Persona 3 FES, while weak in gameplay, is nothing short of a masterpiece.

The only game in the series and in general to consistently bring me to tears by the end of its beautiful story. Every single character in SEES is incredibly written by themselves and beautifully brought together in a group that doesn't just feel like a team, but a family. Through their struggles, fights, losses, and laughs, they always stick together. They are by far the best group in the entire series and it's not even close.

The plot and direction are impeccable, full of twists, turns, and some sudden stops, and well-paced for the majority of the runtime. I'd argue that there are moments when the plot doesn't consistently flow as well as in Persona 4, but it flows well for the majority of the time and definitely better than in Persona 5.

The story is fantastic as well, however, there are certain aspects such as Strega and the Kirijo Group that aren't given enough depth to be as interesting as they could've been. Hopefully, in the upcoming Persona 3 Reload, they allocate more effort to their relatively crucial role in the story. However, those limitations don't bring down the emotional weight of the story, as the characters and plot more than makeup for the small aspects that aren't given depth.

Where my problems lie is found in the gameplay. Persona 3 FES is the first game to introduce elements such as Confidants and the Calendar System and has the majority of its turn-based combat found in Tartarus and days of a full moon. While the turn-based combat is fantastic, even with AI-controlled party members, I found the overworld dungeon exploration and EXP distribution to make the progression tedious at best, and infuriating at worst. You can overcome this issue with a good understanding of multiplying EXP gain, but it's still very flawed.

Overall, Persona 3 FES with its quirks and all, is a fantastic JRPG and will hold the test of time as one of the greatest, most unique video games ever made. With an unapologetically 2000's vibe, jamming soundtrack, and moving story, Persona 3 FES will stand the test of time as one of the Playstation 2's best.

Not my favorite Shin Megami Tensei game, but one of the best in the series. A game that aged like fine wine and was incredibly fun to play even compared to more recent titles. It is amazing how advanced the game is compared to Nocturne and how great the story was compared to Shin Megami Tensei V. I'd argue that besides Soul Hackers it has the best art direction regarding its characters and demons. Nocturne has the best world (and a better Lucifer), but SMTIV takes the cake in regard to everything else. It also has the best characters in mainline hands down, Walter, Johnathon, and Isabeau are such interesting characters and the way their alignments support their ideals yet contradict their upbringing is interesting. Overall, Shin Megami Tensei IV is an excellent Megaten game and a fantastic JRPG that everyone should get to when they can.

Shin Megami Tensei V was a game I was hyped for since the first trailer and for the most off it totally payed off. The gameplay is amazing and the graphics are some of the best on the system, but the story was... messy. It had great presentation and a really interesting premise with some of the best moments in the series, but the characters and the pacing was really bad and that's not an underexageration. The pacing in the beginning is good but once you get to the climax it feels like almost nothing happens until the very END of the game, and since the human characters are so empty it never really makes you think about whats going on most of the time. Overall great game, but a dissapointing story.