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[buddha0991]

I think the pacing kind of sucks. April sucked me into the plot and made me really wanted to advance it, but nothing really happens until the full moon most times... Basically, I had to figure out how to effectively waste time until something cool happens, and that cooled my interest in the plot somewhat, because it took too long to get to the cool things so I got de-hyped. I had no agency over how things developed.

Also I thought the social links were stupid 90% of the time, I didn't really care about any of the people I linked with. I was initially excited to link with party members, because I thought they'd talk more about how they felt about what was going on plotwise, but it was still kind of meaningless stuff that I didn't care about. Also I hated how all the girls fell in love with the protagonist. Male-female friendships exist damn it. It didn't help that I found the protagonist to be a complete douche bag at times.

Thankfully the battle system is pretty good, although it still had a few problems. My biggest beef with it is that it forces you to grind at times. Case in point, the sleeping table. I prefer being able to get by with a good strategy, even if it's by the skin of my teeth. It was generally okay besides that though. Tartarus is one of the worst dungeons I've ever visited in a game, mostly because the randomly generated floors are boring and a pain to navigate. The enemies are boring too, since they're just palate swaps of enemies you've already encountered. I wish there were more dungeons in other places, at least then they'd be distinct from each other.

Also, just to clarify, P3's my first persona/smt game.

The pacing is much more fluid and consistent in P4, but its still ruled over the calendar system from month to month, and stuff still seems to happen every month. Social Links still deal with character's issues and not what is going on in the story, that is a staple of the Social Links at this point. You can actually befriend girls in P4, a stupid and simple thing missing in P3, but they ALL still tend to fall in love with you at the end, but you have the choice to friendzone them lol. The protagonist is much more friendly and not cold and "douchey". There is not just one long dungeon in P4, its various small ones, even if the layouts are still similar, it's better than Tartarus. Enemies have more variety, but still repeat often, which sucks compared to the main SMT series or other subseries that is not Persona, which uses Demons instead of Shadows, which have much more interesting designs and variety.

 

[Immaculate]

As for the gameplay, the fatigue system suuuuucks. As soon as i got into tartarus my plan was to get the leveling for the party out of the way in one day, and use the the time till the blockade was gone to get social links going or get my charm/acedemics/confidence up.

To have them get tired then go home when I wanted to save/fuse was super lame, I wanted to grind some more and now I have to break my golden rule and level my main guy past everyone else if I want to get some extra cash and levels (something i'm not going to do)

I think Persona 4 has spoiled me and i would be enjoying 3 much more if i had played it first.

this so much

the only part of the game I hate with a passion

 

[Jay Sosa]

you all are the reason gaming sucks nowadays. Go play some Pokemon if you don't want a challenge.

 

[Zabant]

P3 is indeed a much more cold game than P4, on purpose. The writing of the S.Links is mainly due to P3 being their first attempt at it. Some slinks are better than 4 though. The whole "You cannot befriend females, only romance them" in P3/P3FES and P3P on the Male Path was always weird and kind of creepy tbh.

My social links so far are a classmate who seems like a naive idiot who is in love with his teacher and because she accepted his proposition to some after hours tutoring thinks they're gonna fuck and is way over his head. Every time I try to bring him back down to earth I get less "Social notes" than if I egg him on in his quest that's surely doomed for failure (trust me, i loaded a save to check) also, if this ends up with them hooking up then fuck me, this woman should not be a teacher and atlus do not know what real student teacher relationships are like.

Let's see what else...there's this old dude with alzheimer's who runs a book shop who seems to have lost his son? I feel for him but the entire thing is a huge downer. There's a student council which i was excited for at first as I thought the timid looking female character looked like she had, well some character. But i ended up getting stuck with this boring jackass member of the discipline committee and lost interest.

There's some kid at a shrine? didn't do much of that one

Oh and there's the club choices, I picked kendo, haven't been to a single meeting yet (lol)

So far the best social link has been with this MMO player, only because she/he perfectly encapsulates everything i hate about how people talk in free to play/japanese mmo's. Lots of >_> and Oh MY GOD AMAZEBALLS! xD type speech.

