yo ya había hecho antes la ruta de makoto y comparado con la de FEMC, prefiero mil veces la de FEMC. La de makoto te deja muchas cosas sueltas sin resolver o sin explicar (como a shinji y a ken) yo creo que ya todos se dieron cuenta de que si no hubiera jugado la ruta de FEMC con shinji, seguiría pensando que shinji solo es un tsundere con actitud dura. incluso si a ken tampoco lo profundizan tanto, al menos te dan más tiempo con el para poder empatizar mejor con el.
Otra cosa es que, la ruta de FEMC la habia empezado el año pasado, y la razón por la que la deje por tanto tiempo fue porque entre medio quise volver a jugar con makoto y me dio un aburridon pero gigante que al final lo termine dejando. no quiero decir que jugar con makoto sea aburrido ni nada, en mi primera partida lo disfrute mucho, pero comparado con jugar con FEMC, prefiero mil veces estar con ella. y sinceramente creo que ese es uno de los problemas con P3, PARA MI el juego recién empieza entre cuando shinji muere y cuando matas a la sombra 12, todo lo demás lo siento muy olvidable. Aunque claro, entre medio ocurren cosas muy importantes de la trama como lo del papá de yukari, la union de fuuka y los demas, etc. No siento que me haya enganchado tantisimo como para avanzar, la mayor parte del juego es matar las 12 sombras y ya, y cuando ikutski muere y empieza todo sobre The Fall es cuando para mi "empezó lo chido".
Aunque, con FEMC siento que toda la gran mitad del juego de las 12 sombras se me hizo mas comible con ella que con Makoto, pues el conjunto que hacen entre los personajes y FEMC siento que toma mucho mas vida que con el MC, el juego que hace junto a junpei, akihiko, yukari, fuuka, shinji, etc. lo siento mas alegre y real, el como pasan entre compañeros a amigos reales (aunque con Makoto esto igual llegaba a pasar, creo que con FEMC se logra mejor).
Bueno de gameplay creo que ya lo he dicho. Mucho P4 en todos lados, el sistema de fusiones infernal (no joke, estuve 1 y media con susano-o para llegar a tener un moveset que yo quería), algunos detalles que sacaron de FES, lo de novela visual, etc.
Pero aun con todo esto, P3P sigue siendo un muy muy buen juego, es un juego que me ha gustado muchísimo y espero que gente no lo haya jugado, lo pruebe. Cuando termine SMT 3, quiero jugar P3 FES para poder comparar correctamente a los 2 juegos (hasta hare The answer). pero bueno eso fue todo, puede que entre medio haya dicho algo en que me haya equivocado o algo que es tonto, pero ahí esta.

I can't... I just can't.

Persona 3 Portable, contrary to popular opinion, remains my favorite RPG of all time.

(I haven't played FES in full yet, but I may plan to)

The game, much like all versions, tackles the Dark Hour, with you joining a secret organization to handle it. I can't go further as per spoilers, but I feel like it did its intended story and message really well, even for some disappointments. The message, especially, its something that I can't simply let go of and live without.

The gameplay's based off an upgraded version of Persona 4's, with the addition of skill cards, additional tactics options, new demons, and more. It follows a more visual novel style approach to fit in with the PSP's limited power, while having the same 3D gameplay we all know and love in stages like Tartarus and the boss levels.

There's also the carried over revamped slink system, removing harem barriers (haha!) and mechanics that tend to impede your progress in FES.

Overall, I can't say it's a perfect game, as the grinding can get tedious and the story may not be up to your tastes, most notably in execution, but personally, I think out of all the Persona games I've played, this one blows them out of the water. Emphasis on personally.

Ignore the slightly less stars than Halo 1, I think the latter is a better done game but I still can't have it replace P3/P.

P3 is probably my favorite of the series, and even if its a bit dated and half-baked compared to the later Persona games, i have great respect for how unique and challenging this game was at the time of its release. When P3 vanilla first released, i cant help but wonder how would be like to end up playing it blindfolded, because there was nothing like it back then. Portable its a great port, and its perfect to play on the go, i loved to play it on the subway at my way to work, or lectures. The lack of visual stimuly is a downside, but it sure has more content overall than its conterparts.

