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You really nailed it with the title. “One Step Forward, One Step Back” is probably the perfect way to describe P3P in my opinion. It makes a lot of good changes, but also makes a lot of less good or negligible changes, so they all cancel each other out and make an experience that isn’t noticeably better or worse than the original, it’s just... different.
The fact is FeMC being cheerful and optimistic is actually much concerning for me rather than being isolated. I mean, it kinda shows that they both are depressed and not really concerned by death since they have the same prologue (they acted uncaring despite everything around them transmogrified and all bloody). Rather than gathering new pieces of life puzzles like the MC did, FeMC is more rearranging the broken pieces of her life that she once had.
Also, one thing I do like about FeMC route is what it does for Ken and Koromaru, more specifically, fleshes out why they are paired together in Ultimax. See, When Ken moved, Koromaru wanted to move with him, turned out that out of everyone in SEES, Koromaru liked Ken the most due to one key thing. They both wanted to be seen by SEES as equals, but ultimately, even though they do get closer to that at the end of their arcs, are still seen as a child and a literal dog, but they saw each other as equals due to their past and what goals they shared.
I acknowledge that P3P has tonal dissonance. However, I think the thing to understand here is that the main theme of the game changed. The main theme shifts from death as an inevitability to the idea of change, or more specifically, the butterfly effect. Even if two people go towards the same goal their journeys will be different, the same destination with different journeys. So although both protagonists will inevitably reach the same ending, the differences along the way are what matter. This is why having Shinjiro's watch matters. Yes, he will one day die, that's inevitable, but his death doesn't need to be October 4th. The who, what, where, when, why, and how how of a death can all be changed by circumstance, and the circumstances will change based off the experiences a person has. In the male route the circumstances don't align in a way to help Shinjiro. In the female route, the leader of SEES spends time with him, and gets to know him, he makes a comment about his watch during one of these times he is with SEES leader, and that person does a minor good deed to return the watch, this saves him through a domino effect. Even if two people start and end at the same place, what they do in between those two points can change everything, that is what the theme of the game is to me. Death will be inevitable, this will always be true, but before you die you can change the world, and your changes to the world can effect everything. That's what Persona 3 portable means, at least to me.
Kotone being more positive and optimistic is because she's faking. Makoto handles his depression by being isolated. Kotone fakes being happy to hide her depression. Naturally this changes as she starts to overcome it as she gets friends but that's why she's the way she is. Also, I think a big difference to why most people are okay with Chidori being alive as compared to Shinjiro is basically what you said. Shinjiro affects the entire cast, whereas Chidori really only affects Junpei. Shinjiro surviving completely alters how everyone grows. Chidori, regardless of surviving or dying, inspires Junpei to continue staying strong in the end.
@@0MujaKina0 What if i told you that they'll retcon the FES Answer and make it non-canon because Junpei is referencing Chidori in P4Ultimax which means she's still alive. (FES says Chidori is dead) and now that you think about it, it gives purpose to them being alive. Chidori being alive means The Answer can be retconned and Shinjiro being alive for a potential better story or character development for him. Edit: It's ReTcon. Sorry my bad
*clears throat* Hey man, I don't know what you're talking about with the Maiko s. link . I mean, its not like atlus would let you do anything weird with a grade schooler while you yourself are playing as a high school kid. Anyway, I'm gonna go play Femc in P3P, I'm almost finished with Ken's social link, I wonder where it will go?
@@CereDulce37 that’s extra writing that only appeals to a very small number of people that will buy it regardless if that gets added or not, or not but it even if it gets added because there are people who beg for things like that even in games they won’t play. It’s a bit unfortunate sure, but it likely won’t happen for a long time if at all.
Shinjiro's arc in FeMC's route is pure pain. He finally starts to open up to someone, ends up nearly dying and falling into a coma, wakes up months later just in time to have a final moment with her before she dies.
@@sapphicjade6375 You can have a persona with Enduring Soul equipped before facing the real Nyx and it’ll do nothing. Great Seal transcends persona skills both in power and consequence.
I played FES first and Portable second and I completely agree that doing that is the better way to experience this game. The themes of death and depression are done insanely well in the original game and I do think it's better to experience the story that way. But I also absolutely adore the FemC route. As someone who copes with depression by using false cheeriness, I related to the female protagonist a lot more. I also absolutely love her social links and I feel like Shinji's was needed. Even though it feels like a cop out, the idea of him waking up only to realize that his loved one (or dear friend) passed away while also knowing he's going to die soon due to the drugs he took is a very interestingly morbid idea. But damn I love your videos. Keep up the good work. Thanks for putting in so much time and hard work with these.
