To start this off I wanna say that this remake is extremely good. Graphically it's amazing. It had an amazing glowup, and it really makes me hope that if they remake P1 or P2:IS that they do a remake of this graphical quality.

The plot and party members seem fairly similar besides Yukari, Akihiko, and Aigis. Yukari seems less standoffish though that may be the change in the sprites. Akihiko seems to have picked up a bit from is PQ incarnation talking about protein and fighting stuff. I'm pretty sure he did this in FES too but not to this extent? Aigis seems the same overall but has a vocal quirk where she adds "...as they say" to the end of her sentences. I don't remember this from FES, but i'm not opposed to this. It's just a little..strange. My memory of FES is likely faulty.

The new additions to the dorm like the male party member "social links", the garden on the rooftop, the computer, are very useful. The male party member events were very good and helped expand on their arcs throughout the game. Great addition. I actually want that to be what party members have going forward rather than social links. It's relevant to what's happening at the time rather than it's own closed off story.

The additions outside of Tartarus are very good as a whole. So.. what about in Tartarus, the main loop of the game?

I will say I like FES Tartarus a lot as a dungeon system in persona. I can go in as far as I want, the floor bosses usually were pretty tough and required mixing up my party or personas to give me enough of an advantage to beat them. Since the party members were controlled via Tactics rather than directly, it added to the mood of the game and story. The game was a challenge despite the full moon bosses lacking, but it was a good challenge overall.

In Reload, this is not the case. I played on Hard and experienced very few deaths from floor bosses. The only way I died was either via insta-kill when I lacked homunculus or I got crit by an AOE physical move. There was no challenge. I know Merciless exists, but I should still get some kind of challenge on Hard. Especially on the final boss which was a complete pushover. Every new Tartarus related change contributes to this. Theurgy moves especially so. They're too strong. Doing heavy/severe damage that can't be guarded wrecks havoc on floor bosses.

The floor bosses were nerfed or changed. I don't remember every single floor boss in the game, but the ones I remember being hard just aren't? Rampage Drive in particular was strangely easy. Change Relic and Intrepid Knight also flopped in difficulty and I don't know if it's being able to control my party, Theurgy moves, or both. The full moon bosses and Strega fights are more difficult than in FES, but the general changes to mechanics have made this increase moot. Again, the final boss is extremely disappointing.

Overall I do like the game. Most of the changes are great and would recommend any normal person to play this game as their first P3 experience over FES. I play these games for the gameplay first, which doesn't match up to FES for me personally.

Subconsciously avoided this game for a while due to it being one of the most respected rpgs of all time. I've been under the impression it was really overhyped and it would be disappointing. After having just beat it I'm pleased that it was so fun.

I've seen a sentiment over the years that the story is confusing or nonsensical. While the latter at times may be true I don't think the former is especially if you've beaten the game. Some points feel underexplored (Vincent & Sephiroth) but overall was enjoyable to experience. I was also almost never lost since it usually tells you where to go. Whether it be a general direction or a town, or through gameplay like getting a new mode of transport, it's pretty good at informing you of where to head next. For the time that is. If I could go somewhere and have it replay that information it would be perfect.

I love the Materia system. A decent bit of Materia is unexplained requiring me to look it up to understand how it interacts, but most of those types are unneeded. I used a party of Cloud, Red XIII and Vincent with Cloud as a counter-attacking Paladin, Red XIII as summoner, and Vincent as buffing magical-attacker. I wish I could do more varied or interesting options but most of it is locked off until the end of disk 2/start of disk 3. Game overall is easy and gets easier once you stack summons. Realistically the 20+ hours I have of Materia adjusting was probably pointless but micromanaging skills for certain fantasy fulfilment is my thing.

That probably is part of my gripes with the game. Physical builds can't really be min maxed. The only interesting thing it seems physical characters can do is maybe have restore all and be a tank, or just being a stat stick of plus Materia. I probably didn't find the cool physical Materia so maybe that's why.

Another problem is the numerous "gimmicky" segments or mini-games. There are a ton of moments where you are required to do something you have never done before that isn't gameplay related for "something". Need to go through an icy snowfield? Here's a map, snowboard down the mountain for 3 minutes and then navigate through the snow and also sometimes there are open snowfields that spin around and confuse you and feel endless. Need to catch a sub? Play a minigame that is no joke 30 seconds long where you shoot torpedoes at an enemy sub. Need the plot relevant item in a safe? Play a random puzzle minigame where you..guess a code for 3 minutes while a party member sometimes, rarely, gives you a hint on what the code is so you get 4-6 hints and if you fail you just miss it completely. There's so many of these. Why do you have a buggy you use to cross 1-2 rivers and then it's never used again? It's not detrimental just annoying.

Overall game is fun. The customization in Materia, weapons, and armor gives a lot of depth to the game I hope to return to at a later date to beat up Ruby Weapon.