So, when I started P3, I was playing it on original hardware. I ended up migrating my save over to PC about halfway through so I can play the game with a cheat that lets you select your party members moves in fights and man, did it really meaningfully add to my enjoyment. I like the idea behind it where it feels like these are characters with their own agency and you get tactics options to influence their choices but man is it not fun when your in a boss fight and you lose because Akihiko is making weird priorities with his usage of healing and buff moves. I'd honestly drop a half star if we're talking about FES right out of the box.
That's not the only factor where this character agency kind of gets in the way. It was kind of annoying that you constantly had to check and see if the characters didn't switch out the gear you gave them after certain level peaks. There was also no way to inspect people's gear with out directly talking to them in dungeons either which just felt cumbersome.
The social sim aspect also just feels incredibly primitive compared to later entries in a lot of areas. My biggest complaint is how many are after school versus night time social links. Plus the sheer amount of only at school socials vs town. It makes the holidays painful if you're wanting to get stuff done, especially when some of them live in the same building as you!
The battle system is overall fun. I will say I'm not a fan of the enemy scan system not just tracking the weaknesses as you find them and only tracking when the slow scan finds it. They however got a lot right about the once more system right off the bat. I of course mentioned the controlling the characters mod helping this area of the game out tremendously. Obviously this isn't going to be an issue for you if you play the P3 Portable version that's being ported to modern consoles very soon. Personally, IDK if I could stand the walking around locations being replaced with visual novel scenes but I can easily see that being a non issue for many people. I have seen some strides in making P3P play like P3 FES in that regard so maybe some day that will get brought over to the steam version and that becomes my prefered P3 experience.
As for the dungeons, You're the most part just getting the one dungeon, Tartarus. It's kinda neat for a bit but it does really wear out its welcome a little fast for me. There were some nice breaks from this. A big stand out being the love hotel level. I really wish there was more like moments like that one but for the most part you just go up the dungeon fight shadows, go up again fight bigger shadow, go up dungeon textures change, maybe a few new background assets here and there, and fight shadows with palate swaps. Rinse repeat. If the remake rumors are true, a little added dungeon variety would be my biggest ask and maybe just go ahead and replace the shadows with the SMT demons. I will say I really got into the card minigame. If that could come back alongside demon negotiation, I'd be a fan.
The story does do a great bit of heavy lifting in carrying the game though. I can totally understand the macabre focus on death to the point the characters shoot themselves to use their power everytime in combat might be much but it definitely works for me. It even adds to the mundanity of the social sim imo since they work as levity breaks from the bleakness of the plot that elevate. I'll also add that one area where the extra emphasis on party character agency really excelled for me was how they all really had their own plots running independently from the protagonist. I thought I'd dislike how ultimate personas weren't a reward for completing party social links but I'm kinda walking away prefering them happening in the story after each character has their own character arc conclusion on their own. P5 (and P4 from the little I've played) essentially has the same moments but at the beginning when they unlock their Persona. I'd argue the P3 method is a lot more effective since they're all growing as the plot develops. I especially like how their win quotes change after the development to show their personal resolve.
Anyways, this might be in many ways a relic from when Persona as a series was a cheap little side project instead of Atlus's flagship but there's a lot of felt care to it that even the stumbles seem somewhat redeeming.
That's not the only factor where this character agency kind of gets in the way. It was kind of annoying that you constantly had to check and see if the characters didn't switch out the gear you gave them after certain level peaks. There was also no way to inspect people's gear with out directly talking to them in dungeons either which just felt cumbersome.
The social sim aspect also just feels incredibly primitive compared to later entries in a lot of areas. My biggest complaint is how many are after school versus night time social links. Plus the sheer amount of only at school socials vs town. It makes the holidays painful if you're wanting to get stuff done, especially when some of them live in the same building as you!
The battle system is overall fun. I will say I'm not a fan of the enemy scan system not just tracking the weaknesses as you find them and only tracking when the slow scan finds it. They however got a lot right about the once more system right off the bat. I of course mentioned the controlling the characters mod helping this area of the game out tremendously. Obviously this isn't going to be an issue for you if you play the P3 Portable version that's being ported to modern consoles very soon. Personally, IDK if I could stand the walking around locations being replaced with visual novel scenes but I can easily see that being a non issue for many people. I have seen some strides in making P3P play like P3 FES in that regard so maybe some day that will get brought over to the steam version and that becomes my prefered P3 experience.
As for the dungeons, You're the most part just getting the one dungeon, Tartarus. It's kinda neat for a bit but it does really wear out its welcome a little fast for me. There were some nice breaks from this. A big stand out being the love hotel level. I really wish there was more like moments like that one but for the most part you just go up the dungeon fight shadows, go up again fight bigger shadow, go up dungeon textures change, maybe a few new background assets here and there, and fight shadows with palate swaps. Rinse repeat. If the remake rumors are true, a little added dungeon variety would be my biggest ask and maybe just go ahead and replace the shadows with the SMT demons. I will say I really got into the card minigame. If that could come back alongside demon negotiation, I'd be a fan.
The story does do a great bit of heavy lifting in carrying the game though. I can totally understand the macabre focus on death to the point the characters shoot themselves to use their power everytime in combat might be much but it definitely works for me. It even adds to the mundanity of the social sim imo since they work as levity breaks from the bleakness of the plot that elevate. I'll also add that one area where the extra emphasis on party character agency really excelled for me was how they all really had their own plots running independently from the protagonist. I thought I'd dislike how ultimate personas weren't a reward for completing party social links but I'm kinda walking away prefering them happening in the story after each character has their own character arc conclusion on their own. P5 (and P4 from the little I've played) essentially has the same moments but at the beginning when they unlock their Persona. I'd argue the P3 method is a lot more effective since they're all growing as the plot develops. I especially like how their win quotes change after the development to show their personal resolve.
Anyways, this might be in many ways a relic from when Persona as a series was a cheap little side project instead of Atlus's flagship but there's a lot of felt care to it that even the stumbles seem somewhat redeeming.