Not just Shinji, who is much better than Makoto’s Moon link. I think she has the better Magician, Chariot, and Hermit links (her Hermit link is one of my personal favorites in all of Persona).
@@Mojo1356 Right?!?! I agree. Her hermit link is phenomenal. There are a lot of forgettable social links in persona games but that is definitely not one of them
@@happylilguy1827 I love a lot of social links in Persona, but Makoto had a lot of duds in 3 (while FeMC has the best Moon social link, Makoto has the worst moon social link by far, and he’s also one of my least favorite links in all of Persona)
@@Mojo1356 true. I went out of my way to try to finish his social link and it was so disappointing. I guess if anything, his lack of change is pretty human but also pretty underwhelming. And I missed out on some really good links the first time because of that:/
@@happylilguy1827 also, while I prefer to play Portable for multiple reasons (between being able to control multiple party members, FeMC and her social links, no more forced harem, and no stupid jealousy system, I find Portable to generally be a more comfortable experience), I can understand why one would say it’s better to play FES first. It makes it all the easier to appreciate the large number of quality of life updates.
I'm glad that you decided to give FeMC a fair critique, rather than writing her off as "ruining P3". As you said, it's an alternative experience. Especially since, to me, FeMC is the most maligned protagonist for Persona. It feels you'd see more hearsay on the internet about her, than what the game actually provides.
Too many people seem to focus on how she can change the fate of a certain character, and that supposedly ruins the game's story. Personally, she's my favorite Persona protagonist. She's the only one, outside of Persona 2's protagonists, who actually feels like a character. Really wish more Persona games had the option to play as a female protagonist, some Social Links feel really weird when playing a character of the opposite gender.
@@CrystalTikal Same! She has so much more of a personality than the other protagonists, and as a woman, it's a lot easier for me to put myself in her shoes when it comes to social links.
@@CrystalTikal I kinda disagree there. P3MC’s definitely his own character despite being somewhat of self insert is definitely his own character. Through how acts and how most of his friends describe him, you can peace together that he’s an emo, with how often the game can make you choose the path of indifference towards most dialogue options, and the Q games translate that perfectly with how bored or uninterested he naturally seems. Narukami and Joker are the same as well.
Sometimes I just choose to pretend Ken's latter half of his Social Link doesn't exist because then I have to deal with the fact an entire group of people looked at that and went "yeah no that's okay put it in" Shame too, I actually really like Ken's character
The first half actually made me care for Ken a lot. Thankfully, the pedophelia route is optional with Ken unlike romancing in all console versions of 3.
@@emarceeqem4715 5?!?! I can see where people come from for Futaba even though I don’t really agree, but who the hell are the other 4?!?? Edit: oh- By overaged you mean adults. Well, there’s the fortune teller, the reporter, the doctor, you own teacher (the only monumentally major red flag of the group, though not as big as Ken)... whose the 5th one?
@@Mojo1356 I miscounted. But was close. Also saying Kawakami is the only red flag is basically like saying "Well *this* pedophile is bad, but these other three pedophiles are okay." Um... no?!
@@emarceeqem4715 I said major red flag- not only red flag. While dating the other 3 adults is wrong, the bad ethnicity from that can’t compare to dating your own teacher or going pedophile (the latter 2 are at least 10 times more of a red flag than the former 3)
I just started the video at the time of making this comment, but I just wanna say that I bought P3P SOLELY because I can control my party members. When it comes to turn-based RPG games, I prefer to be in as much control of my team as possible.
I also loved Saori's SL route, and I think it was one of the first I finished. I never ended up playing the male protagonist's route but I agree that no experience is better then the other. Although, femc's optimism (whether in fear of death or way of expressing her issues) is a breath of fresh air throughout the story and personally never felt too out of place
I have finished p3p last month and i will say that i enjoyed it immensely, my only complaint was the lack of cutscenes but above all, it's my favorite persona game so far
Another incredibly well done video. That last line really got to me: Persona 3 has many flaws but the things it does right feel amazing to me. I personally would pick up Portable as well since I really enjoy the replayability of this version, but some of the features make me wish I was playing FES instead haha. One thing I wish you had talked about was Theo. He isn't a social link or really all the major but he is so different from Elizabeth personality wise and is exclusive to Kotone I figured it would have been worth talking about. Either way, I'm looking forward to more of your future videos.
Agreed, he is in the middle of being an unknown character and a well known one. For those not fortunate enough to play P3P and just jumped over to PQ1 & 2, they'll start scratching their heads thinking Theo is an OC on that game. But lore wise, i think theo is canon, but Kotone is Semi-Canon
@@ignaciojohnjoy Oh Theo is definitely canon! He makes an appearance in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. He is one of my favorite Velvet Attendants. Margaret sends him on a quest for some cola or something.
