Persona 3 for the PlayStation 2 was a phenomenon. It not only resurrected the Persona Shin Megami Tensei spin-off series when it was released in 2006 in Japan, which hadn’t seen an entry since Persona 2: Eternal Punishment in 2000, it also brought the series worldwide acclaim. It was so successful that it even spawned a revamped edition, Persona 3 FES, that included an additional epilogue game.

In 2009, Atlus decided to take Persona 3 one step further with Persona 3 Portable. The result is a fantastic RPG adventure with two separate storylines and the best possibly version of the original Persona 3 story. It makes its US debut on July 6, 2010, and is destined for greatness…

As I mentioned in yesterday’s entry, I got a little obsessed when it came to exploring Tartarus for the first time. So much so, that I ended up clearing the first “block” of levels available, and had reached a barrier that won’t clear until after the first boss battle. Whoops! Not to mention I got a little carried away level-grinding after accidentally stumbling on a mysterious floor filled with rare chests and now had a team of characters that caused all shadows to run in terror.

Of course, there is an upside to this. It means that I can have the heroine spend the days until the boss battle enjoying everyday adventures in the real world. It’s the perfect time to build up some Social Links and character stats. After all, when I sent the heroine to the ladies bathroom in the dorm, it warned me that my charm and academics would need to be higher to build some friendships. (It didn’t, however, turn my Good status to Great…)

Ah, Tartarus. Dark Hour dungeon that, as Junpei points out, sounds like a tartar control toothpaste. My dungeon crawling experiences were less than stellar when I played Persona 3 FES, mainly because I couldn’t manage my party members and I was so frustrated by the fact that people would get “tired” or “sick” while exploring. (It’s my game, dang it. If I want my party members to dungeon crawl for two hours straight so I can level grind, they’ll do it and like it!) All of Atlus’ promotional materials for Persona 3 Portable state that those issues have been rectified in this release, and I can confirm that it’s all true.

I want to try and avoid spoilers as much as possible, but let’s just say Tartarus exploration feels a lot more natural in Persona 3 Portable. Tartarus is segregated into blocks, and I sped through the first block in one in-game night. One night. Well, sped through probably isn’t the best way to put it. I devoted two and a half hours to P3P playtime today, and all of that time was spent in Tartarus…

The first day of school in Persona 3 Portable is pretty similar for both the hero and heroine’s route. Yukari walks to to class, which of course sets off all kinds of rumors. Except this time they aren’t dating rumors – when the hero walks with Yukari to school, everyone assumes they’re together.. Instead, everyone’s wondering if Yukari and the heroine are friends. Also, a lot of the male characters seem enamored with the prospect of a new girl in class. Yay for instant popularity! By the way, this first scene with Yukari is voiced, as are pretty much every morning conversation.

When the heroine walks into the school, you get to experience the new navigation system for daily events. Instead of being able to have your character walk around, you see a static image of the area. People playing the girl’s route have a pink cursor, which can be moved around the environment to talk to people, investigate select objects and move to other areas

Gamertell’s recently gotten the opportunity to spend some quality, hands-on time with Persona 3 Portable, Atlus’ forthcoming PSP port of the PS2 game Persona 3. So much is changed though, that I’m almost wondering if port is the right word for the game. There’s a whole new storyline, new battle mechanics, part-time jobs and lots more.

So, I decided to chronicle my first five days of playing Persona 3 Portable. Each day will have a central “theme” and cover what I accomplished playing for between one or three hours. The only exceptions are this entry, where only about a half hour was spent playing.

After watching the new P3P opening, which seemed to focus on time, butterflies and multiple reflected images of each of the supporting characters, I decided to go with the female lead. Partially because I’m a woman, but also because I’d played Persona 3 FES and was interested in seeing how the experience would differ. It wasn’t because my character would then be able to date Akihiko…

There are times where a game is released where you really want to know what happened but you either can’t or don’t want to buy or play it. To help you out, Gamertell offers Spoiler Alert. We’ll play the games and tell you what happened so you don’t have to spend, or waste, your time on it. This week, we’re looking at Persona 3, the PS2 RPG from Atlus that’s coming to the PSP as Persona 3 Portable in July, 2010. Prepare to be spoiled…

Gamertell recently was invited to take a closer look at Atlus’ forthcoming PSP game Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable (P3P) with PR and Sales Manager Aram Jabbari and the P3P lead editor Nich Maragos. The two of them showed a brief peek at the third adaption of Persona 3 to look at some of the new features added to the PSP release.

First, and probably most important, Maragos pointed out that he was going to be showing a bit of the girl’s side of the P3P adventure. The original Persona 3, and Persona 3 FES both had a male protagonist. However, when you start P3P you are give the option to choose a hero or heroine. The heroine’s story differs from the heros in terms of social links, dating prospects, dialogue and even storyline events.

The demonstration began in the heroine’s classroom. Classes were over for the day…

Atlus has a habit of spoiling its fans and rewarding their loyalty with extra special incentives, and the company has just confirmed that it wants to buy Persona 3 Portable‘s fans love! If you take the time to preorder your copy of Persona 3 Portable for the PSP before its July 6, 2010 release date, you’ll get a Junpei baseball cap. Yes – an exact replica of the baseball cap worn throughout the game by character Junpei Iori.

Both Amazon and GameStop are already accepting preorders for Persona 3 Portable, and product listings at both sites show the Junpei baseball cap. So feel free to place your orders at either of those sites…

Persona 3 Portable is coming to North American PSPs! Atlus has just announced that the game will be released in stores and on the PlayStation Store in July 6, 2010. My day has officially been made.

Persona 3 Portable came out November 1, 2009 in Japan and was very well received. It’s basically Persona 3, only there are some tweaks to the battle system, like you can now control all characters. There are also more difficulty levels and a new way of exploring the world outside of Tartarus. Of course, there’s also a whole new storyline where the hero is a girl, and she has all new social links. Persona 3 Portable also gives players the chance to stop in Inaba and see some Persona 4 characters.

Let’s watch Persona 3 Portable‘s opening movie, since Atlus was kind enough to upload it…

AtlusNet.jp updated recently with many new details about Persona 3 Portable, the PSP port/remake of Persona 3, which came out November 1, 2009. The most obvious and talked about addition is the ability to play as a heroine rather than the hero Minato from Persona 3. You can switch off playing as the hero and heroine in each playthrough, but still retain all of your character levels and items. The heroine also isn’t just a carbon copy of the hero, as her arcana card is revealed to be XXII (The World), but she still retains his ability to use almost every kind of weapon.

The other details in the news update offer a few new hints about the Persona 3 Portable Social Links. For example, there’s no need to worry if you’re not spending enough time around your Social Link friends. Even if you ignore them for a long time, the Social Link will not decay. If you make the wrong choices during events though, they still will. The update also confirms that Akihiko, Theodore and Shinji are Social Links for the heroine and it sounds like the dating feature is intact…