Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

 3DS
  • Publisher: Atlus
  • Release Date: Nov 25, 2014
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 428 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 212 out of 428
  2. Mixed: 45 out of 428
  3. Negative: 171 out of 428
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  1. MarcosDead
    May 26, 2015
    6
    I was quite disappointed, honestly. I've been an avid Persona follower for a long time, and this game was actually the reason I bought a 3DS. Persona 3 and 4 are some of their highest grossing games, and I'm so sad they didn't take more time with it.
    First, the dungeons were hard to get through. I loved the design, hated actually having to go through it. With each step in the walking    I was quite disappointed, honestly. I've been an avid Persona follower for a long time, and this game was actually the reason I bought a 3DS. Persona 3 and 4 are some of their highest grossing games, and I'm so sad they didn't take more time with it.
    First, the dungeons were hard to get through. I loved the design, hated actually having to go through it. With each step in the walking style they had in the original Persona wasn't easy on my eyes, and I got a headache early in. The enemy attacks are annoying, seeing as the player has no control if they happen--and unlike in Nocturne, I just couldn't get enough into the story to overlook it.
    The characters seemed poorly executed as well, turned into 2D people with one character trait it seemed (Aki didn't even get a character trait, he just seemed really liked protein), I was just displeased. I got the game because I loved the characters, and that's the only reason I powered through.
    Once I got more accustomed to everything it was easier to get through, and some of the characters truly did shine and bring back great memories of playing the games when I was younger.
    Not their finest by any means, but it has its redeeming qualities.    … Expand
  2. BambiRue
    Mar 31, 2020
    4
    A spin off nobody asked for.

    The gameplay isn't for everyone and is grating if you were looking for the more streamlined playstyle of the other modern persona games. It isn't bad, but is clunky and takes getting used too and the mapping is less than fun. The plot, however, is boring. The new characters are flat and not memorable at all, the characters are dumbed down flanderizations    A spin off nobody asked for.

    The gameplay isn't for everyone and is grating if you were looking for the more streamlined playstyle of the other modern persona games. It isn't bad, but is clunky and takes getting used too and the mapping is less than fun.

    The plot, however, is boring. The new characters are flat and not memorable at all, the characters are dumbed down flanderizations that get old fast and tries way to hard to be funny.

    It feels more like a parody of persona game than an official game.    … Expand
  3. tenforten
    May 1, 2020
    6
    How I rate games:
    Game-play, Music/Sound, Graphics & Visuals, Story/World-building, and Characters each get 0-2 points adding up to a score /10. 0 is non-existent or bad, 1 is average or N/A, and 2 is better than average.
    Game-play: 1 Not unplayable, but needlessly complicated for a spin-off. Music/Sound: 2 The music is great with many good new tracks and well as old ones brought    How I rate games:
    Game-play, Music/Sound, Graphics & Visuals, Story/World-building, and Characters each get 0-2 points adding up to a score /10. 0 is non-existent or bad, 1 is average or N/A, and 2 is better than average.

    Game-play: 1
    Not unplayable, but needlessly complicated for a spin-off.

    Music/Sound: 2
    The music is great with many good new tracks and well as old ones brought back from the original P4 and P3 games.

    Graphics & Visuals: 2
    The chibi style is a nice change and gives PQ its own identity from the main games and other spin-offs.

    Story/World-building: 1
    Good for a spin-off, if a bit weird and fanfictiony.

    Characters: 0
    Most of the characters become jokes and have their personalities neutered for the sake of gags while the new characters are not even slightly memorable.

    TOTAL: 6/10    … Expand
  4. PersonaTime
    Sep 3, 2021
    5
    Would have loved this game if the SP didn't drain so fast. Also, i get that it's using the turn-based machanics of Etrian Oddessy, but this is riddiculus, Press-Turn system would have been marvelous instead of having to watch your attack plan play out all at once. It got to the point where I wasn't impressed anymore, and simply went into safe mode, and auto most of it. From my view, thisWould have loved this game if the SP didn't drain so fast. Also, i get that it's using the turn-based machanics of Etrian Oddessy, but this is riddiculus, Press-Turn system would have been marvelous instead of having to watch your attack plan play out all at once. It got to the point where I wasn't impressed anymore, and simply went into safe mode, and auto most of it. From my view, this game should have kept the Press-Turn system, and normal SP usages from the original source.… Expand
  5. INU4SH4
    Jul 4, 2020
    7
    Persona Q is honestly an interesting mix. It blends the universe of Persona with the gameplay of Etrian Journey and combat of SMT together. Overall it's a game with adorable visuals, a decent story, and addictive gameplay.

    Does it work? Yes. Is it any better at what it does than the aforementioned games? No. But that doesn't really matter. While Persona Q doesn't excel at anything    Persona Q is honestly an interesting mix. It blends the universe of Persona with the gameplay of Etrian Journey and combat of SMT together. Overall it's a game with adorable visuals, a decent story, and addictive gameplay.

    Does it work? Yes. Is it any better at what it does than the aforementioned games? No. But that doesn't really matter. While Persona Q doesn't excel at anything comparing to other Atlus games, it manages to create an interesting journey with the legacy of 3 different series.    … Expand
  6. Nenilein
    Nov 25, 2014
    9
    The bad first: In order to have the characters stand out among each other, some characters had some of their traits exaggerated. Further, there is a lack of tension, since the game is character-driven, not story-driven and the actual themes of the story (which are no less thought-provoking than in previous games and borrow a lot from Persona 3 especially) only manifest very late into theThe bad first: In order to have the characters stand out among each other, some characters had some of their traits exaggerated. Further, there is a lack of tension, since the game is character-driven, not story-driven and the actual themes of the story (which are no less thought-provoking than in previous games and borrow a lot from Persona 3 especially) only manifest very late into the game. However, this all is far more than just made up for with amazing series continuity (despite the inherent time-paradox of the premise) and, all simplification aside, great character writing, as well as addictive game-play. This might just be the first Persona Game where not a single dungeon ended up boring me and where I actually enjoyed listening to the dungeon music. It's also nice being able to attach Persona to every character again, like back in Persona 1 and 2. A must-own for any Persona-fan who doesn't mind the spin-offs.… Expand
  7. deebee213
    Nov 28, 2014
    9
    Persona Q is an interesting Game indeed. At first, it would appear that Atlus were cashing in on two separate crowds: 1. The Etrian Odyssey fanbase and 2. Persona fanbase. Because of my history in buying cross over titles and the fact that Etrian Odyssey's battle system and difficulty was to be feared as Extremely challenging and frustrating, I was going into Persona Q expecting limitedPersona Q is an interesting Game indeed. At first, it would appear that Atlus were cashing in on two separate crowds: 1. The Etrian Odyssey fanbase and 2. Persona fanbase. Because of my history in buying cross over titles and the fact that Etrian Odyssey's battle system and difficulty was to be feared as Extremely challenging and frustrating, I was going into Persona Q expecting limited appeal to my tastes, but boy was a wrong. This game is simply astonishing! I tip my hats off to Atlus for leading the example on how to do a crossover game the right way.

    Gameplay: The Battle system was successfully implemented to show that it is not just a Etrian Odyssey rip-off, but a actual persona spin-off combining elements from both the Etrian Odyssey and Persona. Its fairly a simple turn-based battle system. However, with each character having 2 creatures to aid them, the multiple choice of picking your team of 5 with characters having different attributes, choosing who remains on the front lines and who provide cover from a distance, learning new abilities and leveling your characters AND their personas, make this game extremely deep and can be quite rewarding if you put the time into it.