@@Tralissel oh yeah, i forgot about that, hahaha, but honestly like i mentioned can't blame people for not knowing him. In some parts he is better than Elizabeth, he's a gentleman, but there's just a wierd charm to Elizabeth being weird.
@@ignaciojohnjoy Yeah, he still doesn't have a major role in any game so far and some people probably don't think of him as canon. Theo and Elizabeth are my favorite attendants, they have the most interesting personalities to me.
@@Tralissel Same here, we only know Margaret as the eldest sibling and our interactions with her are just her compliments on the Emperess Arcana in P4 and Lavenza for me is just setting up Ken Romance vibes for me.
I wonder if they wanted to have another proper go of making “Maya” as a protag as a regret how they did in P2. That might be why she clashes with P3’s theme with that as a focus to soften the blow.
As someone that has played P3 FES 3 times and P3P two times, I would definitely say this version is worth it. There's a lot of QOL changes that make this less stressful, as well as additional scenes and social links exclusive to the female protagonist. Has some flaws, especially the downgrade of cut scenes from FES. If you can't get a hold of the FES version, this is still a good version of the game to play, not to mention you can easily emulate it on your phone.
I love P3P, and the lack of cutscenes rarely ever effected my enjoyment, with one big exception. The final scene where SEES remember the protagonist really suffers in P3P, so much so, that I'd recommend using a guide to tell when to watch the scene online.
I agree and disagree with a lot of the points made in the video. Kens social link went really weird and yeah he is the one developing a crush and nothing really happens with him but I would have preferred for it to be just friendship just like Junpei. Now as for Shinji, nope I will never agree that his death is NECCESSARY for the plot. Both Aki and definitely Ken already change a lot during the scene with Takaya even before Shinji gets shot. The shock alone s enough to completely alter Kens perspective on Shinji and Aki still loses his best friend to a coma state. But apparently that not tragic enough for the people here who never had a close family member be in such a state. Now another thing no one really ever mentions but is understood in japanese culture is that watches as gifts or presents have a certain significants in japanese society. Normally you don't give someone a watch because in their culture it stands for 'the time running out' and therefore they are a rather unusual thing to give to someone. It is the reason Shinji was so surprised about the FeMC finding his watch and why it was so significant that he actually gifted her a clock back. They both gifted each other a symbol of death but as it turns out it is that item is what saves Shinjis life. Now why do I say that is important? Because it basically says instead of their time running out they actually gifted each other some more time. Shinji in preventing his death and the FeMC probably a longer life too, because if you pay close attention to how the ending of OG P3 is read and how P3Ps ending sounds, the FeMC route seems to have a lack of 'you are feeling tired'... 'Your body feels tired' which very much exists in the male route of FES. Now I never played the male route on P3P but it could be that due to them sharing their lifetimes they increased each others lifespan. Of course that is just my personal theory, but it holds true from what I know of japanese culture. If you think thats cheesy or defeats the games message, fair, but I think the FeMCs route isn't about giving up but about giving life and instead giving light to those around you while you still have the chance. And if I play P3P I will do exactly that. I rest my case.
Plus the way Shinji died in the first place was ludicrous. He was still alive for a little while after the gunshot, so he definitely could have been healed by one the SEES members. They ignore this for some reason and when he dies, it just loses some of its impact as they could have easily saved him. But now, Shinji lives something that has no chance of killing, and is in a coma that can’t simply be healed. It’s quite a bit better than the original route
I feel that if you want to fully experience P3 it’s better to play through FES as the Male MC, then play through Portable as FEMC. It’s a shame P3 never got a definitive version like P4 and P5 did.
I'm ok with shinji surviving in the FeMC timeline, because the social link made me fall in love with him. I understand why you don't like it tho. Minako's happy demeanour is very put on, in comparison to Minato not making any effort to hide his depression, she hides it behind her smile.
The biggest issue I have with Portable is the missing anime cutscenes. The visual novel aspects I don't mind too much because P3P was the way that I first experienced Persona 3, so I don't mind it too much, but after playing FES the lack of FMVs just makes the game feel empty.
plus I think that having 3D models and environments with the visual novel aspects of this game just adds to it and doesn't take anything away makes a lot of scenes have a bigger impact also let's admit the Animated scenes do a lot as well.
