Persona 3: Dancing In Moonlight Review

Persona 3 Dancing Moon Night: The sparkle of Saturday evening

Driven by quality visuals, solid game mechanics and remixes made by big names in the Japanese electro scene, Persona 4 Dancing All Night, released in 2015, was the ultimate materialization of pop aesthetics and catchy music from the Persona universe. Atlus puts the cover this year Pokémon way with not one, but two sequels to Dancing All Night, respectively entitled Persona 3 Dancing Moonlight and Persona 5 Dancing Starnight and whose interfaces and gameplay are similar (only the music differs depending on the chosen version). This review is therefore for those who wish to dance to the favorite themes of the S.E.E.S brigade of Persona 3; aspiring thieves wanting to move like the Phantom Thieves can take an interest in the criticism of Starnight by Joniwan!

No one would have believed that the return of the S.E.E.S brigade would be on a dance floor, not even its members. Invoked in a Velvet Room decorated in a VIP Lounge in the Makoumba of Melun, the MC and her friends find themselves forced to participate in a dancing party organized by Elizabeth, who improvises as a producer for the occasion. It is not necessary to think long about why and how: everything is obviously only an excuse to make our favorite heroes dance, but an excuse unfortunately much less elaborate than that used in Persona 4 Dancing All Night ...

A story without COMMUA measure

Faithful to the original series, Persona 4 Dancing All Night was a rhythm game whose progression was governed by a story mode transcribed in a Visual Novel. The latter extended the scenario of the original Persona 4 and even introduced a new member to the hero's team. These additions allowed us to immerse ourselves in the world of the game while discovering each protagonist in a new light. Unfortunately, Atlus has abandoned its story mode in favor of a mode soberly titled COMMU. The COMMU mode is the equivalent of the sequences of "Social Link" of the main episodes, namely phases of dialogue used to forge links with his teammates and to recover new skills while developing the scenario of the game.

In Persona 3 Dancing Moon Night, COMMUs are only used to unlock accessories for our characters. Do not expect to find out more about these, or what they have become after the events of the main game, because the discussions with each member are quite surprisingly flat for the series. At best we will learn more about everyone's preferred style of music, or why it is necessary to practice shouting to support teammates ... disappointing. Only the 3D models of the characters, which replace the still images of the previous episodes, as well as the quality of their animations, give a semblance of interest to the COMMU mode.

The Beauty and the Beat

Persona 3 Dancing Moon Night marks the first appearance of the S.E.E.S brigade on high-definition consoles and proves once again that the engine used by Atlus gives excellent results, both on PS4 at 60fps and on PS Vita. Compared to Persona 4 Dancing All Night, additional joints have been added to each character's model, to make their movements more fluid and natural. In addition, cel-shading works wonders and allows to accentuate the expressions of each character during their musical performances or during dialogues, infusing a touching dose of humanity to each hero.

Junpei, true to himself, lets himself go completely during his dances, chaining large movements but no shuffles, while launching a few mocking winks in passing. Fuuka, on the other hand, is much more shy, reserved, which is transcribed by a less hasty gesture and more simple, even childish dance steps, which she will finish with a smirk. well put. In short, the choreographies correspond to the style and personality of each character, making each performance unique.

It is also possible to further personalize these experiences by equipping his characters with accessories and clothing of all kinds, or - new addition to the series - by changing the color and cut of their hair. The options are numerous and will surely delight fans of the series. Already very satisfying in Persona 4 Dancing All Night, the visuals and choreography of this Dancing Moon Night are a real delight for the eyes. Well done Atlus!

Old is gold

The gameplay is very classic: commands appear and move from the center to the outside of the screen, and you have to press the appropriate buttons with the right timing. Notes held, double-notes and scratch to achieve (by rubbing the back of the console on PS Vita or using the analog sticks on PS4) are always in the game. Only the "double tap" is a new mechanism, but it mainly consists in typing twice very quickly on a single key. Nothing revolutionary, but it's not a big deal considering the quality of the gameplay offered here. The game is still more affordable on Vita than on the home console. On television, the notes go from the center to the end of the screen, which makes the action very difficult to follow, especially in the higher levels. In addition, the scratch is much less intuitive when using the Sticks rather than the rear touchpad of the Vita, which often becomes a source of "Combo Breaker".

The strength of Persona 4 Dancing All Night lay in the daring remixes that Atlus had made with many Japanese DJs. The title did not consist only in typing in rhythm while listening to the soundtrack of Persona 4, but it rather offered us a new way to appreciate the universe of the original game via electro re-readings of its main themes. Artists such as Lotus Juice, Akira Yamaoka or Daisuke Asakura appropriated his pieces and remixed them with their sauce while managing to preserve their original flavor. This clubbing tracklist was surprisingly addictive. Special mention to Shinichi Osawa and his lunar remix of My True Self with his mesmerizing bass and his instrumentalization from another planet, supported by the high-pitched choreography of our dear Teddy. A pure visual and auditory treat.

I've got 99 problems and that tracklist is one of them ...

However, with Persona 3 Dancing All Night, Atlus seems to have lowered the audacity knob to offer us more "wise" mixes ... when it is not directly the "nature" versions of the soundtrack without the slightest modification (not even a little scratch to spice it up!). Admittedly, the original music of Persona 3 was already of good quality, pleasant to listen to, but these are not the type of compositions on which one would want to dance All Night. For example, the title Mass Destruction is an excellent Battle Theme, skillfully mixing Jazz and Hip-Hop in order to make us feel the intensity of the fights while emphasizing their strategic aspect. That being said, Mass Destruction is also unnaturally flat to play in a game where the terms "Party", "Dance" and "Fever" are shouted every second by the protagonists. Same observation for Burn my Dread, which appears not once, not twice, but three times in the playlist, two versions of which are not even remixed and only broadcast a simple video!

Out of 25 titles available in the basic version, 9 are non-remixed titles, that is 1 music out of 3. This is all the more damaging when the remaining 16 remixes are successful. Deep Breath Deep Breath or A Deep Mentality happily flirt with more violent, more industrial sounds, and brilliantly transcribe the darkness of Persona 3 while adding this electro / dancing spirit. On the other hand, Time or Way of Life, remixed in a more Pop / Girly way, are more joyful, more sparkling themes, on which Aegis and Fuuka seem to take an undisguised pleasure in dancing, a particularly communicative pleasure thanks to the quality visuals of the title.
Unfortunately, we barely have time to warm up that the party is already over ...