    This game is First-Person dungeon crawler, so if you despise first person or grinding for hours upon hours to conquer a single boss, don't bother getting this. There is a lot of other elements to this game on top of the ones i just mention, and the game will do a great job introducing it to you as you come across new mechanics. They also nice job with the dungeons themselves, taking a page straight out of EO's playbook, with each floor of the dungeon being fairly large with multiple twist and turns throughout the dungeons. They even borrowed the F.O.E system from EO, which are basically high level enemies to give players a challenge, along with puzzles that was well done. Also from the EO franchise is the ability to make your own map to scout out how to tackle the dungeon, although auto-map is available as well.

    I can spend hours talking about the game play by itself, its challenging and difficult on the hardest level, and Persona Q offer a easier difficulty for the casual player. 10/10

    Graphics: The graphics in the game are actually well done for being a Chibi-style of the persona characters. And the little details they put in the theme and backdrop of the dungeon are fairly well designed. This game would be the first time i can leave the 3D turned all the way up without it being distracted, and it looks just as good as any persona or EO game i have played. Overall, not the best graphics ive seen on the 3ds, but a beautiful game to look at nonetheless. 8/10

    Sound: Ahh, where to begin. This game's soundtrack is arguably one of the best persona soundtracks to date. This is the Category i was actually surprised about the most. The voice acting is top-notch, due to most of the old cast reprising their roles and the music will keep you pump throughout the game. i never got bored listening to any of the main songs played throughout the game and the sound effects all seem to be from the persona 3 and 4 series respectively. I also think it was well done that Atlus gave us 2 different themes, depending on which side you pick at the beginning. The fact that they completely made a soundtrack , minimizing the uses of other tracks from other songs, was a complete surprise for me. Simply Outstanding. 10/10

    Story: The story is actually pretty good, but not the greatest. The game is literally more fan service more then anything. If you have played the previous titles of the series, you would be in love with what is offered in PQ as the plot and the atmosphere all cater to the persona fanbase. As for newcomers, The game itself gives you a backdrop of what is going on in P3 and P4 (even at the beginning, you choose what side you want to start with), so you won't feel entirely lost if you pay attention to the story, but i also will say that you will miss some of the little things that fans would know, but it won't be confusing like if you were playing a sequel. The character's charms make up majority of the story along with the plot focusing around the newcomers, Rei and Zen. i personally found that to be a good thing for people who are not familiar with the Persona Background, but it does take away from learning the story of the other characters a bit. Overall, if your not keen on story, you can skip all the dialog with ease and still enjoy this game because the gameplay gladly makes up for it, but I highly suggest you don't, the cast and the cut scenes are all amusing and worth your attention. 8/10

    Overall: Rent or Buy? I would say that this game is a Buy. This game is highly recommended if you had any interest in RPGs and dungeon crawlers and love a good challenge to go with it. Its one of the Best 3DS games i own and Persona fans and Etrian odyssey fans would feel right at home picking this up. I will give the game a solid 9/10.    … Expand
  8. AegisSol
    Apr 26, 2015
    7
    When I first started this game, it felt different. I had not played persona 1 or 2. I owned 3 Fes but never started it and I started 4 but still in the middle of it.

    With that said, Q itself isn't bad but not the best. The dungeons are almost a drag and the games difficulty scaling is really rough. I find myself leaving the dungeon everytime the characters complain about being worn or    When I first started this game, it felt different. I had not played persona 1 or 2. I owned 3 Fes but never started it and I started 4 but still in the middle of it.

    With that said, Q itself isn't bad but not the best. The dungeons are almost a drag and the games difficulty scaling is really rough. I find myself leaving the dungeon everytime the characters complain about being worn or severely hurt due to having little to no HP or SP. Which gets annoying. It kinda had the same thing in 4 but in 4 I never found myself leaving the dungeon quite as often as I was in Q. So that was my only gripe.

    Otherwise the concept for each dungeon and how it connect to one of the characters within the game was the only thing that intrigued me to keep me going. I still haven't finished Q but I'm sure once I'm done I will be satisfied with it. For now it gets a 7 for it's difficulty, the constant in and out of the dungeons to heal ( and yeah I don't like being charged currency to heal ), and its dungeon concepts along with it's connections.

    Maybe when I'm done I'll give this a point or two more.    … Expand
  9. VideoGamePlayer
    Nov 25, 2014
    9
    Dungeon crawling is awesome, characters are engaging, tactics are simple but deep enough to keep you thinking, a lot of the same has been seen in previous Persona games but this is a good thing since this series has been a winner for some time now and this game continues with that trend.
  10. kuehnau
    Jun 4, 2017
    3
    Take everything that made Persona 4 amazing and get rid of it. Then take the characters from Persona 3 and 4 and thoughtlessly use them in a outdated JRPG engine from a different game and you have Persona Q.

    All the elements of the life sim from Persona 4 are missing. Instead of a large world to explore, you are stuck at your local school. Add in a outdated rpg trope where you need to    Take everything that made Persona 4 amazing and get rid of it. Then take the characters from Persona 3 and 4 and thoughtlessly use them in a outdated JRPG engine from a different game and you have Persona Q.

    All the elements of the life sim from Persona 4 are missing. Instead of a large world to explore, you are stuck at your local school. Add in a outdated rpg trope where you need to actually draw the maps of the dungeons you explore and you are in for a bad time.

    Was not impressed.    … Expand
  11. ericiidx
    Dec 3, 2014
    8
    A dungeon crawler through and through. Quite obviously for fans of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, and to a lesser extent, Etrian Odyssey and old school roguelike RPGs (the Ultima series comes to mind.) Despite my not being too keen on drawing my own maps throughout dungeons (which can be almost fully automated if desired,) I still had great fun with the game, for the most part. Almost allA dungeon crawler through and through. Quite obviously for fans of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, and to a lesser extent, Etrian Odyssey and old school roguelike RPGs (the Ultima series comes to mind.) Despite my not being too keen on drawing my own maps throughout dungeons (which can be almost fully automated if desired,) I still had great fun with the game, for the most part. Almost all of the appearing characters (those being all of the possible party members from Persona 3 and 4, including the respective supports Fuuka and Rise) are well represented, although there is no real development to speak of outside of a few instances. The stars of the story are newcomers Zen and Rei, and the game tells a satisfactory tale of them. The battle system is solid and the dungeons engaging, although some of the puzzles were a bit haphazard (a particular quadrant-based puzzle comes to mind -- a cartesian graph isn't numbered that way, Atlus!) Definitely the longest Persona game to date, and one of the longest RPGs I've ever played; I finished at 87 hours, and didn't even do all of the side quests. The music stands on its own, and although about half of the tracks are reprises from Persona 3 and 4, this shouldn't be considered a bad thing. The graphics (namely, character sprites) leave something to be desired. I don't mind the chibi approach, but the polygon count is abysmal. I get that it's a 3DS game, but I've seen much better on the system! All in all, it's a solid effort and entirely deserving of the Persona namesake.… Expand
  12. VidyaBum
    Jul 31, 2016
    4
    So here's the final word about Persona Q: it's boring.

    I've been annoyed a bit, had a bit of fun, it had some touching moments and lots of uninteresting pointless moments. And the final word is that it's boring. Genuinely boring. I finished the game and was glad to be out of the chore. To understand why it's so boring, let's make two reviews: one for a Persona game, and one for a    So here's the final word about Persona Q: it's boring.

    I've been annoyed a bit, had a bit of fun, it had some touching moments and lots of uninteresting pointless moments. And the final word is that it's boring. Genuinely boring. I finished the game and was glad to be out of the chore.

    To understand why it's so boring, let's make two reviews: one for a Persona game, and one for a game.

    As a Persona game, PQ is a complete failure. Persona, for good or bad, is characterised by very deep, very well-written characters and individual storylines. It's the complexity of their personalities that makes the series one of the best ever.