@@CBman11037 I would argue it enhances the themes of the game. P4 would do more with the idea of making bonds with the time you have. but a big reason p3s messaging around death hits so hard is that you just spent 60 hours forming those bonds. By creating a path for Shinji to live you double down on this theme, and the game then argues that the only thing that can beat death is your bonds. and that is exactly how the game ends, with your bonds helping you achieve the feat thought imposable, to beat death. the theme of the game would be more accurate described as "You will die, but you will be survived by your bonds"
@@fluxk7506 yeah because even in death or if it's delayed, it means a bond can work wonders. Like how the ending of the game worked because even if it's death, at least there are friends to worry about(idk how to say this without spoilers)
I think Minako (it's just what I end up called Kotone/FeMC)'s way of dealing with her depression is completely fine, it's just another way one deals with it. If Persona 3 is to ever be re-released, I do hope that it's using Portable's foundation. Though maybe also add more animated cutscenes for her and the like.
I am so used to calling her Minako, that it is weird hearing her be called anything else. This is actually the very first time I have ever heard her called Kotone. I guess I will have to get used to it.
Great video as always! I'm wondering, are you interested in covering the spin offs? (Arena , Dancing, Q, and Strikers when it releases) I know these are way different gameplay wise and are a mixed bag but it would be cool to see your opinions on them!
Yep! I’ve already planned out how I want to tackle the spin-off games on this channel. Not every game is going to get its own individual video, but I will be covering them
@@NamsCompendium but will you give the fighting game a fighting chance? And not just simply speedrun the story and cut n run? Heads up. You don't need to buy p4a. Its entire story mode can be purchased as a dlc ad on for p4U. No need to waste money on vanilla just to check out a story mode.
I didn't even know that was possible in this game and I have it... Ken is literally like 10-12 during this game's timeline 'cuz he's 13 canonically in Persona 4 Arena. What. The. F-ck. Atlus.
Personally, I see it as just Minako/Kotone spending time with him and Ken just develops something of an innocent crush on her while she sees him as more of a younger brother.
@@DezuFuck no cause that would be too harsh to the 2nd female protagonist. Just ignore the weird part of he’s social link and he’s still a fine character.
@MCspanky Panky the main difference is definitely some the gameplay changes like controlling a circle instead of the character avatar when you move around places besides Tartarus.
@@alleosussquirt8041 there’s also the fact that the stupid jealousy system and forced harem shit are completely gone in Portable, which makes completing social links in Portable a monumentally more comfortable experience.
About Junpei rejection for Kotone, i feel that is more like "give me more time to sort my feeling" after the Chidori died and perpare for the battle with Nyx. He will give her the answer when he ready
@@b0ne_fiend is he? He attacks sees and yes its to show them that they have no chance of winning but blowing up a bridge really doesnt fit with ryojis kind personality
Love these videos, man. Specially as a fan who recently got into Persona. These are the videos I've been looking for. Binged all your Persona videos in the last week 😁
I'd say the tone for FeMC being cheery to contrast the Male protag's tone is mostly for the perspective, while some can be quite and depressed about death, some have already accepted it, and are happy in life. But that doesn't mean they aren't done, the Journey for the female protag, to me, feels like she's accepted her mortality and is therefore more outgoing towards others, helping them with their struggles, already willing to die on a moment's notice for them because she already embraced death, the male character instead tries to find the meaning to life, hence why The Journey is called that, he's going through existentialism and keeps himself reserved, while the female isn't like that, she just seems to be already over it, like a fool at the end of her journey (like the numbers on her hair pins) Also Makoto's route tones in game may be dark and gloomy, and Minako's route tones in game are more cheery and outgoing, they're both in the end dead, but one just accepts it sooner than the other, that's my take on why she's more cheerful and outgoing. (because men can be cheery and women can be gloomy too)
They really need to make a version that includes everything from FES AND Portable.. I want to play Persona 3 but I feel like no matter which version I play, I miss out on essential things..
Fun fact for those who don't know: P3P allows you to choose who you meet on the rooftop as Minato. It's not locked to Aigis. If you're like me, and chose Yukari as the favored love interest, having her be there ads another layer to her freakout in The Answer.
I recently bought a ps Vita and I’m planning on buying p4 Golden and p3 portable before the store closes . I loved persona 5 looking forward to playing 3
"Akihiko acts as if his growth and realization was due to the social link rather than the actual story" (paraphrased) This highlights my semi-disappointment with the party member's story arcs in 4 & 5 tbh... In these two games since having social links for every party member has become the norm, it feels like too much primary character development gets crammed into them rather than being supplementary like they are in P3. But since they're optional content this development never bleeds into the main story which is a little disappointing. Narratively I love how each main character had a full arc within the main story of 3, culminating in the awakening of their ultimate persona as those arcs came to a head. That this development is optional (as showcased by the ultimate personas being locked behind rank 10 social links rather than plot progression), it feels like each character in the Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves have a mini arc during their focus dungeon then just kinda stagnate afterwards for the most part while the interesting developments are hidden away .
