Ayo! Since Persona 3 is trending, I wanna make a thread as to why it’s probably the best modern Persona game! (story wise and character wise at least)

My story with P3 is an interesting one to say the least, after I had wrapped up playing P5 for the first time, I wanted to play P3 and P4 on PS2 since I wanted to see how the series had evolved, eventually I found a PS2 and a copy of P4 and base P3 for a really good price on eBay

P3 was actually not just my follow up to P5, it was my second MegaTen game ever and the one that convinced me to want to check out the rest of the series, since I had heard stuff like Nocturne had the amazing dark atmosphere P3 has, but on a different level

So yeah, P3 is the game that pushed me from just a P5 fan, or just a Persona fan in general, to want to become a MegaTen player, as not long after I started my playthrough of P3, I managed to snatch a copy of Strange Journey Redux, Nocturne, the DDS Duology and the ROM for SMT 1

1. So what is it that P3 does better than 4 and 5?

Well, it’s simple really; first off: No Party Member S. Links (with the exception of Yukari, Mitsuru and Fuuka, but even then, they still have very substantial character development outside of them)

As you can guess, the fact most party members don’t have a Social Link allows for much better and more coherent character development, sure, it’s nowhere near what characters go through in the P2 Duology and some characters (like Ken) do feel a bit rushed, but

It’s still a lot more substantial than what party members go through in P5 and ESPECIALLY P4, and that’s the main reason why all of P3's party members are so well loved and remembered I feel, they are just all around the best developed and explored characters in the Hashino games

Even characters like Shinji. Let’s talk about Shinji for a bit, his death is probably one of the most well-known things about P3, and it’s honestly one of my favorite scenes because it helps raise the stakes, while giving Akihiko and Ken some closure to their arcs

It also helps to keep driving home the whole theme of death that P3 has, he was killed prematurely with lots of regrets about his life and what he had done during it, but in the end tried to do things right by who he had wronged and died nobly, and honestly, that makes him great

Characters just feel a lot more human and flawed than what they are in P4 and P5 (again, not to the level of P1 and even less to the level of P2, but it’s still substantial) and this gives the theme of death a lot more weight to it, because we feel for these characters a lot more

3. Afraid of death?

Death is basically the main theme that P3's story pushes, and this is easily what gives it its edge, since death is a universal concept to all of us, the fear of it and the complete manifestation of it is what makes P3's story so great imo, it laches to

A basic sentimental and emotional fear that we all have and runs with it through characters like the aforementioned Shinji, and others like Chidori, Takaya, Ryoji and most of the S. Links, such as Akinari. It just helps raise the stakes a lot more, it really is a perfect combo

It’s why the ending to P3 feels just so sad but also hopeful, because despite the fact that Makoto is a silent protag who doesn’t really care about dying, we know the people around him who grew as characters alongside are, and that’s what gives it that feeling

4. Socially competent?

A lot of people say that since P3 was the start for the modern Persona formula, a lot of things about it feel undercooked, such as the S. Links, which I’ve seen a lot of people cite as "boring and unmemorable", which leads me to believe these people didn’t

Pay attention to them, P3 for me, has to have the best S. Links out of any of the Hashino games, characters such as Akinari, The Old Couple, Maiko, Mutatsu, they all are very memorable to me because they all tackle the theme of death from both literal and figurative angles

While being their own set of easily digestible characters with understandable arcs and personalities

5. This is great and all but... this is a video game, not a book, how bout dat gameplay?

I will admit, the reason why I specifically say P3 is the best modern game as "at least in terms of characters and story" is cause the gameplay can be very repetitive at times

While P5 and even P4 have a certain flow to their combat, P3 does feel like the most "rinse and repeat" out of them all, cause it doesn’t have all the extra layers that P4 and especially P5 have, and as a result of this, P3's combat can get underwhelming and stale really fast

With that being said tho, P3 still excels at combat by having a really solid core to it, sure it’s still just the core, but it’s marvelously designed, it’s still satisfying to hit enemy weaknesses, since the 1 More System is derived from the Press-Turn System and retains that

Really fun and phenomenal feeling of hitting weaknesses and getting extra turns, it’s still magnificent at giving you that feeling of achieving even the smallest of victories during a battle, even with the weakest and lowest level enemies, and even more with the strongest ones

Now of course, there is a big elephant in the room that I have to address, that being Tartarus. Now look, all I will say is that yes, it is very repetitive and very, VERY dull, especially towards the end, but at least it’s not composed of 99% corridors like dungeons in P4

6. Lemme listen to some tunes

The OST is simply fantastic, one of my absolute all-time favorite video game OSTs ever, songs like Mass Destruction, Battle for Everyone's Souls, When the Moon Reaches the Stars and so many more amazing songs are played throughout the game

It’s just amazing, Kimi No Kioku is still a song that makes me break into tears every time I listen to it because it’s just so beautiful and amazing, P3's OST is simply marvelous on every level imo

7. So what is your final verdict?

P3 is by far the modern Persona game that has the best characters and story, the most memorable scenes, the best OST, and just all around an awesome and good time, and I will forever hold it up as one of my all-time favorite MegaTen games