Absolutely one of the best JRPGS to date. The story is amazing, the concepts and themes of the game are so raw and emotional. It is pretty edgy, but that's just the nature of the game, considering it deals with Death for about 80% of the time. I wish the future Persona games would go back to their dark roots, one that makes you question your humanity and what it means to live and grow up. It captures that human essence of what it's like to grieve and cope with death, whether it be a foreign subject to some or a common event that impacts the lives of others. You might come to dislike and hate the way some characters react about certain events in the game, but I feel that it's due to the fact that it's very realistic. Heroic and valiant characters are so common that seeing anyone display a sense of humanity is off-putting, but that's what's so great about the story. That, and the fact that there's always goofy, funny moments to alleviate the edginess.

FES is a deluxe version to the base Persona 3 games and that does have its faults at times. The main thing added to the base game is the extra story mode, which isn't all that fun; you'll mostly play it for the story rather than the enjoyment of the game, as it becomes more about grinding. But there's more quality-of-life and story-related changes that come with FES that make it worth playing instead of the base game.

Seriously, super great game for the time and absolutely amazing story. This version is the one to play; Portable is just lacking.

Personally, I feel that this is the best way to carry out the job system. It's not too complex, there's enough unique jobs to make you go "huh, never thought I'd be playing as a Chemist," and the story isn't half-bad. The one issue is that once you come to learn the OP combo of the game and the jobs that you need to max by end game in order to stand a chance at the bonus content, there's not really much of a reason for you to level up any other jobs. Much more comedic and light-hearted than any of the games that had come before it, but still has those moments of seriousness and sadness. One of the must-plays, I feel. Especially because of the music (namely Battle at the Big Bridge).