The cheerful personality that Kotone has, I always took as a coping device for depression. "Fake til you make" if you will. I for the longest time did this. You would never think I was depressed. Even alone, I refused to let go of the perky mask. So I related to the happiness the character showed. You'll pry never read this, but I wanted to give you a different perspective of why her personality seemed so happy when Makoto seems so depressed. They are both versions of depression.
I'm glad you took a little time to bring up the music of the game it's very enjoyable! I did miss hearing your opinion on Theo. Personally I think he's an interesting foil to Elizabeth in a way that I wasn't expecting. I don't know the difference with Elizabeth directly as Femc since I didn't choose to go with her, but it's just interesting to see how differently the two protags interact with their attendants.
The interesting thing for me was that a friend and I were both playing it around the same time and I was playing the female mc and he was playing the male. By the time we beat the game it’d get brought up occasionally and sometimes one of us would reference something and the other wouldn’t have any idea what we were talking about. It didn’t happen super often but it was nice they bothered to make those little changes as frequently as they did.
It's only difficult by how much they managed to screw up how progression worked They took a game that had like 6-7h worth of content and tried to add a bunch of padding to make it hit that 10h mark without even varying how you explore dungeons since most of the layouts repeat multiple times
It's stupid. Problem 1. Long ass dungeons and zero down time. Not fun. Problem 2. No compendium, so you're forced to work with whatever you find and kinda play fast and loose. Problem 3. Fake difficulty, early on you'll fight enemies weak to ice despite mitsuru not being available and most persons at the time won't give u bufu. No weakness having big health baring fuckers with, no joke, instakill moves. Bosses with no weakness. Enemies who start to have null or reflect physical or magical, have massive health bars and will have "evade" skills for their weakness. You'll start to fight enemies that operate on super boss logic if you cast magic mirror they'll infinitely cast megidoloan. Exp gain is still a drip feed like normal p3. No new game plus so you could revisit for fun but fully decked out, stat boosters are rarer to get your hands on so you won't be able to beef up a persona to a reasonable degree. You'll become reliant on humuculus to avoid a "lol random hama". The final set of bosses are cool but getting to them is dog shit and I had party control+free persona switching. So if I think it was just sucky, Yknow I mean it
I actually prefer FES’s combat, for me, predicting your party’s actions was just part of the fun; the AI generally won’t behave optimal, but they are quite predictable. The thing that got me to enjoy it was realizing that I can actually check turn order (missed that for half of my first play through). It’s also the only game where I like being able to instantly switch personas, the trade off was less control over your party, but the MC has a party worth of skills to choose from.
Honestly, it’s because it’s a crapshoot that I don’t like it, I’ve gotten game overs a few times because some characters like Mitsuru have such incompetent AI.
to be fair, even if Chidori revival being canon, it wouldn't be that bad. sure you can say "but it would ruined that moments and wouldn't fits the game theme" which i completely agree wholeheartedly, but for me seeing Chidori revival is like some hopeful moments in the dire setting of persona 3. like sure we are going to die someday so live your life to the fullest, but it wouldn't be wrong to hope for some miracle to happen. besides from my limited knowledge and view on literature, i do think that Chidori was written to interact with Junpei specifically AND her death doesn't exactly affect the plot nor the whole cast so i don't think it is as bad as Shinji not dead.
I completely agree with you in regards to Saori's social link the degree of which it goes from bad to worse in terms of the amount of stuff she goes through is... just astonishing. But it also reinforces the idea that Kotone has a profound impact on her and that's on reccurring element with her character throughout the entire game IMO.
Saori’s route reminds me of this one Japanese movie where the girl was also a punching bag and the world stepped on her because of it. I hated it, it was pure misery porn.
I think Saori's Social Link is also underappreciated because she's a fairly down to earth SL that replaces the previous Hermit, which was the fan favorite wacky Maya. I was disappointed when I found out the female protagonist wouldn't have Maya, and that just reduces Ms. Toriumi's role in the game by that much.
Unpopular opinion: Persona 3 Portable is the best version of P3 and what it adds to the gameplay and content more than makes up for what they had to scale back
You know, after watching this video, I can see why Atlus decided to make a port of P3P instead of FES. Sure there's no animations still during cut scenes, but being able to control your party members, the differences between the male and female routes, ALL of the music, and so much more makes this game. at least in my eyes, a pretty "Definitive" version of P3 as a whole.
My first playthrough of P3 was on the Femc route, because I couldn’t stand not having social links with half of the party members. I played the male protagonist route afterwards, and yeah I agree, Minato fits the themes much better than Kotone, but I don’t think she ruins the story. Playing as one protagonist or the other won’t affect the essence of the story in my opinion, which is the way death is perceived by humans
I highly agree they should've killed Shinji off in Kotone's route. I guess they kept him in a coma for the fanservice on NG+. I didn't really care much about his death in the original P3 since we didn't get to know him well, so if they kept his original fate with Kotone's route, his death definitely would've wrecked me more. It also would've been interesting since the secret romance option happens two days before that full moon operation.
Junpei also gets added development in the main story too when in the female route, because there's an added level of sexism/toxic masculinity where he can't accept that he was passed over as leader in favor of a girl. He makes constant remarks like "but she's a girl!" and "even though I'm the only guy here", but eventually comes to terms with it and apologizes for being a prick.
Pretty good review. As someone who played P3P back in the day but still picked the male protag route, this was a good watch. But after playing P3P and then later Personas, the lack of party member direct control in the PS2 P3s ensures that I just cannot possibly go back to those. Sure, P3P has its own weaknesses, but I'm of the "a game should not be a chore" camp and P3P understands this well.
I like Junpei's social link the most for FeMC. Because not all female and male interaction leads to romantic interests. The friendship between Kotone and Junpei felt so real. I continues to seek that kind of relationship in later Persona games, but it doesn't really happen again. It's really a shame. I like stirkers a lot because there's a main party playable character that's older. Persona in general doesn't really expand male and female relationship beyond these three, Daughter, Sister, Lover.
Portable has some worthwhile additions primarily the female MC. Party control is subjective I feel, but nice for those who really couldn't stand the system in vanilla 3 and FES. I personally enjoy it a lot, the cast in Persona 3 take awhile to get close and spend a lot of time in their own groups or doing their own hobbies and only over time do they start doing things with each other. The command system and not having party control felt to complement the writing and story and gaining new commands felt as though it was a natural progression reward for the party getting closer. It became very fun to use and understanding how the AI would react to my actions or the state of battle, made me actually feel like a leader trying to comprehend how my teammates would react to an obstacle and directing them to success. Due to the many things they had to strip or scale down for the sake of the PSP hardware, is enough for me to not be in the camp who want them to use Portable as the basis for a potential Persona 3 remaster. Even though people may not like it, The Answer is a very important chunk of the overall narative of Persona 3. Also, many aspects of the presentation aren't on par with FES thus the female MC does not have many assets that would match the quality of the male MC throughout The Journey and of course The Answer which would mean these would have to be made or skipped. If they didn't want to touch up Portable, I think my ideal Persona 3 remaster would be a bundle of FES and Portable and choosing which one you want in the menu. Portable is a fine version, but certainly not the definitive version nor superior nor a replacement to FES.
Honestly, I found that AI controlled party members were just a big crapshoot in FES. While they usually do what I want them to, I’ve had some characters like Mitsuru make bad choices more times than I like (Mitsuru sucks in console 3 being frank because of her poor AI, but in Portable, she’s easily the best party member after the MC). I’m not about to argue FES having much better presentation than Portable, but where Makoto in FES excels in presentation, I think FeMC excels in social links. Makoto has a number of dud social links imho (I really don’t like his magician, hierophant and star arcanas. I also despise his moon arcana. His fortune arcana is just okay.), and while FeMC shares his hierophant arcana, I think all of her new links are vastly superior to Makoto’s links (barring the fact that you can go pedophile on Ken). In fact, FeMC’s hermit arcana is among my top 3 social links in all of Persona. It’s because of FeMC’s social links that I can’t say there is no value in picking her route over Makoto’s FES route. It’s also because of FES’s glaring issues (not just party members that you claim to be subjective. FES still has that stupid forced harem mode from vanilla 3. As I said earlier, a lot if the links are just okay at best. Also, The Answer just sucks from a gameplay perspective. So much that it’s not worth playing through it) that I can’t say FES is better than Portable.
I know this video is a year old, but thank you so much for mentioning Ken's route. Once I realized things could take a romantic turn, I was so uncomfortable. He was the one potential love interest that I refused to take the romantic route with, but it even being an option was a huge ick factor for me.
If they add a fast forward button, and all of the quality of life changes that were implemented in P5, then it might be contender for my favorite Persona game
The Tiredness mechanic being changed is my biggest irk. at least for me. It makes me want to use the same party members over and over while before I would rotate between party members that weren't tired
FINALLY DUDE, HOW LONG DID I WAIT. AUTO LIKE Edit: I commented before watching the vid but i laughed my ass of on your reaction to the Ken Relationship Route
I think it's unfair to ignore the watches symbolism in the context of Shinjis social link. The whole situation is supposed to represent how time is limited. The watch itself represents the time we have left to live. The watch getting destroyed represents how our time on earth is subject to change by random factors we can not control. The lesson here is that we should enjoy the time we spend together because any moment could be your last time with them.
