typical 3D maze, seen from a first-person perspective.

The player is allocated various Personae, one per character, which grants the party magic-casting capabilty. Each Persona also comes with a stat boost that improves the character's attributes when they gain a new level. In order to access a more powerful Persona, the player must create one by fusing two demons together using their Spell Cards.^[3] The keeper of the Velvet Room, Igor, oversees the Fusion process and gauges its probable success. In the Fusion menu, a color icon determines how compatible each pair of demons are: A red icon warns that the pair of demons are incompatible, and are in danger of resulting in a failed Fusion. A white icon indicates that the demons are of average compatibility, and no complications will arise. Finally, a blue icon indicates that the demons are very compatible, and may produce an enhanced Persona with favourable spells and/or attributes.

Occasionally, a failed Fusion will result in a "Fool" Persona or a mishapen ("Jellyman") Persona. Fool Personae are extremely rare, but possess enhanced abilities. Conversely, a Jellyman Persona will actually lose attributes after a Fusion rather than gain them. There will be no change to its appearance, but Igor will alert the party that a Jellyman has been created by mentioning that it "seems irregular".

An on-screen meter that shows the phase of the moon is always present. Besides showing the passage of in-game time, the current status of the moon affects the mood of most demons, meaning that certain Tarot cards can only obtained from them at certain times. A full moon also makes them more dangerous.

[edit] Story

The story revolves around an unnamed player character and his friends at St. Hermelin High School, located in the city of Lunarvale. While playing a ritual-like children's game called "Persona", each of the students are knocked unconscious. While asleep, they encounter a man named Philemon who bestows several Personae upon them. When they wake up, the youths discover they can summon Personae.

Meanwhile, Guido Sardenia, head of the SEBEC corporation, has invented a machine to create and allow passage to an alternate dimension.^[2] This machine is somehow linked to the mind of Mary Sonomura, a frail, bedridden girl and close friend of the main character, who visits her often. During one such visit, the party members realize that the city is slowly changing; while it looks the same, it is cut off from the outside world and is being invaded by demons.^[1]

[edit] Characters

Main article: Characters of Revelations: Persona

There are a total of nine playable characters in Persona. It is not possible to recruit all of them in one play-through; meeting the requirements necessary to acquire one party member might make others inaccessible. Yuki joins the party only briefly in the North American release of the game, but plays a larger role in the "Snow Queen Quest" (available only in the Japanese version).

Each of the main characters are students at fictional St. Hermelin high school, located in the city of Lunarvale (in the Japanese release, the city is named Mikage-cho). After playing a ritual-like children's game called "Persona", all of them gain the ability to summon Personae, spirits which manifest as various monsters, heroes and gods of mythology. The main character is a nameless boy, and the silent protagonist of the game. Other party members include Mary, a sick girl who mysteriously regains her health around the same time that demons invade the town; Mark, class clown and aspiring artist; Nate, pompous rich boy who is heir to the Trinity Group; Brad, a narcissist who convinces the others characters to play "Persona" in the first place; Ellen, daring adventurer and expert fencer; Alana, popular girl and a heartbreaker with many admirers; Chris, enigmatic fighter with a prominent scar on his forehead; and Yuki, a reformed gang member who mentors her fellow students.^[2]

[edit] Reception

Although something of a sleeper hit Revelations: Persona now consistently sells for more than than its original retail price.^[7] Persona earned praise for its mix of medieval and modern weaponry along with its high school setting. The game mechanic of 'fusing' characters with Personae also met with approval, particularly for how it lends strategy to the game. Gamespot had positive things to say about the whimsical Contact system, which rewards the party for negotiating with enemies rather than fighting them. "Players who use the silver tongue, instead of the shiny sword" have just as much incentive to "sweet talk their way out of fights" as they do to win them.^[1] Persona's storyline met with mostly favorable reviews; even detractors concede that it is one of the more imaginative parts of the game.^[2]

Generally, reviewers disliked the abundance of first-person mazes in an otherwise third-person game. Gamespot summed up its opinion of the old-fashioned, long-winding dungeons as "annoying",^[1] and others felt that although Persona successfully blended many role-playing elements together, the mazes did not mesh with the rest of the game.^[2] Critics pointed out that while Persona's graphics are serviceable, they pale in comparison to other games of the genre.^[1] Perhaps the harshest criticism was saved for the Japanese-to-English game translation;^[2] Gamespot went as far to say that some of the in-game dialogue "makes no sense at all."^[1]

[edit] North American localization

The North American release of Revelations: Persona saw many cosmetic and technical changes.^[2] In order to suggest that the story takes place in a western nation, the profile pictures of several characters have been recolored and (at times) redrawn completely. The most dramatic changes are to the main protagonist: his face and hairstyle are completely redesigned. Another notable change is to the character of Mark, who is altered from a Asian boy to an African American character with Ebonics added into his dialog. Both Nate and Ellen switch their hair colors from a dark shade of black to blonde.^[2]

Several measures were taken to erase most references to Japan in this release. The names of each party member and the of the town have been replaced with western-sounding names, while several Persona names were also changed, rather than translated, to be more generic rather than referencing local folklore.

There are also minor changes to the gameplay that are intended to reduce the overall difficulty of the game – there are, for example, fewer enemy encounters, and the amount of experience points gained from battles increases.^[2] In-game currency has been converted from yen to dollars, with the prices of items and equipment adjusted accordingly.

The Main Character as he appears in the original version (left) and his makeover in the North American release (right).

[edit] Snow Queen quest

An optional quest called the "Snow Queen Quest" was removed from the North American release, although the data for it is still contained within the disk. In this, the party opts not to pursue SEBEC and Guido, instead uncovering a strange mask inside the school. When they present it to Ms. Smith, she relates to them the legend of the Snow Queen. Trying on the mask, Ms. Smith is suddenly possessed by the spirit of Snow Queen, and the school is transformed into a frozen maze with four towers erupting at the corners of the grounds. Feeling indebted to her teacher, Yuki resolves to save Ms. Smith, and remainder of the game will be different than if the player had continued with the main path. There are fragments of English text which suggest that Atlus made early attempts to translate the quest, but it was ultimately cut.^[2][8]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Persona 2
• Persona 3

[edit] External links

• Summary of the Persona series at Hardcore Gaming 101
• Persona series at MobyGames