Since I played the original last year, I will only discuss how I see this game as a remake. For my opinion on the original, check my review on it. As a whole, since it's a pretty faithful remake, I'd say is as good if not better than the original. It's by far the most heartfelt modern Persona game, and its gameplay is made much more accessible than that of the original. It's just really good.
I said it's a very faithful remake, so it picks up both the best and the worst of the original P3. I'll start with the biggest negative.
Tartarus sucks. That's the main thing to take out of this review. It sucked in the original, and it sucks now. P4's dungeons aren't good either, so it's actually P5 which differentiates itself in this aspect in the trilogy. The devs took a look at how much would it cost them to actually update Tartarus compared to the backlash it would get from P3's purists, only to still be labeled as "worse than P5 palaces" by new players. They took the safe option of polishing it up a bit and let it be as is. I think that was the right option, but that leaves it a big stain on how great this game is. I could only get through the original's Tartarus by watching videos on Youtube in the background, a thing that wasn't needed this time around. That's an improvement I guess, but still...it's a chore.
Many of the gameplay systems, from theurgies, improved social activities, etc, are a bit inferior to P5's, but they're still very much appreciated and I'd say they improve the game a lot. I think having the option to switch in party members from the back like in P5 would be nice to actually use and level all of them but I guess it would shake the balancing quite a bit, it just makes me a bit sad. Difficulty wise, I upped my difficulty to Hard since I saw a lot of people saying that it was quite easy and I had experience with the original. Suprisingly, it ended up still being easier than the original. I prefer that over it being hard as balls or outright infuriating like the original was sometimes, but I think it could be a little bit better balanced to make it more of a challenge. If new players want to play P5R baby mode again, they can go back to it, the franchise's difficulty doesn't have to be that.
Graphically it looks great honestly, but I understand very well when people say it "lost personality" or that it was "Persona 5-ied". Some of the portraits are definitely missing something, and the anime cutscenes are pretty ass. The original's were ass too, but there was something about their direction that really fit the mood of the game, the new ones don't make me feel anything. The CGI cutscenes are pretty well made however, despite there not being many.
The new OST is a big mixed bag. Most of the new remixes are outright worse than the originals, while most of the new songs are absolute bangers. I think the latter were made with the new singers' voice in mind, while the originals don't fit her that much/she had a lack of direction during those. I eventually got used to the new versions and love the new songs so I'd say it's still great.
I won't say much about the remake content wise. It's FES without the Answer. Having it as DLC is a scummy move, but I'd say that selling the same game but with updates (FES+Portable, Golden, Royal) has always been scummy, especially in 3 and 5's case, in which the updated version releases in the same console as the original. Losing P3P's female route is a shame, but I think it would be impossible to have in this remake without putting in an insane amount of work into it. I just hope there's a female protag in Persona 6, especially since the female fanbase of SMT is so big.
So, after that much complaining, I'd say that, huh...
I really love this game. Do yourself a favor and go play it.
I said it's a very faithful remake, so it picks up both the best and the worst of the original P3. I'll start with the biggest negative.
Tartarus sucks. That's the main thing to take out of this review. It sucked in the original, and it sucks now. P4's dungeons aren't good either, so it's actually P5 which differentiates itself in this aspect in the trilogy. The devs took a look at how much would it cost them to actually update Tartarus compared to the backlash it would get from P3's purists, only to still be labeled as "worse than P5 palaces" by new players. They took the safe option of polishing it up a bit and let it be as is. I think that was the right option, but that leaves it a big stain on how great this game is. I could only get through the original's Tartarus by watching videos on Youtube in the background, a thing that wasn't needed this time around. That's an improvement I guess, but still...it's a chore.
Many of the gameplay systems, from theurgies, improved social activities, etc, are a bit inferior to P5's, but they're still very much appreciated and I'd say they improve the game a lot. I think having the option to switch in party members from the back like in P5 would be nice to actually use and level all of them but I guess it would shake the balancing quite a bit, it just makes me a bit sad. Difficulty wise, I upped my difficulty to Hard since I saw a lot of people saying that it was quite easy and I had experience with the original. Suprisingly, it ended up still being easier than the original. I prefer that over it being hard as balls or outright infuriating like the original was sometimes, but I think it could be a little bit better balanced to make it more of a challenge. If new players want to play P5R baby mode again, they can go back to it, the franchise's difficulty doesn't have to be that.
Graphically it looks great honestly, but I understand very well when people say it "lost personality" or that it was "Persona 5-ied". Some of the portraits are definitely missing something, and the anime cutscenes are pretty ass. The original's were ass too, but there was something about their direction that really fit the mood of the game, the new ones don't make me feel anything. The CGI cutscenes are pretty well made however, despite there not being many.
The new OST is a big mixed bag. Most of the new remixes are outright worse than the originals, while most of the new songs are absolute bangers. I think the latter were made with the new singers' voice in mind, while the originals don't fit her that much/she had a lack of direction during those. I eventually got used to the new versions and love the new songs so I'd say it's still great.
I won't say much about the remake content wise. It's FES without the Answer. Having it as DLC is a scummy move, but I'd say that selling the same game but with updates (FES+Portable, Golden, Royal) has always been scummy, especially in 3 and 5's case, in which the updated version releases in the same console as the original. Losing P3P's female route is a shame, but I think it would be impossible to have in this remake without putting in an insane amount of work into it. I just hope there's a female protag in Persona 6, especially since the female fanbase of SMT is so big.
So, after that much complaining, I'd say that, huh...
I really love this game. Do yourself a favor and go play it.