That stuff is spot on.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

There's a student council which i was excited for at first as I thought the timid looking female character looked like she had, well some character. But i ended up getting stuck with this boring jackass member of the discipline committee and lost interest.

Wait, so you didn't start the S.Link with that girl yet?

duckroll will not be pleased.

 

[Steel]

you all are the reason gaming sucks nowadays. Go play some Pokemon if you don't want a challenge.

Are you saying that people have no right to complain about P3's battle system? Because that battle system is a pain in the ass to the point I almost didn't feel like finishing the game when I had FES. Persona 3 portable is so much better in that regard, I put it on maniac difficulty on my first play-through and it was still sufficiently hard but I had choice in strategy. That is the reason you don't suggest FES first, P3P might take the cutscenes out but the story is still there and it's actually playable enough that it doesn't turn you off to progression.

 

[Immaculate]

so much hyperbole in here about p3p

this is my first persona game and I love it. Having no cutscenes hasn't ruined the game a bit and still has charm because of va and dialogue. seeing less shitty character animations the better tbh and apparently you couldn't even control your party in p3/fes.

p3p is a great place to start

 

[Zabant]

Wait, so you didn't start the S.Link with that girl yet?

duckroll will not be pleased.

Does she get involved? I assumed I fucked up as I picked the response at the start of the link that had the discipline guy "Be impressed with you and wants to work with you" comment over anything from her.

 

[Steel]

Does she get involved? I assumed I fucked up as I picked the response at the start of the link that had the discipline guy "Be impressed with you and wants to work with you" comment over anything from her.

She's a separate S link.

 

[Jay Sosa]

Well I disagree. Completely. I don't want my games dumbed down. Plus like some poster already said..wtf are you guys doing that the BS is a 'pain in the ass'?

ONE character overuses ONE spell a bit. That's it. Besides that it's perfectly fine.

(that dumbed comment is more in regards to characters getting fatigued/illness)

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Are you saying that people have no right to complain about P3's battle system? Because that battle system is a pain in the ass to the point I almost didn't feel like finishing the game when I had FES. Persona 3 portable is so much better in that regard, I put it on maniac difficulty on my first play-through and it was sufficiently hard but I had choice in strategy. That is the reason you don't suggest FES first, P3P might take the cutscenes out but the story is still there and it's actually playable enough that it doesn't turn you off to progression.

And meanwhile, others ended up never having any major issues with the battle system. Which is why I still would suggest FES over Portable.

Well I disagree. Completely. I don't want my games dumbed down. Plus like some poster already said..wtf are you guys doing that the BS is a 'pain in the ass'?

ONE character overuses ONE spell a bit. That's it. Besides that it's perfectly fine.

And she won't even do that if you set her up right. ;P

 

[7Th]

Get outta here, ya punk. Junpei is the best character in the series, and you'll see why by the end of the game.

Yes, he is the best bro

Spoiler

in P3P.

 

[RPGCrazied]

This is just my OCD, but why are the widescreen bars a different color of black in the anime scenes? Maybe its just my TV. But sometimes they almost seem like a blueish black, then other times it a dark black. Sometimes I wish it was full screen. P4 doesn't have this problem. They are always a dark black.

Oh yeah, playing these on PCSX2.

 

[Zabant]

She's a separate S link.

Right, i'll have to look for her if I go back to the game.

 

[Jay Sosa]

And she won't even do that if you set her up right. ;P

Yup

 

[buddha0991]

Yes, he is the best bro

Spoiler

in P3P.

He is also the best bro in P3FES too.

I do think its a mistake that you dont slink with male party members in P3/P3FES though.

 

[Steel]

And meanwhile, others ended up never having any major issues with the battle system. Which is why I still would suggest FES over Portable.



