Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight

Fans of the original role-playing game are likely to have a good time with this music experience, so long as they don't go in expecting much beyond the music. Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight -- much like Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight -- is a shorter, simplified version of Persona 4: Dancing All Night, the terrific rhythm game that gave the Persona dance spin-offs their start. But where Dancing All Night had a lengthy story loaded with subplots and character development that played out between almost every song, the story sequences in Dancing in Moonlight are almost nonexistent by comparison. They're short and separated by multiple songs and performances, and they must be unlocked by meeting specific criteria. They don't serve much purpose beyond giving fans another chance to see their favorite characters exhibit their primary personality traits, like watching Akihiko be all squinty and serious or the emotionally complex Yukari show her unorthodox brand of cheerfulness. It's wonderful to see these characters in action again, but it would be nice if we were given just a little more meat wrapped around the bone.

What's left is the music, sure to be quickly recognized and adored by fans of the original game. But it may not capture the imagination of newcomers quite as quickly. It's punchy and upbeat, but without the context of the original game, it loses some of its urgency and meaning. At least the beat-based action is still rock solid. Tapping out streaks and adding scratches for custom flavor is as entertaining as ever, and the ability to tailor the experience to your ability via new modifiers (which come with point penalties, though rookies probably won't mind) helps ensure that anyone can match beats without experiencing too much frustration. Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight isn't the best of Persona's rhythm game spin-offs, but it's hard to imagine that those who played and loved the game it's based on won't have some fun here.