Persona 3 Portable - A Reason to Play

There may not be a "definitive" Persona 3, but that doesn't mean you should discount Portable.
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[@Y2Kikii]

Persona 3 portable was my very first persona/megaten game. I remember playing it around the same time I had a relative die from cancer. So the themes of mortality really resonated with me. This game holds a very special place in my heart and influenced me a lot artistically. Thank you for your review on this, I agree with a lot of what you talked about.

[@Carcosahead]

ditto, I started playing P3 FES on an emulator the year my father passed away, the death themes really resonate to me as well and that’s why I have a soft spot for the game, I just love it

[@theshadowdirector]

Probably the biggest problem with the battle system in the first two versions is, well, apart from the lack of party control, is how knock-downs work. In the original, you can either lock enemies into a stun loop, which makes the fight a cakewalk, or you yourself get locked into a loop. Portable fixed this.

[@syn010110]

I still desperately hope for an ultimate remake of P3 including both protagonists' main routes and the answer (even though I don't like it very much) with the current P5R/SMT5 era iteration of skills and spells I'll die hoping for this, of course

[@UltimateTS64]

@@syn010110 I mean there's been rumors of a Persona 3 remake right before Portable dropped. I feel like that would be a really odd decision if they went through with it, but I hope it's real cause I might skip out on portable when I found out what was missing

[@ChurroDoughnut]

Portable also made it so that all-target spells can knock down a single enemy out of the whole enemy party, and still give you a Once More, trivializing nearly every enemy encounter, encouraging spamming your best spells, rather than having to strategize.

[@nahte123456]

@@ChurroDoughnut have you played these games? Most Tartarus bosses don't even take a quarter from an AOA and can one shot your team without grinding.

[@ChurroDoughnut]

@@nahte123456 Which is why in FES there was strategy behind relenting the AOA, because it made the Tartarus boss spend a turn standing back up. In P3P there's almost never a reason to relent an AOA, cuz the enemy is just gonna get up and attack you next turn anyway.

[@anitoanitamto4976]

What I really appreciate about P3P are not only Social Links with Junpei, Akihiko and Shinjiro but Ryoji as well. I've noticed that people often forget to point out that he is an available SL in the female route (maybe it's because his entire existance is kind of a spoiler) and it's a shame, because, in the original P3 and FES Ryoji was basically just a plot device, but thanks to the new Social Link with him it really fleshes out his character and, in my opinion, creates the best and most tragic romance in the entire Persona series. Oh and also I really like the fact that you are not forced into a romance in Kotone's route.

[@zigazav1]

My first Persona game was 3 Portable, so, I may have heavy bias for it out of nostalgia, but I wish the female protag would get a happy end and more attention by ATLUS. I find it interesting though that Aigis acts like she has love attachment to your character (as much as a robot with a human appearance can at least) even if you play as a girl. Considering Aigis is a robot, her being the replacement for the protag for "The Answer" makes sense considering what happens at the end of the game to the rest of your party. I won't spoil the ending of Persona 3, but let's just say due to the ending, S.E.E.S. wouldn't go on the adventure in "The Answer" after the end of the game, if it was only them without Aigis.

[@Yaeloso]

Wow Daniel! This video is top notch, this is my favorite video that you have done on the channel yet. Love that more of the GVG cast is making more scripted, essay videos like Jon!

[@nddugas]

Another point worth mentioning on P3P vs FES is that FES and vanilla P3 have the characters get exhausted in Tartarus, meaning you have to stop exploring after a certain point. P3P has that aspect removed.

[@aspookyspookynight]

You still have to stop exploring when characters get exhausted in p3p. It affects the ability of those characters to function and can't be used.

[@nddugas]

@@aspookyspookynight It has been a while since I played, but I feel like the tired status was practically non-existent in P3P, at least compared with FES. I could be wrong on that front.

[@ilovecatstheyrecoolig]

​@@nddugasEarly game it's annoying they get tired after dying and especially early game you die alot.

[@koshca4865]

I played p3 in highschool years ago so this video felt so nostalgic to me. The games themes and character drama really hits hard. Great video!

