Why Persona 3’s Story Disappointed Me

Before I say anything about this I feel like I should make it clear that I understand video games are for children. Even though the average age of a gamer has shifted to 36 over the years I don’t really think that games have changed as a result. Some of my favorite games ever that I still come back to as an adult are undeniably for children. Tetris is perfect and it feels like a toy. However, this fundamental aspect of games generates a lot of friction for me as I continue aging, especially when it comes to my attempts to appreciate storytelling. More and more often I ask myself why I’m bothering spending my free time engaging with stories that are completely lacking in substance while playing a game. It doesn’t happen all the time, but if a game is long or has drawn out story sequences it’s a guarantee that I’ll feel some level of self consciousness about this. And now I think it’s appropriate to bring up Persona 3.

I think I spent more time playing Persona 3 Reload than any other game this year. Overall it took me around 70 hours to beat the entire game even though I skipped many social links and rushed during the last 5 hours or so. I think people are being accurate when they say that “half of persona 3 is a visual novel” but what often gets missed is that this novel is trite and shallow. The central theme surrounding friendship and death (I’ll avoid describing the entire theme to keep from spoiling the story) was obvious to me about 5 hours into the game. Literally nothing in the story from that moment onward added depth, emotional nuance, or really anything of substance. Social links were similarly shallow. The main protagonist is able to solve everyone’s problems, from grief and death anxiety to financial woes and love, just with his mere presence and statements like “that must have been so hard for you”. All of these social links have a positive impact on the player and none of them (as far as I know) would add nuance along the lines of “maybe some people aren’t worth getting to know”. In the end, they all impact the story in the exact same way. All a social link really means is that the main character has one more friend who has his back.

In some ways I think that this shallow theme is fine. Stressing the importance of being present in other’s lives and always leading with empathy is a great lesson to teach children. But I’m an adult and I already believe those things. I don’t need them spoon fed to me for 35 hours. I’d much rather have some of the story be dedicated to why it’s hard, even for people not suffering from trauma, to make connections with other people. People hurt the people they love and that’s a reality that many great stories about adolescence touch on from Catcher in the Rye to Neon Genesis: Evangelion. Persona 3 borrows heavily from the latter of those two titles but seems to stop short when it comes to emotional depth. Why? The game is rated M after all.

I don’t think incredibly deep themes or emotional nuance surrounding trauma are necessary for games to achieve mature storytelling. After all, games have tools at their disposal for telling stories that aren’t shared in any other mediums. Celeste’s story doesn’t properly end until some of the game’s toughest content is finished and the increasing challenge of the game’s platforming aligns perfectly with the literal and metaphorical mountain the main character climbs in that game. Half-Life 2 uses an abundance of environmental storytelling and subtle dialog to reveal how awful the conditions for humanity are under the combine. I wouldn’t have appreciated either of these details as a kid but I certainly do now as an adult. These elements contrast heavily with Persona 3’s visual novel style, which is one of the most shallow and undemanding ways for a game to tell a story.

Amidst all this hate I do have to say I still liked the game overall. If half of Persona 3 is a pointless visual novel about how important friendships are, I’d say the other half is a pretty fun dungeon crawl with great music and incredible menus. But as an adult I can’t escape the feeling that I should be avoiding games like these at all costs. With limited free time outside of work to spend with friends and my partner I started to really dread getting through Persona 3. After a while I got the impression that all that awaited me was another childish lesson about being kind. I’m glad I was ultimately able to take my own lesson out of my 70 hours.