Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth Reviews
Persona Q2 is very satisfying fan service, but the whole experience comes with a fair few significant caveats that anyone buying in would do well to be mindful of.
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is a profuse amalgamation of Persona's psychology and Etrian Odyssey's methodology. Just like—maybe a little too like—Shadow of the Labyrinth, it covers a lot ground without exploring a new direction. Emblematic of its eight-year-old hardware, New Cinema Labyrinth is battle-tested, secure, and incapable of surprise.
Persona Q2's has a lot of fun dungeon crawling to offer, but doesn't make the most of its great cast's time together.
It's quite possible Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth will be the final major release on the Nintendo 3DS and it's a solid send off. Fans of the franchise should be use to the exposition heavy dialogue sequences and the story takes a bit to get good, but once it gets there it's fun. Sure, making your own map isn't the best mechanic and dungeon crawlers are not the most fascinating experiences around, though Persona has more than enough charm to overcome these shortcomings. So, unless you want another bland and generic RPG, it's hard to say no to Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth.
As I said in the beginning, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is more Persona Q, but this time the implementation of the concepts of both games is better done.
Persona Q2's gameplay is a clever offshoot from Persona 5's highly refined battle system and is a consistently fun challenge. It's story isn't quite the serious social commentary of it's console sibling, but the fun and fan service on offer is fantastic.
This is one last chance for your 3DS to shine, and if you're either a fan of the Persona series or JRPG in general, this is a 50 hour -romp that cannot be missed, even though the dungeon design of the first game was slightly better.
Review in Italian | Read full review
New Cinema Labyrinth is a brilliant combination of game mechanics with a heap of Persona charm and style that's sure to keep you busy for a long time to come.
A love letter to the series, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is a challenging but rewarding dungeon crawling experience even if a little rough around the edges.
New Cinema Labyrinth is wonderful for series fans. For Persona fans waiting on Persona 5 the Royale, this is a great way to fill the gap and is worth the price of admission just to watch the characters from these different games interact together. With so many inside jokes that fans will truly appreciate. Admittedly, the level design could be much better, with the labyrinths themselves a pale comparison to the Etrian Odyssey mazes it mimics. Thankfully, the addictive mapping, Persona-inspired combat, wealth of side-quests and the solid story combine to more than make up for its flaws.
The end credits for the 3DS started rolling on March 3, 2017 and Persona Q2 is basically the post-credits scene. And it's a good scene that really makes me hyped to hopefully see more of the Persona series on Switch in a fashion besides musou and Joker in Smash. For now, make sure your 3DS is nice and stable, and start mapping those dungeons.
If Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is really the last big 3DS release, it's one smashing swan song. The game is more straightforward than its predecessor, but this change plays to the strengths of Persona’s multitudinous characters. All up, it’s an exemplary crossover game worth investing hundreds of hours before you even start playing in just to appreciate its nuance
Fans of the Persona series will delight in this dungeon crawling sequel that features characters from the 3 most recent mainline titles.
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is a fantastic game and a quality send off for the Nintendo 3DS. Best of all it treats the Persona license with a lot of respect and acts as a fanservice filled love letter to fans of the last 3 Persona games. If you like labyrinth based dungeon crawlers filled with great character interactions then there’s a lot for you to love in Persona Q2. And I do mean a lot, there’s easily enough content, ‘special screening’ missions and persona’s to fuse to keep you playing for over 50 hours.
Even if this is the last major game for this handheld console, you couldn’t ask for a better way to send the system off. This is easily one of the best games to ever be released on the Nintendo 3DS, and perhaps over time it may be selected as the overall best. Not only do you get to enjoy the characters from Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4: Golden, and Persona 5 one more time, but there is a good overall narrative here, and their interactions with their counterparts from other games are a delight to behold. Persona Q: Shadows of the Labyrinth was a great game, but the sequel Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth improves upon it in every way. The sequel is slightly shorter than the original, but features much more story, the time saved is entirely in the amount of dungeon crawling. But there is still enough there to more than satisfy, it took me 84 hours to complete the game, complete all 45 special screenings, complete 100% of the Persona Registry, and defeat all Velvet Room trials. That is a lot of content, especially for a game that is only $39.99, and you can tell the developers put a whole lot of care into the translation of all these beloved characters. So I cannot recommend this game enough, it’s vying with Sekiro for my favorite game this year, and it would be a strong candidate any other year as well. And more than that, it’s a strong reason to keep that 3DS charged up and ready to go.
It’s title’s like this that will definitely make you miss the Nintendo3DS as a platform, but know that you will treasure your experiences on the handheld for years to come. Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is a must own for all JPRG lovers, handheld gamers, and Persona fans alike.
It’s a bit strange to think that this game, of all ones, would be what is essentially the last title the 3DS will ever get.
It’s of greatest interest to Etrian Odyssey aficionados looking for more intriguing dungeon layouts and worthwhile cartographic opportunities, but the blend of cast members from the popular Persona titles offers its own enjoyable time.
"The final act of 3DS."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Overall, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is a blast for fans of either the Persona or Etrian Odyssey series. What few complaints I had have their workarounds, and even when I was level grinding, the music and battle system made it a joy.