    In PQ, every single character is dumbed down almost to their simplest expression. And that's a killer for a Persona game. Thought Yukari's conflicting emotions about not wanting to be clinging to men like her mother made her kind of annoying but endearing? Well here, she's just annoying. Akihiko is just a meathead obsessed with protein, Kanji is a creepy moron, Mitsuru is cold and sometimes girlish, but if their original personality was at 100%, then the Q version is at 30%.

    Now my guess is that they thought that they had already spent their entire characters on Persona 3 and 4, and didn't want to add content to characters already fully portrayed in other games, and instead decided to focus on them all meeting each other and having fun times and growing into each other(I mean the P3 and P4 casts growing into each other).

    It's a fine idea.

    Too bad that doesn't excuse the dumbed down personalities AT ALL. You could have the same characters be just as serious or realistic and yet be put in a situation where there's fun to be had. At the very least, if they didn't want to expand on the characters, they could just have them meet new faces and find affinities. Instead they just sort of have pointless, not particularly fun talks for the entirety of the game, minus a few good moments.

    That's for Persona Q, now let's just talk Q.

    Q's fighting does better than all the Persona games before, which is still a far cry from the far superior 2003 SMT Nocturne.
    And the whole labyrinth mechanic from Etrian Odyssey is...let's say an original touch, if kinda badly made.

    But here's the deal. This game is:
    -A few pointless talks with dumbed down characters
    -A few laughs
    -A few really good scenes about the two characters from PQ, Zen and Rei(that only happen after the 4th dungeon ends, so wow good job having nothing engaging for 4/5ths of the game).

    What I just listed is 5% of the time spent in PQ.
    The other 95% are dungeon crawling. Yes, 95% of the game is spent playing, searching, exploring, selling what you looted, healing and the doing it again. And again. And again. And again until you're just about entirely spent and bored.

    There is no one killer element to PQ but the reason why it's so boring is in the COMPLETELY IDIOTIC refusal of the game to separate labyrinth exploration and fights.

    Example: let's say I have to explore a new level in any of the labyrinths, that contains roughly 200 steps to go from the entrance to the next level. If I count the backtracking due to FOEs blocking your path or chasing you, the 200 jump easily to 250-270. If I want the (precious) bonus for stepping on every tile of the map, that jumps to 400. Now out of these 400, I'll really be walking 1000. Why? Because the game DOES NOT offer a way to avoid random encounters. Or rather it does, midway through the last dungeon, aka way too late nope never happening nope nope nope. Because the game offers a system between magic points and inventory that encourages going in, searching a bit, looting a bit, then coming back to heal and go again, the amount of backtracking, reloading, and exploring through tiny increments is absolutely ridiculous. I do not exaggerate when I say that 200 steps will cost me the time for 1000. Because if I wanted to just explore the level quickly without being constantly interrupted by fights which provide loot to sell, it would take me roughly an hour, tops, for most levels of the game. There are roughly (some are big some are small) 16 levels in this game. So 16 hours.

    I completed Persona Q in over 80 hours.
    Yes. 80.

    Around the end of the game, the characters had a scene where they said they were tired of being in this game, which implied that they had been here less than a day(at least hadn't slept since they got there).

    From this scene and my playthrough, I can only come to the conclusion that PQ was a game meant to be played in 20 hours tops. And that all the rest is a horrible padding to stretch the game. Endless random encounters. Tons of time spent just walking on every last tile. Hours wasted just going back, selling, then walking back to where you were. Without this padding Q would be a solid 7 to 8, but with it, it's just an extremely long, and tiring, borefest. The gameplay improvements have made me optimistic about Persona 5, but the designed padding of PQ ruins it entirely.    … Expand
  13. klkevinkl
    Jul 3, 2016
    3
    First off, I must state that this game is an Etrian Odyssey game. If you were hoping that it is a Persona game, you are looking in the wrong place. The only thing here from a Persona game is some of the combat mechanics. While there is dungeon crawling in the game, it is not done in the fashion of a traditional Persona game. Instead, you explore with a group of 5 in order to reach the endFirst off, I must state that this game is an Etrian Odyssey game. If you were hoping that it is a Persona game, you are looking in the wrong place. The only thing here from a Persona game is some of the combat mechanics. While there is dungeon crawling in the game, it is not done in the fashion of a traditional Persona game. Instead, you explore with a group of 5 in order to reach the end of a dungeon. The problem is that because of the high encounter rates, you will often tire yourself out and have to backtrack several times in order to complete a dungeon. Your inventory space is extremely limited as well, forcing you to carry little to no healing items because your consumable inventory shares the same space as your drop inventory with a cap of something like 50 different items. Each consumable counts as 1 item by the way and each monster has at least 2 if not 3 different drops you have to collect. This feature makes the game very annoying.

    The game allows you to draw a map with the touchscreen, but it is tedious and the automatic filling leaves out many things still. There are no social links and only a few random conversations with some people to see them interact. Leveling up does not seem to grant you very much and 20 levels in, I still feel like I had the same amount of HP and MP that I did at the beginning of the game. There's no sense of growth in power, even as I switch out new Personae for all of my characters. To top it off, there are chests that you can only open by exploring a map 100% (often not possible until way later in the game due to the presence of absurdly powerful enemies) or if you spend absurd amounts of Nintendo Coins from walking around for a week to open them.

    In short, do not buy this game if you are a fan of Persona because of the gameplay. This game is a game for fans of Etrian Odyssey, not for fans of Persona.    … Expand
  14. Darkresurrect
    Nov 26, 2014
    10
    This game is awesome for any persona fan and people that like unique RPG'S with tons of characters and great gameplay and music. The game is carefully designed every dungeon is unique and well designed, the crossover between persona 3 & 4 is great even if you havent played any of personas 3 or 4 games on the past. Overall I highly recommend this game if you enjoy the RPG genre or evenThis game is awesome for any persona fan and people that like unique RPG'S with tons of characters and great gameplay and music. The game is carefully designed every dungeon is unique and well designed, the crossover between persona 3 & 4 is great even if you havent played any of personas 3 or 4 games on the past. Overall I highly recommend this game if you enjoy the RPG genre or even more if you're a Persona fan like me this game is totally worth the $50 price is not a cheap production everything is fine tuned and polished. Thanks Atlus, can't wait for Persona 5 and Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei too.… Expand
  15. blade6309
    Jun 10, 2015
    7
    So, Persona my favourite game series by far. So Persona Q rolls along round christmas to bring in a bit of hype before Persona 5, but is it good? ...Kind of. It's not a bad game but maybe it was because I played both Persona 3 and 4 before with Persona 3 holding my title of all time favourite game. Well I suppose this is a review... If your here for story with all the characters fromSo, Persona my favourite game series by far. So Persona Q rolls along round christmas to bring in a bit of hype before Persona 5, but is it good? ...Kind of. It's not a bad game but maybe it was because I played both Persona 3 and 4 before with Persona 3 holding my title of all time favourite game. Well I suppose this is a review... If your here for story with all the characters from persona 3 and 4 your playing the wrong game. Instant let down for me, the game has minor 'stroll' scenes you can play to get some tiny tidbits to counter the lack of P3/P4 interaction. The gameplay was alright, It was new to have 5 people instead of 4 and having sub-personas. I found the dungeons to be cool to look at but got very very grindy very quickly. Your basic gameplay is this routine, Enter dungeon, Fight and explore untell you can't anymore, get out of said dungeon, sell all your materials, heal, buy weapons and armour, maybe fuse, save and repeat. Sub personas work like this. You get a small or large boost to your SP/HP that you can use. The HP/SP boost regens itself fully for each battle so it can save you in a tight spot. Assuming you don't be cheap and use the free persona ORPHEUS TELOOOOOS... Sorry. There is also the leader skill you can use. Some personas will have leader skills you can use if you have said persona equipt. These can be life saving and/or demolish the enemy. Fighting isn't bad but it's nothing really to write home about. If you've played the past Persona games you know what to do... and that's just it. This game is basically a watered down version of other persona games in my eyes. Maybe I got over hyped about the game but all I know is this. After beating the first dungeon I stopped playing constantly. Without the social links that Persona 3 and 4 have the game is more grind-fest then Persona 3 and 4 combined. You literally only playing this game to beat the dungeon and that's it. It's good but in my eyes the game is just barely worthy of the Persona name.