[@BlueKnight85]

Looking forward to playing P3P mainly to have Kotone as the protag. Never got to finish it when I played Portable on the Vita since I was playing as Makoto to get used to how that version worked, and I love how much more attention Kotone has gotten in recent years.

[@carolineodom6420]

That color change, I love it. Great work on this! 😄

[@datalphalion]

Love the Persona 3 UI in the regular cam segments Daniel!

[@robertwilliamson2856]

Daniel did a stupendous job on this video. Keep it up!

[@billyhatfield7049]

This was an awesome video! I'm so excited to play this game. I just finished P5R last week just in time to start P3P. P4G was my first so this is the last of the modern Personas for me. Here's hoping 1+2 come sometime down the line.

[@jackking1900]

Daniel is truly an invaluable member to GVG. Great video!

[@TainoMoya]

Fr

[@endray46]

Liked the replicated actual date here and the waning crescent that you have on your video. Great video btw

[@KoiPuff]

The thing that I felt that was really lacking in Vanilla P5 (Haven't played Royal) was that the Phantom Thieves didn't feel like friends. I'd replayed P3P a dozen times, it was one of my most favourite games and you FEEL like the SEES are friends. You catch Yukari and Junpei hanging out at the shrine together. Mitsuru and Akihiko talk and sit together. The group feels like even if the protag wasn't there these people would still be friends. (More so in P3P than FES I feel bc Female MC actually cares to talk with her Male AND Female friends as oppased to the Male MC who doesn;t really care lol) P4 felt similar, the group were FRIENDS solving a mystery. They hang out at your house and take your surrogate little sister to the mall. In P5 they felt like co-workers at best. They get together for Phantom meetings but that's about it. They're friends with the Protag but don't feel like they're friends with each other.

[@Izzak_Beck]

Great to see you guys giving 3 some love, it's by far the most special of the modern Persona style games.

[@charlesroseman9466]

13:52. If you click on the Tartarus door, it will give you the option to go to the highest floor you've been; you don't need to use the teleporter.

[@Axecon1]

This was a great video! P3 might be outdated today but you can really appreciate the ambition this game has, especially the awesome music!

[@dotpatrick]

Awesome vid! Persona 3 is still my favourite in the series and the first MegaTen game that I followed the hype cycle for back in 2006/7 after discovering SMTIII and DDS the year before. It still bugs me a bit that they didn't do the work to bridge FES and Portable with this rerelease. If they did I would've bought this for Switch in a heartbeat and that's despite having replayed both FES and P3P in the past couple of years. I do hope fans who came into the series with Golden and 5/Royal give this a shot though since I do think it holds up no matter the version you play.

[@theshadowdirector]

Never got Eternal Punishment in any form in Europe. :(

[@damien9553]

That's quite sad :(

[@dachking6657]

Yeah, it’s honestly a travesty, especially since it’s widely considered to be one of the best titles in the entire series. I know that most people nowadays play the fan translation of the PSP remake, but that shouldn’t have to be people’s only option.

[@TheCaliMack]

I think the english fan patch was finished and distributed, I think, though for PSP, if you wanna load it up modded.

[@theshadowdirector]

We never got any of the PS1 releases back in the day. One exception being the original americanized localisation of Persona 1, which came to us. Thanks to, of all things, the PlayStation classic!

[@gokew]

This is me a new persona fan trying to indulge into these games and this video made me understand what I'm doing a lot better. I wish I had known about this series a little sooner.

[@dachking6657]

P3P is my favorite version of the game by quite a bit. The visual novel style expedites things and doesn’t diminish the story enough to be any sort of problem in my opinion, and I enjoy Kotone’s route as an addition quite a bit more than The Answer (although that’s pretty fun, too). By the way, if you’ve never played the game before, I think that picking the male route is quite important to getting the intended vibe from the story, and the game itself warns as much when it prompts you with the choice.

[@BrainWasherAttendent]

I played the original and can’t stand the portable version.

[@dachking6657]

@@BrainWasherAttendent And that’s a valid opinion, obviously. I totally get not enjoying the visual novel style or the lack of regularly-occurring normal cutscenes. I personally don’t mind either of those things and enjoy both the female route and direct control, so I generally prefer the Portable version.

