Honestly I see it as analogous to the "which fate series do I start with" in that it seems to confuse a lot of people for no real reason and I am certain I know the right answer. Except for persona 3 I thoroughly believe fes is the best version and only grow to resent reload considering the sheer amount of disrespect the new fans show to fes, as in mindlessly repeating criticisms without having given the game a try to see for themselves (though of course they always statt out acting like they'd did). I'm willing to live and let live with peoppe who like reload over fes, I think it does fall short but I see why others don't feel like it's the case. But these damn bratty tourists, man... Whereas with fate it's cut and dry: which. Ever. Maybe the movies don't give enough time to exposition because of the limited runtime, but otherwise the worst way to start fate is to not start at all.
@@chukyuniqul I guess I'm a tourist, I've always known about persona since p3's release but just never started any of them, but I too think fes looks like the best first time option just from my own research since I'm thinking about getting into 3 4 and 5 now. I just thought like I wouldn't tell someone to play ff7r over/before ff7 myself but idk if this is a similar comparison. Can I ask you if it's true the tone/direction/story was changed at all with reload? I saw someone say this.
@@Nezzen- The gameplay feel and tone was changed, yes, cutscenes are *mostly* decently preserved and the new story additions are good. In the original you felt the push in gameplay, once shit goes south you feel it even wandering around and reload just doesn't hit the same. Also, there's a handful of cutscenes, including the one near the beginning and all the newly 3d ones that are strictly inferior to the original. I hope this helps answer your question, if not I'm willing to elaborate or bring up something else if I missed a satisfying answer.
@@Nezzen- also I should add, tourist generally has the negative connotation of both lack of interest in a deeper engagement with the series and false claims og seniority, so I don't think you should see yourself as one.
I've put probably 2000 hours into various P3 versions over the years and it's hard to beat Reload. Just an incredible but faithful reworking that keeps most of the feel of the original. Now that you can get it for $40-$50 new instead of $70, if you're still on the fence as a Persona or SMT fan, it's definitely worth it.
Also kudos for calling out voice direction specifically. Everyone being on the same page in reload vs reading a script word for word. “Bad voice acting” is thrown around all Over this space.
@@AustinSV And for the PAL version of the game it actually runs slower because of PAL using 50Hz instead of 60Hz (pretty sure this applies to Persona 4 as well)
Correction to the secondary opening for P3FES, Burn My Dread is still available but only plays after you boot into the title screen and leave it idle for a few seconds. Great video as always and appreciate this guide for any new players out there!
very well-detailed and fair comparison of all the games. great video. i liked it. also, in an interview with the directors of persona 3 portable, it was said that the 3D environments were dropped to reduce load times. source: Persona 3 Portable official fanbook: Creators Interview.
Generally: P3FES if you want to experience the game as close to the original develoeprs vision. P3R if you are new to Persona and/or just care about the social aspect (they are much better in this version because of voice acting plus link episodes for male casts). P3P If you want to experience the female protagonist route. And there is virtually no reason to play regular P3.
As someone who played P3 before most people ever heard of Persona or SMT, here's my advice: never play P3P first, only play it if you already played P3F or P3R. Also, merciless mode on P3R is much easier than hard mode on P3F, so if you want a challenge (without modding), stick with P3F
P3P was my first experience and I didn't really like it. You lose so much context with the visual novel scenes. I honestly recommend just emulating FES on a phone if you need a portable version of P3.
Well my introduction to this series and jrpg turn base in general is from P3P Lmao, idk why but i kinda fell in love with the game concept back then with how lively it is, it's bizarre considering the fact that I don't really enjoy game with too much dialogue at that time lol
That...was a lot to take in. Very detailed report on all Persona 3 versions. Well done Austin, as always. I'll have to go through this video several times to really find out which one I'd want start with but I'm leaning toward the Xbox version of Reload since they did just give away the Season Pass to anyone who had a Gamepass subscription but then I'd miss out on modding the PC version. Dunno, like I said, need another watch.
P3R is a very good gamepass title. It's probably the best version you could play. If you want the game to be actually challenging though, consider playing on Merciless from the get go
Just for the QoL additions and extra content with male party members alone makes Reload worth it overall. The graphics and look of Reload is obviously much higher in fidelity and quality but I do feel that the Reload lost some of its edge and atmosphere of the OG which is especially apparent during the start of the game. The Dark Hour and Makoto's awakening don't hit nearly as hard as the OG where it felt almost as visceral as Evangelion. The dorms also look quite flat especially in Makoto's room which lacks the light shafts coming from the windows. Even with that in mind Reload does a lot more right than wrong but it is a shame that some of the original style was lost.
@@RokkouA1 That's a really good comment!!! Persona 3 FES Persona 3 Reload clearly have some different artistic directions, but overall they do the same DNA and love for stylisheness and details, but i am exited for the Pwrsona 3 Reload Episode Aigis (The Answer) DLC!!! Keep it up dear friend!!
Well, that can happen with any remake of any game. Instead of getting beautiful graphics, they lost the unique atmosphere that the original graphics had.
@@RedAlpha101 it’s also missing entire features of the original persona 3 that was imo integral to the games identity such as the fatigue system and the tactics system. You have to pay more than half the price of a full game for the answer, the games visual aesthetic just isn’t the same as the classic persona 3. Reload is not definitive it’s just ANOTHER way to play persona 3.
@@kingteddieP4 Of those complaints, the only valid one is the one about the fatigue system. And it's not that bad, I think that in general the best version is Reload.
Persona 3 portable was my first persona game back in the days on PSP and was the game I learned English with. Then I became fan and bought the original and FES on Ps2 and ps3 PSn.
P3P was my first. And I played as FeMC. I’m heavily biased towards her version of the game. Picking up Reload soon even though that’s not my version of P3.