    Pros:
    Good combat
    Good dungeons
    Cool story

    Cons:
    No P3/4 interaction (Or not enough)
    Very little to do
    Grind-fest
    Little explanation to new players

    7/10    … Expand
  16. Wingandwind
    Apr 18, 2020
    5
    This... exists.

    The graphics are OK but the chibi gimmick is something not everyone will love. However, the graphics for in game effects and menus are all quite pleasant. Oddly enough I’d say the high point of this game is the music, having a totally solid soundtrack. The battle system is pretty complex and definitely will become annoying if it doesn’t come to you naturally. Honestly I    This... exists.

    The graphics are OK but the chibi gimmick is something not everyone will love. However, the graphics for in game effects and menus are all quite pleasant. Oddly enough I’d say the high point of this game is the music, having a totally solid soundtrack.

    The battle system is pretty complex and definitely will become annoying if it doesn’t come to you naturally. Honestly I don’t understand why they didn’t use the same one from the main series.

    The weakest parts of the game are the characters and the story. The story is pretty basic and characters you probably know and love are boiled them down into one or two traits each that make complex characters super annoying. I’m confident that if this was not a persona spinoff and these were original characters most people would call them annoying.

    Buy, rent, watch an LP, or skip? Probably skip. If you are curious about the gameplay maybe watch a LP to see if it is for you, but story isn’t really important to the franchise as a whole and the characters are not themselves so it is totally skippable.    … Expand
  17. Azure2290
    Nov 28, 2014
    6
    This is a game that cannot be recommended for those who have not played a persona game. Other than that it is a standard dungeon crawler with some of the persona style combat. Considering that Persona 4 Golden has set the bar so high it is rather off-putting having all the characters in a chibi style like with bravely default. It would have been nice to have the persona classic art spritesThis is a game that cannot be recommended for those who have not played a persona game. Other than that it is a standard dungeon crawler with some of the persona style combat. Considering that Persona 4 Golden has set the bar so high it is rather off-putting having all the characters in a chibi style like with bravely default. It would have been nice to have the persona classic art sprites instead even if it was low quality.

    What I give it merit for is adding more to the Persona universe. But I cannot give it much praise for the copy and paste style from Etrian Odyssey, it is literally mashing the two together leaving us with a lesser experience of either one.    … Expand
  18. saxo27
    Nov 29, 2014
    9
    I have had the privllege of being able to own this game about ten days before release and I have put about 30 hours into it so far. Thus, I believe I have enough put in enough game time to comment. First, I much very enjoy every aspect of this game. I love the Persona series (especially Golden) and the game shines with the character interactions, conversations scenes and the little touchesI have had the privllege of being able to own this game about ten days before release and I have put about 30 hours into it so far. Thus, I believe I have enough put in enough game time to comment. First, I much very enjoy every aspect of this game. I love the Persona series (especially Golden) and the game shines with the character interactions, conversations scenes and the little touches such as characters making a comment or two before a battle. This game, however, is for the Persona fan. A player coming into this game never having played at least Persona 3 or 4 will garner little enjoyment. Aside from this, the game has no noticable flaws. It plays like an Etrian game but modified with elements from the Shin Megami series (specifically Persona). Regarding the Etrian elements, they are heavily there. However, dungeon crawling feels fresh and does not get old. Battles are fun and challenging. On the tail end of dungeons you SHOULD have mastered how to quickly beat any villians for that floor (thus, the game does not become repetitive). Quasi-side quests and conversation set pieces allow the player to bond with characters (instead of having social links). ATLUS typically always produces high quality games and Persona Q falls within this spectrum. Honestly, sit back and enjoy being with your Persona friends again. If you have never player a Persona game...Step back from Persona Q and go play Persona 4 Golden. If you are already a Persona fan, then I am sure you don't need a review to tell you that you will have fun. Enjoy!… Expand
  19. elarrastre
    Jan 1, 2015
    9
    Con la llegada de Persona 4 Golden para PS Vita supimos que el mercado RPG estaba cimentando las bases de esta famosa saga,mas allá incluso de sus versiones de consolas de sobremesa.Este titulo en particular fue muy criticado por diversas razones,la mas importante quizás es la de llevar el diseño de personajes estilo anime al diseño “chibi´´ tan peculiar de sagas como EtrianCon la llegada de Persona 4 Golden para PS Vita supimos que el mercado RPG estaba cimentando las bases de esta famosa saga,mas allá incluso de sus versiones de consolas de sobremesa.Este titulo en particular fue muy criticado por diversas razones,la mas importante quizás es la de llevar el diseño de personajes estilo anime al diseño “chibi´´ tan peculiar de sagas como Etrian Odyssey,perteneciente también a la misma empresa.Por otro lado también llamo la atención a varios de los fanáticos,tanto por el hecho de reunir los equipos de Persona 3 y 4 como por contener la banda sonora de esos juegos.

    Gráficos:

    El juego en si exprime buena parte del potencial de Nintendo 3DS. A pesar del diseño chibi de los personajes,su coloreado y su acabado están bien realizados.Se hecha en falta la aparición de los personas en su versión 3d,contrario a las cartas en 2d con las que nos son presentados.Por otra parte,los escenarios poseen un buen nivel de detalle,muchos de ellos presentan la notoriedad de graficar a la perfección los clásicos cuentos de los hermanos Grimm,como es el claro ejemplo del primer laberinto.

    9/10

    Trama:

    Como todo Persona la historia nos dejara perplejos. Según el equipo inicial que hayas escogido,ya sea el de Persona 3 o el 4,la historia procederá de manera diferente.Sin embargo,siempre nos encontraremos con los que no hayamos escogido en el transcurso de la aventura.Al pasear por el festival del colegio nos topamos con una puerta de lo mas particular:un hueco que nos llevara a la mágica tierra de “Alicia en el país de las maravillas´´.Es así como nos toparemos con Rei y Zen,dos colegiales que han perdido sus memorias por completo y que al parecer estaban allí por cierta misión que se les había olvidado.Cabe destacar que las sombras juegan un papel fundamental como causantes del problema.No faltaran las típicas travesuras de jóvenes o chistes con inclinación sexual e incluso risas sin fundamentos en este genial titulo.

    10/10

    Jugabilidad:

    En los anteriores juegos nuestro protagonista poseía la habilidad “Wild Card´´,con ella podía controlar una infinidad de personas distintos aparte del suyo.Pero,en esta entrega esa habilidad sera nula a raíz del peculiar problema que el grupo ha de enfrentar.No obstante,tendremos a disposición a todos los personas aparecidos hasta la fecha,incluso las versiones evolucionadas de nuestros protagonistas y aquellos aparecidos en Persona 4 Golden. estas criaturas no estarán en desuso ni mucho menos,puesto que ahora cada personaje posee un persona principal y un persona secundario,el cual obtendrá experiencia al mismo tiempo que su amo.El equipo podrá llevar a 5 miembros:3 adelante y 2 atrás. Cuando algún enemigo o aliado es vulnerable a algún elemento ya no se perderán ni ganaran turnos,sino que la próxima habilidad a usar no tendrá costo para quien haya atacado.No solo tendremos que luchar,en adición también tendremos que ir marcando nuestro mapa con la pantalla táctil de la consola con múltiples posibilidades de dejar señados los tesoros ,puertas secretas y escaleras.Los puzzles no faltaran,tal es el caso de dejar señuelos para que los enemigos de alto nivel se distraigan con los mismos.

