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Persona 3 vs Persona 4

P4G is better overall specially in gameplay and customizing personas

leveling up parties social links to get those addition skills and gameplay advantages was so good

P3 had a better and more memorable final boss though
 
Despite P4 introducing individual character control in battle, it removed three physical damage types, limited MC to a single weapon type, made knockdowns and All-Out less strategic, and removed Fusion abilities.

Social linking with party members in P4 seemed like a plus, but it limited their behavior in the main plot. It just felt odd seeing a few of them acting a certain way in the main story events when they had already matured in the SL. P3 allowed them to get natural development along with the story.
 
budpikmin said:
A lot of votes for P3 having better characters but I personally don't agree. What is it about the P3 cast that you guys prefer?
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Better overall development, characterization is more well-rounded, they have real dynamics with each other (not just in the group or with the MC), and they're better integrated into the story/plot.

They do have a few sore spots like Ken if you haven't play P3P FeMC or and Aigis in general but it's a really great cast and they spend a lot of time developing them.
 
Mauricio_Magus said:
P3P is my favorite game of the bunch, so yeah P3>P4.

The story, characters, AIGIS, music, and FeMC are my top reasons.

P3P > Golden > P4 = FES > P3(vanilla)
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ohlawd said:
P3P > Golden > FES > OGs
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bigkrev said:
Even though vanilla and FES are unplayable, the compromises made to P3P don't hurt it enough to move P4 past it
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I'm among my people.

P3P is GOAT Persona, followed by 4G. Reasons being characters/setting etc that everyone has already mentioned.
 
P3P is the superior game due to the Female MC. Then I'd say Golden, just because of all the additions to that version which made a great game even better.

I'll rank FES third since I liked that FES scenario a lot. And lastly vanilla P3 and P4.
 
I played P4G first and played P3P. I have a tough time deciding which is better.

Their battle gameplay was basically the same as far as I'm concerned. I actually think I had a better time with social links, shops, etc (non battle gameplay basically) in P4G. So maybe the SLIGHT edge to P4G? Oh and yeah dungeons were so much better in P4. I loved the themes and I felt some parts of Tartarus in P3 took way too long.

As far as story goes I think the overall story of P3 is better. I like the darker tone and I like the villains (and the fact you know who they are are much earlier). But P4 has the better group dynamic. I never got into the P3 characters as a group. They just seemed forced together where P4 they seem like they liked each other more. Individual characters are a toss up, but P3 might have more interesting ones.

I don't think either is better as a whole as I'd take the gameplay of P4 and the story of P3.
 
If we're ranking them:

P3P > Golden > P4 = FES > P3 > P2

I like the story of P2 quite a bit but there's some gameplay stuff that I hate. If I could get over that I'd probably like it as much as P3.
 
Persona 3 overall.

The characters are a wash; while I really like Mitsuru and Akihiko, Aigis and some of the twists later on, I also loved Teddie and Rise >> Fuuka. Dungeons were equally repetitive in both.

Persona 4 did include some really good game improvements like the godly square button to travel and more things to do at night, so I'll give it props for that. The weather system was also more interesting, and I liked the weapon/armor system more from what I remember.

However, the story and setting in Persona 3 are more compelling, and I really missed the AI control party members option. It felt more immersive and I liked that unpredictability and challenge in my Persona game. The real problem is that you can get hit by a Mudo on the first turn if you mess up your first strike too easily, NOT whether you can control party members or not. It was too easy to die randomly and lose progress. Now you can say "but you have that option in Persona 4 too" but they upped the difficulty so it wasn't really possible to get through the game unless you manually controlled all party members. Believe me, I've tried.

The shuffle time in P3 was also a joy to play versus the crappy shuffle time in P4, and when this happens after every battle you'd better get this feature right. I really missed the leafs/coins, which also led to a lack of money in P4. And finally nostalgia probably played a part - I played Persona 3 first.
 
I thought it took too long for the plot to get interesting in Persona 3 and I didn't feel an attachment to most of the characters, outside of Aigis. Persona 3 also had Tartarus, which is a huge negative.

With Persona 4, I adored all of the characters outside of Yosuke and the story was compelling from the beginning, even if it didn't have the most satisfying conclusion.



I'd have to give it to Persona 4 overall but I still enjoyed my time with 3.
 
budpikmin said:
A lot of votes for P3 having better characters but I personally don't agree. What is it about the P3 cast that you guys prefer?
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P3 character progression was more realistic (and you can somewhat relate to them) Everyone was cold to each other in the beginning but as the game progressed, they all warmed up to each other.

P4 on the other hand. everyone was dickriding MC and was dependent on MC at all times. It seems like if Yu wasn't there, everyone would just fall apart
 
I love both, but P4 is better in almost every aspect, especially characters and gameplay.

And, this is of course personal opinion, but the P3 characters are the worst. Many times you feel like they actually don't stand each other, there are very few people in that game you could call "friends", and some of the characters have really awful personalities (Yukari, I hate you, go to hell please) or are just flat and boring (Ken, Akihiko...). The P4 cast on the other hand is fun, friendly, lighthearted, genuinely good people and overall made me feel more involved with their problems because I liked them.