Holy shit I never even realised p3p added so many gameplay improvements??? It was my first experience with the game and I didn't know so many basic quality of life features weren't there from the start. I think we all focus on the way worse visual changes for obvious reasons, but its worth aknowledging how much good was done here. Bloody hell you couldn't change equips from the menu?? That's nuts lol. (Lack of weapon changing still kinda sucks though. wish that hadn't been kept in later games cos its clear it only happened here to minimize the amount of new animations needed for the femc)
I'd say it depends on the hardware you want to play P3 in: FES - PS2/PS3 Portable - PSP/Psvita/Switch Reload - PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series/Steam Deck If you wanna use emulators, I'd recommend FES over Portable unless either you want to play as FEMC and/or you're playing on a cellphone.
If you're new to P3 I'd say start with reload, if you want more pick up FES and play the answer (since you can just boot directly into it) and if you STILL want more pick up portable (either og or remaster) and play the FeMC route.
As an avid FES fan, PLEASE don't start FES The Answer if you only played Reload. It will be such a difficulty spike that you will legit suffer because the mechanics are so different and the difficulty overall is higher than base FES. Either start with FES from the get go or wait until Reload The Answer DLC comes out
@@marcusclark1339 reload has sold more copies than every other version of persona 3 combined. I’d say that “causualization” was definitely for its own 😊
@@TeryonTheHuman well duh, of course the game's gonna sell way more after the series becomes well known with games like Persona 5 For everyone who played a videogame before though the game ended up way too easy because of the casualisation and there are no good difficulty options to actually make it challenging
I know there’s a lot to go over in this video, but it would really help if you gave a basic breakdown of the versions beyond just their names and what platforms they’re on. When you jumped immediately into the differences between them I was lost because I have never played any version of P3 and only recently started getting into the franchise. For newbies like me jumping into the deep end like that is confusing. It feels like this video assumes you’ve already played the game, but that renders the question of which version you should play moot.
3:37 the secondary opening was never removed, if you don't press anything on "press any button to continue", the screen will fade and the second opening will be played.
9:32 Well they're obviously not the same. Persona Q 2 confirms this. They come from parallel worlds. The P3 party in that game does not recognize the female protagonist because they were from a different world than hers.
So what i learn so far... Play P3R for the overall new content and modern RPG QoL Play P3P for the FeMC Route and appreciate how they put a PS2 game in a PSP And last but not least, if you have that many time to spare... Play P3FES because is the original experience and that is something to respect In the end, play P3. But not the first P3 i guess
Man I just resurrected my PS2 slim from the grave, I don't wanna have to watch hours of content just to find the best version of a game I'm interested in, oh well
I played p3p thinking it was the base version of the game simply updated. It works so well to do point and click in the overworld, and ties directly to every SMT game since the beginning, so i didn't think anything of it. Also there's something asmr-inducing about that cursor.
29:17 if you try to create Aigis as support, her ai breaks(i think) and she capable of only healing teammates and strike enemies by hand. Same for Koro, that puppy dont know what is revolution(and i saw only one or twice him using masakukaja), but at least like spamming debilitate
I think what’s really cool about Reload is that they got pretty much if not all Voice Actors from the original Persona 3 in Reload, but since the actors are much older they are voicing different characters (Officer Kurosawa is voiced by the original voice actor for Sanada) I think the VA who plays Elizabeth is the only one who did the same part
P3R: The reentering dorm not skipping to Evening is a game changer srsly. I played P3F first then P3P and now currently playing P3R. P3R is rly a love letter to older Persona fans, and something new for those who liked Persona cuz of Persona 5. It's refreshing to see new streamers playing P3R :')
hmm, i wonder if you're gonna talk about p1 and p2, since even though it's easy to say which are the better versions, i don't think i've seen a more in depth comparrisom between the psp and ps1 versions of em
With some current rumors about persona 1 and 2 possibly getting a new remaster port in the future, they may be waiting for actual confirmation on that before covering those games.
@@lemonov3031 indeed, that's why i said it's easy to tell the best ver of each tho tbf innocent sin is just better on ps1 cause in the psp version it's so easy you don't even have to care at the final boss
Are you sure they fixed all of bugs on PS3 version of P3? Cause there's a bug where the game freezes at a later full moon boss and I was stuck there for years.
i don’t have long to say this, they’re coming for me… persona three portable is good not compared to the other versions of persona three, but a visual novel, and i really enjoined the female prota-
Small correction: Persona 3 and FES actually run at 480i rather than 480p on ps2. This basically means theres less effective detail than 480p since 480i has interlacing which means the lines flicker back and forth. Also social link recasts in Japan? Am I missing something because none of the previous versions had voice acting for the social link exclusive characters right??
Some of the s.links in Japan got VAs years before since they were used in Drama CDs. They got some really big names somehow for it too (Akinari's former VA comes to mind). But all of them got recasted. But there is some that did not appear in Drama CDs getting a VA for the first time (Nozomi). Drama CDs are awesome, give them a try.
For me, the only reason to play older versions of persona 3 at this point are either to play p3p to play the FeMC version or just because you’re curious on how older persona games used to work. There are a few things in FES and the original that are cool and aren’t really present in reload however overall if you actually think that the older version are better than reload you are 100% blinded by nostalgia or just *really* like old video game visual aesthetics lol. Not that the older versions are bad they are still freaking persona 3 and are incredible it’s just the remake is infinitely more accessible and fun to play while providing the same story through the amazing current persona artstyle with the most smooth UI’s you will ever see and some new songs that are all amazing. There’s nothing wrong with playing the older games but as a first time persona 3 experience I implore anyone to just play reload lol. The “answer” dlc is a different case as I didn’t actually play the original version of that and I know a lot of people had issues with the one scene being censored and one of the plot developments being a little rushed/not clearly presented enough as it was in the original but even then as far as I’ve been told the gameplay in the original answer is pretty terrible and just an insane grind to get through, and I didn’t even love the gameplay of episode aigis so I can’t really imagine how bad it must be lol. With all that being said though the story of episode aigis was still absolutely amazing and leaves the p3 story off on a very sweet note and I’d still recommend anyone wanting to try the answer out to give it a go.