And she won't even do that if you set her up right. ;P

To me, P3 fes's battle system just seems like a bad idea, for 3 out of four turns it's like watching a cutscene where your characters act on whatever tactics you give them, and it's very possible they do completely the wrong thing. This makes sense in action RPG's but in turn based this is silly and not engaging.

 

[Zabant]

I'm currently playing FES by the way, is there any reason at all for me to have played persona 3 first? like, did I miss some part of the story?

I assumed it was like P4G, The original game but with some stuff added.

 

[UnluckyKate]

Replaying Persona 3 portable and persona 2 portable simultaneously at the moment. Gotta say OP, the Portable version's battle system for 3 is SOOO much better. And the extra difficulty settings keep it from getting easy. And Persona 4 golden has enough added to it to be worth a vita purchase. But, Fes has the answer so...


By the way, which last boss did you get to in FES version? The answer's boss or The Journey's boss?

Edit:



Yeah, and the other cutscenes have become 2d. Basically, Persona 3 FES has better outside of battle look(Same story without the answer), Persona 3 portable much better in battle control. And the femc is good for a replay for the plot differences.

Yup. All FMVs were stripped from the game. It also doesn't use any 3D environments for story mode. You navigate areas using a point & click interface on an isometric image of the area, and story sections are told like a visual novel.

In terms of story presentation, P3P is a complete and utter mess. Especially the ending, which is a complete travesty! It really is the "recap" version of Persona 3; I'd never recommend it as a first play of that game.

No animated cutscenes at all, also no 3d models, the game is presented entirely in text, backrounds and character portraits. The only time you see 3d models for any characters is in the dungeon.

So... is it still worth it to get it on Vita ? I'm carving for more Persona after 4 ...

 

[buddha0991]

I see the idea that Atlus was going for, they wanted you to truely role play as just this one dude, so he is all you control, the other characters are supposed to actually be characters that supposedly think and act for themselves, hence they do what they think is right, though they follow your tactics orders most of the time. I liked it, it built character, I get why people don't like it though.

 

[Steel]

So... is it still worth it to get it on Vita ? I'm carving for more Persona after 4 ...

It depends. If you like(or are at least OK with) the concept of controlling your party members entirely through tactics in Persona 4, you're better off with FES. If you find that annoying to the point you might just put down the game if you had to go through that and prefer Persona 4's battle system, go with P3P, it has the full story.

Edit:

I see the idea that Atlus was going for, they wanted you to truely role play as just this one dude, so he is all you control, the other characters are supposed to actually be characters that supposedly think and act for themselves, hence they do what they think is right, though they follow your tactics orders most of the time. I liked it, it built character, I get why people don't like it though.

Tbh I kinda get that, but in FES I ended up soloing a lot of it just because the system annoyed me.

 

[Zabant]

To me, P3 fes's battle system just seems like a bad idea, for 3 out of four turns it's like watching a cutscene where your characters act on whatever tactics you give them, and it's very possible they do completely the wrong thing. This makes sense in action RPG's but in turn based this is silly and not engaging.

I don't mind it as I trust the developers not to be dumbasses and have the characters waste sp or items on a shitty enemy who takes a 1hk. It also helps me personally by taking away my ability to micromanage every little thing as I tend to get caught up in that due to gamer OCD

Edit: I will say this though. Ok so I was in tartarus with my party at full health, an enemy had gotten an advantage due to me miss timing the weapon swing as i had swapped to a 2H, the 3 enemies proceed to all attack my main guy one after another killing him instantly and wiping around an hour of progress. That this can happen at full health is BS I still have two fucking party members alive why is it game over? make them use a revival bead...

This was in p4 also though so...yeah

 

[Jay Sosa]

I see the idea that Atlus was going for, they wanted you to truely role play as just this one dude, so he is all you control, the other characters are supposed to actually be characters that supposedly think and act for themselves, hence they do what they think is right, though they follow your tactics orders most of the time.