Some people find the P3 and its characters more adult. I actually feel the other way around, I think P3 is actually the more juvenile of the two, with its emo-like pose and cheap philosophy. P4 takes itself less seriously and is all for the best.

(BTW, disclaimer: I did not play P4G, but just P4. I don't know Marie.)
 
P3 has a darker tone more consistent with the other games in the SMT series. P4 gets a little too "OMG SENSEI YOUR THE BEST" by the end. The setup for P4 is great but runs in circles for most of the game and gets resolved poorly.

Other than that, I like P4 a lot more than P3. I don't understand the preference for characters at all, they're all so boring. The most interesting one was the dog.

The dungeon design in both games may not be great, but thematically, P4 is so much more interesting, that Tartarus becomes a huge drudge.
 
I enjoyed 4 a lot more than 3. Both fantastic games, I just felt 4 just did everything better.

One of the things that really bothered me in P3 was that you had no choice of romance with the girls. In P4 you get to choose to “just be friends”. I only maxed Yukari out in P3 for this reason and missed out on several other social links I would have like to have seen because of it.

Speaking of social links, I was really bummed out that you really don’t form links with your team. Just the four girls, which in my case was just the one girl since I wanted to avoid being a scumbag player. Even the girls you can’t start social links with until you maxed your respective attributes. In P4 you just do a lot more with the group as well. Numerous holidays and trips full of funny moments and bonding. In P3 I remember one very very brief festival with the girls wearing kimonos, then a Christmas eve date which wasn’t very eventful. I loved the part where you and the boys try to hit on girls at the beach and wish there was a lot more of those scenes.

And on a completely personal level, I didn’t like how P3 ended. I felt good after I beat P4, I felt awful after I beat P3. I dislike bad-end stories that leave you feeling upset.
 
I prefer Persona 4 for just about everything. I've always loved murder mysteries so 4 edges 3 out from a story perspective for me

ioriyagami said:
I love both, but P4 is better in almost every aspect, especially characters and gameplay.

And, this is of course personal opinion, but the P3 characters are the worst. Many times you feel like they actually don't stand each other, there are very few people in that game you could call "friends", and some of the characters have really awful personalities (Yukari, I hate you, go to hell please) or are just flat and boring (Ken, Akihiko...). The P4 cast on the other hand is fun, friendly, lighthearted, genuinely good people and overall made me feel more involved with their problems because I liked them.

Some people find the P3 and its characters more adult. I actually feel the other way around, I think P3 is actually the more juvenile of the two, with its emo-like pose and cheap philosophy. P4 takes itself less seriously and is all for the best.

(BTW, disclaimer: I did not play P4G, but just P4. I don't know Marie.)
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Yeah, this is the biggest reason I prefer Persona 4's cast. They're fun and relatable so I think the story and the consequences, while smaller in scale, have more impact.
 
P4 easily for me, though I enjoyed both.

The main thing is a better cast of characters that aren't just anime-stereotypes with tragic pasts, but grounded, believable kids with problems that real people actually have. Having every single party member - and not just the girls - be a Social Link was much welcomed, too. Also, giving the protagonist a family to come home to every day after school is one of the best game design decisions P4 made. Made you feel much more connected to the world and the people.

I also preferred that it was more intimate in scope, rather than focusing as a whole on the fate of humanity and whatnot.
 
Story: Persona 3
Characters: Persona 4
Gameplay: Persona 4
Music: Persona 3

Overall, I like Persona 4 better, but, full disclosure, I haven't beaten Persona 3 before. I know, I'm awful.
 
I've beaten P3 4 times, played each playthrough for more than 120 hours + The Answer. Also, I'm playing Persona Q and decided I wanted to play as Makoto Yuki again =D. In the other hand, I played Persona 4 once... There's your answer.

Also, I like Ken. D:


Edit: Dat love for Persona 3; you're the best guys!
 
I love both, but the cast in P4 is sliiiiiiiightly better (though Junpei >>> Yosuke. Yosuke sucks). It helps that my love for Dojima is deep, unwavering and eternal.

Edit: Also, Ken sucks.
 
Just starting P3P on Vita, excited to play this game after hearing so many good things about it.

P4Golden was AWESOME. Chie <3

Pipe Dream - P3FES Remake for Vita!!
 
Dunkley said:
I liked the gameplay in Persona 3 FES more, grinding went by faster thanks to AI controls which were no problem after you start understanding what tactics make them do what you want. Persona 4 has a better story, theme and characters, though.

Pity that they dumbed down the AI so much for every following release just in favor of full party control, but I know that this is a widely welcome change so I am pretty alone here on this.
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Just saw this and totally agree. Also I miss Monad.

(although,
Margaret battle > Elizabeth battle.
The latter was just stupid.)
 
If we're comparing the original games to each other, P4. You can actively control your party and the dungeons, while still bland, at least had different themes and music.
 
