In a way, I cursed myself by playing this after Persona 4 and 5. For my money, both of its eventual follow-ups are among the best RPGs ever made, and Persona 3 is the sole progenitor of their success. It introduced S-links, 3D dungeon exploration, the in-game time cycle; basically, everything that makes Persona a certified bad-boy banger franchise. The only problem is that means Persona 3 is the guinea pig run for some very big ideas, and boy does it have its fair share of teething pains as a result.
Don't get me wrong, I still absolutely adore this. It's Persona. It's still this bizarre, Frankenstein's-monster-esque mash-up of a high-school dating sim and a tactical turn-based RPG that, against all odds, blends into a symphony of role-playing goodness. It's still filled with these hammy soap opera stories that unfurl into surprisingly investing character arcs and mundane high school responsibilities that quickly begin to stress you out more than fighting that little bastard folding table thing that nerfs your whole team every two seconds. I think if I dropped into this before 4 and 5, I'd probably have fallen head over heels for it too.
But parts of it drag so much more than its successors. For one, it's about 35 hours of game stretched into a 70-hour experience. There's so much faffing. So many nights where you've exhausted every activity possible and maxed all your skills, meaning you just repeatedly go to bed at 6 pm like a 70-year-old man to quickly whittle away the days. So many extended sections where you've just got to endlessly grind to defeat the off-puttingly tanky boss guarding the next floor of Tartarus. So many minutes wasted individually selling all my old gear to a vendor instead of being able to multi-select items or switching all my allies' gear loadouts piece by piece because I can't just do it in a menu.
It's just Persona without the quality of life changes. And don't get me started on the fact you can't control party members. This wouldn't be a problem if the AI were easy to direct or made smart decisions but no. These little bastards deadass hate you and have secretly conspired to throw every fight they're in. They make the most unhinged moves conceivably possible, to the point where they have to be trolling you. Spend 40 SP on a windbreak to null the resistance of a fucking beetle that Akihiko can one-shot if you wait ONE extra turn? Yukari thinks that's a solid shout. Oh, Akihiko's melee attack can down all three opponents here, opening them up for a brutal group attack which will one-shot them all. Unfortunately, he thinks it's wiser to use medicine powder on himself despite having 85% health. Should Mitsuru use charm on this big rock man that we've fought about seven times and, through the agonising process of watching her use this same move EVERY time we've faced him, are aware is immune to charm? Don't worry, she'll do it anyway... on every turn she can... like literally every single one...
Honestly, I'm being hard on it. Persona 3 is a phenomenal game through and through, especially when you consider how it laid the groundwork for two of the greatest RPGs ever made. The world is charming, the moment-to-moment gameplay is great fun and the music slaps. Just know that its a much more tedious experience to sit through compared to P4 and P5.
Side note: this one also holds a special place in my heart just due to how hilariously edgy it is. You can tell this shit came out during the "go gritty or go home" years of the mid-noughties because P4 and P5 are so bright and colourful in comparison. They're all jazzy and zany, and there's a giant teddy bear man and a cute little cat with a fencing sword. Meanwhile, Persona 3 is like: AT 12 O'CLOCK, THE SKY GOES SLUDGE GREEN, BLOOD FILLS THE STREETS AND EVERYONE GETS TURNED INTO COFFINS. THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO CAN SAVE THE WORLD ARE A GROUP OF ANGRY TEENAGERS WHO HAVE TO LITERALLY SHOOT THEMSELVES IN THE HEADS WITH GUNS TO PROVE THEIR WORTH AND UNLOCK THEIR POWERS. ALSO, THE MAIN CHARACTER CAN ROMANCE AN 11-YEAR-OLD CHILD, BUT WE'RE JUST GOING TO GLOSS OVER THAT AND PRETEND IT'S NOT REALLY, REALLY WEIRD...
Don't get me wrong, I still absolutely adore this. It's Persona. It's still this bizarre, Frankenstein's-monster-esque mash-up of a high-school dating sim and a tactical turn-based RPG that, against all odds, blends into a symphony of role-playing goodness. It's still filled with these hammy soap opera stories that unfurl into surprisingly investing character arcs and mundane high school responsibilities that quickly begin to stress you out more than fighting that little bastard folding table thing that nerfs your whole team every two seconds. I think if I dropped into this before 4 and 5, I'd probably have fallen head over heels for it too.
But parts of it drag so much more than its successors. For one, it's about 35 hours of game stretched into a 70-hour experience. There's so much faffing. So many nights where you've exhausted every activity possible and maxed all your skills, meaning you just repeatedly go to bed at 6 pm like a 70-year-old man to quickly whittle away the days. So many extended sections where you've just got to endlessly grind to defeat the off-puttingly tanky boss guarding the next floor of Tartarus. So many minutes wasted individually selling all my old gear to a vendor instead of being able to multi-select items or switching all my allies' gear loadouts piece by piece because I can't just do it in a menu.
It's just Persona without the quality of life changes. And don't get me started on the fact you can't control party members. This wouldn't be a problem if the AI were easy to direct or made smart decisions but no. These little bastards deadass hate you and have secretly conspired to throw every fight they're in. They make the most unhinged moves conceivably possible, to the point where they have to be trolling you. Spend 40 SP on a windbreak to null the resistance of a fucking beetle that Akihiko can one-shot if you wait ONE extra turn? Yukari thinks that's a solid shout. Oh, Akihiko's melee attack can down all three opponents here, opening them up for a brutal group attack which will one-shot them all. Unfortunately, he thinks it's wiser to use medicine powder on himself despite having 85% health. Should Mitsuru use charm on this big rock man that we've fought about seven times and, through the agonising process of watching her use this same move EVERY time we've faced him, are aware is immune to charm? Don't worry, she'll do it anyway... on every turn she can... like literally every single one...
Honestly, I'm being hard on it. Persona 3 is a phenomenal game through and through, especially when you consider how it laid the groundwork for two of the greatest RPGs ever made. The world is charming, the moment-to-moment gameplay is great fun and the music slaps. Just know that its a much more tedious experience to sit through compared to P4 and P5.
Side note: this one also holds a special place in my heart just due to how hilariously edgy it is. You can tell this shit came out during the "go gritty or go home" years of the mid-noughties because P4 and P5 are so bright and colourful in comparison. They're all jazzy and zany, and there's a giant teddy bear man and a cute little cat with a fencing sword. Meanwhile, Persona 3 is like: AT 12 O'CLOCK, THE SKY GOES SLUDGE GREEN, BLOOD FILLS THE STREETS AND EVERYONE GETS TURNED INTO COFFINS. THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO CAN SAVE THE WORLD ARE A GROUP OF ANGRY TEENAGERS WHO HAVE TO LITERALLY SHOOT THEMSELVES IN THE HEADS WITH GUNS TO PROVE THEIR WORTH AND UNLOCK THEIR POWERS. ALSO, THE MAIN CHARACTER CAN ROMANCE AN 11-YEAR-OLD CHILD, BUT WE'RE JUST GOING TO GLOSS OVER THAT AND PRETEND IT'S NOT REALLY, REALLY WEIRD...