Exactly. Controlling the other members of your party (even though they did a good job explaining it) just feels wrong

Spoiler

and dirty

 

[vg260]

Will playing the story mode in Persona 4 Arena give you any idea what the characters/story are about if you know nothing about the series?

 

[buddha0991]

^P4A is a weird case. They took great care as to not spoil the big twists in 4, but they outright spoil almost all the big twists and events of P3.


I still maintain the ultimate choice if you go for FES over P3P is do you like story more or gameplay. If you want the most story with the best presentation, pick FES, but beware it can be a hard game. P3P is if you want gameplay to be the focus, even if it sacrifices the story presentation, but if you are looking for a challenge, you might want to just go FES.

 

[Steel]

Will playing the story mode in Persona 4 Arena give you any idea what the characters/story are about if you know nothing about the series?

Persona 4 arena is spoilerific if you haven't played 3 or 4.

Edit:

^P4A is a weird case. They took great care as to not spoil the big twists in 4, but they outright spoil almost all the big twists and events of P3.


I still maintain the ultimate choice if you go for FES over P3P is do you like story more or gameplay. If you want the most story with the best presentation, pick FES, but beware it can be a hard game. P3P is if you want gameplay to be the focus, even if it sacrifices the story presentation, but if you are looking for a challenge, you might want to just go FES.

I get what you're saying, but P3P has some higher difficulty settings that more than compensate for the control you gain.

 

[buddha0991]

Persona 4 arena is spoilerific if you haven't played 3 or 4.

Edit:

I get what you're saying, but P3P has some higher difficulty settings that more than compensate for the control you gain.

I played it on Maniac mode and it still feels easier than P3FES's hard mode. I get many people aren't like me though, since this is more for people new to the series.

 

[Steel]

I played it on Maniac mode and it still feels easier than P3FES's hard mode. I get many people aren't like me though, since this is more for people new to the series.

Well, yeah. But all my side characters were underleveled because I just went on without them most of the time in the latter parts of FES(Couldn't get away with it on bosses sadly, so I still needed to grind the side characters a bit), so I naturally assume that's why I found it hard. Also games tend to feel a lot easier on a second playthrough. I with both of these in mind, I still got wiped a fair amount in P3P maniac(Less, but as I said 2nd playthrough).

 

[Zabant]

Spoiler

The very last fight in the game isn't really a boss, it's the one you can't lose. This is the real, non-optional final boss that comes before it.

It'll take you at least 20min to beat it, and is one of the reasons people suggest P3P over FES. There's no other point in the game you'll wish harder you could control your teammates than 15min into that fight when the boss mind controls you, uses you to cure itself to full and then to kill your teammates afterwards, that never cured you because attacking the boss was deemed more important.

Wait i missed this post.

So the same shit they pulled with namatame but now you have no control of your party?
MAAAAN i'm not looking forward to that

 

[Flipyap]

But FeMC's story and social links are objectively superior to main character's. Shinjiro and Akihito are both completely one-dimensional in the standard game.

VETO! Male protagonist's Hermit Arcana Social Link is the single best thing in the game/franchise.

 

[Steel]

Wait i missed this post.

So the same shit they pulled with namatame but now you have no control of your party?
MAAAAN i'm not looking forward to that

It is that very fight that makes me look back on FES's battle system as absolute trash(Still played the answer afterwards though...). Of course, that might also be a product of how I progressed through the game.

 

[Zabant]

It is that very fight that makes me look back on FES's battle system as absolute trash(Still played the answer afterwards though...). Of course, that might also be a product of how I progressed through the game.

Surely the internet must have come up with a gamey bullshit way of getting past this fight by now right? I really hate battles where you have little to no influence over how it plays out.

 

[Steel]

Surely the internet must have come up with a gamey bullshit way of getting past this fight by now right? I really hate battles where you have little to no influence over how it plays out.

You have influence over how most of it plays out, then near the end things go to shit. There is a gamey bullshit way though.

