Continuing our last reviews post, a friend informs me that EGM has reviewed Persona 3 and given it the “Game of the Month Award”. The magazine uses a three score system, netting the game an 8.5, 9.5 and 9.5. Very nice.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a review copy for Digital Devil Database just before the delay. If there’s anything else you’d personally like to know about the game, feel free to ask in the forums. It also looks like our interview with Atlus for the title will be made available closer to the game’s new release date.

Thanks to Charles for the information.

Persona 3 has started popping up on retailer websites for European release in 2008. While Game, for example, does not list a publisher on their web site, others are marking it as KOEI. This makes sense since they recently published Devil Summoner in the area.

My assumption is that this likely will only be translated into English for a general UK release. As far as I’m aware, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is the only game released in PAL format so far that actually offers multiple languages.

In any case, if more news pops up we’ll post it. Thanks to ShinByakki for pointing this out.

I created a new video of the first 42 minutes of Persona 3. It’s been uploaded to GameVideos and GameTrailers.

It shows off every thing from the title screen all the way to the first time your character utilizes his Persona. Obviously the video is nothing but spoilers, so if you don’t want to ruin anything for yourself just skip it. However, in light of the delay I figured some people would be interested in this.

Unfortunately, the full sized video is just simply too large to easily distribute. It had to be compressed and lowered down to a 320×240 resolution. Obviously video sites compress video even more, but it’s still definitely watchable. The main issue, to me, is that the audio is noticeably more hiss-y. “S” sounds definitely don’t come off that poorly in the actual game.

I was going to embed the video, but unfortunately GameVideos’ player scales the video up and makes it look even worse. I would suggest going to the page for the video where you can either watch it or download it for yourself. Gametrailers, meanwhile, seems to have sampled the video up to a larger size. You can watch it here.

Update: Here’s a 640×480 resolution version.

Thanks!

Figured it was worth making a new post about reviews for this game. Sure, it’s been delayed, but the review embargo has obviously ended as far as these sites are concerned. At least they were on the ball for the original date . . . . I remember a few instances were Devil Summoner reviews didn’t even appear until weeks later. Anyway, I’m going to include the reviews from the previous post just to keep these all in one place.

RPGFan - Damian Thomas’s review and Ashton Liu’s review.

Gamernode - Brian Lindsey’s review.

GameAlmighty - Matt Butrovich’s review.

Game Informer - Metacritic states GI gave the game an 8.5.

Play - Himuro informs us that Play gave the game a 9.5.

RPGamer - Michael Beckett’s review.

HonsterGamers - Staff review.

IGNPS2 - Jeff Haynes’s review.

Gamespot - Kevin VanOrd’s review.

Check out Metacritic’s page on the game for more as time goes on.

A new date has been given for Persona 3: August 14th. Here’s the news post from Atlus’s site:

The new scheduled ship date for Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is August 14th, 2007.

This is the very soonest that manufacturing of the Persona 3 art book can be completed, and also takes into account the time required for assembly of the final package.

The manufacturing issue with the art book was brought to our attention mere days prior to the initial ship date, and was a scenario both unforeseen and beyond our control. Our disappointment and frustration is tempered by the knowledge that the final product will live up to our standard of quality and also the expectations of our fans.

While many are willing to sacrifice the art book in favor of the game alone, the package we have spent the last few months designing, one intended to honor the series and reward fans for an eight year wait, would be irreparably compromised if we were to revise or abandon the deluxe package. Without the art book, the outer box would lack the structural integrity to endure shipping; all extras would need to be discarded. Again, this deluxe set was created for the fans of Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, and we are determined to see the special release through to the end.

We apologize for the delay, and we ask for your understanding.

A little longer than I figured it’d be, but what’s another few weeks?

Persona 3 won’t be making it’s July 24th release date. It was revealed on the Atlus forums that the game will see a slight delay in shipment due to issue with the include art book. The full text of the post is below:

Due to a manufacturing error with regard to the Persona 3 Art Book, the title will regretfully narrowly miss its scheduled ship date of July 24th, 2007. This was an unforeseen scenario, and one regretfully out of our control.

Presented with the choice of compromising on the quality of the art book, or shipping the game without said extra, we decided to have the art book redone with a higher quality binding, which will cause a very short delay in the ship date of the title.

While all other materials and packaging related to the game are complete, we were unwilling to sacrifice the art book, and as such will expedite the manufacturing process to the best of our ability in order to release the title as soon as is possible.

We appreciate your understanding and will release a formal announcement when Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 ships.

I would imagine this won’t be very major. Perhaps we’ll hear something this week or early next. Big thanks to aerozero for the news.