My opinions on Persona 3 Portable are very neutral; I do lean towards a more negative outlook, though, sadly.
The portable version is certainly not the best way to play the game. I hate when people act like visual novels aren't a worthwhile medium, but portable is clearly a game pushed into a medium it wasn't originally intended for. I think it makes some of the story beats very weak, and the presentation as a whole feels very cheap, only made worse by the off-chance moments of Persona's stylistic flare.
Personally, I find the combat to be terribly weak. It's boring and tedious. It doesn't have the reward or addictive feeling of good SMT combat. An extra turn for hitting weaknesses or criticals doesn't really amount to much. In SMT, you reach this point where you are suddenly much stronger than you were before in a way that is rewarding and apparent; this is true of most RPGs. I never felt like I got this moment in P3, despite being the correct level for bosses. My damage always felt so low; nothing ever scales to be that big or grand. Also, I really hate the buff/debuff system in P3. Not being able to stack or extend the time of support skills is just annoying. I like the idea of one big dungeon, but when paired with poor combat, it makes for a tedious experience. The boss fights were very poor and uninteresting. The final boss is one of my least favorite final fights I have witnessed in an RPG, which tainted my view of the ending overall.
This may be a silly point to make, but I do not understand making a SMT game without demon talk. I think when putting SMT against other RPGs, SMT stands out due to its surprising nature. SMT will catch you off guard and force you to engage in demon talk mechanics: hold-ups, demons forcing themselves into your party, demons begging for their lives, etc. It's very charming and a core foundation of SMT's identity. P3 doesn't have any of that, though. I know the game doesn't have demon talk since the enemies are not demons, but that is another issue I have with the game. I dislike that the typical SMT demon designs are reserved for just Personas. In a series known for fun enemy designs, I grew a little sick of seeing the same tables, sludge monsters, dice, and gloves over and over again.
My issues with the combat and presentation are separate from the story, but they taint the experience as a whole, and I find it hard to view the story just as it is. I like how focused the game is on its main themes; it is very insistent on death and moon imagery, and I commend it for that. There are some very strong moments in the game. 10/4, Akinari's social link, and Aigis's social link, but the issue for me was that those moments were incredible, but they were the only ones I found myself really caring about. Take my opinions of the story as fully subjective, but I found it as a whole uninteresting and shallow. The parallels between characters are strong and drawn beautifully, but that's the only major praise I have to give. I think many of the twists are built up very poorly. The ending, to me, felt like it went out with a whimper. Not that stories need to feel bombastic and grand; there is beauty in quieter moments (I like how understated and bleak the ending was), but that's not what it was; it felt empty. Once again, I do think my issues with the combat and presentation give me a negative outlook on the story as a whole.
I think if I played Persona 3 FES or base Persona 3, maybe I would have given the game a 3.5/5, but, to me, portable takes an already weak game and makes it weaker. When it is good, it is incredible, heartfelt, and tragic; at any other moment, though, I felt nothing.
The portable version is certainly not the best way to play the game. I hate when people act like visual novels aren't a worthwhile medium, but portable is clearly a game pushed into a medium it wasn't originally intended for. I think it makes some of the story beats very weak, and the presentation as a whole feels very cheap, only made worse by the off-chance moments of Persona's stylistic flare.
Personally, I find the combat to be terribly weak. It's boring and tedious. It doesn't have the reward or addictive feeling of good SMT combat. An extra turn for hitting weaknesses or criticals doesn't really amount to much. In SMT, you reach this point where you are suddenly much stronger than you were before in a way that is rewarding and apparent; this is true of most RPGs. I never felt like I got this moment in P3, despite being the correct level for bosses. My damage always felt so low; nothing ever scales to be that big or grand. Also, I really hate the buff/debuff system in P3. Not being able to stack or extend the time of support skills is just annoying. I like the idea of one big dungeon, but when paired with poor combat, it makes for a tedious experience. The boss fights were very poor and uninteresting. The final boss is one of my least favorite final fights I have witnessed in an RPG, which tainted my view of the ending overall.
This may be a silly point to make, but I do not understand making a SMT game without demon talk. I think when putting SMT against other RPGs, SMT stands out due to its surprising nature. SMT will catch you off guard and force you to engage in demon talk mechanics: hold-ups, demons forcing themselves into your party, demons begging for their lives, etc. It's very charming and a core foundation of SMT's identity. P3 doesn't have any of that, though. I know the game doesn't have demon talk since the enemies are not demons, but that is another issue I have with the game. I dislike that the typical SMT demon designs are reserved for just Personas. In a series known for fun enemy designs, I grew a little sick of seeing the same tables, sludge monsters, dice, and gloves over and over again.
My issues with the combat and presentation are separate from the story, but they taint the experience as a whole, and I find it hard to view the story just as it is. I like how focused the game is on its main themes; it is very insistent on death and moon imagery, and I commend it for that. There are some very strong moments in the game. 10/4, Akinari's social link, and Aigis's social link, but the issue for me was that those moments were incredible, but they were the only ones I found myself really caring about. Take my opinions of the story as fully subjective, but I found it as a whole uninteresting and shallow. The parallels between characters are strong and drawn beautifully, but that's the only major praise I have to give. I think many of the twists are built up very poorly. The ending, to me, felt like it went out with a whimper. Not that stories need to feel bombastic and grand; there is beauty in quieter moments (I like how understated and bleak the ending was), but that's not what it was; it felt empty. Once again, I do think my issues with the combat and presentation give me a negative outlook on the story as a whole.
I think if I played Persona 3 FES or base Persona 3, maybe I would have given the game a 3.5/5, but, to me, portable takes an already weak game and makes it weaker. When it is good, it is incredible, heartfelt, and tragic; at any other moment, though, I felt nothing.