Persona 3 hands down. Liked the characters more, the story had more twists and turns even if it took a while to really get started. More things felt at stake and the characters in the party had to deal with some serious shit. The undertones are really speaking to me as well.

I love Persona 4 and there are many things that P4 does better in terms of gameplay. But P3's story, settings and characters just appealed to me so much more.
 
Persona 4 was better refined and more...consistent. You can chop the game into episodic blocks and it would still work. Although they're doing that with the movies, I don't think that division would work as well with P3FES.
 
Persona 3> Persona 4 for me.

The experience of Persona 3 had a bigger impact to me than Persona 4 has ever did. The story wasn't great in Persona 4 and just felt a big Scooby Doo story that was dumb down. Furthermore, P4 has Teddy, the worst character in Persona.
 
Finale Fireworker said:
As somebody who has never played Persona and was only going to play P4G, where does P3P land in this conversation?
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Lets you play as Male or Female protag with custom content for both, only game in the series to do so. Pretty sure it's everything P3 FES has and more outside of the post-game expansion The Answer, which a lot of people don't seem to care for in the first place so it's not much of a loss. Doesn't have animated cutscenes though and you don't actually walk around the world but navigate a static map.

P3 is a very different game from P4 in terms of characters, plot and overall tone. It's dark and dramatic with serious undertones. While P4 is much more lighthearted and kind of a mix between Scooby Doo and High school drama, it too has some serious moments and tackles some real issues, but they're few and far between, and rarely reach the level that P3 has throughout the game.

Probably best to play that first because P4/G really improves upon the gameplay formula inside and outside combat. Personally I prefer P3, though I've only played P3 FES and vanilla P4, so I can't really speak to the Fem Protag run of P3P nor the wealth of new content that P4G adds.
 
DryEyeRelief said:
People at the beginning of this thread said they enjoyed p3p more, so take that for what you will.
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Enduin said:
Lets you play as Male or Female protag with custom content for both, only game in the series to do so. Pretty sure it's everything P3 FES has and more outside of the post-game expansion The Answer, which a lot of people don't seem to care for in the first place so it's not much of a loss. Doesn't have animated cutscenes though and you don't actually walk around the world but navigate a static map.

P3 is a very different game from P4 in terms of characters, plot and overall tone. It's dark and dramatic with serious undertones. While P4 is much more lighthearted and kind of a mix between Scooby Doo and High school drama, it too has some serious moments and tackles some real issues, but they're few and far between, and rarely reach the level that P3 has throughout the game.

Probably best to play that first because P4/G really improves upon the gameplay formula inside and outside combat. Personally I prefer P3, though I've only played P3 FES and vanilla P4, so I can't really speak to the Fem Protag run of P3P nor the wealth of new content that P4G adds.
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I want to play Persona 3, but my only means to do so is on the Vita. But I also want the full experience of the game.
 
Finale Fireworker said:
I want to play Persona 3, but my only means to do so is on the Vita. But I also want the full experience of the game.
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I've heard plenty of people over the years who have played FES and P3P say they prefer P3P. Don't think you'll really be missing out on much. These are pretty massive games so I doubt you'll feel like you missed out on anything by the end.
 
The only thing Persona 3 did better than 4 was persona evolution, social link structure by itself already makes p4 the better game, the fact that the P3 characters are all pretty bad doesn't help it either.
 
I don't know how you can prefer the neutered combat of P4. Lack of physical types, lack of fusion spells, lack of multiple weapon equips, lack of party splitting, etc. P4's combat and dungeon mechanics were so watered down.

It was fun in P3 to split your party up so they can find treasure and points of interest on their own while you search for things as well. In P4, they follow you mindlessly as you look down every corner and every room. Useless!
 
Finale Fireworker said:
I want to play Persona 3, but my only means to do so is on the Vita. But I also want the full experience of the game.
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People who prefer P3P over P3FES are like people who can't stand older resident evil games because of tank controls.

You haven't played P4/resident evil 4 yet, so you would probably be able to play it from a more neutral standpoint.


That said, if you can only play on portable p3p isn't a bad decision. It's just you trade party control for no cinematics.
 
Confused by people saying P4 has a better social link structure.

No link reversals (well 2 apparently, but I never saw them), being able to go out with all the women at the same time. I don't think so.

Just like physical combat types, s.links took a dumbing down in P4.
 
Persona 3 > Persona 4

Mostly because compared to the emotionally devastating ending that Persona 3 has, Persona 4's ending is kind of a wet fart.
 
519848-bigthumbnail.jpg


I have to be honest, for me P3 was better because I felt the story was darker.
 
The only thing I liked more about P3FES/P3P (which are the versions I played) was the soundtrack, everything else was better in P4G (by quite a bit actually if you ask me). I liked it's story a whole lot more, and the characters just resonated better with me. Has probably a lot to do with P4G being my first Persona game, where playing it for the first time was just a fantastic experience. It'll be hard for any other Persona to top that based on that alone.

However, they are both fantastic games and the question "Which is the best?" is mostly answered by personal preferences since they are so similar in mechanics and structure. Everyone should play/have played both anyway.
 
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