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. 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
  2. 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.
  3. 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
  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. 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
  7. 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
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. deadfox
    Oct 16, 2019
    10
    I think this game is really fun and the music and integration with the 3DS features was great.
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 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
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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 !
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 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
  23. 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
  24. 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
  25. 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
  26. 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.
  27. 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
  28. 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
  29. 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
  30. 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.
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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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
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