Mienai wrote to inform me that his translation group, Gekkoukan High Scans, has two new releases today: Piece 02 and Volume 01 Complete (”Chapitre Un”).

You might remember a few days ago we wrote about GHS’s release of a translation of Sogabe Shuuji’s Persona 3 manga. Piece 00 (Prologue) and Piece 03 of the series were also discussed at that point, both of which were a joint release with Starry Heaven (headed by Cheebs). The groups have since split off, each handling the remaining chapters (and revisions of previous releases) on their own . . . .

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A group by the name of Gekkoukan High Scans has taken on scanning and translating Shuji Sogabe’s Persona 3 manga series. It closely follows the events of the game, although it seems certain liberties are taken (earlier appearances of Aigis, for example) to help enhance the storytelling. Currently three pieces are available, all of which are up for download through their site. They’ve done a really nice job with them.

GHS has a surprisingly large staff; we wish them all luck with this project and any others they might take on. Thanks a lot to the founder of the project, Mienai Kitsune, for pointing out their work so far. Be sure to check it out.

A couple of weeks back, Famitsu unveiled the first information on a Persona 3 prequel for mobile phones. Entitled Aegis: The First Mission, the game stars Aigis and appears to deal with the specific events that led to the Shadow’s domination of the area years prior. The game is an action RPG; screen shot captions state that the game still utilizes SP and Personae summoning for attacks. It features characters both new and familiar to those who have played through both Persona 3 releases. The title was released for download on November 14th, 2007.

While it appears the game is available for all mobile phones (including Softbank 3G terminals), the title seems to be focused on Yahoo!’s mobile network. For those interested (and obviously living in Japan), Famitsu gives the following directions: enter the phone menu, pick RPG, then Megami Tensei and then “Aegis THE FIRST MISSION”. The game costs 525 yen (about $4.75 USD) , plus tax.

The following screens are from the Famitsu entry:

Thanks to QBasic for pointing out the original Siliconera entry about the game. You can view his original thread on the subject here, which includes some additional images thanks to Emilio.

Hey everyone. Just writing to inform you that our interview with Atlus for Persona 3 is posted on the site. There’s some discussion of FES, older SMT releases, the Japanese rating versus the US’s M rating and so forth.

Some of the questions were crafted before anyone at this site got to actually play the game (not to mention those who submitted questions in our forum). In those cases, anyone who has played the title will know how those components work. They’re being left in the interview for completion’s sake, but also because there is some interesting insight at times.

Super big thanks to both Aram and Yu at Atlus for taking the time to help us out, despite the headaches of the delay, E3 and other releases in the pipeline.

As you all should know Persona 3’s “release date” is officially tomorrow, August 14th. It’s likely your local retailer won’t see it for another day or so afterward, so just give them a call if you’ve pre-ordered locally. Unlike Devil Summoner and Digital Devil Saga, it appears even retailers like Best Buy will be carrying this game. . . at least on their web sites. If you’ve not pre-ordered already, I would suggest you do so tonight.

If you’re still not sure, I suggest you check out Metacritic. The overall score from all submitted professional reviews puts the game at 88 out of 100 currently, which is quite good.

As for our review, I’ve unfortunately not finished the game yet. I am, however, a good 45 or so hours into it and thus feel safe posting my overall thoughts on it so far. I have no intention of attaching a score, but it might be a good read if you want some more input on the game. To keep it short: I really like it.

You can check that out here, if you so desire. Expect the Persona 3 section to expand more in the coming weeks as I (and others) progress through the game. The character and Persona sections will be revamped (hopefully to provide indepth info to those who want it, without spoiling every one else), just to give an example.

Thanks!

Gamespot’s product listing for Persona 3 now includes a very small image of the final package you will receive when you pick up the game. Looks pretty nice when it’s all together.

Thanks to NotMSRP for posting this image on NeoGAF.