There are many things in life that you wouldn’t expect to work well together, such as fish fingers and custard, or opposing sub genres of the same kind of video game. However, ATLUS’s latest release, Persona Q, has taken the two worlds of Etrian Odyssey and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, and blended them together to create a fresh experience.

After a series of mysterious events, the Investigation Team from Persona 4 and the Specialized Extracircular Execution Squad from Persona 3 are brought together into an alternate world that partially resembles Yasogami High School from Persona 4’s Inaba. Accompanied by amnesiac heroes, Zen and Rei, they decide to enter a set of dungeons known as labyrinths. These illogical places hold the key to returning back home, and solving the enigma of a mysterious clock tower that has appeared on the school grounds.

Instead of walking in the shoes of one playable character this time round, you will have the choice to play as either the P3 or P4 protagonist, commonly known in the fanbase as Minato Arisoto or Yu Narukami. Both paths have a completely different beginning, and although they may cross on occasion, you will still feel as if you are playing an entirely new experience if you choose to play as the other protagonist. The leader that you do not choose will act as a member of the team with a voiced personality, whereas the chosen hero will remain mostly mute, aside from calling the name of their Personas in battle.

Whether you reach out to the truth, or prevent mass destruction, you will be at home with Persona Q, as the entire playable cast of both games are present and accounted for. From the shy yet dependable Fuuka Yamagishi to the soft hearted hothead Kanji Tatsumi, all the characters are on fine form and the voice acting is mostly top notch.Due to the storage capacity of the 3DS cartridges, only the English dub of the game is included, so fans of the original Japanese voices will unfortunately have to swallow their pride or switch them off altogether. There are a few instances where you feel as if the actors needed another take on their lines, but this is only an exception to the rule. 

Each of the labyrinths that you will encounter on your journey is based on a themed environment that is drawn from the school’s Culture Festival. For example, the first area is based on a live roleplaying group, where the characters act out scenes from Alice in Wonderland. This leads to some very comical interpretations, particularly the scene with the shrinking potion when you play from the Persona 4 perspective. Unlike the sometimes repetitive design of Tartarus and the Midnight Channel from P3 and P4, each labyrinth has a distinctly different design, and every time you descend further into the maze you will find an alteration of the aesthetics that set it apart from its vertically superior brother, such as different colours schemes or scenery. As you travel through the dungeons, you also have the option of marking your route using Etrian’s mapmaking system, although you can set this to be done automatically if you would rather explore.

Outside of the dungeons, you will be able to learn more about *with* the cast by watchin scenes that show how they react to each other’s behaviour when they are faced with certain situations. Most of the time, these interactions add interesting traits and history to the characters, but there is a level of fan service that has been placed in random places. Sometimes this can seem slightly ill fitting, but when you consider that the cast has now appeared in eight games between them, it is inevitable that the fans’ reactions would have influenced the developers to make certain jokes or assumptions come to life.

Both groups are aided by the residents of the Velvet Rooms from their respective games, who will assist with functions such as fusing Personas that you find inside the dungeons, healing the party’s injuries and crafting new items. Once you have collected the necessary ingredients for an item, you will be able to buy the item as many times as you need. During the early stages of the game, it is possible that you will need to go the Nurse’s Office quite often, so be sure to resist the temptation to buy the weapons that become available, as you may not be able to restore your health or inventory if you do.

The battle system of Persona Q is very similar to the one that was included in Persona 4, but has taken ideas from Etrian Odyssey to spice things up. The new features blend well into the established formula, in particular the bonus that you obtained from exploiting an enemy’s weakness. In P4, the enemy would fall to the floor immediately, but in Persona Q, the character that performed the attack will be able to use any skill they possess on the next turn without needing any spirit points, or SP, to do so. While the enemies may still fall down from an effective attack, this new addition brings a new layer of depth to the proceedings, and one which I hope will be added to the next mainline entry in the Persona series.

Fans of the Etrian Odyssey games will be pleased to know that even though Persona Q only borrows certain elements from its franchise, ATLUS have chosen to make the difficulty level one of these features. Even on the lowest difficulty level, you will need adefinite strategy to navigate the dungeons and defeat the enemies. The extremely powerful FOE’s have also crossed into the Persona universe, so if you decide to face one in battle, you will need a lot of strength and plenty of first aid. Although a firm difficulty level is always welcome, it may prove slightly ineffectual to getting new players to enjoy the game, unless they are certain that they are ready for the challenge.

Long-time Persona composer Shoji Meguro has once again returned for the newest entry of the series. As well as remixing selected tracks from his previous works, there are several new compositions that he has made for Persona Q, such as the catchy introduction theme “Maze of Life”, and the music that plays when you are in the corridors of Yasogami High. Aside from a few new tracks which feel slightly recycled, the soundtrack of Persona Q is exceptional, offering both the jazz influence of Persona 3, and the J-Rock influence from Persona 4. Some of the best pieces are the separate battle themes and event music for each story branch, showing the true individuality of the different instalments in the series.

Overall, Persona Q is a well-designed RPG with a lot of replay value, a difficulty level to rival Dark Souls, and a great cast of characters that you will come to know like your own dysfunctional family. While there are minor dents in its armour, such as an initially jarring difficulty curve, they do not take away from making the Nintendo debut of the Persona series one to be remembered long after the adventure is over.