    10/10

    Música:

    Este es,quizás, el plato fuerte del juego.Pues no solo tenemos a las clásicas canciones y efectos sonoros del Persona 3 y 4,también están los nuevos temas que nos transmitirán ese J-pop tan importante para esta saga.La banda sonora cambiara según el equipo que nosotros hayamos elegido como inicial,si elegimos al equipo de Yu sonara en las batallas “Light the Fire up in the Night´´versión P4 mientras que si seleccionamos a Minato sonara la misma canción pero con distintos cantantes y banda sonora.Las batallas contra oponentes jamas habían resultado ser tan movidas y dinámicas gracias a un OST de tal magnitud.

    10/10

    Conclusión

    Mientras esperamos al tan ansiado Persona 5 para PS3/4,no cabe duda que podremos disfrutar tranquilamente con este titulo a la altura de los mejores RPG,No hay que olvidar su importancia canónica en la saga,porque a pesar de conectar dos universos alternos también da algunas pistas sobre la próxima entrega y nos aclara varias dudas acerca de la trama.Sin lugar a dudas pone al asador las características mas notables como la batalla,la banda sonora y la historia sin perder la calidad en su traspaso a portátiles,tal como así lo hizo en el 2012 Persona 4 Golden. Titulo de compra obligada para los poseedores de una Nintendo 3DS.
    CALIFICACIÓN FINAL 9.75    … Expand
  20. deadfox
    Oct 16, 2019
    10
    I think this game is really fun and the music and integration with the 3DS features was great.
  21. SaltySupplyGuy
    Dec 11, 2018
    3
    If you are a fan of the Persona series, I cannot stress what a disservice this game does to the series. Immediately from the start, there is no reason to become invested in the story as it takes place before the endings of both Persona 3 and 4, and pulls the "memory wipe" card so that they can call it canon without thinking about the consequences. There is no social links, none of yourIf you are a fan of the Persona series, I cannot stress what a disservice this game does to the series. Immediately from the start, there is no reason to become invested in the story as it takes place before the endings of both Persona 3 and 4, and pulls the "memory wipe" card so that they can call it canon without thinking about the consequences. There is no social links, none of your dialogue "options" change the story or carry any actual importance, and the story will play out the same and only serve to disappoint you from what you've come to expect from a Persona game. The gameplay is the worst part of this entire "experience." Think of the dungeon crawling aspects of Persona 3 and 4. Now imagine if that was the ONLY thing to do in the entire game. Now imagine there was no mini-map in either of those games and you had to draw your own as you explore each floor. Now imagine the removal of the tactics of ambushing shadows and having free movement. That is the gameplay you can expect here. You move one tile at a time and cannot avoid enemy encounters. The only area that exists outside of the Labyrinth is the school's hallway where you can buy/upgrade gear, fuse Personas, and heal (which you have to use your precious yen to do, as the game will not automatically heal you after leaving the Labyrinth since there is not a calendar system like the other Persona games.) Fusing Persona's is also terribly implemented in this game as well. You can only have two Persona's at one time, because your teammates also have the ability to hold two now as well, but they didn't bother animating the Persona's when you use their powers. The only reason I didn't score this game any lower is due to the fact that the character artwork is nice (the drawn character portraits, the 3d visuals are outdated), the music is still as good as you can expect from a Persona game, and the voice acting is well done. Avoid this game and if you need a good experience to spend additional time with the Investigation Team, look at getting Arena and Arena Ultimax or Dancing All Night, as they are far superior spin-off titles. The idea of having the casts of the Persona series together in one game is sound, just terribly executed.… Expand
  22. Trey82
    Apr 4, 2020
    0
    This game is terrible! They take the best parts of other games.. (Persona and Etrian, of course) and make it the absolute worst game (SO FAR!) in the SMT universe!
    HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!
    It starts off so innocently, it looks like it'll be some reminder of what p3/p4 was. It starts off with some nice banter between the old group, the new 2 people, the velvet room people and then you're off    This game is terrible! They take the best parts of other games.. (Persona and Etrian, of course) and make it the absolute worst game (SO FAR!) in the SMT universe!
    HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!
    It starts off so innocently, it looks like it'll be some reminder of what p3/p4 was. It starts off with some nice banter between the old group, the new 2 people, the velvet room people and then you're off to the dungeon!
    Hell yeah, mapping out floors and grinding until you're an OP god! 20 hours from start, you'll be a fighter. 20 hours later, you'll be King Leonidas, 20 hours after that you'll be on new game+ and mop the floor with FOE's!! GUA HA H...hee....um, wait. How did they not figure out the formula?

    Alright, so here is the real summary:
    Story - no character development. Your favorie characters are now one-dimensional stereotypes that never, NEVER stop saying their stereotypical lines! Like.. there isnt even any conversation, just tropes. MEMEs. It gets obnoxious before you finish the first floor.
    Game: Grind all you want, buy all the best equipment, it doesnt matter. You never get stronger.
    As soon as you get some good equips, the enemies are impossible to hit.
    As soon as you raise the hit rate, they 'bind' the whole group.
    As soon as you become bound-resistant, they one shot you.
    You cant get thru any floor but the first with grinding and 'auto battle'. You literally have to babysit these guys EVERY fight. Which is fine, except you'll half the time not have a decent loadout of skills from your personas.
    Personas: You have your main and your sub and about a dozen skills possible between all that. You'll heal up a good bit inbetween battles by just walking and having some 'passive' heals. Which would be great if you didnt get one-shotted by eveyr other enemy.
    There is honestly no way to avoid the cheapness. Best equips? Grinding? Intelligent use of enemy weaknesses? Doesnt matter.
    So good news first: The old etrian style is here. Healing isnt free. You need to TP back to town to get anything more than the basics done. The item system is there, so USE IT. Unlike etrian, you will be making TONS of bank from harvesting spots. Too much, IF you compare to etrian where a dungeon run only nets you ONE item and a heal at the inn. Etrian is a grind, but at least you get stronger.

    Bad news: your equips dont matter. Items are too expensive. It gets super tedious to have to hit up the nurse's office/inn every 5 minutes because OMFG STOP ONE SHOTTING ME. If you like pressing A to heal, then A to harvest, then a to confirm choices, then a to choose 5 attacks x 5 confirms x 5 which enemy to hit.. its just so incredibly frustrating to babysit these losers. And its a shame cuz they were so much stronger in p3/p4.
    Bad: This game. INCREDIBLE GARBAGE. Not persona. Not etrian. It sh!ts all over the persona story, too.
    Anyone rating this game positively is your enemy. If you've played hundreds of hours of etrian, this game is an abomination to you. If you played persona 3/4, this game will be an abomination to you.

