According to Gamefaqs, the story begins with you naming your character, who has just transferred to Gekkoukan high school. But it's clear that not everything is clean at the seemingly average campus. Mysterious creatures called shadows are threatening the locals, spreading an dangerous disease called apathy syndrome that leaves their victims as listless as the name implies. However, their activity is confined to the dark hour: an hour sandwiched between midnight and 1 a.m. Most people are oblivious to this hour, while others are distinctly aware of the creepy dark hour in which the haunting gloom seals most of humanity in lifeless coffins. Those unseemly heroes are in touch with their personas, which can be summoned to fight shadows in the realm of Tartarus, where most of them are restricted. At Gekkoukan, known persona users have created the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad and are determined to wipe the shadows off the face of the earth. While the entire, "saving the world" concept has been done in games countless times, Persona 3 is much more than just this trite formula. Besides the dark hour, you character is also a high school student. The character can attends classes, plays sports, and joins the student council. You have the opportunity to establish a good number of relationships with many of the inhabitants of the gameworld, from a love-struck classmate to the injured swim team captain. Each of these inhabitants has a story of his or her own, and you will find yourself feeling involved with their struggles, no matter how seemingly insignificant. However, your school day extracurricular activities are more than just minuscule gameplay elements: How you spend your time here directly affects your combat performance during the dark hour.
Once the school day is over, you have the option of adventuring into the Dark Hour, specifically, Tartarus, the creepy tower that springs up where your school is located, during the dark hour. Tartarus is essentially a multistory skyscraper in which you climb from one floor to the next, defeating enemies as you gradually level up to handle the enemies on floors above. You can take up to three other party members who have various strengths and weaknesses with you, yet unlike in most other role-playing games, you have no direct control over them. However, you can set up general tactics for each one if you like, such as support or full-out attack. This may seem limiting at first, but as you earn more and more personas for your own character, this minor annoyance essentially disappears as you fill the roles of your party members. One of the most unique, yet disturbing elements of Persona 3's battle system is the method in which you summon your person to battle. In short, you take a pistol shaped device known as an evoker, aim it at your head, and pull the trigger. While of course not a real pistol, the image is nevertheless disturbing, and will not get boring even through the 50 plus hour adventure. New personas can be obtained through successful battles, but the better personas you will obtain through the game's persona fusion system. The fusion system is vast and expansive, with well over 100 different persona combinations, you will have your hands full with trying out various possibilities.
Persona 3 is a game you will remember, if not for the complex characters or intriguing story, then most certainly for the endlessly shocking fake suicides you're subjected to time and time again. This game is definitely a worthy addition to your game library.
Other link: http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/932312-shin-megami-tensei-persona-3