Technically you don't save shinji like you can chidori. You get an extra line of dialogue then he is gone for the rest of the game. All you do is give him his girl to see in his final mins.
I'm not too sure if anyone else agrees with me on this but if there's one gameplay change with Portable that I'm not a fan of compared to FES, it's that Makoto Yukki is 1 hand Sword locked in Portable.
The fact that P3P actually makes P3 bearable to play due to the fact that it's gameplay is not trying to be different for the sake of being different makes it my preferred version of P3. Plus I really like Femc's music
I have only ever played the Portable version, but I want to have that challenge of just using the tactics menu, no matter how good or bad it is. I think the tactics was a good idea in the fact that you have to trust the AI, and maybe with a possible PC port coming soon, I hope they revised the group support/attack skills the AI utilise, *looking at you Yukari*, or modders would do something about it themselves.
I’ve just watched the movies, and played P4G, P5R and a three dancing games and P5 scramble and I really want to play P3 as I loved the P3 movies and the characters in the dancing game too. I only have a vita and PS4 though so want to get this. Also playing as a girl sounds great, especially getting to date the dudes as I like otome games as well. It looks a bit like P4G, awesome and informative video.
Okay, it's been over a year, so I have no idea if you're going to read this...but I'm going to put my thoughts on some of your points down. 1: Shinjiro is actually pretty popular, and "our Husbando is not allowed to die," which is kind of annoying, but it's the reason that Shinjiro doesn't die when you max out Moon before you get to the point he disappears. Also, while not AS strict as Fortune and Aeon, you do have VERY limited time to finish it. 2. I agree that the "Lovers Route" between Kotone and Ken is...disgusting....There are relationships between ADULTS that have that age difference, but not between a fking Elementary School kid and a High Schooler. 3. Yeah, Kuro-chan's Social Link would've been better with animations...the pictures are too adorable though. 4. Okay, time for the real meat and potatoes. Your dislike between the tone of the game vs Kotone's personality.... Kotone is VERY different from Minato, and her outlook still actually works with the theme...you just have to think more about it. Minato is stoic, silent, almost just...plodding forward to his inevitable end. It takes until close to the end of the game for him to actually realize that he can actually trust his classmates and friends, and call them friends. That it what allows him to actually decide to save the world, and sacrifice himself. Kotone, on the other hand, is about looking forward with a positive outlook while facing the inevitability of death. She makes friends, has tons of positive interactions, and acts happy and energetic because she is happy and excited to have new friends and people to talk to...You can bet that with what happened to their family, neither Minato nor Kotone had the best childhoods. You can just ignore this if you want...or disagree with the interpretation I've seen from both myself and other fans of Kotone.
You raise some fantastic points honestly. I completely agree in regards to how Kotone's personality fits the theme, it doesn't undermine it at all if anything it makes it more tragic due to the direct effect she has on others. I'll be honest, if it hadn't been for the romance option in Ken's route I actually wouldn't have minded it as Ken having a crush on Kotone actually makes sense but to apply that in reserve is so... mind numbingly stupid I can't even think why they'd do it. Of course one major aspect of Kotones character that wasn't highlighted in this video is the fact Kotone is far more lonely than she admits and her "cheerful" personality is effectively a mask to prevent others from worrying about her which of course only amplifies how much characters like Junpei and Akihiko do.
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My FES disc is pretty much permanently fucked so I'm comin for that portable ass
Oh so You also Read The Ultimate Spider-Man Comics as well
@@tomato5049 caniiii
@@tomato5049 my only wish is that wasn't the European FES
You really nailed it with the title. “One Step Forward, One Step Back” is probably the perfect way to describe P3P in my opinion. It makes a lot of good changes, but also makes a lot of less good or negligible changes, so they all cancel each other out and make an experience that isn’t noticeably better or worse than the original, it’s just... different.
@@KimiSha what about persona 1 and the persona 2 duology thrown in there with a proper definitive version for each game?
And thus, there's no definitive edition of P3 to this day, only two versions that are better than the Vanilla one.
@@drawer29 let's be honest, as much as I love love that, Atlus is never touching Persona 1 and 2 without the original developers.
@@KimiSha Not exactly against the idea, but man, that would be probably the *biggest* possible slap in the face to P1 and P2 .
@@keeysOST hate to admit it but you're right
This is Theodore erasure
Exactly. We cant let this happen
Only room for one dog in this video.