    Consider it all. Consider the ratings. If you want a REAL crossover in this universe, you want strange journey. The old one on DS, not the new one. Good lord the new 3ds strange journey changed the gameplay to ENCOURAGE pay2win. You'll see.
    If you want a 'dungeon crawler lite' there is always mystery dungeon's crossovers. If you want a good etrian, just randomly choose one. No matter what etrian you choose, you might get some bad traits.. but you'll get to figure out what works, what is OP, and the story doesnt PRETEND TO EXIST like Persona Q.    … Expand
  23. deadlysilentbob
    Feb 25, 2015
    5
    I thoroughly acknowledge the awesome idea behind this game, however i just cant dismiss the blatant loss of persona 'flavor' in this game. I just could not get into it at all whereas persona 2, 3, and 4 stole my soul for weeks.

    possitives: the characters are true to themselves and the story is intretesting negatives: NO PERSONA FUSION AND OR CREATION, battle is a little bland and the    I thoroughly acknowledge the awesome idea behind this game, however i just cant dismiss the blatant loss of persona 'flavor' in this game. I just could not get into it at all whereas persona 2, 3, and 4 stole my soul for weeks.

    possitives: the characters are true to themselves and the story is intretesting

    negatives: NO PERSONA FUSION AND OR CREATION, battle is a little bland and the lack of a 'roaming' feature for the school area is a bit of a letdown.

    if your bored and not too picky about your persona games then pick it up. otherwise save that money and pray for a persona 5.    … Expand
  24. JayLightBar
    Mar 11, 2015
    8
    A nice entry to my favorite series of all time. The game consist of the same old great music, though fans might be put off how characters seem to act a lot more ditsy from their usually selves. This is a lot more light hearted from P3 especially. The game looks great, and plays in the same style as a few other dungeon crawlers on the 3DS. No Social Links though....and that truly is theA nice entry to my favorite series of all time. The game consist of the same old great music, though fans might be put off how characters seem to act a lot more ditsy from their usually selves. This is a lot more light hearted from P3 especially. The game looks great, and plays in the same style as a few other dungeon crawlers on the 3DS. No Social Links though....and that truly is the whole reason I can't give this a nine. That's taking away half the fun of P3 and P4. Still a great game however.… Expand
  25. midipon
    Feb 16, 2015
    3
    Persona Q lacks the music, atmosphere, balance, and party building compared to other dungeon crawlers. The characters barely make up for it, as they are almost all incredibly gross caricatures of what they were in their original incarnations. Atlus tried painting over Etrian Odyssey with Persona and added a few flares to make it better and to make the paint less noticeable, but they failedPersona Q lacks the music, atmosphere, balance, and party building compared to other dungeon crawlers. The characters barely make up for it, as they are almost all incredibly gross caricatures of what they were in their original incarnations. Atlus tried painting over Etrian Odyssey with Persona and added a few flares to make it better and to make the paint less noticeable, but they failed at recreating what Etrian Odyssey does to make itself amazing, so we have a game that rubs the wrong way in almost every respect.

    Speaking of respect, Persona Q does not respect the intelligence of it's players. Every time it has an opportunity the characters will launch into a 2 minute conversation just to point out the painfully obvious, like how the spiked floor tiles will damage you or the moving tiles will move you. As if that wasn't bad enough the characters are always announcing every single treasure chest in front of you or telling you that a party member got poisoned in battle. Seriously, nobody playing this game needs this much hand-holding.

    To compare more to Etrian Odyssey, the F.O.E.s in this game are poorly handled in comparison. They work okay in that they are used to make you seriously consider where you go, but bad in that they have too much HP and give too small rewards for fighting them. In that respect, F.O.E.s are there solely to act as puzzle elements and should never be encountered with the intention of beating and getting good EXP from them or judging your overall power. Persona Q is a poorly executed game in every aspect but its visual design.

    One more thing, this game has no business having a horror dungeon in it. The Persona series has no horror to speak of, so people will be playing this game and suddenly get to an unannounced serious horror section that is more or less just there because it has to be because spook houses are a cliche of Japanese culture festivals.
    If you want to have horror, fine, but don't put it in a game whose series is not horror in the slightest. Nobody would have missed it if it wasn't in the game.    … Expand
  26. TemplarGR
    Sep 10, 2016
    0
    Totally overrated Etrian Odyssey clone with a Persona skin. As is typical with the various trash Atlus produces, kids and weeaboos swallow these things and hype them to oblivion, while an experienced adult gamer is looking in disgust.

    Etrian Odyssey games are boring grindfests with absolutely no challenge at all. The only thing they require is a kid with tons of free time and a love for    Totally overrated Etrian Odyssey clone with a Persona skin. As is typical with the various trash Atlus produces, kids and weeaboos swallow these things and hype them to oblivion, while an experienced adult gamer is looking in disgust.

    Etrian Odyssey games are boring grindfests with absolutely no challenge at all. The only thing they require is a kid with tons of free time and a love for completing repetitive tasks for hundrends of hours, in order to proceed. The only thing "missing" from the usual jrpg recipe was a story, so Persona Q adds a Persona story, which is cheesy and cringe-worthy but better than nothing.

    The game has good production values, suprizing for Atlus, but i suppose after getting so much money from gallible weeaboos in the past, they could afford to spend a little more on development this time. Still, the game is a chore and not worth your time. Avoid.    … Expand
  27. DOSfan
    Dec 4, 2014
    6
    kind of sad that they changed the art style so drastically. and feels like it's just a lesser game, mainly as a result of releasing on 3ds. every other game was a certain style, so why make it all chibi now?
  28. BasilZero
    Sep 12, 2021
    9
    Game: Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
    Genre: RPG
    Developer: P-Studio Publisher: Atlus System: Nintendo 3DS (3DS) Year of Release: 2014 Length of Playthrough: 76 Hours Total Score: 88/100 Value Score: 8.8/10 • Story: 8/10 • Characters: 10/10 • GamePlay: 7/10 • Graphics: 7/10 • Sound: 10/10 • Music: 10/10 • Length: 10/10 • Replay Value: 8/10 • Player Value: 8/10    Game: Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
    Genre: RPG
    Developer: P-Studio
    Publisher: Atlus
    System: Nintendo 3DS (3DS)
    Year of Release: 2014
    Length of Playthrough: 76 Hours

    Total Score: 88/100
    Value Score: 8.8/10

    • Story: 8/10
    • Characters: 10/10
    • GamePlay: 7/10
    • Graphics: 7/10
    • Sound: 10/10
    • Music: 10/10
    • Length: 10/10
    • Replay Value: 8/10
    • Player Value: 8/10

    Pros
    +Combines the gameplay elements of Persona and Etrian Odyssey
    +Use more than 15 different characters in parties of 5
    +Highly customizable characters with equips and skills and a customizable map
    +Plenty of Sidequests and New Game+ content
    +Lots of great conversations and interactions between the characters

    Cons
    -Can be frustrating and difficult at times during puzzles and battles
    -Too much back and forth traveling
    -No social links

    ---

    Series Scorewise comparison sake

    Shin Megami Tensei Persona 1 Portable (PSP): 88
    Shin Megami Tensei Persona 2 Innocent Sin (PSP): 85
    Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3 Portable (PSP): 95
    Shin Megami Tensei Persona 4 (PS2): 97
    Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (3DS): 88    … Expand
  29. Gwyndolin
    Jan 25, 2016
    8
    As someone who isn't much into EO-style dungeon crawlers and generally did not like what Persona Q did to the characters, I still finished it because the labyrinth designs are for the most part very good and persona fusion / combat is addictive as always. Music is very strong too. A good mix of old and new. Really kept me going in the last 2 dungeons.

    The plot isn't strong and is    As someone who isn't much into EO-style dungeon crawlers and generally did not like what Persona Q did to the characters, I still finished it because the labyrinth designs are for the most part very good and persona fusion / combat is addictive as always. Music is very strong too. A good mix of old and new. Really kept me going in the last 2 dungeons.

    The plot isn't strong and is heavily back-loaded. The last 5 hours or so is cute though.
    The character interactions get repetitive and my favorite characters are dumbed down versions of themselves.
    Combat can be challenging if you are new to Persona series, but on the other hand if you know stuff the game can pretty much be broken. That applies to almost every RPG game though so it's not really a flaw, just pointing that out.

