This counts as a REPLAY because I've played through P3P before. I definitely think that pre-remake, this was a viable option for people to get the jist of the Persona series, as most folks typically start by playing 3 and not 1 or 2 because that is where the series became a little less arcane. When you've played the original P3, however, you'll understand that the game was made "portable" by junking the cutscenes, the ability to walk around the environments yourself being traded for a more point-and-click navigation, and the game having less polished animation than that of the original. So some important things are being lost in translation. P3P is more of a visual novel than anything, but it made the game more accessible for other players at its time which is why I stand by the rating.

P3P added things such as a female version of the main protagonist which included some differences in Social Links between the male and female protagonist, as well as Persona's ability to give you skill cards after a certain point. P3P also omits The Answer which was available in FES following The Journey, but I feel as if enough people have covered this controversy to the point where I don't find it worth my time to give a take on that.

With talk of Reload being on the rise, there are differences between FES, P3P and now Reload. If you want to kind of speedrun the original source material for the remake, then I'd suggest playing through P3P before touching Reload, my review on that is a whole different ballgame.