Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is the fourth game in the Persona series. (Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment being separate games) The game was developed and published by Atlus Co. for the PlayStation 2 console system. Persona 3 was released in Japan on July 13, 2006 and was set to be released in North America on July 24, 2007, but due to a manufacturing error with the Persona 3 art book, Persona 3's ship date was delayed to August 14, 2007. Persona 3 is a departure from its predecessors in that the story moves in a slow, day-to-day pace over the span of a year.

Like in previous installments, the main character attends high school, but now school activities (studying, building a social life, etc.) are important to building up statistics and half of the game is dedicated to participating in school activities; the other half involves fighting demons in Tartarus at night. This "day in the life" style of gameplay is similar to Japanese RPGs with dating sim elements, like Harvest Moon, Azure Dreams, or Atlus' own Imodoki no Vampire: Bloody Bride.

Main characters

Playable characters

Protagonist
The main character of this story. He is a High School Junior who transferred to Gekkoukan High School in April. While under attack from the mysterious Shadows, he awakened as a Persona-User. In contrast to the past titles, he is the only one in this game able to change with various Personae. Like other Shin Megami Tensei games, the main character's name comes from the player and the character himself doesn't speak except for very few instances.

Persona: Orpheus of The Fool arcanum, Thanatos of Death arcanum

Yukari Takeba
Yukari is the main protagonist's classmate and dorm mate. She is positive and cheerful and a very popular girl as a result, but tends to drive herself beyond her limits. Her reasons for attending Gekkoukan High School are unknown.

Persona: Io, Isis of The Lovers arcanum

Junpei Iori
Junpei is the cheerful class clown of the main character and Yukari's homeroom. He was the first one to make friends with the main character when he transferred. He decided to join SEES after his Persona awakened.

Persona: Hermes, Trismegistus of The Magician arcanum

Mitsuru Kirijou
She is the daughter of the Head of the Kirijo Group, controller of vast corporate holdings and Student Council President at Gekkoukan High School. Upon discovering the main character's potential as a Persona-User, she invites him into the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad.

Persona: Penthesilea, Artemisia of The Empress arcanum

Akihiko Sanada
Akihiko is Captain of the Gekkoukan High Boxing Club. His main interest in fighting the Shadows is to train himself physically. He seems to have a driving need to become stronger for some reason...

Persona: Polydeuces, Caesar of The Emperor arcanum

Fuuka Yamagishi
Fuuka's painful self-awareness makes her shy and withdrawn. She is a potential Persona-User, but frequently calls in sick to school on account of her fragile constitution. As a result, she cannot assist directly in battle, but...

Persona: Lucia, Juno of The Priestess arcanum

Aegis
Aegis is a humanoid weapon created to destroy Shadows. She was given a psyche in order to enable Persona use. She seems to have another important task as well...

Persona: Palladion, Athena of The Chariot arcanum

Ken Amada
Ken attends Gekkoukan Elementary School. Like the others, he joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad because of his potential as a Persona-User, but unlike them, he is only in 5th grade...

Persona: Nemesis, Kala Nemi of Justice arcanum

Koromaru
After losing his master in an accident, Koromaru lived the life of a stray. Once he awakened as a Persona-User, he became a loyal SEES member and a welcome ally in Tartarus.

Persona: Cerberus of Strength arcanum

Shinjiro Aragaki
Shinjiro is a Senior at Gekkoukan High School. Everything else about him is a mystery, except for his acquaintance with Akihiko. Who is he really?

Persona: Castor of The Hierophant arcanum

Unlockables

New Game+
Complete the game and save. Load this clear game data to start a new game but with your previous level, money, equipment, items, etc...

Here's the long-awaited opening cutscene of the game: