(Major spoilers for both The Journey and The Answer, and minor spoilers about changes in Portable and Reload)

After going through reload and femc in portable earlier this year I replayed just finished replaying the journey (the main story) in FES and the answer, this is still the best version hands down lol. With the anime cutscenes and the original in-game experience for cutscenes I think this game still has the best presentation for it's story, portables vn take is interesting but inferior and reload I just feel falls flat capturing the energy and tone of the original in it's cutscenes. Something I didn't realize until replaying the journey is that portable and reload share an altered script that's mostly minor dialogue changes, but they all end up adding up and feeling weirder in a lot of segments with some characters feeling like they act a little off in segments of the game or some parts just being flat out omitted. Some big examples, like Junpei opening up about his dad in the 12/10 scene where he lashes out is completely omitted from those scripts for some reason. After playing through all of them I think the original script is superior and it's kind of weird to me the portable one ended up becoming the "standard" one. There's bits and pieces of extra content in both of those versions I appreciate that add a little to the game but I think as a whole experience FES really trumps both of them, and I feel like those pieces only really work as a replayer. Also the soundtrack is still super goated, there's a few songs that get spammed to the point it's a little grating though, like the suspense theme that plays in any serious scene and cutscenes probably could have benefit from using those songs less. Also, a problem I think is present in every version in terms of the story is the game has odd pacing, and although you do get story stuff from the start it's very spread out and doesn't really pick up super crazy until you're pretty far in the game, I've always found it pretty hard to recommend playing in general as a result due to the start being kind of slow, but I still really like this game alot because the payoff in it's final arcs is honestly really still amazing, the game really picks up around October and alot of the main characters get super interesting arcs, Aigis is probably one of my favorite characters in the entire series and the stuff with Shinjiro/Ken is amazing still.

Most of the things about this game (primarily the AI party members) are not as annoying or hard to utilize as people often present them, and I honestly don't think the game is that hard (I've seen it called hard in a way that is often a complaint) having replayed it on hard mode although there is a decent challenge early on, I don't think it's anything super crazy to get through and the game is cheese-able in a solid amount of fights with the knockdown system. It's definitely more flawed than some of the games that come after it in a lot of it's systems with things like how social link reverses work and getting the skills you want on a Persona during fusion being rng but I think it's still a lot of fun in a way that feels really unique from other persona games, a lot of what gets perceived as flawed I feel like is just because it's different having played it.


And this is the part where I talk about The Answer. It's the first time I've ever completed it and it took me about 15 hours, I genuinely think it's a really underrated segment of the game after playing it. I don't think it's perfect and the start is pretty rocky with the setup for the situation feeling a bit janky at times, but I really like how it expands on the themes of the basegame and how it ends up exploring the characters reactions and feelings on the protagonists death, it ends up adding a lot of extra layer to them and although Ik the fact some of them (mainly Yukari) end up acting in a way that could be seen as irrational has been really hated or seen as out of character by people I think it builds into a really interesting conflict near the end with all of it feeling like a super real response of grief, it didn't feel like the cast moving backward to me but learning how to move forward, I feel like if it was written in a way where they were just completely OK after that ending it would make less sense. The resolution is super nice too and I'm glad I finally played it, I think it's a really overlooked segment of the game and I hope more people experience it with the upcoming reload version even if it's not like perfect. Metis ends up being a really cool character too IMO, basically being Shadow Aigis with a really cool design. I can see why people don't like it or overlook it, I think the basegame works on it's own but it was a super nice addition to the story for me and I think more people should give it a fair shake.

Gameplay wise it poses more of a challenge than the basegame and some fights require some good strategy, but I think the shorter length of the game and being handed special fusions pretty easily actually makes alot of it pretty simple to get through, IDK if it was just me but level-ups felt crazy fast too and I ended up just fusing Odin again into super cheese, only a few bosses really gave me trouble by the end and even then I didn't have to go back and grind to beat them, it just took a couple of tries. The final boss was also a pretty disappointing health sponge so IDK, I don't think it's quite as hard as people say but there are some good challenges in it.
Not sure what else to put here for now, I might revise this later since this is kind of just a lot of collected thoughts but I still think this is easily the definitive version of the game.

(Major spoilers in the middle of the review both for the original game and FEMC content, if you clicked this you prob know already but just in case)

Initially posted this over halfway through my play-through of the FEMC route and I wanted to write my thoughts down on it, excluding base PS2 P3 this was the only version of P3 The Journey I hadn't beaten before in some capacity but I honestly had a lot of fun playing it.

The FEMC stuff brings a really unique twist and charm to the game, both in simple things like presentation and the few new tracks but also interactions with the cast in general are kind of shifted as a result too. The FEMC-new social links are really cool and the two new characters have really solid links, Saori (FEMC Hermit link) sweeps the originals easily and Rio (FEMC Chariot link) also has a pretty good one, most of these honestly way better than most of the PS2 ones, fleshing out the other party members with full social links is really cool too. There's also some differences in the other links like the female party members when you pick FEMC and some of the dialogue that's presented is more interesting than their initial versions. I honestly really liked the Shinjiro stuff, although I know people are fairly iffy on how completing his S-link affects one of the most major scenes in the game, I think Akihiko still has a really strong development from it although it's presented in a different manner and Shinjiro doesn't really get a happy ending either (he doesn't come up onscreen again except for NG+ after being put into a coma instead of dying, and it's implied even if he does wake up he'll die soon due to the suppressant use anyway), I don't think it is as impactful as the pure shock in the original and the scene with Akihiko after but it's a nice twist on it for people who have already played the original. That being said I think it mostly ends up as nice extra content for people who have already played the game, I don't think the major Shinjiro thing really spits on the game too much or something even if the original is more impactful but after beating it I definitely would only tell someone to go through with FEMC if it wasn't their first time ever playing P3.

From what I've seen too, I'm not sure why you would pick Male MC over FEMC unless this was the only version of the game you're able to play for some reason, most of what keeps this version afloat from being something that would just be a novelty port at this point lies in picking her IMO.


Alot of people have criticized Portable's VN style in cutscenes and such and while I do think it makes a few important scenes delivered a little awkwardly the VN scene/map style really fits a game like this and makes for an interesting experience playing it, the city map is much simpler and faster to navigate than other versions as a result too.


(Long ramble about gameplay stuff)
IMO I prefer the gameplay systems in FES and I don't really like some changes like fusion spells working as cards you get from the antique shop instead of special skills (also making them limited use even if they're easier to acquire in a sense). The battle mechanics are updated to P4's also and I don't really like things like the dizzy system or Ma- skills giving you a one more on a weak hit even if you didn't hit every enemy. I know most people probably prefer things like that not being in the game and the dizzy system is there to prevent cheese strats but I feel like changing them got rid of some of the unique identity in P3's gameplay compared to it's future games, and how being downed worked in P3 was also a double edged sword because both enemies and the party wasted a turn getting back up where as in P3P, if you get knocked down dizzy is usually not much of an actual worry for the party ironically, and you just get back up instantly on the next turn making getting a weakness hit a lot less punishing. Skills like Re Patra are also rendered bordering useless/way more niche as a result of that. Some party members are buffed or have differences in what they learn too, the most notable one is Aigis where Orgia mode is really REALLY good in Portable and although she is computer controlled only during it still both physical and support skills have no cost making her pretty much extremely broken in normal encounters (and bosses if you strategize) and legit almost never running out of SP during long scale grinding, not using HP with phys during it too means she is usually an absolute monster. Stuff like this overall makes the game easier than FES but the earlier chunks can still get challenging at least especially compared to newer Persona games, I just prefer how the PS2 versions work even without direct control (although that's also a nice option to have in this game). For what it's worth I still had a blast playing it but I don't know if I would replay this for gameplay reasons, it depends on if Merciless ends up harder than PS2. (And I know there is also extra postgame content)
To add onto this section after beating the game it definitely gets very possible to get nutty broken after a point (I was also playing on Hardmode for reference). I was pretty much obliterating almost everything by the time I was at Tartarus block 4 and able to beat The Reaper and get to Lvl99 in Monad before even beating the game (although you do have to go more out of your way for those last two things though anyway.) Skill cards I feel like kind of trivialize getting good builds but there is still some effort you have to put into acquiring the really good ones anyway so IDK. Something I wasn't aware of until later in the game also is that even early on you can pick up items from the school (limited sale but 3 are stocked each Saturday in-game) that set you back to Good status from Tired which kind of trivializes that system entirely, I'm pretty sure it's completely impossible to actually get Tired while exploring Tartarus anymore unless a party member is KO'd and you return to the entrance without getting revived. It just seems weird to me they would even keep the system at that rate when it's pretty much next to pointless. Once you hit January you also get an extra dungeon (seperate from Monad) that lets you replay against stronger versions of old bosses and eventually Margaret as a super superboss which sounds like some pretty cool post-game content, I didn't give it too much of a look but that's a really cool addition.

I think pure content wise this is probably what I would consider the definitive version of P3 The Journey ESPECIALLY if you're looking to replay 3, however I think as an initial experience and for the main story (and gameplay-wise as a personal preference) FES clears this out of all the originals. If Atlus waited a few years and this game was on the Vita instead it'd probably be really godly but we're in the PSP timeline so I'd just say it's pretty good, a worthwhile check for more hardcore fans of P3 or just Persona/RPGs in general.

Sidenote: Something about the Memories of You credits roll with crunchy PSP audio hits different, that ending will get me everytime even without a full cutscene behind it

clocked in over 70 hours on hard mode and altho i wasn't feeling it for a bit it eventually clicked, i beat FES years ago and while i personally prefer that game (even on aspects like parts of the gameplay) this game does a really good job at remaking persona 3 into a more modern persona experience.

the structure of the game plot wise is a little odd with most of the meat being in the second half but i feel like reload does a good job addressing the empty ish slots kinda with new character content/etc, all the new social link (or link episode i think its called) stuff that i saw was really good, the only new scene addition i didnt really like was the takaya stuff. i think some old scenes don't quite have the same punch as the og in some aspects (mainly with the anime cutscenes that have been turned into in-game cutscenes in a similar vein to the ones in p5), but they aren't really bad either. new dub is alright and i've warmed up to it too.

game is fun too but seems pretty easy, i got lvl99 with like a whole month of the game still left on hard mode and the game is overly generous with stuff like skill card drops (and shuffle time in general).

the one part of the game i really didn't click with is the soundtrack, the new songs i think are honestly really really good and i wish they kinda went for a new soundtrack entirely or kept the original p3 versions for the rest, the problem is most of the soundtrack is comprised of remixes of the original p3s and while that isn't a bad idea in it's own, i feel a lot of them are outright weaker than the original and it ends up kinda just feeling like dollar store p3 (some of them are alright tho.) if they add an og soundtrack option or something i wouldn't mind as much altho it'd probably be dlc lol



for what it's worth this game feels pretty faithful to the OG it kinda just feels like FES modernized with bonuses in, so i think this game is a pretty good pickup for newer persona players or 3 veterans although FES will still probably be my main favorite as a whole, i wasnt really fiending for a p3 remake like a lot of people have been for a long time which might be why im not quite as crazy about it but i did have a fun time.

SPolers forx cas3e 3 sadly wotrse than xenoblade 3 i1-3 has like the writing depth some story beats in that game do though so it can be gauged as like a good exmaple of what to expect if you hvent played it. this game is like xenoblade 3 where it has a lot of slow moments but doesnt really pay off that well you get like one godly part in the 4th case . the 5th looks like it good but then it kinda ass in most segments senoblade 3 is really similar so this game is like a good ai simulation of xenoblade 3 but also its sadly worse. sountrack being kinda mid is similar to enoblade 3 to. amano is better tham morbius