Review by J 5


Let me just start off by saying this: Persona 2: Eternal Punishment is the best video game I have ever played. That is quite a task for this game, evan surpassing Suikoden II. The game has everything any gamer could crave. From the dark story, to the captivating and unique battle system. I will get on with this review.

Graphics: 10/10.
Any gamer out there would easily realize the greatness in the graphics of this game. They are very good. They are anime type. Each Persona has a unique look to it as well. The only bad point to the graphics are that the dungeons arent very exciting looking, but you spend more time battling in the dungeons than walking around them.

Music/Voices: 10/10.
The audio department is just incredible. There are a bunch of small shops throughout the world of Sumaro each with different musics. There are a bunch of musics through the game. Some of them arent good, but the Aoba Park theme is just epic. Yes, I evan think one of the opera musics are good. And I hate opera.
The voices are some of the best in an RPG ever. There is never anything I don't understand them say. Every character has about 20 voices programmed for different parts of the battles. It could be more. There are a lot of sub characters who talk during major parts of the story as well. The sheer mass of the audio easily earns it's 10/10.

Control: 10/10.
Everything is here. Rotatable camera, easy to move, and yeah. No control problems at all.

Story/Characters: 10/10.
Where do I begin? Okay... I think I've got it... The characters in the world of Persona 2: Inocent Sin gave up their memories to live in the world of Eternal Punishment.
Thus, the main character, Maya has a lot of cases of Deja Vu around returning characters. And, in this unique world, rumors become reality. There is a ''Joker Curse'', where people call the joker and... Well, find out for yourself. All of these little things, along with the Taiwanesse Mafia form a terrifying, yet brilliant plot.
The characters? These are some of the best characters in a game. They each have very deep personalities and arent afraid to use their fair share of adult language. They are very realistic. There are so many characters to get to know and love as well. I will tell you the 5 main characters:
Maya- The main character who has a serious case of Deja Vu around a lot of people. She works at a Magazine company.
Ulala- Not a very lucky woman when it comes to men, Ulala has had a past filled with a lot of crap. She has been cheated on and once evan used the Joker Curse...
Katsuya- Sargeant Katsuya Suou is a policeman with a lot of honor. He never tends to dissobey his mission.
Baofu- This mysterious man has a web page full of rumors. This guys is cool. He is very interesting, funny, and in my opinion, the best video game character. Period.
Tatsuya- Not much is known of him, except that he is a key part of Maya. She and him go a long way back, but she can't remember him becuase of what happened in the past...

Gameplay: 10/10.
Oh boy... Where to start, where to start... I will start with the basic battle system.
You give your characters a set of options to do (item, persona, attack) and set it. Now, every time you want to attack, just hit battle, and the game uses your same strategy.
Contact is something never before seen in any game. It lets you talk to demons to get items, information, and Tarot Cards. The conversations can be very interesting,but will grow tiresome after awhile.
Tarot Cards are cards you get from talking to denoms. Tarot cards are used to summon new Persona.
Persona are the basis of this game. In order to stay alive in this game, you need to stay up to date with your Personas. If you dont, you will not be able to kill the present demons which threaten you. Now each character has a certain compaitability with each Persona. Be careful which Personas you summon.

Phew... What a long review. Only my 2nd and what a way to go! Persona 2: Eternal Punishment has everything. It is a very long, deep RPG not for the light RPG Gamer. If Final Fantasy and Chrono are your thing, dont evan put your hands on this game. You will not like it. Dont buy it for a game to play for the weekend. Buy it knowing you will have a lot of free time, a lot of fun, and enjoy one of the best stories ever seen in a video game. Recomended for the more hardcore RPGer. If you can find a copy, snag it as fast as possible. You will not regret it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10 | Originally Posted: 10/05/02, Updated 10/05/02


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