Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Review

Some things just go well together: peas and carrots, peanut butter and chocolate, Persona and Etrian Odyssey. In Persona Q, developer Atlus has managed to successfully blend together two popular RPG series to create a fun, challenging dungeon crawler featuring buckets of Persona fan service, enjoyable turn-based combat, and cunningly laid-out dungeons.

My absolute favorite thing about Persona Q is the love it shows to long-time Persona fans like myself. I loved watching the casts of Persona 3 and 4 fight side by side, trade quips, and share profound moments. Whether it was Teddy making clumsy passes at the girls, Kanji and Ken bonding over shoelaces, or escorting the Velvet Room sisters Elizabeth and Margaret, there were lots of funny, and touching moments throughout the 60 plus hours I spent with the adorable cast.

Deciding whether to play as the main character from Persona 3 or Persona 4 was a tough decision, since they both have their own skills and merits, but having to choose creates a great incentive to go back and play again just to see all the different dialogue options. I was a little disappointed that the main story puts the spotlight entirely on newcomers Rei and Zen instead of familiar cast members, though. That’s not to say the story is bad, or that the new characters aren’t interesting, but it took way too long to find out who Zen and Rei were and why helping them through a long series of dungeons would allow the Persona teams to escape their imprisonment at Yasogami High.

It’d be much more of an issue if those labyrinths weren’t such fun to delve into, but they are, courtesy of Persona Q’s Etrian Odyssey-like style of dungeon exploration. I felt like a true explorer as I navigated puzzle-filled floors, and I even busted out a pen and paper to jot down things like the locations of hidden passages, treasure chests, and puzzle hints that would allow me to bypass Herculean enemies called FOEs. Using my brain to progress, instead of forcing my way through hordes of enemies, felt good, but there were times when my patience started to fray. Sometimes, I was forced to spend hours searching for clues to a dungeon puzzle, or tiptoeing around FOEs determined to block my progress. That meant stretches of fighting the same enemies over and over again, which got to be pretty repetitive. On the other hand, I felt incredibly smart whenever I managed to finish one of Persona Q’s immense labyrinths.

Of course, having good travel music is essential on a long journey like this, and Persona Q has it in spades. It’s a fantastic mix of familiar tunes, like the Velvet Room theme from both Persona 3 and 4, and rockin’ new songs like “Maze of Life” and “Light the Fire up in the Night.” There were actually times when I would stop exploring just to listen to my favorite tracks.

Exploration is fun, but the combat in Persona Q is even better. On the surface it’s very much like Etrian Odyssey: it’s fought with five-member squads arranged in two rows. I really liked this, because it allowed me to put physically weaker characters like Naoto and Yukiko in the back row so they could use elemental attacks without taking too much damage, while putting stronger characters like Shoji and Kanij out front where they could absorb blows and physically beat down enemies. But what’s really great is how Persona’s distinct brand of combat has been cleverly woven together with Etrian Odyssey’s, which gives Persona Q a flavor that’s similar to both series, but also distinct and new.

Not only do characters use their normal Personas to battle shadows, but they can equip one additional Persona that will give them extra abilities and raise their health and skill points. Plus, by using the Leader Skill, I could have either Fuuka or Rise use their special navigation skills to heal the party or speed up a character’s turn. These new features gave me a wonderful array of ways to change up my battle tactics and exploit enemy weaknesses. It’s a good thing too, since even basic enemies in Persona Q are tough customers.

Persona Q takes a page right from Etrian Odyssey’s playbook by dealing out lots of knock-down, drag out fights. I never found them cheap or completely unfair, but more than once I was wiped out by either a single FOE who caught me unaware, or a powerful group of enemies that could kill my entire party in just a few quick turns. It’s definitely not impossible: by equipping the right equipment and the right Persona types, I was able to overcome everything from hard-hitting FOEs to super-tough dungeon bosses. And my hard work was always rewarded with new Persona cards and rare items.