We hope you’ve had an interesting month exploring the gritty streets of Krat in August’s featured game, Lies of P, but now it’s time to take a break and vote for next month’s TA Playlist game.As September approaches, students around the world are getting their pencils and notebooks ready for the start of a new school year. Some are excited about starting high school or college and moving on to the next level of their education, while others might be disappointed that their summer break is coming to an end. And for the rest of us, who have long since graduated and entered the dreary world of adulthood, it’s a time of nostalgia to remember our own school experiences. Whatever your attitude about the start of a new school year, we hope you’ll join us this month as the TA Playlist goes Back to School!Persona 3 Our first nominee for the month takes us to Gekkoukan High School in Japan, where we’ll take classes by day and fight monstrous shadows by night. Developed by Atlus and published by SEGA, there are two versions of Persona 3 to choose from: Persona 3 Portable, a direct port of the 2009 PlayStation Portable release which came to Xbox in 2023, and 2024’s remake, Persona 3 Reload, which is currently available on Game Pass.Step into the shoes of a transfer student thrust into an unexpected fate when entering the hour “hidden” between one day and the next. Awaken an incredible power and chase the mysteries of the Dark Hour, fight for your friends, and leave a mark on their memories forever.Combining elements of turn-based JRPGs and social simulators, P3 Reload has a fantastic TA user rating of 4.65/5.00, with over 57,000 tracked gamers having started the game. Around 6% (~3,600 users) have unlocked all 48 of the game’s achievements, which is estimated to take around 60 to 80 hours. Persona 3 Portable has a shorter list of just 35 achievements, but the time estimate is longer, at 80 to 100 hours.South Park: The Stick of TruthThe second nominee is another turn-based RPG, this one set in a “quiet mountain town” in Colorado, featuring four students at South Park Elementary (go Cows!). South Park: The Stick of Truth, developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Ubisoft, was originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2014, and then re-released for the Xbox One in 2019. The Xbox 360 version has been removed from the Microsoft Store, although it will still count for participation if this game wins the poll. The Xbox One version is available on Ubisoft+. From the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, comes an epic quest to become…cool. Arm yourself with weapons of legend to defeat underpants gnomes, hippies, and other forces of evil. Discover the lost Stick of Truth and succeed in earning your place alongside Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny as their new friend. Fail, and you will forever be known as a loser.South Park: The Stick of Truth currently has a strong TA User rating of 4.48/5.00, with almost 209,000 users unlocking at least one achievement in one of the two versions. Around 19,000 tracked gamers (just under 10%) have completed one version or the other. Each version has 50 achievements, with an estimated completion time of 15-20 hours, though the walkthrough by Quickdraw1988 might help you get through the game and find all the collectibles more quickly.Hogwarts LegacyThe school in our next game needs no introduction, as it’s arguably one of the main characters in the game itself. Grab your broomstick and cauldron, because you’re heading off to the Wizarding World of Hogwarts Legacy. This open-world action-RPG was developed by Avalanche Software and produced by Warner Bros. Games, and quickly rose to become the top-selling video game of 2023. Experience Hogwarts in the 1800s. Your character is a student who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart. Make allies, battle Dark wizards, and ultimately decide the fate of the wizarding world. Embark on a journey through familiar and new locations as you explore and discover magical beasts, customize your character and craft potions, master spell casting, upgrade talents and become the wizard you want to be. Your legacy is what you make of it. Live the Unwritten.Hogwarts Legacy is another top-rated game, with a TA User rating of 4.49/5.00. Nearly 200,000 tracked gamers have unlocked at least one achievement, with almost 11,000 (6%) earning the full 100% completion. It’s estimated that it will take 60-80 hours to unlock all 45 of the game’s achievements.Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!Last but not least, our fourth nominee is back in Japan (or so it would seem…?) at an educational facility known simply as “The School.” Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is a Visual Novel developed by Team Salvato and published by Serenity Forge. Initially released on Steam in 2017, the premium version released on consoles in 2021.Welcome to a terrifying world of poetry and romance! You play as the main character, who reluctantly joins the Literature Club in search of a romantic interest. With every poem you write and every choice you make, you’ll charm your crush and begin to unfold the horrors of school romance. Do you have what it takes to crack the code of dating sims and get the perfect ending? Now’s your chance to discover why DDLC is one of the most beloved psychological horror games of the decade!Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! has an impressive TA User Rating of 4.33, with over 10,000 tracked users earning at least one achievement and over 1,700 (around 17%) knocking out the full completion. It’s estimated to take 12-15 hours to unlock all 18 of the game’s achievements, although the walkthrough from Dwaggienite can guide you through making all the right choices in about half the time.So, which school will win out? Place your vote and let us know your thoughts in the comments! And as always, if you have any suggestions for future Playlist games or themes, be sure to drop them in the TA Playlist Game Suggestion Thread for possible inclusion in a future poll!Which game should the community play for September 2024’s TA Playlist?