As someone who payed Persona 3 even before many people knew about the franchise or SMT, I still think P3P is by far the best version. It is the most complete and with the most replay time. I lost count on how many times in beat it in my old PSP.
i think the best version if you want to start persona series would be P4 ,after done with P4 hopefully you will build enough love for the series to endure some of P3 "flaws" ,..imo P5 best save for last ,P5 gameplay get improved so much it might negatively affect your experience for previous games (like p4 dungeon/p3 gameplay)..after that go ahead for pre p3 games
Persona 3 FES is only on PS2 and PS3. For the PS3, the game is on the PS3's PlayStation Store and sold at cheap price. Just so you know, the game is the same as the PS2 version. If you want to play on PC, emulation is the only way.
money, hence why remastered is such a sh*t port of the game also why they won't bring back FES or any original version, atlus loves their low effort rereleases that break their games more
Im still currently playing P3P and I may have fumbled some social links (I think) but im really loving it because yknow portability. Alongside im playing P4Golden too but not much as I want to beat P3P as my first persona game and also going somewhat partial blind.
Great video :). Thanks for including the section regarding mods. Is FES still available on the PS3 store? (I don't own a PS4 or PS5, but I do own a PC). Guess I could just emulate FES?
Reload. Obviously. It’s a generational improvement in almost every way, and any nitpicks are far offset by those vast improvements. Don’t let nostalgia fool you. I wouldn’t ever recommend the older versions to a newcomer anymore, just play Reload.
When can we expect the vid on P4? I'm currently working through p3 reloaded, and wanna head to 4 next. I have P4 for Ps2, and Golden for vita, so just wanna know what to expect based off a vid like this. Thanks.
Ive never played any version (or any Persona) of P3 ever and just started a few days ago with P3R, guess I'll check P3FES and then P3P after watching this lmao
I played the updated PS2 version, the PSP version, and reload. The extra Chidori scene and new outfits weren't in the original? In the PSP version I made the mistake of bringing a tired party with me. What gives? If the leader is okay the rest of the part should be okay too and I wasn't that overpowered compared to the party at the time either. Did my party seriously not rest when I did? At least they don't leave Tartarus in the PSP. Tanaka can skip the final boss? He really is the Devil. Tanaka: Nyx, I'll give you 40,000 yen so f**k off. Portable feels naked without the 3D world. 10:19 I don't think Vincent hangs out at this bar unless he goes to a different one every so often. I think I only found out about this because I randomly found out about this information online. 10:46 This is a change I like. It gives me a reason to go to Tartarus once I finish the floors instead of waiting around for another full moon. I remember my sis complaining about one of the missing people because she had to cover a wide range of floors to find them. It's not really a big deal since Fuuka will tell you if they are on the current floor and I think she also tells you if they are above or below you (unless that was only in Reload). I think they always show up on the same floor too so you can always look it up if you don't want to search yourself. I noticed in Reload they also warn you on the last day when you can save someone. I don't know if Portable does this. My sis has a friend who sucks at this game. For some reason she wasted all her plumes of dusk and kind of screwed herself over since she was under-leveled against bosses. Did she not go to Tartarus? 12:58 Wait that's a thing? I didn't realize not hanging ut with someone for a while can reverse Social links. 14:05 It's been a while but do you not really get the option to choose who you want to hang out with? You had to blindly guess if more than one person will call you. I think I had to reset when I didn't realize another person was going to call me and I already chose the first person who called me. In Reload all the people who want to hang out with you text you and you can choose who to hang out with later or just pass entirely. I think Persona 5 had a similar mechanic. 15:14 Full Restory? 16:13 Party members can just take money? 20:20 I think I do recall Fuuka calling Theo a she when you fight him. The funny thing is that if you fight Elizabeth in the original, Fuuka will still say her starting line even if she isn't in the party yet. I guess the game didn't realize you can fight Elizabeth while Mitsuru was still providing support instead of Fuuka. 24:48 I hate this change. I can't believe Kashiwagi doesn't appear either even though she was in portable. 24:59 I didn't know he smoked. Edogawa also sounds more creepy in Reload. It is nice not having to worry about fatigue anymore. 30:03 You can also use Fuuka's ability to hide from Golden enemies and easily hit them. 33:17 A welcome change. I hate having to sacrifice defense to look good. 33:29 I never had this issue since I escape before the Reaper shows up. I think he shows up faster in dark rooms but I was able to get out. 33:35 I miss the Kendo sport :(. 35:41 I quickly became overpowered because of using the Rarity Fortune. For most of the game enemies were usually too scared to fight me. I consider the Safety Fortune a waste of money since you should not have issues encountering the Reaper unless you are on dark floors which don't happen that often. 40:30 120 FPS isn't necessary and is kind of overkill. In the mod the female protagonist's face does sometimes look a little bit like the male character which is weird.
If we're talking about the better audio quality for P3P go with the original release of P3P since the audio quality is much better than the remastered version of P3P due to the audio quality getting worse.
So Persona 3 Reload appears to be the overall best version, but it omits a whole DLC - Episode Aegis - that is only available via the purchase of Persona 3 Portable, correct? Only have access to the PS5, so the original and FES are not applicable to me.
As someone who has played all of them (I played the original when I was a kid though), just play P3 reload. I have been spoiled by modern graphics so I'm just gonna say that the modern aesthetic and music appeals to me more than the old PS2 era graphics.
I was the same way. Persona 4 golden was my first persona game..and when I first started it was a bit jarring getting used to the (by today’s standards) dated graphics. But after playing nearly 200 hours, as I reach the conclusion of the game, I have to say I prefer the old graphic/art style of the games before p5r and p3r.
I feel like the only person alive where modern graphics hurt my eyes and are too overwhelming. I have to play PS3 and under or my head will split open.
I’ve gotten this idea of purchasing a PSP recently stuck In my mind and I have a PS5 I’ve never played a persona game in my life it’s all a matter of good graphics or being able to take it with me and accommodate my ever day life 😭 man this is a hard decision
3:35 "There is also a new opening, but the secondary opening was removed." Incorrect, because waiting in the menu for about 15 seconds would play the original opening, as a sort-of secret.
It's correct. There is a secondary opening for the original that's not present in FES. It's actually the trailer of the original. And can be modded back into FES nowadays. ruclips.net/video/T85-Obx9iE8/видео.htmlfeature=shared it should look something along these lines.
If they don't release FES physically available and packed with Reload, personally I won't bother, since I already keep an unplayed FES Limited Edition on my shelf. I don't get why they don't release complete versions from the start.
@@player2-lightwater914 What's your point? There are tons of ways you can play a PS2 game. If you're gonna release it for newer consoles, release it complete content-wise and on-disc.
@@TheMoviesCult The only way to play a PS2 game non-natively is either on PS3 digitally from PS Store, via older PS3 consoles that can read PS2 disc or alternatively, emulation on PC. If you are expecting P3FES to be playable on PS4/PS5, then I'm here to tell you it's not possible as the consoles are not designed to play PS2 games. Not even PS1 games. If it had, Atlus would have rerelease the digital copy of the game on PS4/PS5 store like they did with PS3 store. In case you didn't know about why The Answer wasn't release on Reload base game like P3FES, Altus had a time constraint to meet the deadline for the release date. It was only the game made shit load of money that they are given the greenlight to make The Answer as DLC. As for FeMC, same reason like The Answer. Not only to meet the deadline, it's also time consuming more so than The Answer. The re-release of P3P on modern consoles is for newcomers to play her route as a compensation.
@@player2-lightwater914 I am aware of those facts, still doesn't change my point. Exactly, you can play on PS2/PS3 or emulated on PC, it's not that difficult. I personally have all my old consoles connected. The reason why the full content wasn't included doesn't matter to gamers. It's like saying the Cyberpunk 2077 was released buggy due to time constraints. Of course it was! Even if we trust that Atlus didn't wanna squeeze more money with DLC added later on, that's still not an excuse.
*me playing P3P* Me: oh shit i got a cursed card, Welp time to run to the next floor *Me if i play P3R* Me: ok just like in P3P 33:27 *Reaper proceeds to follow me up to the next floor* Me: SINCE WHEN TF CAN YOU DO THAT?????
Reload just seems like the definitive way to experience the game with all the improvements to the gameplay and graphics. Even the music people say is worse just sounds great to me, and I say this as someone who beat FES.
I swear, "the best version of Persona 3" is like the most difficult thing in SMT 💀
Honestly I see it as analogous to the "which fate series do I start with" in that it seems to confuse a lot of people for no real reason and I am certain I know the right answer.
Except for persona 3 I thoroughly believe fes is the best version and only grow to resent reload considering the sheer amount of disrespect the new fans show to fes, as in mindlessly repeating criticisms without having given the game a try to see for themselves (though of course they always statt out acting like they'd did). I'm willing to live and let live with peoppe who like reload over fes, I think it does fall short but I see why others don't feel like it's the case. But these damn bratty tourists, man...
Whereas with fate it's cut and dry: which. Ever. Maybe the movies don't give enough time to exposition because of the limited runtime, but otherwise the worst way to start fate is to not start at all.
@@chukyuniqul I guess I'm a tourist, I've always known about persona since p3's release but just never started any of them, but I too think fes looks like the best first time option just from my own research since I'm thinking about getting into 3 4 and 5 now. I just thought like I wouldn't tell someone to play ff7r over/before ff7 myself but idk if this is a similar comparison.
Can I ask you if it's true the tone/direction/story was changed at all with reload? I saw someone say this.
@@Nezzen- The gameplay feel and tone was changed, yes, cutscenes are *mostly* decently preserved and the new story additions are good.
In the original you felt the push in gameplay, once shit goes south you feel it even wandering around and reload just doesn't hit the same.
Also, there's a handful of cutscenes, including the one near the beginning and all the newly 3d ones that are strictly inferior to the original.
I hope this helps answer your question, if not I'm willing to elaborate or bring up something else if I missed a satisfying answer.
@@Nezzen- also I should add, tourist generally has the negative connotation of both lack of interest in a deeper engagement with the series and false claims og seniority, so I don't think you should see yourself as one.
@@chukyuniqul I see, yeah I get what you mean after watching a comparison of the beginning scene. Thanks a lot for the reply!
I've put probably 2000 hours into various P3 versions over the years and it's hard to beat Reload. Just an incredible but faithful reworking that keeps most of the feel of the original. Now that you can get it for $40-$50 new instead of $70, if you're still on the fence as a Persona or SMT fan, it's definitely worth it.
While I looooove FES, for most modern gamers, yeah reload is probably the best choice.
Is Persona 4 Golden a good first Persona game? It's by far the cheapest...
@@fakesmile172 4 Golden was my introduction so I say so!
Reload 3 is still worth it!
@@fakesmile172yup! it was my first persona game and it became one of my top 5 favorite games of all time!
@@FloofPuppy can also vouch for persona 4, it was my first. Golden has some quality of life changes over that so it's even better
The sound compression side by side is a god send. Thank you for being meticulous for people like me. Very important to me and I appreciate you.
Also kudos for calling out voice direction specifically. Everyone being on the same page in reload vs reading a script word for word. “Bad voice acting” is thrown around all
Over this space.
Agreed
17:34 Correction: The PS2 version only ran at 480i not 480p, but you can enable 480p on real hardware through mods
Wild I didn't catch that with how much time I spent adjusting the Retrotink
@@AustinSV And for the PAL version of the game it actually runs slower because of PAL using 50Hz instead of 60Hz (pretty sure this applies to Persona 4 as well)
@@AustinSVwell good work in any event it looks great.
Correction to the secondary opening for P3FES, Burn My Dread is still available but only plays after you boot into the title screen and leave it idle for a few seconds. Great video as always and appreciate this guide for any new players out there!
The secondary opening being mentioned is the first PV of the original used as an intro. Burn My Dread was not being referred to in this case.
very well-detailed and fair comparison of all the games. great video. i liked it. also, in an interview with the directors of persona 3 portable, it was said that the 3D environments were dropped to reduce load times. source: Persona 3 Portable official fanbook: Creators Interview.
