I'm very glad that I played Persona 3, but man, going backward after starting with P4 was rough. Having your party members be controlled by the AI leads to A LOT of frustration. I felt like my protagonist was forced into being built as a healer because I couldn't trust the AI with that level of responsibility. There are several times where the game pulls stunts that just feel cruel, like two highly luck-dependent bosses, back to back with no opportunity to save between them. There are several minibosses that are noticeably harder than the "real" bosses, often in ways that feel particularly cheap.

As is always the case with Persona, the game's themes are expertly explored, though perhaps not as well as P4 or P5. The actual plot on a more surface level is also weaker, at least in my opinion. Social links haven't hit their stride yet either. All that aside, Persona 3 is still worth seeing, and is still cool.