Revelations: Persona

"A game with both Japanese console style and western PC style"

Graphics-8/10
They aren't too good but they don't looked blocky to me. They are just kinda small. The character portraits are also quite well drawn so I don't really see a point to condemn them here.

Storyline-7/10
Well the storyline is supposed to be mysterious and unique.
Its really interesting for a while. But like Final Fantasy VII after a while I really lost track and didn't know what was going on in the storyline. I guess the long dungeon exploration must have made my brain so stressed up that I simply forgot all about the storylines.

Soundtrack/Music -8/10
Okay the music and soundtrack is really good for a game. Although many other Rpgs are better. The music for the Dungeons really suit the areas well.

Gameplay -7/10
This game is mainly about fighting monsters and getting those cards from them to make new spells.The key to this game seem to revolve around creating new spells. It may seem fun at first but gets boring after a while.
As for why this game is called a mix between Japanese console RPG and Western PC style I shall explain now.
The storyline is actually quite linear like most Japanese RPGs. However you can choose your 5th party member which does give you some replay value. Also the fact that they let you have 5 guys in a battle is something most Japanese RPGs do not have. Japanese RPGs love to force you to have 3 guys in a party which gets boring too quickly.

Another aspect which makes is more Western PC style is that the dungeon exploration is done in a see through your eye style. You know the screen is supposed to mean what you see through your eyes. For the life of me I can't seem to remember the exact term to use. Now most people who played too much Japanese RPG would complain since its easier for them to get lost and harder for them to navigate. Did I mention some stages are like at least an hour of roaming. One major flaw is that although there are few random encounters the battles are kinda long. This is just what you need to suddenly get lose. The fact that you can't save anytime you want is what make this game terrible. Games have been able to get away with using save points because navigation didn't take that long and it wasn't so easy to get lost. I must say the dungeon exploration got really tedious at some points that the player will likely give up if he isn't into dungeon explorations. As mentioned earlier the long exploration and few story advancements in between can often result in the player having a poor idea on the storyline.

Conclusion-This game has many unique style from Japanese console RPG and some Western Dungeon exploration style RPG.
Whether this is good or not depends on the player's preference. But do note that although exploring dungeons is fun but the game doesn't let you save until you clear the dungeon which is the games' major let down.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/11/03, Updated 06/11/03