 

[vg260]

Persona 4 arena is spoilerific if you haven't played 3 or 4

That's ok for me. I kinda wanna know more about it, but probably would never pick up 3 or 4.

 

[BizzyBum]

My first Persona game was P4G and loved it. Clocked in 120 hours. Went and downloaded P3F on the PSN and currently playing through that. I'm only in June, but so far it's nowhere near the greatness of P4G, which is expected since P4G is the super refined version of an already amazing game.

The characters don't really seem like friends, they're just there to do a job because they so happen to have the ability to fight the shadows so they stick them in the same dorm. Social Links are much better in P4. Tartarus is basically the same dungeon system as P4 but at least P4 varied it up more often. The fatigue system is AWFUL. I'm sooo glad they removed that for P4.

Of course now playing P3 after P4 I missed a lot of the cameos and easter eggs found in there (club, school trip, etc.) My goal is to beat P3F, then move onto P4A, and await for P4A2 and P5.

 

[SpaceBridge]

I'd love to replay P4G. What the best way to maximize the enjoyment and "freshness" of a second play through?

 

[BizzyBum]

I'd love to replay P4G. What the best way to maximize the enjoyment and "freshness" of a second play through?

It depends on how thorough your first playthrough was.

The simple answer would be to do things like choose a different love interest, different club, max out social links you missed the first time, etc.

 

[kai3345]

I just finished P3:FES's journey part the other day. It had its moments, and started off promising, but overall I didn't like it. Haven't played the answer or P4 yet, but I want to get through DQ8 first, so yeah.

Don't let P3's quality deter you from P4. P4 makes huge improvements in everything from gameplay to story.

 

[Uthred]

P3P adds:
-Superior story mode
-Social links for underdeveloped characters
-Full party control
-Fast travel

P3P removes:
-Cutscenes

It's not a particularly hard choice.

If you cant make your point without wildly mis-representing the facts why bother?

 

[Steel]

I'd love to replay P4G. What the best way to maximize the enjoyment and "freshness" of a second play through?

The most important question is what ending you got.

Spoiler

Ameno-sagiri is not the last boss.

You might also want to

Spoiler

Max out Adachi's social link. And if you didn't max out Marie's social link, do that.

Edit:

Don't let P3's quality deter you from P4. P4 makes huge improvements in everything from gameplay to story.

Gameplay is absolutely true, story is a matter of taste, but if you didn't like P3's story so much then P4's story is different enough that it might be to your taste.

 

[P90]

With P4G it's a superior game with 0 downgrades AND more content.

Chie's new voice actor was a major downgrade.

 

[Moonlight]

It really is the "recap" version of Persona 3; I'd never recommend it as a first play of that game.

It was the first time and way I played P3 and honestly I never felt like I missed much, even trekking back to FES. I'll concede that presentation is much better in FES, but P3P still really sucked me in.

 

[Steel]

Chie's new voice actor was a major downgrade.

So true. But I don't think you'd have as much of an issue if you didn't hear the original.

 

[P90]

So true. But I don't think you'd have as much of an issue if you didn't hear the original.

Yeah. I see your point.

P4G has tons of added awesomeness. That more than makes up for messing up my Number 2 girl.

 

[Jay Sosa]

Don't let P3's quality deter you from P4. P4 makes huge improvements in everything from gameplay to story.

> : (

 

[CrackPebbles]

Two of my favorite games, I beat FES and P4 quite a while back and now im slowly going through golden and portable.

 

[Immaculate]

There's a student council which i was excited for at first as I thought the timid looking female character looked like she had, well some character. But i ended up getting stuck with this boring jackass member of the discipline committee and lost interest.

Chihiro I'm guessing? Talk to her when she's next to the student council door and tell her you want to go out somewhere with her

 

[Finalow]

OT a bit but you call yourself RPGCrazied and never played the best 2 JRPGS I'm existence?

-

they're ok as jrpgs. not the best Persona games by far but if you like the series just play (and finish) them.

 

[Immaculate]

oh my good fuukas via is terrible