Those wondering over the last pages what game to get and all that, here's my opinion.
- Start with Persona 3 or Persona 4. They're much more welcoming for someone new to them in 2015 than Persona 1 and 2. They're also likely to be more in-line with what we can expect from Persona 5, although the trailer does seem to include elements from those past titles too.
- Now, deciding between P3 and P4 can be tough. I started with Persona 4 personally and played Persona 3 after and loved it. Both are self-contained stories but there is a short cameo in P4 that you can enjoy better if you've played P3 first, but nothing major.
- Persona 4 Golden is the most welcoming of games. Widescreen/resolution/streamlined gameplay and more. It also has some extra content and is overall the best Persona game in my opinion. If you can't play Persona 4 Golden because you don't have a Vita or PS TV, then you can get the original Persona 4 instead on PS2 or via the PSN Store on PS3.
- Once you've played Persona 4 and you know you like it and want more, then you'll be more willing to not throw your controller out the window when you get killed in Persona 3 FES and forgot to save so you lost an hour of progress. That does not happen in P4G - you restart on the last floor you were. Persona 3 is a great game but the dungeon crawling part is rougher around the edges. Some of my friends decided to play on Easy as such, others played on Normal.
- So when you want to choose between Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Portable, the main differences are that P3FES is for home consoles and you can walk around the 3D environments, has better character models, it has cutscenes, etc. On the other hand, Persona 3 Portable was a PSP port without the 3D environments. As such it has more of a visual novel presentation outside of dungeon crawling. To make up for that though, many gameplay elements were improved. There's also the choice between playing as the male protagonist or as a female protagonist.
- Also, there's no grinding involved if you just beat the enemies you come across and don't run from everything. Especially in P4 (and P3 on Easy). When you're stuck, fuse new Personas. Have some for different situations. If you're getting blasted by a boss' Fire attacks, don't keep rolling with a Persona that's weak to Fire. If you want to heal, switch to a Persona that has healing skills. The game is called Persona for a reason. It's relevant both thematically AND gameplay-wise.
It wouldn't, but I'm pretty sure the guys in the trailer are casino security. They carry themselves more like agents than mall cops.
I don't think they're casino security simply because of the helicopter that we see right before. That has to mean something. Reminded me of P4AU helicopter scenes. So possibly Public Safety agents or Kirijo Group members.