    Overall, I'll say if you like EO series and Persona series, this is the game for you.    … Expand
  30. SwitSwat
    Jul 8, 2015
    9
    A mash-up of Persona 3 and 4 characters packaged into an Etrian Odyssey game sounded good on paper, and indeed it turned out to be great. For an Etrian Odyssey game, it may very well hold up to be one of, if not the best. The dungeons are clever, the dialogue amusing, the story is engaging, just like a Persona game is expected to be. As far as third-party games on the 3DS go, this is oneA mash-up of Persona 3 and 4 characters packaged into an Etrian Odyssey game sounded good on paper, and indeed it turned out to be great. For an Etrian Odyssey game, it may very well hold up to be one of, if not the best. The dungeons are clever, the dialogue amusing, the story is engaging, just like a Persona game is expected to be. As far as third-party games on the 3DS go, this is one of the best and I highly recommend for any JRPG/Persona/Dungeon-Crawler fan.… Expand
  31. GoombaJMR
    Jul 4, 2015
    9
    Very long game (70+ hours), with a ton of well made dungeons. This game lands in my top 5 list for 3DS games up to the end of 2014 (so far), and just does everything right. The references made to P3 and P4 fans (including me) are really nice, and it's good to see EVERYONE back in action this game. Hmm, it plays like Etrian Odyssey, which is probably why I like this game so much. IF youVery long game (70+ hours), with a ton of well made dungeons. This game lands in my top 5 list for 3DS games up to the end of 2014 (so far), and just does everything right. The references made to P3 and P4 fans (including me) are really nice, and it's good to see EVERYONE back in action this game. Hmm, it plays like Etrian Odyssey, which is probably why I like this game so much. IF you aren't a fan of Etrian Odyssey style gameplay, then this may not be the right choice for you.

    Gameplay: 9.5/10
    Story: 9/10
    Music: 9/10
    Presentation: 8.5/10
    Length: 10/10
    Overall: 9.5/10    … Expand
  32. Sploolordcam
    Jan 12, 2015
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I wasn't expecting too much out of this game, and initially thought it was just another game to continue the Persona 3/4 Milking train until Persona 5 releases. Regardless I'm drawn to the series so I picked it up anyway. I hadn't ever played an Etrian Odyssey game before, but the style of dungeons and drawing your own maps got me extremely engrossed into the game and caused me to go for 100%. My one complaint is that the character traits of the cast of Persona 3 and 4 were exaggerated a bit, for example, practically every sentence Chie spoke involved meat, and Akihiko's personality has become Protein. As much as I love sick natty gains, there's more to both the characters besides meat and protein, especially since in canon at each point in their respective games when they still have issues to deal with. Despite this minor gripe, this game is amazing to me in a variety of ways. Firstly I need to congratulate the developers on locking down plotholes in making this game canon. I was similarly impressed in Arena when Atlus was able to reconcile Tartarus and the TV World, as well as the necessity for Evokers and the ability to use cards between the two games in a way that makes sense. In the case of Persona Q, it takes place at a time in both games which is possible. For the Persona 3 cast, it takes place sometime in late September, whereas it's late October for the cast of P4. Both times work in their respective games for this incident to occur. If locking down plotholes wasn't enough, Persona Q manages to enhance the stories of the original games after the fact. In the P4 route Kanji goes out of his way to help out Ken, which in turn effects his disposition towards Shinjiro over the death of his mother. Despite them losing their memories at the end, it's implied in the game that when personality changes occur, they'll stay even if memory is lost. In this way Ken's acceptance of Shinjiro during the events of Persona 3 is influence by Persona Q. Since this is a dungeon crawler, there's a heavy emphasis on gameplay compared to the Persona games which often have much more story. Despite this, Rei and Zen's story really takes off at the end and fits well into Persona themes. After spending all my time completing filling out every map, I was rewarded by the knowledge that they were the paths of Rei's life and the cast's while they were traversing the labyrinth. I didn't expect the maps to be used in that way, but Rei's thanks warmed my heart. Overall the nice thing about the story of Persona Q is that it doesn't feel like a step down or out of hand compared to the original games. Part of the reason why I believe Persona 4 has been milked so hard is that the stories don't necessarily have to increase in scale. In Persona 4 many people had dungeons created from their inner desires and feelings which needed to be braved, but the complexity of the worlds which can be created by the victims allows for a full story within just one of these labyrinths, as was the case in both Arena and Persona Q. The fact that a single person's dungeon of regrets and wishes matters makes even the spinoffs seem important. As for gameplay, many familiar things return in addition to the map building. Familiar Personas and skills abound, but there are some new tricks which only enhance the experience. Sacrifice spread and skill extraction are great to name a couple. These two methods of "fusion" allow for greater control and tweaking of personas, and the ability for every cast member to use two really adds to the possibilities. The boost system which replaces the extra turn system means you can't chain until you win, but it just means more thought needs to be put into each move. resource and SP management are even more important in this game than the others, and really can add to a sense of adventure as you go deeper and deeper into a labyrinth. The difficulty seems a bit higher than most persona games as well. In addition to all these great things is a powerful soundtrack which fans will recognize immediately as the work of Meguro and Lotus Juice. Different remixes for the P3 and P4 side of things are just icing on top of the cake. Overall this game blew me away and greatly exceeded my expectations. Any RPG fan should consider grabbing this, and any Persona fan would be crazy to avoid it.… Expand
  33. Chickenph
    Jan 12, 2019
    9
    If you’ve played Persona 3 and/or 4, this is a fun chance to see those characters again. Some reviews really trash it as shallow fan service, but I don’t agree...it’s unique and addictive. It incorporates a lot of familiar elements like fusing personas, but the gameplay is switched up.

    You move around a 3D map (the levels are cool enough to make exploring enjoyable) and use the 2nd    If you’ve played Persona 3 and/or 4, this is a fun chance to see those characters again. Some reviews really trash it as shallow fan service, but I don’t agree...it’s unique and addictive. It incorporates a lot of familiar elements like fusing personas, but the gameplay is switched up.

    You move around a 3D map (the levels are cool enough to make exploring enjoyable) and use the 2nd screen to mark doors/chests/etc. Once the casts of P3 and 4 meet up, you form a 5-person party using any of them. So you can have both games' main characters in one party if you want.

    I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected, and immediately started playing it too much. The story is just "we're in some other dimension, wonder why" but it has that lighthearted tone that makes SMT/Persona games so fun.    … Expand
  34. friedchicken
    Dec 22, 2014
    8
    I've never played a Persona game before, but I've played a few other games in the Shin Megami Tensei series as well as tried a bit of Etrian Odyssey. This game is a pretty fun combination of the two series, although it is true that the characters are a little 2 dimensional (probably because I didn't play Persona 4), their interactions are funny and endearing.The graphics are really cuteI've never played a Persona game before, but I've played a few other games in the Shin Megami Tensei series as well as tried a bit of Etrian Odyssey. This game is a pretty fun combination of the two series, although it is true that the characters are a little 2 dimensional (probably because I didn't play Persona 4), their interactions are funny and endearing.The graphics are really cute and well done as well as the music. I haven't really played enough to give an opinion on the story but so far it is interesting. Battles are what you would expect from a SMT game - just the right difficulty to make you rage but come back to. Given my lack of interest in the Etrian Odyssey series, I thought I'd get really bored with the map drawing and hate those FOEs but it really isn't that bad. All in all, it's a lot of fun and worth picking up if you're looking for a unique and cute dungeon crawler.… Expand
  35. BiscuitSawce
    Jan 19, 2015
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Being a fan of the persona series, the game feels like a classic dungeon crawling RPG that does not fail the impress. Having poured 100 hours into the game so far, I enjoyed the new art style and the combination of the Persona 3 and 4 cast. Persona Q is also very challenging, which stays true to the Persona series. I came into this game not expecting much from a 3ds game but after playing, I can say that I heavily enjoyed the game. I recommend anyone who has played the Persona series in the past or the Etrian Odyssey series to give this game a shot!… Expand
  36. Dungeonmind
    Feb 14, 2015
    10
    This game is a well-made RPG. Even if you never played a persona game before, its worth a shot! I love the game and I never played a persona game. I don't usually like first person anything, but this game does it in a way that its fun. I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes the RPG genre.
  37. ilikecamperz
    Mar 3, 2015
    8
    The game is Great but hard after all but the music is so awesome! And the 3D is amazing and I only bought this because Target sold out of Legend of Zelda Majora's mask 3D and I thought this would be one of the games I could never beat but I was sorely mistaken! Check this game out, although it would be a little better if it was like the original Persona 4 but its to similar to Etrain Odyssey.
  38. GildedMind
    Feb 22, 2015
    8
    Persona Q is a love-letter to Persona fans. There's no getting around that. It puts together a huge mass of characters that we've all come to learn and love and gives us access to them all simultaneously. If you don't like Persona, you're almost certainly not going to like this game, but if you don't like Etrian Odyssey, (which essentially makes consists of Persona Q's gameplay) therePersona Q is a love-letter to Persona fans. There's no getting around that. It puts together a huge mass of characters that we've all come to learn and love and gives us access to them all simultaneously. If you don't like Persona, you're almost certainly not going to like this game, but if you don't like Etrian Odyssey, (which essentially makes consists of Persona Q's gameplay) there still may be something for you here.