[@BrainWasherAttendent]

@@dachking6657 I’m sure it’s a fine version I just was obsessed with P3 and completed 100% so I’m attached to that original release.

[@mathewhosier9739]

@@BrainWasherAttendent but you can only control main character on PS2, which for me makes portable the definitive version, I don't think I would have played p4g or p5r without full control

[@mr_valor3903]

@@mathewhosier9739hopefully reload gets it right. I can honestly live with just the original version of the game being remade. I can play p3p and fes later

[@kirbymike]

Man, I was wondering if I wanted to play this or not, because of the reviews and the VN thing. Now I'm ready to try it! Thanks for the video

[@joshuashoup1051]

An excellent presentation! I can't wait to play P3P when I'm able to get it, especially since I wanted to get the Kotone T-shirt I saw at Anime Expo/ AX 2022 it was pretty cool, but I just bought the SMT V shirt. But hopefully I can run into it on ebay for somewhat cheap.

[@thunter992]

Lovely upload. The ending was touching on a personal note

[@Naterkix]

The new version actually uses something similar to P4G's version of difficulty settings and you can do so as soon as you unlock the full menu, under "system" and then "difficulty." You can changes battle difficulty, EXP gained, retries per floor and continue after game over. I started on hard but then added the "continue after game over" option. I'm not sure if it's _only_ for bosses since "retries per floor" is also a thing but either way I'm down for less reloading. EDIT: Okay, so "continue after game over" makes so you retry the battle if you die... but by "retry" they mean "instantly fully revive the party and heal a bit of SP." So, uh, not really a fan of that but if you were _really_ struggling on a boss it might be helpful.

[@guguig9746]

This was a great video. I've played P5R, and wasn't planning on getting P3, but this video is making me question that decision

[@matthewmincey8822]

First off I want to echo a sentiment I have seen in the comments this is a quality video. Second it would be interesting to see the crew's opinions on the persona anime released so far (trinity soul, The persona 3 films, 4 the series, 4 golden and 5) and see if they are good starting points for newcomers who don't have the time to invest in jrpgs. But above all do they tell the story in a serviceable way and do the characters justice.

[@thiskid3000]

Awesome intro to give a quick history on the franchise!

[@alex_le_vrai4452]

I hope too much everyday that they’ll make a remake of the first persona and second one… I still need to finish persona 3 portable. Persona 4 and 5 but… still, I’m a new fan of this series of games and I like it a lot!

[@MooseKINGstudios]

I nominate Daniel to be the Persona 6 velvet room attendant.

[@Kurlija]

Great review, Daniel! P3P is my favourite game of all time and I'm glad more people can finally experience it. And this is a minor nitpick, but Jung is pronounced more like "yoong".

[@Reluctant_Hero]

This video is a love letter to one my personal favorite PS2 games. Bravo!

[@benjaminberry1660]

Phenomenal video!

[@NA-jd6wy]

You are doing God's work! Amazing video!

[@Jamesssssssssssssss]

A 38 minute long video on persona? count me in

[@playertoo9730]

played persona 3 portable back in middle school 6 years ago... my first and favorite megaten game. i cant wait to revisit it

[@mathewhosier9739]

I think a definitive version with the QoL improvements from portable like full control of party, being able to go to highest floor available in Tartarus, amoung others, but with the audio quality, cutscenses and avatars in FES,

[@MassiveRican]

Appreciate this vid. I went from playing the P2 Duology to playing vanilla P3 and after reaching Tartarus well , let’s just say ar that point I it and went to P4. I’ll go back and play FES on Steam Deck if only to watch the anime scene lol. Then looks like Portable might be the way I play.

[@JR-io6bi]

i’m trying to get into RPG’s more so i decided to pick up Persona 3,4,5 and FE Engage. I was debating on starting with P5, but idk, im really digging the darker tone of P3 more. Also, 21:34 love this😂

[@TimurSokol]

P3 has the best story in comparison to other 3d persona games, P4 is more lighthearted but still really good and has better mechanics and P5 while the story is a little bit weaker than previous persona games it has the best gameplay and alot of new mechanics.

