Yep. I've once again found one of those amazing games that sucks you in and doesn't let you go. Good thing it's summer, because I'm only four minutes shy of hitting the 42-hour mark in Persona 3 Portable. It's another rare game that's shattered my expectations about an obscure PS2-era JRPG. I've also realized another thing: the only games that are exceeding my expectations on the PSP are Japanese games. Crisis Core, MGS: Peace Walker, and now P3P.

It's hard to say just what's so good about P3P. It's got a pretty standard-however zippy-battle system, some repetitive dungeons, and a strange day-night system that has you attending school and hanging out with friends. If this doesn't sound all that attractive, that's pretty normal, those were my preconceptions, after all. But Persona 3 is much more than just your average grinding JRPG, it's an immersive and addictive experience that will keep you coming back, hour after hour, day after day. The battle system isn't really special, it's just got a couple of attractive gimmicks(all-out attacks and co-op attacks are always great fun to land), but more importantly, it goes by a lot faster than most RPG battle systems- battles come up often, but they're finished quickly, so you don't usually spend too long with one enemy.

But It's not the battle system that makes the game so immersive, it's the great, complex characters and incredible amount of back story to discover. It's something I've never experienced, having never played previous Personas, but this is a very innovative and engrossing game mechanic. Some say it's a dating Sim tacked on to an RPG, but it's a little more than that, in my opinion. For starters, most of the social links in the game are with characters of your character's sex. Also, the game isn't about getting a girl, it's an option that's more likely to get to know the characters of the story than to bring shallow thrills from virtual dating. The characters don't feel stereotypical, either, you've got Yukari, the bright, popular girl who's in your grade, Junpei, a perverted, immature, and hilarious comic relief character, Mitsuru, the rich, uber-smart senior who never ceases to impress, and Akihiko, another senior and a boxer. There's dozens of other characters, and it's safe to say that all the characters have more to them than meets the eye, and you'll discover many of their secrets along the way either through the main story or through the optional social links, which also directly affect your power to create new Personas, a sort of summon that characters bring out by means of a gun-like object called an evoker, fired through the user's head. Don't worry, this mechanic isn't nearly as gruesome or dark as you'd expect, and the game only looks at this in detail a little, in the beginning of the game.

Not really a review, as I'm not finished the game, and a review would be much more well-written and in-depth, but those are my current thoughts on Persona 3: Portable.

If there's a review someone would like me to write, send me a PM, I'll do my best to get it done. I have the way, just not the will. If someone wants a review, just tell me, it'll be a big incentive to write one.

I've been lazy for the past few months. That's all there is to it, I have all the time in the world on my hands, but I'm not doing anything with it, besides play games. That's all fine and dandy, but when it comes down to it, it's a horrible waste of time. Unless, of course, I choose to use my God-given talents and write about something. Even if it is writing about games, at least I'd be stretching some sort of creative muscle.

And that's what blogs are for. So I'm writing this to declare to the Gamespot community that I've realized that if I'm going to make the most of my gaming addiction, I'm going to have to make something creative of it. So that's where blogging comes in. Simple as that. There's something special about blogging, see, writing reviews is a great thing to do, but you're bound by a few things, like deadlines, you're tied to a specific game, and you need to check your grammar and spelling. By the way, I always check my grammar and spelling anyway, but there's something about not having the pressure of having to.

But most importantly, blogging exercises an inner desire to express yourself to the world, in a way you can be completely honest. You know how famous writers always claim to have kept journals before they began writing books or articles? Well blogs are the same way, except you have a bonus: somebody might care. Journals are almost always private thoughts that at most the teacher might read, but blogs are different: people read blogs. Granted, not everyone likes to read other people's thoughts about something, but myself, even though just about no one reads what I write, I keep writing in the hopes that someone will one day and be enlightened, maybe even inspired by what I've written. At the most basic level, I want someone to enjoy a piece of my writing one day.

I don't know when that day may come, but if it does, please tell me. This is Aaron Jean, signing off, and hoping someone will read this blog post.

Peace out.

I put up a real blog on Google blogger a while ago, it's here. I pretty much thought I needed a more serious blog, since not everyone reads Gamespot blogs, and I want my writing to be read. So please check it out, comment, and follow with your Google account. I know I sound like a desperate Youtuber, but all I want is some opinions and readers. I can pretty much guarantee the stuff I'll write will be more numerous and of better quality than what's on my Gamespot page.

My latest review is out, I went along with Mass Effect, and I didn't regret it. One of the best gaming experiences I've had in a while, and I'll probably review Mass Effect 2 next month.

I need ideas for my next review. Like my review of Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, this will be a review for my school newspaper. This time, since there is much more interest in the console gaming scene, I plan on reviewing a PC game that has preferably been released as a console game as well. I recently purchased Mass Effect at Wal-Mart(20$:)), and am greatly enjoying that at the moment, but it's not an especially new game, so I'm looking for something people have more interest towards. I will, of course, post my review on Gamespot, so I would like feedback about which game you would like to see reviewed for this month.

I need some ideas sometime during this month, as early as possible so I can complete the game, otherwise, Mass Effect it is. And please, don't leave out a game simply because it's bad or sub-standard. People need to hear the truth, especially if the game is surrounded in hype.

Please Comment

GVM

I just finished Assasin's Creed: Bloodlines last night, and was very pleased with the game, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Kevin V's review of it. Perhaps the fact that he was playing Assassin's Creed 2 during this time had something to do with his score of a painful 5.5/10. One must remember that this is a portable game, and for a portable game, the few sacrifices that were made, a very good portable game. What most amazed me was the way they incorporated all the freerunning mechanics of the original onto the PSP. Of course, not all the walls are perfect, but it's the first game that really pulls off open world freerunning in a portable game.

Just that made it worthwhile for myself. It's one of the best portable games I've played in a while, and probably the best Adventure game on th PSP in my opinion.

Just had to get that out. This is the first PSP review that I fully disagree with.

I hate Stalker at night.... brrr