While the first two — well, technically three — Persona games might not be all that popular in modern times, the same can’t be said for Persona 3. Everyone knows for a fact that the popularity of the Persona series absolutely exploded when the games managed to integrate both the life sim and JRPG genre in one cohesive mix, crafting a game loop that is addictive in every sense of the word.
Of course, that idea would’ve been nothing more than a novel concept… had it not been for the incredible stories present in the Persona games. The first two titles might’ve been overshadowed by its sequels, but no one can deny the fact that the stories present in these two games are a cut above the crop of the usual JRPG fare. Persona 3 certainly doesn’t slouch in this regard, crafting an experience that is truly a must-play for anyone who loves great stories in the video games.
Of course, not everything is perfect when it comes to Persona 3’s story — if anything, there are ten huge missteps the narrative makes that are incredibly hard to ignore.
10 A Large Proportion Of The Characters Fall Into A Particular Anime Trope
While this might be the case with most Japanese story-heavy games, it’s still something that needs to be pointed out regardless. For the most part, the characters in Persona 3 are quite memorable and entertaining to interact with.
However, one can’t help but notice that most of the characters present in this game have been featured with a different coat of paint across most other forms of Eastern entertainment, making them somewhat less novel.
9 The Protagonist Is Conveniently Placed In The Iwatodai Dorm By Mistake
Persona games certainly go out of their way to ensure that their stories are cohesive, but it’s still quite mind-blowing that a powerful Persona user like the protagonist was “accidentally” placed into the Iwatodai dorm from the get-go.
Granted, making the protagonist shift dorms after he unlocks his power would’ve been a bit too much… but it’s still a very convenient mistake regardless.
8 The New Guy Is Chosen As The Leader Over The Other Older Members
While it’s understandable that the protagonist is a flexible Persona user, this doesn’t change the fact that he’s one of the newest SEES members around.
To randomly decide that this new member would lead the party seems like foolhardy move, especially given the fact that there are way more capable people in the form of Mitsuru and Akihiko in the dorm.
7 Recruiting A 10-Year-Old In A Battle To Save The World
However, making a newcomer the leader of SEES doesn’t even compare to this particular point. For an organization that is trying its hardest to prevent the end of the world, it’s quite ridiculous that the higher-ups were fine with the idea of recruiting a 10-year-old!
While it’s true that Ken Amada might be a powerful Persona user, this doesn’t change the fact that he’s just a 10-year-old child who needs to be protected from such dangers, not actively led towards them!
6 Takaya Is Evil Simply For The Sake Of Being Evil
While the idea of a group of Persona users actively fighting against the heroes might be quite novel as a concept, the idea falters in its execution.
One of the main reasons as to why this is the case is the fact that the leader of this rival group —called Strega — is a person whose ideals are so flawed that a single cohesive argument can shatter this entire flawed logic.
Takaya Sakaki is easily one of the worst antagonists of all time, and his token evil personality is one of the major reasons why.
5 Shinjiro’s Death Seems Somewhat Hamfisted
Speaking of Takaya, the role he plays in Shinjiro’s death is absolutely horrible, making us hate this character even more.
What makes this even worse is that the entire scenario surrounding this death scene seems ridiculously forced. Was there no other option available to Shinjiro so that he could prevent this from happening? And what about the rest of the party? Couldn’t they’ve tried to figure out another solution that would’ve helped save Shinjiro’s life?
4 The Story Can Be Depressing Just For The Sake Of Being Depressing
Shinjiro’s death is just one of the many saddening events in the game that is considered by many to be the darkest story featured in the entire series.
However, that’s not necessarily a good thing — if anything, the entire game feels like it forced in a ton of depressing events just for the sake of making the story as dark as possible.
3 The Ending Is An Unnecessary Gut Punch
The best example to describe just how unnecessarily saddening the game can be comes from the game’s ending sequence, which sees the main character pass away as his seal prevents Death from taking over the world.
While it’s a melancholic ending which shows the lengths our hero took to save the world, one can’t help but feel like this gut punch was unnecessary in a game where the heroes simply couldn’t catch a break, no matter how hard they tried.
2 The Final Boss Encounter Comes Seemingly Out Of Nowhere
The final boss battle with Nyx is certainly one of the most entertaining and challenging final boss fights in the Persona series. It also rivals Necron from Final Fantasy IX in terms of being a boss that comes pretty much out of nowhere as an excuse to ensure a bombastic finale.
While the whole idea of Death being locked in the main protagonist and his alter ego being possessed by Nyx might be quite novel, it still feels like an afterthought of sorts.
1 The Answer Is One Of The Worst Epilogues Of All Time
However, while the final battle with Nyx doesn’t really fall short of the mark even after being so hamfisted, the same can’t be said of the epilogue of Persona 3.
After the protagonist of the game breathes his last, Aigis turns into the character with the Wild Card ability as the world gets stuck in a loop on March 31st.
The events that ensue are some of the worst moments in the Persona series, with the entire social mechanic discarded in favor of an unbelievably hard post-game dungeon that is supposed to shed the light on the truth at the end… but just ends up making things even more convoluted.
NEXT: 10 Games To Play If You Love Persona 3
