The story here deals with a lot of death, darkness, and suffering, but there's always a light at the end of the tunnel if you're willing to look for it. You start off as a regular high school student who transfers to a new school in the city, assigned to live in a dorm with a group of other students. There's a supernatural phenomenon that happens at midnight known as the Dark Hour where Shadows turn up on the streets and cause all kinds of trouble in the city. You and the group of students in the dorm are among the few who are lucid during the Dark Hour, so it's up to you to stop the Shadows every night at midnight and the full moon.

Things can get quite dark with the way the plot explores human sin and how our own vices can corrupt us. Some of the symbolism of what the Shadows represent can be pretty grim. But the main protagonist always has his group of friends to fall back on -- a theme that shines through the hopelessness and despair without getting heavy-handed or cheesy. It's a full, well-written story from start to finish that stays with you for a long time.

Your Personas are demons and angels that you summon to use their spells and special abilities in battle. Fusing different Personas together lets you create stronger ones with better abilities. You can switch your Personas in and out of battle as needed to exploit enemy weaknesses you come across. And there are hundreds of different types of demons and angels with their own fitting designs and relevant mythological lore, ranging from familiar names like Shiva, Lilith, Valkyrie, Phoenix, Raphael, and many many more.

The battles in Persona 3 are tough, yet once you get the hang of the system, it's quite engaging. You fight with your Personas and your party members, who have their set Personas of their own, aiming to pinpoint your enemy's elemental weaknesses and exploit them. Once you find the weakness, you and your team are rewarded with an extra turn; if you keep landing the right attacks, then the game lets you chain a finite number of turns one after another. If you don't look up a guide, then finding weaknesses is a matter of trial and error.

But this also applies to your enemies -- if they exploit your weaknesses, then they get extra turns instead. The bosses are pretty hard since they hit for a ton of damage, so you absolutely need to take advantage of gaining extra turns. And as you get farther along in the game, you get access to buffs to your party's attack, defense, evasion, and more, as well as debuffs to debilitate your foes. As you get better with the combat and earn some tough victories, the sense of satisfaction you get helps you to keep pushing forward.

There are all sorts of characters to get to know and befriend through the Social Link system. You can make friends with your classmates, your party members, and a few other characters in the community of the city you live in. Spending time with them gives you a contained, and often touching story where you get to know them more and help them solve a personal struggle. After reaching the end of their Social Link, you're able to fuse special and powerful Personas that can help you tackle some of the game's hardest challenges. It's a neat system that gives you a gameplay incentive for building relationships.

The most notable addition in this version is getting to choose the female protagonist or the regular Persona 3 male protagonist. There's also a big plus in getting to control all of your party members during battle, a key mechanic that the original Persona 3 sorely lacks.

Playing as the FeMC, as she's known in the Persona community, opens up Social Links for all of your party members. This is great since you could only have Social Links with your female party members as the male protagonist, and you were limited to romances with them instead of platonic friendships. Some of FeMC's Social Links are much better than the male protagonist's options, making them worth checking out.

Everything in Persona 3 is stylistically on-point. The recurring cool blue or warm pink in the eye-catching menus and UI, text boxes, and even the protagonist's features gives the game a distinct aesthetic. The character designs are also really cool, with slender forms and a modern yet laid-back sense of fashion. And the trip-hop/hip-hop soundtrack blends classical, rock, pop, and synthwave sounds together in such a unique way that no other game really comes close to. Despite all the different ideas, it all comes together as a cool and cohesive look.

Without spoiling anything, Persona 3's last boss is one to remember. It's a grueling fight with an incredible accompanying music track. The challenge surrounding the boss fits right with the theme's of tackling impossible situations when all hope seems lost. It's a standout fight among JRPGs, period.