[@JR-io6bi]

@@TimurSokol I just got past the first part of FF7 and boy, im really hooked on story. so tbh, thats what im looking for. I just might go in release order then. Thanks 🙏🏼

[@TheBluesupporter]

Thanks, this video makes me want to give Persona a try - have never played any of the games before.

[@gilded_lady]

I played FES on PS2 and was kinda mixed on it, but I do plan to replay as FeMC eventually, I was annoyed you didn't have the male party members as social links in the last one.

[@kirindas4691]

Thanks for the video! Hopefully I can find time soon to play P3P and P4G now that it's out.

[@marktomlin5818]

Having played through the original and FES cant wait to try the FeMC route

[@laggalot1012]

I played Persona 5R only very recently as my first Persona experience, and I enjoyed it pretty well. Not absolutely sure if I'll get Persona 3 (and 4), definitely not before I'm done or at least slowing after Fire Emblem releases, but it's on my radar.

[@Tydrix]

p4 Golden is recommended but P3P may not be for everyone. There are features lacking in the portable version. If Atlus remade 3 and combine the good parts for P3P and FES then maybe it would be recommended. The people recommending it now are usually clouded with nostalgia. It's usually hard to go back to older generation games. P4 Golden can still get away with it, but P3P does feel outdated. Not the story as it's still good, but as a game it's outdated.

[@damien9553]

Persona 3 just has a bigger sense of depth to it than the other titles. Absolutely my favorite game in the series.

[@damien9553]

Like you literally sacrifice your life to save humanity.

[@kencho02]

Not really. While the story was good at that time, time has changed, so the game. It is better now than ever was before. Not just graphically, but also the dungeon crawling, music, voice acting, settings, etc. No doubt persona 3 is good but is not as good as it was back then and definitely not better than 5.

[@damien9553]

@@kencho02 that's your opinion 🤭 not fact. And I think some of the characters in persona 5 were super cringe.

[@Cute___E]

@@damien9553 cool, spoilres

[@damien9553]

@@Cute___E this game came out 17 years ago. If you haven't played it yet that's on you.

[@feedthedevilscats9027]

I had both FES/portable available to me for the version I'd play for myself for the first time (seen the movie and a FES playthrough way back) but I'm sticking purely to the Portable version for feMC!! I'm playing through both protagonists tho cuz I want to experience everything for myself ☺☺ might play FES answer tho (with a party mod)

[@PlatinumHowler]

Daniel's content is 👌

[@yaktaur]

The J in Jung is pronounced like a y like the word "Young" or if you're going very hardcore Yoong

[@pickled_sausage]

You're so likable. Kinda sad I ground you so "late." Definitely, I will keep watching your videos. That one bit, "I'm not a princes," was hilarious! 🤣

[@gelbert12]

Damn i enjoyed so much this video, im now more inclined to replay this game and buy it for the switch 🔥 🙏 thanks

[@ryuichiro.sakuraba]

P3P music got me hooked. While I have played the OG P3 and the FES versions, P3P is still something that I would play for what it is. Theodore is lovely. I wish we could select Theo as the male P3P protagonist's Velvet Room assistant. While it has innovations and QoL features, it kinda hurt when the Fusion Spell mechanics was changed to consumable cards (reminds me of how in P3/ P3FES, spamming Cadenza was kinda broken, or how Armageddon trivializes parts of the game, assuming you have Victory Cry fused). Stocking up gems to exchange for Cadenza in P3P is doable, but Armageddon's items are a bit rough to find (though I think it's good balance I guess).

[@Agostoic]

She's a Queen!! Great vid dude 👌

[@smudgey5000]

I first heard about it in 2008ish when gamespot had posted a review for P4. Never once seen it for sale in a store before as around this time stores were phasing out PS2 game entirely. I did buy P3 FES right away when it came to PS3 PSN store and I been a fan since and bought all the game multiple times.

[@dan5827]

Replaying this game again with Kotone, its been a while since i last played with the FemMC. Definitely agree on the pacing though, the story overall is great, but it takes a bit to get going

[@tcClockworth]

I'm here for the release day hype and the good vibes.

[@amib1971]

Okay, this is it. You did it. You convinced me to pick up Persona 3 on the Switch for the first time!

[@ArcadeTheatre]

Daniel vid lets goooo

[@brandonadams6607]

I was pretty upset when I saw it was portable and not the Fes version because the anime cutscenes gave more life to the games not so great graphics for the time but that doesn't mean I won't give the pc port of portable a shot.

[@batmabel]

Hopefully the PC port will have a ton of mods, there's a lot of mods for the PSP version already with the intention of being used on an emulator, so I don't see why not. P5 Royal has a lot of cool stuff already, so hopefully the community comes through.

[@brandonadams6607]

@@batmabel yeah modders typically can do some crazy stuff with the pc ports If the developer allows it that is.

[@JimiCanRead]

Is there a playlist of this guy’s gvg vids

[@mathewhosier9739]

I don't think I would have even played any persona game if I didn't have full control of entire party, just learning you can only control main character in FES makes portable the better game, 90% of these games are combat and progression, give me full control of entire party

[@bcz1368]

I wont lie I still prefer FES esp if I emulate it and mod it to were I can control all the party members in battle.

[@beatziegraham6928]

Funny how you mention Visual Novel and Free Time and Daily Life in this review since I’m getting into the Danganronpa series which is a point and click visual novel like game with free time in the games.

[@loganbigmo]

I don't know about PSP, but in the 2023 ports, you can go back to the floor you found the hostages on provided it's the highest you've ever climbed. I always reached the barrier after Elizabeth told me there were hostages, so I'd run into them as I climbed. I'd save them, get warped back into the entrance, and then I could resume from the floor I just left.

[@josephn1000]

Jung...... 😛 Sena con-science moment. Jokes aside, great video Daniel. You’re always knocking them out of the park!

[@andreworders7305]

What happens if you don’t rescue a Social Link?

[@sambajane]

Persona 3 FES is my favorite game of all time. I've been wary of jumping back in because I want the experience to be the exact same, but something about the earnestness of this video has made me decide to move forward and play the other route.

[@mathewhosier9739]

Portable gives you full direct control of entire party, which alone makes it the better version

[@sambajane]

@@mathewhosier9739 I prefer the party AI-controlled and I will be keeping it on.

[@HardCoreGamer94]

Honestly, given how Persona 3 Portable cuts down on the traversing thanks to its menu and visual novel aesthetic, it's probably the first Persona game I will play even if I already own P5 Royal on Switch. XD

[@jolteon8213]

your style “fashion” is cool :)

[@Zerokirby]

Persona 3 was my first Megaten/persona game and it is shame that I never gotten to beat it. This video is very good. I did beat P4G and Persona 5.

[@jakeriese4862]

Thanks

[@sirdragonmoon7092]

I feel that persona 3 portable was brought instead of FES cause they are going to finally release the proper golden version of the game that also includes femc; also it might also add theodore as a possible velvet room assistant since from what I remember theodore is only availble for femc

[@mathewhosier9739]

I doubt it, p3p is the definitive version, gives you full control of party, which alone makes it the better game

[@ph8808]

Best way to play is just male mc on fes and female on portable so you don’t miss anything while having least overlap

[@marktomlin5818]

Don't forget Controllable Party hack for FES thats the best way to play FES

[@SaberToothPortilla]

I think it'd be great to get a "first priority" female lead in a Persona game, but I have a creeping suspicion that it isn't going to happen just because, whatever they do, they're probably going to keep the social sim elements, and they're probably going to want to make sure their audience can play as a boy. Granted, I don't personally think it should be *that* big of a deal to anyone, but there's nothing wrong with people having their priorities with playing the games, and there's probably a big segment of people who wouldn't like having to play as a girl and only having the option of romancing (presumably, but maybe not) primarily or strictly men. Now, what they *might* do is have both on release, but make it clear that the female route is the cannon one, which I think would be pretty interesting.

[@Saragraph]

Not only did we get a Daniel vid, but it's also 31 minutes long?! Heck yes! Oh, and I would love to see a video on those controversially problematic aspects of the romance in P3P that you said was due to poor writing and translation. Its own topic, its own video.

