Nngh… I dunno what to say about this one. I’ve been playing it for a while and I think I’m almost done (I’m in Avidya world if anyone’s played it before). My characters are MC, Reiji, Nanjo, Mark and Maki, and they’re all between level 47 and 58.

I think there’s something wrong with the timer on my PSP though. It says 164 hours and I really can’t believe I’ve been playing this game for that long. I don’t feel like I’ve achieved anything in all that time. We went to the hospital, the world went crazy, we wandered around for a while, got transported to another world, wandered around some more, gathered some magical doohickeys and opened a portal and…that’s all. I haven’t had a single moment of excitement or great interest, but suddenly 164 hours have gone by? Nope, gotta be some kind of mistake.

Usual disclaimer: Persona is not a bad game. In fact I really like it. The dungeon crawling is far more bland and simplistic than in the later, more polished games, but it’s fun in its own way. I just don’t understand how I could have poured 164 hours of my life into this game and have so little in terms of plot development, achievement or satisfaction to show for it. When I was young I had a part-time job that paid me $15 an hour. If I’d poured that kind of time into it, I’d have an extra $2,460 to show for it. Here, nothing.

Still, assuming I really have spent 164 hours on Persona so far (the PSP must be broken, I swear), that just shows I’m having a good time…I guess? Seriously, I don’t know how to feel about this game. I don’t have any strong opinions on it one way or another. There are some things I really like, mostly the auto-battle system and the formations. There are some things that are okay, but could be better. Like the options for talking to demons and trying to recruit them are really confusing. It’s hard enough keeping track of all the demon personalities and right choices, but then you start getting demons with four, five different personality traits. I don’t know how anyone goes through all that without making extensive notes or resorting to a FAQ.

About the only thing I didn’t like was the music. The poppy, hip-hoppy tracks in Persona 3 and 4 eventually grew on me, but even after 164 hours (allegedly), the Persona soundtrack just grates on my ears whenever I attempt to listen to it. I’m also not really crazy about the story so far. “Sick girl gets jealous of healthy friends, crap ensues.” It’s like ehhh, okaaaay, but I expect a little bang for my $2,460 ya know?

Anyway, I think I’m almost done so I’ll just push on and finish it. Maybe I’ll find something to say about it once it’s all over.

Related posts:

Persona (2) – Finished Persona 2: Innocent Sin – On hold Back to Persona 2 Persona 2 – This is taking forever~ (spoilers)