I first played P3-5 in 2019, and since then I played 4 and 5 a few more times, but never 3 which I always had ranked below them. After finally securing a European copy of FES (very expensive) I decided to finally revisit it that way on my CRT. Man... I GET Persona 3 now. I finally understand why people love it so much. After playing other SMT games and growing accustomed to the difficulty and quirks, it was now a walk in the park and a lot of the criticisms I had don't matter to me anymore. I enjoy grinding Tartarus, the boss fights, really enjoy the higher difficulty than 4 and 5, and I even grew to like the weird stuff - ordering AIs with tactics, tiredness, reverse social links. I guess it made it feel more realistic and made me approach it differently to other RPGs. I tore through the story and didn't find any of the pacing issues I remembered and wow, this is a super consistent story with probably my favorite finale in the series. I don't love all of the cast but they are generally well written. It's undoubtedly the most flawed of the modern Personas and it's not gonna be for everyone, but I love it now. I've been thinking about it so much. 9/10 for the experience

A dark mix of classic 3D Zelda, Shadow of the Colossus, Castlevania and light dating sim elements..? I generally enjoyed the loop of going to the dungeons, solving puzzles and bringing back flesh before time runs out, keeping Elena from transforming into a monster and growing the bond with her. Your chain basically doubles as a hookshot and whip and there's a lot of climbing and swinging around which is quite fun. Each boss fight is a puzzle in itself and they can feel pretty grand. Despite taking a lot from other games I mentioned, the curse aspect, lore and variety of endings gave it its own thing.

I have to say there was a lot of room for improvement. Gameplay is kinda janky. Towers start to reuse old interiors and ideas halfway through very noticeably, and feeling of repetition can start to set in. I wish that Aeron was more of a character with more voiced lines, so their relationship didn't feel one sided. No original compositions was also a bit of a disappointment for me, the dungeon music got old fast. But for a studio's first attempt at making an original IP, it honestly turned out surprisingly well, it's not something forgettable. Sadly Ganbarion were sent back to Namco's basement to make One Piece games forever.