Persona 3, released outside Japan as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, is a 2006 role-playing video game developed by Atlus. It is the fourth main installment in the Persona series, which is part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. Atlus originally released the game for the PlayStation 2 in Japan in July 2006; the North American release of the game was delayed until 2007 due to issues with the publication of the official art book. Persona 3 FES, an extended version containing a new playable epilogue among other changes, was released in Japan in 2007 and worldwide the following year. In Persona 3, the player takes the role of a high-school student who joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), a group of students investigating the Dark Hour, a time period between one day and the next that few people are aware of. During the Dark Hour, the player enters Tartarus, a large tower containing Shadows, creatures that feed on the minds of humans. To fight the Shadows, each SEES member can summon a Persona, a manifestation of a person's inner self. The game's most iconic feature is how the members of SEES release their Personas: by firing a gun-like object called an Evoker at their head. In addition to the standard elements of role-playing games, Persona 3 includes elements of simulation games, as the game's protagonist progresses day by day through a school year, making friends and forming relationships that improve the strength of his Personas in battle.