The protagonist transfers to Gekkoukan High School and moves into a dorm in the city. On his third day in the city, the protagonist enters a mysterious 25th hour called the Dark Hour, is attacked by monstrous beings called Shadows, and awakens to the power of Persona. After driving them off, he is recruited by the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), a group of Gekkoukan students dedicated to battling the Shadows and exploring Tartarus, a giant tower transformed from Gekkoukan during the Dark Hour. On nights when the moon is full, the city is attacked by a Shadow more powerful than the ones found in Tartarus. After several of these incidents, senior SEES member Mitsuru Kirijo is forced to reveal to the team the origin of Tartarus and the Dark Hour.
Persona 3 combines elements of traditional role-playing games and simulation games. The game follows the protagonist character, balancing their daily lives of going to school and building relationships with other people with fighting evil beings known as Shadows during the mysterious Dark Hour. Each day is divided into daytime and evening segments. Except for scripted events, such as plot progression or special events, the player is free to choose how each day is spent, with most activities causing time to pass.
Source: Wikipedia, "Persona_3," available under the CC-BY-SA License.
Microbadge: