P4 hands down for me at least. Ive tried completing P3 at least 4 times and i just haven't been able to bring myself to do it. P4 though is worth at least 2 playthroughs

Both P3 and P4 have really good stories, however it might be hard going backwards gameplay-wise. The dungeons are a lot less interesting and I found the difficulty curve to not be as smooth as P5.

Personally I prefer P3 as the story is much darker/grittier, P4 is really light by comparison. That said, most people prefer 4 over 3. You can't really go wrong either way though.

Both 3 and 4 are great games since you are on ps3 I suggest getting P3 FES. FES is the best way to experience p3 added content that weren't in the game originally. P4 on ps3 is only the base game( still great). Either way both are great games

I suggest P4 because it feels light and fun. Also, I like the plot better. On the other hand, P3 is a darker themed game. It is kinda depressing for my taste. Anyway, both games great and you won't regret buying which ever you choose.

I got my start with P3P years ago, then moved on to P4G, then P5. As much as the games get better to play with each iteration, nothing has that MOOD the way that P3 did. This felt like the last push of the dark edginess of SMT influence before the games leant more into jpop happy times. All three of them are 10/10.

Original P5, I absolutely loved. At that time, it beat P3 in my personal rankings easily. But then later when P5R came out, replaying everything again was so dull. That soured my P5R experience a lot. I may have felt differently if I hadn't played original P5 and went into P5R directly

Then P3R came out and it easily regained its crown in my personal ranking. I don't know how to really explain it but P3R did just about everything better than both its own original and P5/P5R

(This is not counting the DLC episode of P3R. While story-wise it's solid, actually playing through it is a tedious slog)

I’m thinking of dropping P3R.

I’m just about to fight the Hanged Man boss after beating Strega, but I can’t say I’ve enjoyed much of it.

• the characters are mainly unremarkable
• the stories are boring
• Tartarus is a slog

I’m 90 hours in and can’t get the motivation to play anymore. I was hoping Hanged Man was the last boss, but I’ve been told I’ve got about another 30% left of the game, which has put me right off.

I didn’t care for the antagonist, whatever they were called. Didn’t seem to have any threat and just wanted to be left alone; but somehow were considered their enemy. It was dumb.

I ended up disliking P3R greatly by the end. I finished it only to see this "amazing ending" that I had been told was coming. The game overstayed its welcome by a lot.

The actual gameplay loop is dated, and it showed. I was disappointed they didn't try updating it to better suit a modern audience that's become accustomed to the two games after it. I realize for many that's a plus, it's a faithful remake. For a new Persona audience who never played any of the P3s before it and lack any kind of nostalgia for it, it's a detractor.

My second problem is the lack of connecting tissue and motivations for a lot of the characters. Saying the confidents are better is interesting to me, most were entirely trivial to me and lent very little weight back into the main narrative. Not to mention the complete lack of any kind of social links with the people actually closest to you. Only getting four social links in your party was a huge bummer.

Personally I feel there was too little plot spread over too much game. You could say P5R has an entirely different problem, too much plot over too much game. Only one moment in the entire game really struck me with its emotional weight, >!Shinjiro getting murdered. It was handled well with plenty of lead up to it and character growth between the MC, Motoko, and Mitsuru. Then we get some mourning and what I had hoped was a deeper motivation for the team. Until it just resumes the monster of the month theme...!< Yukari's personal involvement with the overarching plot, which should be an even bigger motivator, manages to feel ham-fisted in. It's like they needed a character with a personal attachment to the goings on to make the story work, so they spun a wheel and chose Yukari.

The ending twist was whatever. Definitely not enough to justify all the praise for it.

Probably a lot of hot takes, and a lot will disagree. I think a decent game exists in P3R, but it was ultimately tarnished by rabid fans placing it on a pedestal, creating a lot of hype that it could never live up to.

I think Persona 4 Golden is the best of the three, but all three are worth playing.

Honestly, P3 has a better story than P5

It's going to be hard to go back to them from a gameplay perspective due to the dungeon and party design, just so you know.

Yes, they are both good. Flip a coin I guess, you sound like you want to play both anyway.

Persona 4 Golden is pretty fun. I can run about those dungeons for hours.

They make p5's story look like mediocre garbage (because it is)

I mostly agree with you, aside from the best cast, wether main or side.
I do prefer the PT as a main cast, but I think P3 has some absolutely amazing side-characters, like the sick dude or the little girl. Some shitty ones, sure, but in terms of each game's best side-character, I think P3 wins

I agree with everything, but I may prefer p5's confidants overall, they were all iconic imo, much more then 4, but idk I was just more invested in their stories

>Plus there are some obvious plot holes and weaknesses.

Which plot holes? It's been a while so I don't really remember there being obvious plot holes

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I would say yes to significantly. It isn't even subjective. It objectively is more difficult. You have fewer free time slots and there are more hoops to jump through to unlock some of them. P5 has the latter, but not as many and not to the extent of P4. 

P5R I think has a 10/9 split of confidants for day and night, In P4G I think the split is 14.5/4.5. Plus you can further increase the bond in P5R with the call after you rank up.

I just barely maxed out all Social Links without a guide on my first blind playthrough. It's definitely possible but yes it does feel harder than P5R.

The only things I knew was that Adachi and Marie were pretty important. I like to optimize, so as soon as I met the SLs, I kept a mental note about when they're available + I did every dungeon on the first day except for 1. Doing all this on Very Hard Mode was well, extremely difficult at first, but as soon as the dungeon grind is over, prioritize the knowledge stat.

It's not well known, at least I don't think, but besides gaining extra School SL points from doing well on an exam, you also get a hidden multiplier boost until the next exam. Prioritize the school SLs especially. P5R lets you do any SL, even outside of school besides Maruki iirc, so you could do them even during summer vacation unlike in P3 or P4.

Besides that, try and do the fox's quests asap and speak to him on rainy days or whenever you have free time. Also unlike P5R, you're not able to tell whenever you're ready for the next level, so it's more of a save and reload type of deal. I eventually used an answers guide to look at to confirm if the answer I'm using is the best one. Usually was, but there were times there was a better answer and the answer guide simply saved me time.

I hope this helps you out! Good luck!!

I think p3 and p4 are way harder to max out social links and social stats without a guide and I’m pretty sure that’s the general consensus as well

P4G is harder then P5 in my opinion but I think it’s partly because this was only the second time the devs were making a game with this system (like 4th or 5th counting rereleases and special version that came before it) so they still didn’t have the best idea of how to balance everything. That being said it is still possible to max them all in a single run without ng+ but it’s really hard. Since you’re on NG+ I’d recommend an answer guide if you’re struggling with responses, the megamitensai wiki has separate pages for each characters social link that lists the responses for each dialogue choice you’ll just want to look for “insert character/social link” on the wiki.

What i noticed is that P3R isn't a faithful remake, and i don't think that Atlus were planning to since the beginning. This remake was made with Persona 5 fans and the modern audience in mind, many P3's distinct gameplay was abandoned completely not refined, in favour of making the game closer to P5.

I think it was modernized in the right areas. They had to walk the balance of honoring the original while bringing it up to modern standards, and aspects like giving you control over your party member decisions and Dyad Fusion in the Velvet room went a long way on their own. Social Links not having perks the same way P4 and P5 did might feel like a step back, but because those perks are made available through other avenues, it's not like they're not there at all, and it places more emphasis on the Arcana Burst each link provides as well as their individual stories, while also serving to ensure you're getting a different experience from 4 and 5.

A lot right, some things wrong. I personally despise the remixed portion of the soundtrack. Fuuka is better voiced, imo Yukari is worse.

P3 is my all time favorite game, and I was really happy with reload. I miss some things from FES, some of the old school charm, but they honored a great game pretty well. It was emotional for me playing through it all over again after 15 years of loving this game and it introduced me to SMT as a whole

A lot of things right, and an admirable "we made and stuck to certain decisions" attitude about stuff that was never gonna please everybody. It's a lovely way to experience P3 for ppl who were never gonna sit through a 2006 version where you had to trust the AI team mates. If you're in an online discussion a lot of original fans can tell you ways they think it doesn't live up to the original, but most new players are gonna prefer the quality of life of the new one

Atlus missed out not releasing a FeMC tho but here we are

Vanilla 3 was the first Persona game that hooked me despite renting both 1 and 2 prior.

That being said... I love Reload. I didn't need it to be a truly faithful remake. It made it a little fresh.

I will say, I like the story for p3 a lot more, but the dungeons sections can be a bit of a bitch to get through if you your newer to the series.

A bit controversial, but if you want real growth of your characters in the overall story, p3 is the answer.

3 if you want well written characters and serious themes that are handled decently well. The gameplay is a bit more dated but it's not really that different. Just expect a bit of a slow burn story.

As someone who thinks that P3 is better, P4 is clearly the most welcoming for first timers.

Eh, I'd say Persona 4.

Persona 4's story is much better-paced than Persona 3. Once Persona 4 starts its mystery, it keeps on it and it gives enough clues and revelations to keep your attention. Meanwhile, Persona 3 does nothing for the first 2 months(in-game if that needs to be stated), then it starts teasing something but then drops it for another 2 months, before picking it back up.

Persona 4 is also, expectedly, much better in gameplay. Persona 4 manages to make its dungeons feel different and occasionally it throws the odd puzzle at you(also there are only 69 floors in Persona 4). Meanwhile, Persona 3 gives you 263 mandatory floors of the same thing with frequent barriers toward progression and clunky movement and attacking(outside of battle).

Also, Persona 4 has more things to do outside of battle. Something that Persona 3 is lacking in.

And lastly, Persona 4 is much less serious most of the time, compared to Persona 3. I think nothing shows this better than the openings of the games. Persona 4's Opening & Persona 4 Golden's Opening. Contrasted by Persona 3's Opening and Persona 3 Portable's Opening If you want a more serious tone, than you'll probably enjoy Persona 3 more.

I completely agree with you. I think both are great games, but I love Persona 3 so much more.

I feel P4G is good since it's on handheld device, graphics is pretty good, also there is a lot of quality of life stuff there. Going from P4G to P3P was a lot harder than P5 to P4G. Let's face it P3P is dated in many ways, including both graphics and gameplay. It's kinda hard for me to enjoy the story, but struggle throw actual gameplay.

Kanji is one of the best designed characters I've ever seen in a JRPG. He feels human in his conflicts and inner turmoil. Good as it is, nothing in p3 even comes close.

Rise is tied with Mitsuru

Played 40 hours of P3P, reached major plot twist (currently in block 5 Tartarus) and then decided I wanted to start P4G. Now I am 45 hours into P4G and wanted to pick up P3P again and I found it quite difficult. My verdict is that P3P is a lot more challenging and grindy when compared to P4, and the it’s weird having to play with one stick again, instead of two. (I own P3 on PSP) Dungeons are a lot less vibrant as well... etc. I also find P4 characters a lot more lively and interesting than P3.