Generally:
P3FES if you want to experience the game as close to the original develoeprs vision.
P3R if you are new to Persona and/or just care about the social aspect (they are much better in this version because of voice acting plus link episodes for male casts).
P3P If you want to experience the female protagonist route.
And there is virtually no reason to play regular P3.
its more like i got p3p for kotone plus it was a bundle with p4 golden and on sale so bonus ^^
New design of the channel looks fire man
As someone who played P3 before most people ever heard of Persona or SMT, here's my advice: never play P3P first, only play it if you already played P3F or P3R. Also, merciless mode on P3R is much easier than hard mode on P3F, so if you want a challenge (without modding), stick with P3F
Ironically speaking, my first was Portable, and P3 is still my favorite and I became a fan because of it
P3P was also my first experience with 3 and I loved it. Currently downloading P3F on my PS3 and will also be buying P3R at some point.
P3P was my first experience and I didn't really like it. You lose so much context with the visual novel scenes. I honestly recommend just emulating FES on a phone if you need a portable version of P3.
P3P is the most accessible non-reload port tho. Atlus should've ported FES to modern consoles to give more options
Well my introduction to this series and jrpg turn base in general is from P3P Lmao, idk why but i kinda fell in love with the game concept back then with how lively it is, it's bizarre considering the fact that I don't really enjoy game with too much dialogue at that time lol
Can't stress enough how much I appreciate these videos and how much effort you put into them. Great work.
Great video! Happy to help with fact checks
That...was a lot to take in. Very detailed report on all Persona 3 versions. Well done Austin, as always. I'll have to go through this video several times to really find out which one I'd want start with but I'm leaning toward the Xbox version of Reload since they did just give away the Season Pass to anyone who had a Gamepass subscription but then I'd miss out on modding the PC version. Dunno, like I said, need another watch.
P3R is a very good gamepass title. It's probably the best version you could play. If you want the game to be actually challenging though, consider playing on Merciless from the get go
Just for the QoL additions and extra content with male party members alone makes Reload worth it overall.
The graphics and look of Reload is obviously much higher in fidelity and quality but I do feel that the Reload lost some of its edge and atmosphere of the OG which is especially apparent during the start of the game. The Dark Hour and Makoto's awakening don't hit nearly as hard as the OG where it felt almost as visceral as Evangelion. The dorms also look quite flat especially in Makoto's room which lacks the light shafts coming from the windows.
Even with that in mind Reload does a lot more right than wrong but it is a shame that some of the original style was lost.
@@RokkouA1 That's a really good comment!!! Persona 3 FES Persona 3 Reload clearly have some different artistic directions, but overall they do the same DNA and love for stylisheness and details, but i am exited for the Pwrsona 3 Reload Episode Aigis (The Answer) DLC!!! Keep it up dear friend!!
Well, that can happen with any remake of any game.
Instead of getting beautiful graphics, they lost the unique atmosphere that the original graphics had.
Kind of insane how there are 4 different versions of Persona 3 and none of them are the definitive version…
Idk I feel like unless you really want to Play as the femmc it's p3r.
Only negative against p3r tbh. Well that and it's the easiest version.
@@RedAlpha101 it’s also missing entire features of the original persona 3 that was imo integral to the games identity such as the fatigue system and the tactics system. You have to pay more than half the price of a full game for the answer, the games visual aesthetic just isn’t the same as the classic persona 3. Reload is not definitive it’s just ANOTHER way to play persona 3.
@@kingteddieP4 Of those complaints, the only valid one is the one about the fatigue system. And it's not that bad, I think that in general the best version is Reload.
@@kingteddieP4ngl those systems were kinda cheeks
Extremely awesome and informative video! There’s always something new to learn about P3
Thank you so much for this! Even now I’m still learning more about the mechanics of the old P3 games. Looking forward to your P4/5 videos!🙏
Persona 3 portable was my first persona game back in the days on PSP and was the game I learned English with. Then I became fan and bought the original and FES on Ps2 and ps3 PSn.
great video! hopefully this helps new fans because i was confused as hell when i was new to the series
You forgot how they confirmed what the Takoyaki in Octopia's made out of.
(it's dog)
Wtf, for real? I missed it in the game, where does it say that?
I know there's a dog on the Octopia logo but nooo 😭
its actualy made of
secret you know
Just finished at 90 hour first playthrough of P3R and there were things in the vid I had no idea about. Great insight. Thanks
P3P was my first. And I played as FeMC. I’m heavily biased towards her version of the game. Picking up Reload soon even though that’s not my version of P3.
Fan for a long time, love the schnazzy new look!
Just grabbed Persona 3 Reload on a deep discount, looking forward to playing through Persona 3 for the first time
I've been waiting for this -akihiko
Holy shit I never even realised p3p added so many gameplay improvements??? It was my first experience with the game and I didn't know so many basic quality of life features weren't there from the start.
I think we all focus on the way worse visual changes for obvious reasons, but its worth aknowledging how much good was done here.
Bloody hell you couldn't change equips from the menu?? That's nuts lol.
(Lack of weapon changing still kinda sucks though. wish that hadn't been kept in later games cos its clear it only happened here to minimize the amount of new animations needed for the femc)
P4 vanilla added many of the QoLs which then brought forward to P3P.
I'd say it depends on the hardware you want to play P3 in:
FES - PS2/PS3
Portable - PSP/Psvita/Switch
Reload - PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series/Steam Deck
If you wanna use emulators, I'd recommend FES over Portable unless either you want to play as FEMC and/or you're playing on a cellphone.
it on steam
If you're new to P3 I'd say start with reload, if you want more pick up FES and play the answer (since you can just boot directly into it) and if you STILL want more pick up portable (either og or remaster) and play the FeMC route.
Why would you ever bother playing and answer through FES to get a worse experience when it’s only 2 months away for reload
As an avid FES fan, PLEASE don't start FES The Answer if you only played Reload. It will be such a difficulty spike that you will legit suffer because the mechanics are so different and the difficulty overall is higher than base FES. Either start with FES from the get go or wait until Reload The Answer DLC comes out
literally opposite just emulate FES modded if possible to clean up some UI
reload is too casualized for its own good
@@marcusclark1339 reload has sold more copies than every other version of persona 3 combined. I’d say that “causualization” was definitely for its own 😊
@@TeryonTheHuman well duh, of course the game's gonna sell way more after the series becomes well known with games like Persona 5
For everyone who played a videogame before though the game ended up way too easy because of the casualisation and there are no good difficulty options to actually make it challenging
I know there’s a lot to go over in this video, but it would really help if you gave a basic breakdown of the versions beyond just their names and what platforms they’re on. When you jumped immediately into the differences between them I was lost because I have never played any version of P3 and only recently started getting into the franchise. For newbies like me jumping into the deep end like that is confusing. It feels like this video assumes you’ve already played the game, but that renders the question of which version you should play moot.
Welcome back indeed!
3:37 the secondary opening was never removed, if you don't press anything on "press any button to continue", the screen will fade and the second opening will be played.
The secondary OP being referred here is a trailer of the original. This is not present in FES. It is not talking about Burn My Dread.
@bothdoorscares3878 Well I never watched the trailer of the original. My bad.
@@bothdoorscares3878 BURN MY BREADDDDDDDD 🍞
9:32 Well they're obviously not the same. Persona Q 2 confirms this. They come from parallel worlds. The P3 party in that game does not recognize the female protagonist because they were from a different world than hers.
@@plopsan I think it's still canon.
amazing work as always
So what i learn so far...
Play P3R for the overall new content and modern RPG QoL
Play P3P for the FeMC Route and appreciate how they put a PS2 game in a PSP
And last but not least, if you have that many time to spare...
Play P3FES because is the original experience and that is something to respect
In the end, play P3. But not the first P3 i guess
There should be a mod where everyone wears a fez
Man I just resurrected my PS2 slim from the grave, I don't wanna have to watch hours of content just to find the best version of a game I'm interested in, oh well
Fantastic video! Great work!
I played p3p thinking it was the base version of the game simply updated. It works so well to do point and click in the overworld, and ties directly to every SMT game since the beginning, so i didn't think anything of it. Also there's something asmr-inducing about that cursor.
Ah, there it is. Been waiting for this ever since P3LOAD launched.
36:50 I had no idea you could do that. How do you pull that up?
It's select/back for me.
On PC you have to enable the Network on boot
29:17 if you try to create Aigis as support, her ai breaks(i think) and she capable of only healing teammates and strike enemies by hand. Same for Koro, that puppy dont know what is revolution(and i saw only one or twice him using masakukaja), but at least like spamming debilitate
I love longform videos :D. The longest video I watched was a GTA retrospective that was 9hrs long.
I think what’s really cool about Reload is that they got pretty much if not all Voice Actors from the original Persona 3 in Reload, but since the actors are much older they are voicing different characters (Officer Kurosawa is voiced by the original voice actor for Sanada) I think the VA who plays Elizabeth is the only one who did the same part
It's kind of fascinating that there's no clear cut answer, they all kind of bring something unique to the table
22:18 - ok how did that happen, this is almost meme-worthy
40:01 620p on One X? Did you mean 1620p?
7:35 What's that sprite? 💀
are the logos for the consoles for femc in the thumbnail switched?
It’s always gonna be FES and Reload for me
P3R: The reentering dorm not skipping to Evening is a game changer srsly.
I played P3F first then P3P and now currently playing P3R. P3R is rly a love letter to older Persona fans, and something new for those who liked Persona cuz of Persona 5. It's refreshing to see new streamers playing P3R :')
I really wanna experience the Tar-Tar Sauce life style. Nice video.
hmm, i wonder if you're gonna talk about p1 and p2, since even though it's easy to say which are the better versions, i don't think i've seen a more in depth comparrisom between the psp and ps1 versions of em
With some current rumors about persona 1 and 2 possibly getting a new remaster port in the future, they may be waiting for actual confirmation on that before covering those games.
@@ech0ashes that would make the most sense yea
P1 is the best on PSP with music restoration, P2IS is best on PS1, P2EP best on PSP.
@@lemonov3031 indeed, that's why i said it's easy to tell the best ver of each
tho tbf innocent sin is just better on ps1 cause in the psp version it's so easy you don't even have to care at the final boss
@@osdesinteligentes7946 PSP version of IS also made the battle menus very slow for no good reason, the game was slow as is
23:37 For me,the only L for Reload is not adding the Kotone route option from release or at least as an expansion. Big L. Oh well.
Persona 3 is the first turn based RPG that i love, as junior highschool student back in 2007, Persona 4 in 2008 make me love it even more
Are you sure they fixed all of bugs on PS3 version of P3? Cause there's a bug where the game freezes at a later full moon boss and I was stuck there for years.
FES will always be my favorite version but honestly they're all awesome.
i don’t have long to say this, they’re coming for me… persona three portable is good not compared to the other versions of persona three, but a visual novel, and i really enjoined the female prota-
Goat is back
Small correction: Persona 3 and FES actually run at 480i rather than 480p on ps2. This basically means theres less effective detail than 480p since 480i has interlacing which means the lines flicker back and forth. Also social link recasts in Japan? Am I missing something because none of the previous versions had voice acting for the social link exclusive characters right??
Some of the s.links in Japan got VAs years before since they were used in Drama CDs. They got some really big names somehow for it too (Akinari's former VA comes to mind). But all of them got recasted. But there is some that did not appear in Drama CDs getting a VA for the first time (Nozomi).
Drama CDs are awesome, give them a try.
@@bothdoorscares3878 The VAs that did the Drama CDs reprised their roles for the movies. Reload recast all of them except Toriumi and Tanaka.
45:52 “Catboy Dojima”
P3R is my first Persona game and it's my goty for 2024! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
For me, the only reason to play older versions of persona 3 at this point are either to play p3p to play the FeMC version or just because you’re curious on how older persona games used to work. There are a few things in FES and the original that are cool and aren’t really present in reload however overall if you actually think that the older version are better than reload you are 100% blinded by nostalgia or just *really* like old video game visual aesthetics lol. Not that the older versions are bad they are still freaking persona 3 and are incredible it’s just the remake is infinitely more accessible and fun to play while providing the same story through the amazing current persona artstyle with the most smooth UI’s you will ever see and some new songs that are all amazing. There’s nothing wrong with playing the older games but as a first time persona 3 experience I implore anyone to just play reload lol.
The “answer” dlc is a different case as I didn’t actually play the original version of that and I know a lot of people had issues with the one scene being censored and one of the plot developments being a little rushed/not clearly presented enough as it was in the original but even then as far as I’ve been told the gameplay in the original answer is pretty terrible and just an insane grind to get through, and I didn’t even love the gameplay of episode aigis so I can’t really imagine how bad it must be lol. With all that being said though the story of episode aigis was still absolutely amazing and leaves the p3 story off on a very sweet note and I’d still recommend anyone wanting to try the answer out to give it a go.
11:15 your telling me yusukes entire being was just a persona 3 reference
emo blue hair, copies skill cards, futabas nickname 😭😭
As someone who payed Persona 3 even before many people knew about the franchise or SMT, I still think P3P is by far the best version. It is the most complete and with the most replay time. I lost count on how many times in beat it in my old PSP.
How is it mpst complete when it is missing cutscenes, 3d world and the epilogue? It's the least complete
i think the best version if you want to start persona series would be P4 ,after done with P4 hopefully you will build enough love for the series to endure some of P3 "flaws" ,..imo P5 best save for last ,P5 gameplay get improved so much it might negatively affect your experience for previous games (like p4 dungeon/p3 gameplay)..after that go ahead for pre p3 games
I couldn't find P3F on the playstation store. I wonder if steam has it?
Persona 3 FES is only on PS2 and PS3. For the PS3, the game is on the PS3's PlayStation Store and sold at cheap price. Just so you know, the game is the same as the PS2 version. If you want to play on PC, emulation is the only way.
I still don't get why they remastered Portable only to remake the original almost imediately
Most likely to make up for no FeMC in Reload
Basically a crumb for the FeMC fans I guess
I assume it was their way of having a reason to not remake femc stuff because it's right there
money, hence why remastered is such a sh*t port of the game
also why they won't bring back FES or any original version, atlus loves their low effort rereleases that break their games more
it not remake it remaster whit 70 price tag whittout the Fmc greedy
Im still currently playing P3P and I may have fumbled some social links (I think) but im really loving it because yknow portability. Alongside im playing P4Golden too but not much as I want to beat P3P as my first persona game and also going somewhat partial blind.
Reload ftw~!
I... REALLY hope Reload's Answer DLC is more forgiving than the ps2 version...
Man, I can´t wait for that persona 4 video
Great video :). Thanks for including the section regarding mods. Is FES still available on the PS3 store? (I don't own a PS4 or PS5, but I do own a PC). Guess I could just emulate FES?
It’s still available on the PS3 store. It’s $9.99.
@@CoastalSpark23 Thanks :)
@@Scout-Fanfiction Are you in the US or EU region, If yes, then the game is on PS3 store. If not, then no.
@@player2-lightwater914 Good to know, thanks :).
Reload. Obviously.
It’s a generational improvement in almost every way, and any nitpicks are far offset by those vast improvements. Don’t let nostalgia fool you. I wouldn’t ever recommend the older versions to a newcomer anymore, just play Reload.
That was AWESOME
When can we expect the vid on P4? I'm currently working through p3 reloaded, and wanna head to 4 next. I have P4 for Ps2, and Golden for vita, so just wanna know what to expect based off a vid like this. Thanks.
Thanks for the info bro
Fun Fact not mentioned in this video: In vanilla P3, buying stuffs from Tanaka took up an entire day like Hermit SL.
That's not true.
Excellent video
Ive never played any version (or any Persona) of P3 ever and just started a few days ago with P3R, guess I'll check P3FES and then P3P after watching this lmao
I thought I knew a lot about P3 until watching this video. Nice job!
Just what I was looking for.
Man, I almost missed this video because of different branding.
I played the updated PS2 version, the PSP version, and reload.
The extra Chidori scene and new outfits weren't in the original?
In the PSP version I made the mistake of bringing a tired party with me. What gives? If the leader is okay the rest of the part should be okay too and I wasn't that overpowered compared to the party at the time either. Did my party seriously not rest when I did? At least they don't leave Tartarus in the PSP.
Tanaka can skip the final boss? He really is the Devil.
Tanaka: Nyx, I'll give you 40,000 yen so f**k off.
Portable feels naked without the 3D world.
10:19 I don't think Vincent hangs out at this bar unless he goes to a different one every so often. I think I only found out about this because I randomly found out about this information online.
10:46 This is a change I like. It gives me a reason to go to Tartarus once I finish the floors instead of waiting around for another full moon. I remember my sis complaining about one of the missing people because she had to cover a wide range of floors to find them. It's not really a big deal since Fuuka will tell you if they are on the current floor and I think she also tells you if they are above or below you (unless that was only in Reload). I think they always show up on the same floor too so you can always look it up if you don't want to search yourself. I noticed in Reload they also warn you on the last day when you can save someone. I don't know if Portable does this.
My sis has a friend who sucks at this game. For some reason she wasted all her plumes of dusk and kind of screwed herself over since she was under-leveled against bosses. Did she not go to Tartarus?
12:58 Wait that's a thing?
I didn't realize not hanging ut with someone for a while can reverse Social links.
14:05 It's been a while but do you not really get the option to choose who you want to hang out with? You had to blindly guess if more than one person will call you. I think I had to reset when I didn't realize another person was going to call me and I already chose the first person who called me. In Reload all the people who want to hang out with you text you and you can choose who to hang out with later or just pass entirely. I think Persona 5 had a similar mechanic.
15:14 Full Restory?
16:13 Party members can just take money?
20:20 I think I do recall Fuuka calling Theo a she when you fight him. The funny thing is that if you fight Elizabeth in the original, Fuuka will still say her starting line even if she isn't in the party yet. I guess the game didn't realize you can fight Elizabeth while Mitsuru was still providing support instead of Fuuka.
