Per...so...na! (Fwoosh!)

Today I would like to discuss one of my favorite games of all time, the reason I bought a PS2, an obsession for about 6 months: Persona 3 (FES).
I almost cannot express how amazing this game is. Every morning during the summer I would wake up excited, knowing that I was in for a few hours of Persona. I memorized the enemies and their attacks and my Personas and their attacks and little details and everything...
Where can I even start?
With the voice actors, I suppose. A full cast list can be found on imdb (here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104102/fullcredits). In particular I would like to mention how great a job Vic Mignogna does, as usual. He really made Junpei's character (with all its little oddities) come to life! One person of whom I had never heard before but wish I had is Liam O'Brien (who voiced Akihiko). He's got that perfect silky-smooth ladies' man-but-shy sort of voice that made me adore him. He's pretty cute, too... I will admit that there is one voice that I truly hate: Yukari's. She's just... annoying. But then again, she's an annoying character, so I guess it fits. The only other thing that makes me mad about the voices is that Grant George voices both Shinjiro and Jin. If you play it, you'll see why I am angered by this.
The fighting system is, from what I understand, a fairly generic turn-based system. It's so fun, though, because you have to strategize and anticipate not only what the enemies will use, but what your own party members will use. I have heard that in Persona 4 and subsequent versions, the battle system lets you choose what each party member does. However, I think I would prefer the P3 version- it's another layer of challenge, and besides, sometimes your characters use things that you never would have thought of using but are supremely effective. I don't know, though. I haven't played Persona 4 yet. Once I have, I'll post something about it.
The game continued to surprise me as long as I was playing it. I don't want to give any spoilers to those of you who want to play the game (which I highly recommend!!!). But let me just say this: SHINJIROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When you're fighting, there are just so many variables. I have been in battles where one lucky move has decided my fate. Once I was fighting the Magical Magus, even though they were about 10 levels above me, and I just got lucky enough to beat them. The weapons you find lying around can be really helpful on occasion, but are usually just prototypes of the ones you can get in the mall. I will say, though, that for Akihiko I try as hard as I can to give him the metal fists with spikes on the end- they look like kitty paws and it's so adorable! And deadly, too.
The graphics are pretty freakin' awesome, especially when you use a Fusion Spell and you get to see some main character chest, or when you're in the 5th block. So much greatness... The Personas and the characters are really well animated during normal gameplay. Despite the fact that many people (such as my Daddy Tama-chan) hate the way Mr. Main Character walks, it's not really that much of a problem, as the animation is perfectly on cycle and he gets places fast. The cutscenes are extremely well done. They effectively use color and contrast to set the perfect mood- usually a dark but thrilling one.
If you ever play this game, use the bathroom often. It's my favorite part of the game. Not only does it usually improve your condition, but the angle and the noises are really awkward. You wouldn't understand unless you played it. Naminesfriend and I tried to explain it to one of our friends once by drawing a picture... it didn't really work. XD
So in summary: this game is freakin' fantastic. Play it! It's by Atlus games, and it's for the PS2. If you don't have a PS2, it's totally worth buying one just for this game. I haven't regretted it once.

That's all I have to say for now... Later, y'all!
~Pigeonmeister