As a remake of OG P3 I think they did alright. They added some QoL stuff that did make the game a lot easier for the most part compared to the OG but I'd say it's comparable to P5R in that sense of difficulty. But even with the QoL going up Tartarus is a rough and relatively dry experience.
I did like the linked events they had for the guys, I guess it was a fair compromise. I think the stories in them overall I might say I liked better than most of the social links, but at the same time they're heavily time gated and limited. This did allow them to actually attach themselves to the story and the emotional impact of the story. However missing one hoses you over, so I can't necessarily advocate for something similar in a future Persona game but I think if they weren't linked to power (getting a fusion at the end) I might be ok with something similar in addition to social links.
Will say that the actual plot is probably the slowest of the modern games so I'm glad they've improved the pacing. The first half of the game nothing much happens or is explained, it's really the back half where things pick up. Where I think something like P5 also didn't really pick up with plot until later, it was more character centric that filled in those gaps.
Theme wise I enjoyed it, it's definitely a bit heavier. But I'm ok with that, really I'm totally fine if the Persona games want to be philosophical and social commentary. Interested what they'll do with P6 on that front.
But the TLDR, still Persona, holds up pretty well, I still think P5R is an overall better experience even if I don't think the ending hits as hard as P3R does. But it's still worth picking up if you generally enjoyed the Persona games.
I did like the linked events they had for the guys, I guess it was a fair compromise. I think the stories in them overall I might say I liked better than most of the social links, but at the same time they're heavily time gated and limited. This did allow them to actually attach themselves to the story and the emotional impact of the story. However missing one hoses you over, so I can't necessarily advocate for something similar in a future Persona game but I think if they weren't linked to power (getting a fusion at the end) I might be ok with something similar in addition to social links.
Will say that the actual plot is probably the slowest of the modern games so I'm glad they've improved the pacing. The first half of the game nothing much happens or is explained, it's really the back half where things pick up. Where I think something like P5 also didn't really pick up with plot until later, it was more character centric that filled in those gaps.
Theme wise I enjoyed it, it's definitely a bit heavier. But I'm ok with that, really I'm totally fine if the Persona games want to be philosophical and social commentary. Interested what they'll do with P6 on that front.
But the TLDR, still Persona, holds up pretty well, I still think P5R is an overall better experience even if I don't think the ending hits as hard as P3R does. But it's still worth picking up if you generally enjoyed the Persona games.