Did the Love Hotel full moon thing (Yukari and Mitsuru had SEX), that was pretty fun. The boss was pretty simple, but nice and fun!!!! (Think I'm gonna mainly focus on P3P-exclusive shit in these journal entries, since I'd rather cover stuff I've already seen in FES in its own review for the game, whenever I get to that!)

JUNPEI SOCIAL LINK MADE ME CUM. I LOVE JUNPEI. I absolutely adore just how well this link compliments his character arc in the main story. It reminds me of Aigis's in how, if I didn't already know it wasn't originally in the game, I would assume they were just normally in the base game.
I love how it deals with the idea of complacency in your relationships. It's a concept I don't see many games like this tackle, but it means a lot to me. Namely in how so many people these days (myself included at times) are so afraid of encountering conflict, that they adopt a "go with the flow" mindset to the extreme, which ultimately can end up damaging both the individual and their relationships with other people. It was really emotionally fulfilling to see Junpei admit that he's been afraid of saying how he feels, that he realizes that this isn't how he should conduct himself, and that he wants to be someone his friends can trust to be honest and reliable. ALL BECAUSE MINAKO IS A GOAT. I already loved Junpei's character before, but this is just the cherry on top for me that solidifies him as an all-time favorite for this franchise.

Saori's Social Link continues to be delightful. I want nothing bad to ever, EVER happen to her, but I also worry about her mentality a lot. It seems like her being older than most people has significantly stunted her ability to form meaningful relationships with her peers. She unfortunately seems to have become a doormat that's afraid of speaking her mind, because she just wants people to like her, and as such just kinda lets people walk all over her. In doing this, it seems like she's only causing more problems for herself. I feel like this SL is gonna make me really, really sad :(

Finished Rio's social link. Despite the fact that she is somehow attracted to a limp lamppost, it was quite good!! It touched up on some things that honestly hit kinda close to home for me. I do unironically think Kenji's involvement does make part of this SL a bit harder to take seriously, but it is what it is. A good SL overall.

Started Mutatsu's Social Link. He's funny!! (didn't do his in FES)

Also started Akihiko's Social Link as well. Makes me smile and makes me happy :)

Played for way longer than I thought I would, but I was smiling throughout!! I LOVE PERSONA 3 PORTABLE!!

"The only time a lawyer can cry is when it's all over"

And cry I did.

Another extreeeeeeeeeeeeeemely fun session. Saved Fuuka on Fuuka Friday, what more could I want really? I distinctly remember this month being the one where my investment in the original game heightened and never faded until the end credits, and that fact remained true in this playthrough.

Got a shitload of progress on Rio, Junpei, and Saori's social links. With Rio being surprisingly great despite her eyes being graphed onto her head from the body of a hammerhead shark. Ignoring the fact that fucking KENJI somehow stole her heart, it's been really satisfying to watch her accept how the love she feels and grow as a person from it, both individually and through her relationships with FEMC and the rest of the Tennis Club.

Junpei and Saori my beloveds lol, I love P3P's new SLs beyond words 👍

AND I LOVE PERSONA 3 PORTABLEEEEEEEEEE

Finished the last investigation and stopped right at the beginning of the last trial.

All I'm gonna say is...
This gon be the first court case to have 14 TRILLION spectators.

Finished the first trial day and got partway through the next investigation

GODDDDDDDDDDDD THIS CASE IS SO FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.
The latter half of the trial was basically more of the same (not a complaint). Giving me more intrigue, setting up for further investigation, the usual stuff. (Still wanna avoid talking about a certain character because of spoilers, so I'll just call her a certain character) Once the next investigation started rolling, I was creaming again. Investigating with that certain person is so fucking fun, her dialogue is great and she adds a dynamic to the investigations that hasn't been done yet, which helps keep things fresh. Really happy they brought her back for this one. AND THEN OH MY GOD THAT CONVERSATION WITH GODOT??????????????????? I sense some insane setup being done here and I could not be more interested, dude might become my favorite character in the series, I love him.

VERY excited to get back to it tomorrow.

STARTED 3-5

PEAK FUCKING FICTIONNNNNNNNNNNNNN OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.

The setup to this case has been nothing short of incredible, thus far. I don't wanna get too deep into spoilers here, but there was a surprise inclusion of a character that I didn't think I'd ever see again that made me actually lose my shit as I played, I was floored. The mystery's started out extremely strong, being complex, interesting, but easy to follow, it's so fucking good.

Also really like the direction they're taking the major characters involved in this here, I got genuinely emotional more times than I ever would've expected for the beginning of the case to have me. Iris my beloved, I'm excited to see how her character turns out.

I just had the biggest fucking smile on my face throughout this whole session. Couldn't stop thinking "this is peak ace attorney" in my head. And I'm not even halfway done yet, that's just mind-blowing. If this case continues with this insane level of quality, it will no doubt become my favorite case in the series so far and cement Trials and Tribulations, in my eyes, as the masterpiece that it's said to be.

Good ass shit.

