This review contains spoilers
real good one, wheatie, dropping the Persona 3 review on March 5th.
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I don't know where to start this review. This was a complete impulse purchase that took me 8 months to finish through sporadic, on and off sessions, only to finally power through it over the last couple weeks thanks to the release of Persona 3 Reload. Before this, my last experience with anything Persona 3 was my first ever playthrough of FES back in 2019. I definitely remember enjoying it a substantial amount, but something held it back compared to the latter two that I had played before it. Could've been the AI teammates, could've been the admittedly weaker antagonists this game presents, could've just been my lack of expectations going into it! Who knows, but I've grown to appreciate Persona 3 a lot more over time, and this recent playthrough of Portable has done nothing but enhance that appreciation.
So what does P3P do for the original game? You can choose the same old male protagonist, playing the story as though it were base P3, albeit minus the animated cutscenes and modeled dialogue portions, or you canplay it the right way opt for the newly added female protagonist, complete with loads more social links and some much prettier colors. I naturally chose the newer of the two, and I will undoubtedly say that it is league's better than base Persona 3. Say what you will about Makoto, I just think Kotone is a way more fun protag. On top of that is her replacements for some of Makoto's worse-off social links, in my opinion, Magician being Junpei instead of Kenji, Moon being Shinjiro instead of Nozomi, and especially Fortune being Ryoji instead of Keisuke. Hell, I didn't even hate Keisuke, but I will happily take more time with Ryoji instead, given just how integral he is to the story and being given the choice to actually talk with him outside of story beats.
I found the two brand new characters to be super interesting as well. Rio a bit less so (and i mean come on girl you can do better than kenji), but Saori taking the new spot of the Hermit link is a deeply saddening (borderline horrifying by the end of it) story that can get really unsettling with the information you're told.
If I haven't gushed enough over the new content, that's because I haven't gotten into the music yet. Persona 3 already had a beautiful soundtrack that accentuated its most emotional points perfectly, and Portable adds just a few more to that list. Some of those few being my favorite tracks in the entire OST, Time and A Way of Life. Some of the most soothing songs to come out of the Persona series, making wandering the area nothing but a pleasant experience.
More than anything, I love the feeling of Persona 3. The cold, depressing feeling that comes with everyone's story. That dreadful feeling that overwhelms you near the end of the game. It knows how to set a tone magnificently, and it all culminates in easily one of the most emotional endings I've ever experienced in any game. By God, I'm pretty sure I got more choked up this second time around than my original FES run.
I think I'm willing to call this my favorite Persona, even despite my Persona 4 nostalgia bias. This game is devastatingly beautiful all the way through.
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anyway special fuck yous to a particular guide site by the way, for their fucked up guide on Ryoji's social link being one of the top results and freezing me up just 3 ranks in. yes, i'm still thinking about it. no, the bug that accidentally got me to rank 4 didn't help.
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I don't know where to start this review. This was a complete impulse purchase that took me 8 months to finish through sporadic, on and off sessions, only to finally power through it over the last couple weeks thanks to the release of Persona 3 Reload. Before this, my last experience with anything Persona 3 was my first ever playthrough of FES back in 2019. I definitely remember enjoying it a substantial amount, but something held it back compared to the latter two that I had played before it. Could've been the AI teammates, could've been the admittedly weaker antagonists this game presents, could've just been my lack of expectations going into it! Who knows, but I've grown to appreciate Persona 3 a lot more over time, and this recent playthrough of Portable has done nothing but enhance that appreciation.
So what does P3P do for the original game? You can choose the same old male protagonist, playing the story as though it were base P3, albeit minus the animated cutscenes and modeled dialogue portions, or you can
I found the two brand new characters to be super interesting as well. Rio a bit less so (and i mean come on girl you can do better than kenji), but Saori taking the new spot of the Hermit link is a deeply saddening (borderline horrifying by the end of it) story that can get really unsettling with the information you're told.
If I haven't gushed enough over the new content, that's because I haven't gotten into the music yet. Persona 3 already had a beautiful soundtrack that accentuated its most emotional points perfectly, and Portable adds just a few more to that list. Some of those few being my favorite tracks in the entire OST, Time and A Way of Life. Some of the most soothing songs to come out of the Persona series, making wandering the area nothing but a pleasant experience.
More than anything, I love the feeling of Persona 3. The cold, depressing feeling that comes with everyone's story. That dreadful feeling that overwhelms you near the end of the game. It knows how to set a tone magnificently, and it all culminates in easily one of the most emotional endings I've ever experienced in any game. By God, I'm pretty sure I got more choked up this second time around than my original FES run.
I think I'm willing to call this my favorite Persona, even despite my Persona 4 nostalgia bias. This game is devastatingly beautiful all the way through.
---
anyway special fuck yous to a particular guide site by the way, for their fucked up guide on Ryoji's social link being one of the top results and freezing me up just 3 ranks in. yes, i'm still thinking about it. no, the bug that accidentally got me to rank 4 didn't help.
stovetop
1 month ago