What is it with teenagers these days, school, friends, and putting guns against their heads!? That is what it is like in the video game Shin Megami Tensei’s Persona 3. I truly loved Persona 3 it is about high school teenagers fighting against evil to save the world. That may sound cliché but this game stands out above most role playing video games. Not only must the player fight the shadows, the villains of the game, but the player must also develop social links. That is where the player has to make friends and conform to what they want to hear so the player gets to level up their personas. The personas help fight with the player, kind of like if pokemon had a dark side, but the strangest thing is that in order to release them, the characters have to shoot themselves in the head. If that was not enough, the player must also raise their charm, courage, and academics. If they are not high enough some of the social links the player needs to make will not even talk to you. The player then gets to do fun activities like studying or going to the movies, anything to get those stats up. As the player increases their friendships the stronger the player’s personas become. Once the friendship has reached maximum a special persona can be made. So all that time and quirky, sad, or hilarious dialogue is not just filler, it is just as important as the rest of the game play. As if that was not enough to do, don’t forget about your schoolwork, this game is based around the school so another challenge to the game is that you have to answer questions and take tests, this will increase your academics or charm depending on the situation. If you do well on your tests you can also receive special items worth all that extra study time. I mean who would not want to max out courage and reach the level of badass to be brave enough to try someone’s cooking; believe me it happens. With over eighty personas to make, this is a long and challenging game, one that requires much strategy. It took me over a hundred hours to finally complete it, but it was worth it. I had the ultimate move one that can even defeat death, which requires too incredibly strong personas to perform. It may have been tough but the story was full of hardships, complex characters, death, and above all fun. This is a video game that anyone seventeen and over can enjoy.