Made it decently far into the second month today, but not as much as yesterday.
Still had a really fun, good ass time doe and this game continues to be a beloved for me.

Made some more SL progress, namely with Rio, Saori, and Junpei, all of which have been thoroughly enjoyable so far in varying extents. The setup laid for Saori's storyline is pretty interesting and compelling so far, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

As for the gameplay side of things, it was going good until I hit a major roadblock with the second boss on the way to the last floor of the second block. Shit just would not let me breathe, so Imma probably have to unfortunately resort to unsavory methods to get past it in order to keep this playthrough running smoothly. I'd rather not, but it'd just be more convenient and I generally have an idea of how I feel about this boss as it is. Not really a complaint, but shit happens lolz.

Fun session though, excited for more.

Started this today and hoo boy am I falling back in love with this stupid game bruh.

Played for way longer than I expected to today, but I had a blast from start to finish.
I think playing this in VC with my good buddies is definitely gonna help elevate this experience, making it feel fresh while also providing a nice feeling of familiarity as streaming the game on twitch put me in a similar spot.
I love FEMC and what she brings to the table for this game already so much. I would always joke about it being an arbitrary change that probably wouldn't do much to influence the overall experience, but I already feel like any serious notion of that was put to rest today (might end up liking her more than the male protag lol). The new dialogue (both player and with other characters) is so different and fun that it almost feels like I'm playing through the original game for the first time again, just through a different lens and I really appreciate that.
JUNPEI SOCIAL LINK MY BELOVEDDDD. That shit makes me smile so much and I'm only just starting it.
Gameplay+QoL changes are welcome too, and I definitely find this to be more approachable than FES's gameplay and it's been pretty neat so far. Got into a real bind against an early boss, but in spite of my frustration, I was still having a blast with it.
Presentation is definitely an issue, but it's something that I'll just have to accept here and now because the story, characters, and setup that I always loved are still here, so it is what it is.

This is looking to be a really fun time. I'm very excited!!
----------------------------------------------------
Finished the first Full Moon boss.
My luck with these bosses has been so hit or miss bruh. I either get 50 crits back to back with Junpei and the boss never hits me or all my attacks miss and the boss hits my weaknesses every time making me restart over and over again. It was funny doe so I'm not complaining.

Also started Saori's social link, which my good buddy Hison says is very very good, so that's exciting.

Finished 3-4

The only time a lawyer can cry is when it's all over...

Finished the third case

Another hit for this game (it's 3 for 3 now lmao). I now appreciate the beginning a bit more, despite initially not feeling it too hard due to, as without its setup, the second day wouldn't have worked as well for me. And the second day was a fucking blast from start to finish. I really enjoyed how this case ended up. Next case looks gas too, so I'm smiling.

Started 3-4 and hoo boy what a fucking treat.

Another flashback trial with Mia as the protagonist and, having gotten through the first half, it has not disappointed in the slightest. Mia getting more characterization is always welcome and I love her in this role. Dahlia returning once again has me incredibly interested to see how this affects the overarching story in the longrun, I am SOOOOOOOOOOO excited. AND GODOTTTTTTTTTTTTTT AS A MENTOR FIGURE FOR MIA???????????

Absolute flames. This game is awesome.

Continuing with 3-3 after a short break

kino

Halfway through the third case and I'm not gonna lie, it's struggling to keep my interest a bit. Like, it's not an offensive first half like Big Top, but it just hasn't been anything too remarkable. Maggey is cute doe and I hope the second half can grab me again because I really don't think this game deserves a miss!!!!!

Finished Case 2

This game is 2/2 atm, I can see this easily eclipsing the first game and becoming a favorite if it keeps going at this rate.

Finished Case 1

Well god damn if that wasn't easily the best first case in the series then I don't know what is. Usually, first cases in these games are just kinda goofy, fun introductions to Phoenix as a character and the mechanics, but this time around they came out swinging.

It was really cool to play as Mia and see her at work, and it seems like this case will have some impact on the story as a whole which isn't something I can say about the other case 1s.
Also I'm fucking with the soundtrack a lot more right out the gate.

Really good start.

Finished 2-4

What a ride, man...

Finished 2-3

Boy oh boy, what a doozy this case was, dawg. Containing some of the most absolutely abysmal lows and genuinely fantastic highs, it was a ride to say the least. The first half contained some of the most boring, corny, and genuinely uncomfortable material in the trilogy up until this point (WHY DID EVERYONE BECOME A CHILD PREDATOR OUT OF NOWHERE). But then it completely switches up around the halfway point for some reason???? The pacing gets a lot better and the mystery itself actually started to grab my attention more. Not to mention that it also contains one of the best killers the series has seen so far by my estimate, who has a genuinely heartbreaking emotional climax at the end of the case.

My feelings on this case are very mixed. It's an extremely messy case and while it's far from my favorite case in the series because of the aforementioned lows, I can't say it's without merit either.

Fuck the ventriloquist guy though, what and absolute weirdo.

Finished 2-2. Actually really impressed with this second case. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Wish I got around to it sooner

Finished 2-1. It was funny. I still wish lawyers were real.