This game when it came out was earth shattering. The style of this game was incredible and it made vast improvements to the gameplay loop of Persona while still keeping the heart of 3 and 4. They found ways to even implement mechanics from 1 and 2. I think the only reason to go back to this original version is to compare, it honestly feels crazy to think how much Royal added to this game. I thought it was basically perfect upon release and I still think it's good, but I think you should just play Royal. Gotta recognize the original for getting it all started, though.