24:48 I hate this change. I can't believe Kashiwagi doesn't appear either even though she was in portable.
24:59 I didn't know he smoked. Edogawa also sounds more creepy in Reload. It is nice not having to worry about fatigue anymore.
30:03 You can also use Fuuka's ability to hide from Golden enemies and easily hit them.
33:17 A welcome change. I hate having to sacrifice defense to look good.
33:29 I never had this issue since I escape before the Reaper shows up. I think he shows up faster in dark rooms but I was able to get out.
33:35 I miss the Kendo sport :(.
35:41 I quickly became overpowered because of using the Rarity Fortune. For most of the game enemies were usually too scared to fight me. I consider the Safety Fortune a waste of money since you should not have issues encountering the Reaper unless you are on dark floors which don't happen that often.
40:30 120 FPS isn't necessary and is kind of overkill.
In the mod the female protagonist's face does sometimes look a little bit like the male character which is weird.
Welp time to forget about irl for 45 mins and get a granular understanding of each version of P3. c;
3:37 Uh, what?
The OG opening is still in FES too.
That was not what was being referred to. An alternate opening in the Original exists, it's one of the trailers for the game at the time.
I'm starting with P5 Royal on my phone ¿Is it a good starting point?
If we're talking about the better audio quality for P3P go with the original release of P3P since the audio quality is much better than the remastered version of P3P due to the audio quality getting worse.
6:31 wait can you still purchase on the PS3 store?...
@@jesusarmandocontreras2742 nah bro
@@Pneuhmonia Persona 3 FES on the PS3 store is still there. It's only on the US and EU region though. Outside of those, then it's nah.
So Persona 3 Reload appears to be the overall best version, but it omits a whole DLC - Episode Aegis - that is only available via the purchase of Persona 3 Portable, correct? Only have access to the PS5, so the original and FES are not applicable to me.
29:10 do you mean they don’t baton pass? Straga is capable of doing that and it’s explained that they do it because they’re persona users
As someone who has played all of them (I played the original when I was a kid though), just play P3 reload. I have been spoiled by modern graphics so I'm just gonna say that the modern aesthetic and music appeals to me more than the old PS2 era graphics.
I was the same way. Persona 4 golden was my first persona game..and when I first started it was a bit jarring getting used to the (by today’s standards) dated graphics. But after playing nearly 200 hours, as I reach the conclusion of the game, I have to say I prefer the old graphic/art style of the games before p5r and p3r.
I feel like the only person alive where modern graphics hurt my eyes and are too overwhelming. I have to play PS3 and under or my head will split open.
What track is playing at 18:30?
When the moon reaching out stars
paulownia mall
I’ve gotten this idea of purchasing a PSP recently stuck In my mind and I have a PS5 I’ve never played a persona game in my life it’s all a matter of good graphics or being able to take it with me and accommodate my ever day life 😭 man this is a hard decision
3:35 "There is also a new opening, but the secondary opening was removed."
Incorrect, because waiting in the menu for about 15 seconds would play the original opening, as a sort-of secret.
It's correct. There is a secondary opening for the original that's not present in FES. It's actually the trailer of the original. And can be modded back into FES nowadays.
ruclips.net/video/T85-Obx9iE8/видео.htmlfeature=shared it should look something along these lines.
12:58 i played the entire game and half of new game plus not knowing that…
Currently playing Persona 3 FES, I absolutely love it
On PS2, PS3 or PC emulation?
@@player2-lightwater914 ps2
If they don't release FES physically available and packed with Reload, personally I won't bother, since I already keep an unplayed FES Limited Edition on my shelf. I don't get why they don't release complete versions from the start.
PS4 and PS5 can't play PS2 games
@@player2-lightwater914 What's your point? There are tons of ways you can play a PS2 game. If you're gonna release it for newer consoles, release it complete content-wise and on-disc.
@@TheMoviesCult The only way to play a PS2 game non-natively is either on PS3 digitally from PS Store, via older PS3 consoles that can read PS2 disc or alternatively, emulation on PC. If you are expecting P3FES to be playable on PS4/PS5, then I'm here to tell you it's not possible as the consoles are not designed to play PS2 games. Not even PS1 games. If it had, Atlus would have rerelease the digital copy of the game on PS4/PS5 store like they did with PS3 store.
In case you didn't know about why The Answer wasn't release on Reload base game like P3FES, Altus had a time constraint to meet the deadline for the release date. It was only the game made shit load of money that they are given the greenlight to make The Answer as DLC. As for FeMC, same reason like The Answer. Not only to meet the deadline, it's also time consuming more so than The Answer. The re-release of P3P on modern consoles is for newcomers to play her route as a compensation.
@@player2-lightwater914 I am aware of those facts, still doesn't change my point. Exactly, you can play on PS2/PS3 or emulated on PC, it's not that difficult. I personally have all my old consoles connected.
The reason why the full content wasn't included doesn't matter to gamers. It's like saying the Cyberpunk 2077 was released buggy due to time constraints. Of course it was! Even if we trust that Atlus didn't wanna squeeze more money with DLC added later on, that's still not an excuse.
7:31- 7:38
WHY DID I LAUGH SO HARD AT THIS???? 😭😭😭
It does sound lewd.
*me playing P3P*
Me: oh shit i got a cursed card,
Welp time to run to the next floor
*Me if i play P3R*
Me: ok just like in P3P
33:27
*Reaper proceeds to follow me up to the next floor*
Me: SINCE WHEN TF CAN YOU DO THAT?????
PLEASE ATLUS ADD FEMC END RELOAD WITH THAT I SWEAR,ALSO WEAPON TYPES OPTIONS LIKE FES,MAKE IT THE BEST,TAKE MY MONEY
Reload just seems like the definitive way to experience the game with all the improvements to the gameplay and graphics. Even the music people say is worse just sounds great to me, and I say this as someone who beat FES.
8:34
If they said no he was ready to shoot himself.