There is no wrong way to experience Persona 3 - my beloved, my dearest, my all-time favorite work of fiction, favorite piece of media, and most relevant to this conversation my favorite video game. However, I think you could also do a lot better than Portable.

Persona 3 Portable is, in many ways, a superior game to Persona 3 FES. The combat mechanics have been refined and modeled off the success of Persona 4's battle system. The GUI and spritework has been touched up to be more appealing to the eye and (once again) appear more consistent with Persona 4's. The introduction of the female protagonist and her route's more chipper, upbeat tone when compared to the male protagonist's is much more palatable to the average viewer – for a third time, much in line with that of Persona 4. The female protagonist even has a new soundtrack heavily influenced by J-Pop, to contrast against the male protagonist's trip-hop and electronic backdrop.

And frankly, I think all of it works against the unique cohesion and artistic perfection that Persona 3 FES manages to achieve. On individual merits alone Persona 3 is not a terribly remarkable game; there are games that came before and after it that soar far above it in sheer fun factor, quality of narrative, depth of writing, graphical achievements and style – but Persona 3 stands out from any other video game I've ever played by merit of how all of these pieces interplay to form a uniquely coherent and interlocked game experience.

The protagonist of Persona 3 is characterized as near-silent, emotionless, withdrawn and disinterested. This ties into the game's cold and oppressive atmosphere (which ties into the grungy and low-fidelity production values most evident in the GUI and graphics), but also reflects his character trait of being fascinated with music ( that the original soundtrack is designed around, with certain leitmotifs being used at specific points to establish themes and perpetuate the game's recurring imagery of cycles). This characteristic disinterest is also the basis of the game's controversial "tactics" system, which in itself ties into the social link mechanic as an extension of how the members of SEES are individuals before they're pawns in a battle field, and rounds right back around to the theme of understanding and opening up to others.

Most of these things are absent outright in Persona 3 Portable by merit of either the protagonist being changed or the mechanics and graphics being shuffled around into an end product that only vaguely resembles the original release and lacks the unique cohesion that I find to be synonymous with the experience of Persona 3. There's really too many details for me to list off individually about what's changed and why I think it lessens the experience, considering I'm rambling from memory more than anything, but you get the idea.

Additionally, while I think the female protagonist is a fine character in her own right and there's valuable insight into an alternate perspective of the game's themes in her route and character development, I don't think that it was a good idea to put her into a story so purpose-built around the male protagonist and make so little changes to accommodate her. She gets new social links, sure, and a few cutscenes change, but there are aspects of the story (symbolism, writing, character dynamics and relationships, and even the entire design and concept behind a late-game character that I won't spoil here) that Atlus simply did not pay enough attention to during development to change in a way that would be as impactful or tightly-wound as it would with the male protagonist.

Again: it's my genuine perspective that Persona 3 Portable exists first and foremost as a means to market Persona 3 in a format more easily digested by those who are used to Persona 4, which I personally believe to be a far inferior work of art and a far inferior game.

And that's fine. Persona 3 Portable is still an excellent game, and if you go into it as your first experience with Persona 3 and need to hear its message, then it's very likely that it'll touch you very deeply and profoundly just as much as if you were playing the original release. Some people prefer the stark shifts in tone of the female protagonist or find her more bubbly and extroverted personality more relatable, which is wholly understandable considering that the male protagonist has a very unusual and understated personality defined by a rough, eerie exterior. Some people might emphasize raw fun over ludonarrative or not find the grimy aesthetic of the original release as charming as so many do.

Again, all of that's fine. No matter its form, Persona 3 is my favorite-ever game and favorite-ever piece of media, and likely always will be. But in my heart, Persona 3 FES will always be the definitive experience and the most unusually remarkable piece of media that you can get your hands on in the medium of JRPGs.