[@MaleTears]

Good video :)

[@mathewhosier9739]

Direct full control alone makes portable playable for me, couldn't imagine playing any turn based jrpg without full control of party

[@metaknightguyWII]

Daniel I believe you will enjoy the Legends of heroes trails series for its human characters and worldbuilding. Similar to persona and xenoblade

[@andreworders7305]

Which route has the better music?

[@kitestar]

I personally don’t mind that fes got the shaft in favor of portable, I can at least take solace in the fact that at least it is on modern platforms in some way or form

[@TitansSoul]

Need more videos like this, but next time pls slow down a littebit. Awesome video

[@mechashadow]

He needs the power of pauses not monsters.

[@ortegapanzer]

I just got this and Persona 4 golden for 40 bucks, was that a good deal or should I have waited?

[@DarkSoulsSauron]

p3p is the definitive version of p3, imo. FeMC is the best route because all the social links are waaaay better written. every arcana either dips into the best written links of MC or includes brand new characters or YOUR PARTY MEMBERS

[@jumponeverything]

Was thinking of just playing 4 straight away on game pass but after watching this I think I'll give 3 a chance

[@mathewhosier9739]

You should just buy them so you actually own them, instead of renting them from Microsoft

[@notaperson979]

11 days till nyx everybody

[@GorgeousGirlGenius]

Its fxxking Persona 3, that's more than enough reason to play it

[@zigazav1]

I knew it, Igor sounds different in Persona 3 than in Persona 5. Persona 5 his voice sounded much deeper than what I heard in 3 Portable, even if you discard the "compression distortions" in Igor's voice in 3 Portable.

[@A-XIII]

Question, Have you finished P5?

[@eatanotherzio6811]

Different Voice Actors for both games The OG Igor Japanese VA died before P5 was finished. So they switched VAs in both languages to keep it consistent

[@TheBlueGoldenHawk]

24:48 I had this issue with Persona 5, especially if you play the optimal way by finishing dungeons asap. It's already such a long game, and there's like hours of free time gameplay until the story picks up again. The confidants are great, but it's too much. Really made me appreciate the streamlining of P5 Strikers, which is my fave Persona especially with the real-time combat, though I would have preferred a little more social sim stuff in Strikers

[@By-the_Way]

Great video! Even though 3 is my favorite among the 3-5 series, not being able to control the other characters in battle was quite stressful especially with the AI being rather stupid. So the "you can control the characters" was big in P3P.

[@ChurroDoughnut]

The AI isn’t stupid if you give them the right commands.

[@mikeikee]

@@ChurroDoughnut even when you did make the right commands it was still trash

[@ChurroDoughnut]

@@mikeikee You and I obviously used commands in very diferent ways then.

[@StarOyster_]

Well, remake is out under 3 months! :D ;)

[@AbrasiveTea]

I mean I am playing it now so that I can compare it with Reloaded coming out next year

[@cranburrey]

I just bought it and I'm going for the male protag first then the female after

[@vg4655]

I love this version I’ll just emulate FES nbd

[@ALL4ONE5288]

Man finish the portable one on psp first persona i played and finished also devil survivor 2.😮

[@Jai_dinn]

W

[@kirkvandewalker3574]

Mhmmm~ With regards to Persona 3 Portable on Switch: I would gladly pay for a phyiscal Switch copy of the game (heck, expand it with content from FES and some remastered/new anime cut scenes, thereby making it the defentive version of the game so fans would apprecitate it.) Though, if remastered FES was offered as DLC or as a pass to PS3P, I know several people would buy it!

[@greenpacman71]

My only experience with atlus games before p3p was catherine full body, so when i started up the game and yukari had a gun to her head, i was like what kind of game is this lol a great game though

[@theadmiral4157]

Persona3 story is good, I wonder if it's not done yet

[@VelvetAura]

I just wish it was FES.

[@georgejamison]

The thing about not being able to control your teammates is all about You being a mortal being not having unlimited time and having control and responsability only of your actions. In my opinion, "Direct Commands" ruins the core experience.

[@mathewhosier9739]

Wow, that's some mental gymnastics if I've ever heard, having full control actual makes the game playable, portable is the definitive version period