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Rules, Rhetoric, and Genre: Procedural Rhetoric in Persona 3

2011; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 6; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/1555412011402675

1555-4139

Todd Harper,

Rhetoric and Communication Studies

Released in 2008 for the Playstation 2, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is a roleplaying game with a diverse genre pedigree. It is a combination of dungeon-crawling RPG and social interaction ‘‘datesim,’’ all wrapped up in the thematic trappings of occult mystery and Japanese popular culture. Using Ian Bogost’s (2007) concept of procedural rhetoric, this article examines how Persona 3’s use of genre conventions and gameplay-based rhetorical frames construct the game’s message, as well as how those structures can inform our understanding of genre for the digital game form.