    In Persona Q, you play as either the protagonist of Persona 3 or 4 depending on your preference and follow side of the story. Shortly into the game you find yourself summoned into a parallel dimension Yasogami High where you must explore the numerous labyrinths hidden admidst the school to find a way out. The main story itself is easily the weakest aspect of Persona Q, with little-to-nothing happening for the better half of the game's seventy hour length. There are some twists near the end to be had, sure, but compared to the stories we're typically used to in a Persona game this is a little disappointing. The characters themselves return though in all their glory, with some characters getting some development but most getting left in the dust. Most characters are boiled down to their stereotypical selves from the games, which is admittedly a little underwhelming with some characters being borderline obnoxious. (I'm looking at you Teddie...) That being said, it's still really great to see them all here, with many characters exchanging lovely banter and keeping the game alive where the plot fails to. It's interesting to see two different casts of persona-users try to work together and eventually befriend one-another.

    The graphical style and presentation of Persona Q is fantastic; perfectly blending together the elements of Persona 3 and 4. If you want proof of this you need go no further than the soundtrack, which beautifully mixes the feeling of Persona 3's edgy rock and Persona 4's jammin' J-pop. The menu's look great, and other than some missteps in the Persona organization department, it's all pretty accessible too. Voice acting is great (what else is new?) and the cel-shaded chibi designs are both adorable and easy on the eyes.

    The gameplay of Persona Q is majorly centered around Etrian Odyssey's style of gameplay. You explore a vast labyrinth from a first person experience, making notes on your map via your DS's bottom touch screen. The exploration aspect is great, and never gets old. The actual combat of Persona Q however suffers from some slight tedium after a while. The game is plagued with balance issues, and too many obvious quick-fixes. In the Persona games, generally, you could swap the available personas and stats of the characters into any of the games and still manage, Persona Q however feels specifically designed around the labyrinths and enemies themselves. It's a little difficult to explain with words, but if you look for it, you'll definitely see what I'm talking about.

    The combat can indeed be fun, but after a couple of hours of play, it will certainly start to grow stale. So many enemies are weak to the same things, or weak to nothing at all, belittling the satisfaction from facing them, and the standard enemies you find around a dungeon are often rather difficult with the ability to completely wipe a team if you're not paying attention. That would be fine, if it weren't for the fact that, oddly enough, the bosses of Persona Q are mind-numbingly easy, with a few of them barely putting up a fight. Couple with the fact that Persona Q provides no breaks via the social-link system from the original game, the pacing is pretty poor and you'll want to take breaks so that you don't get bored often.

    In conclusion, Persona Q is a love-letter to its fanbase. It offers the characters you love, with the music you love in the format you love. It's certainly not perfect, with a slow-moving plot and repetitive combat. But neither is unenjoyable and Persona Q certainly does have its moments.    … Expand
  39. Mped
    Sep 5, 2015
    10
    do you like RPGs - do you like Jrpg? anime? well this is a mash up of all of that- watching persona 3 or 4 anime is a huge plus for this game as the translation of the characters personalities is great as well so knowing some back story will seriously add to the enjoyment of this game!
    must buy just do it !
  40. Balorer
    Dec 21, 2016
    9
    A game that is a fusion of two successful Atlus franchises and it did great, i got the game mostly because of the Persona characters but ended loving the gameplay so much that i got now 3 Etrian Odyssey games with me as well. They managed to find a good way to mix the Etrian gameplay with awesome music and the loved characters from the Persona Franchise.
    The only lacking point in the game    A game that is a fusion of two successful Atlus franchises and it did great, i got the game mostly because of the Persona characters but ended loving the gameplay so much that i got now 3 Etrian Odyssey games with me as well. They managed to find a good way to mix the Etrian gameplay with awesome music and the loved characters from the Persona Franchise.
    The only lacking point in the game is the lack of tension.
    Not to say that Persona Q might be the last time we get to see some loved characters which was a great way to give some "Fan-service" for us persona players.
    In overall i had my fun and got introduced to new games because of it so i loved it.    … Expand
  41. VioIrdsGX
    May 8, 2023
    7
    The game is good but it has the difficulty of the classic Shin Megami Tensei games, Revelations Persona and Persona 2, the design is good, but it is one of the games that I play more or less since first this game is not canonical since It is a mere crossover of Persona 3 and Persona 4 that they will not "remember" later, but as a fan of this series I give it a 3.5/5 approval.
  42. WindlessNight
    Aug 23, 2023
    8
    This game was fun, but not really for me. I loved all of the story which I felt was really well done but the combat was really just not for me so I ended up lowering the difficulty and using cheats to increase my stats and abilities and used guides to get through puzzles. I liked drawing on the map as that is very fun as everyone's map by the end will look slightly different as markers canThis game was fun, but not really for me. I loved all of the story which I felt was really well done but the combat was really just not for me so I ended up lowering the difficulty and using cheats to increase my stats and abilities and used guides to get through puzzles. I liked drawing on the map as that is very fun as everyone's map by the end will look slightly different as markers can be used for anything. I feel like they could've kept the map system but changed the combat back to what it usually is instead of making it be the same as Etrian Odyssey as this game has "Persona" in the name and will appeal to those fans the most, so why change the combat to something more confusing? The "Stroll" feature was really nice, as just getting to see the two groups communicating was cool and almost feels like a companion to Arena games that take place in the future. But sometimes it felt like characters were very much dumbed down and made more stupid and less likeable, which I guess makes sense with a big cast but Arena I felt managed everyone fairly well. Managing so many different people's personas was just too much and having 18 characters to control, buy armor for, and level up almost feels like the game is forcing you to pick a team and never change or grind for several hours.
    Overall, if you're a fan of Persona and are just intrigued by the well written story, try it out. And if you get fed up by the combat and endless grind, no shame in cheating if you're just here for the story and wish to just plow through all enemies to get to the end.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Best 3DS Game of 2014
11
#11 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2014
4
#4 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 56 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 56
  3. Negative: 0 out of 56
  1. Eurogamer Italy
    Mar 20, 2015
    80
    Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth is the perfect recipe for a lovely game, developed mixing up Persona and Etrian Odyssey.
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  2. CD-Action
    Mar 17, 2015
    80
    One of the best RPG games for 3DS. [03/2014, p.77]
  3. DarkStation
    Mar 2, 2015
    60
    The best advice I can give is to not come into Persona Q looking for another handheld version of the previous two games. The changes made to the formula may seem minor but they have a huge impact on the experience.
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