PLEASEEE the only reason I picked up p3p instead of p3 fes first was because of theodore
Elizabeth is better though.
@@sundowner4076 Nah, Theodore superior.
The fact is FeMC being cheerful and optimistic is actually much concerning for me rather than being isolated. I mean, it kinda shows that they both are depressed and not really concerned by death since they have the same prologue (they acted uncaring despite everything around them transmogrified and all bloody). Rather than gathering new pieces of life puzzles like the MC did, FeMC is more rearranging the broken pieces of her life that she once had.
Also, one thing I do like about FeMC route is what it does for Ken and Koromaru, more specifically, fleshes out why they are paired together in Ultimax.
See, When Ken moved, Koromaru wanted to move with him, turned out that out of everyone in SEES, Koromaru liked Ken the most due to one key thing.
They both wanted to be seen by SEES as equals, but ultimately, even though they do get closer to that at the end of their arcs, are still seen as a child and a literal dog, but they saw each other as equals due to their past and what goals they shared.
True
I acknowledge that P3P has tonal dissonance. However, I think the thing to understand here is that the main theme of the game changed. The main theme shifts from death as an inevitability to the idea of change, or more specifically, the butterfly effect. Even if two people go towards the same goal their journeys will be different, the same destination with different journeys. So although both protagonists will inevitably reach the same ending, the differences along the way are what matter. This is why having Shinjiro's watch matters. Yes, he will one day die, that's inevitable, but his death doesn't need to be October 4th. The who, what, where, when, why, and how how of a death can all be changed by circumstance, and the circumstances will change based off the experiences a person has. In the male route the circumstances don't align in a way to help Shinjiro. In the female route, the leader of SEES spends time with him, and gets to know him, he makes a comment about his watch during one of these times he is with SEES leader, and that person does a minor good deed to return the watch, this saves him through a domino effect. Even if two people start and end at the same place, what they do in between those two points can change everything, that is what the theme of the game is to me. Death will be inevitable, this will always be true, but before you die you can change the world, and your changes to the world can effect everything. That's what Persona 3 portable means, at least to me.
Agreed
well put!
Very well put. I really appreciate your input.
That's beautiful
Kotone being more positive and optimistic is because she's faking. Makoto handles his depression by being isolated. Kotone fakes being happy to hide her depression. Naturally this changes as she starts to overcome it as she gets friends but that's why she's the way she is.
Also, I think a big difference to why most people are okay with Chidori being alive as compared to Shinjiro is basically what you said. Shinjiro affects the entire cast, whereas Chidori really only affects Junpei. Shinjiro surviving completely alters how everyone grows. Chidori, regardless of surviving or dying, inspires Junpei to continue staying strong in the end.
Yes...
Minako pretend to be positive and optimistic but she's not! >.>
She still upset with her parents deaths!😌
I will probably do that! >.>
Anyway! I like the way you think!😌 So smart!
Imagine if they remake The Answer and for the Fem side of The Answer you get to play as Shinjiro instead of Aigis.
@@ignaciojohnjoy
Ahhh... I don't think so....
@@0MujaKina0 What if i told you that they'll retcon the FES Answer and make it non-canon because Junpei is referencing Chidori in P4Ultimax which means she's still alive. (FES says Chidori is dead) and now that you think about it, it gives purpose to them being alive. Chidori being alive means The Answer can be retconned and Shinjiro being alive for a potential better story or character development for him.
Edit: It's ReTcon. Sorry my bad
*clears throat*
Hey man, I don't know what you're talking about with the Maiko s. link
. I mean, its not like atlus would let you do anything weird with a grade schooler while you yourself are playing as a high school kid. Anyway, I'm gonna go play Femc in P3P, I'm almost finished with Ken's social link, I wonder where it will go?
Yeah, about that...
This fucking meme will never die, huh?
And yet Atlus still wont let you date guys as a guy ...
@@CereDulce37 kinda dumb
@@CereDulce37 that’s extra writing that only appeals to a very small number of people that will buy it regardless if that gets added or not, or not but it even if it gets added because there are people who beg for things like that even in games they won’t play. It’s a bit unfortunate sure, but it likely won’t happen for a long time if at all.
Shinjiro's arc in FeMC's route is pure pain.
He finally starts to open up to someone, ends up nearly dying and falling into a coma, wakes up months later just in time to have a final moment with her before she dies.
But the femc lives I'm pretty sure, unlike the male character
@@Chesozz Great Seal still costs all of your health, so doubt it.
@@thatoneguy5343 Enduring Soul
@@sapphicjade6375 You can have a persona with Enduring Soul equipped before facing the real Nyx and it’ll do nothing. Great Seal transcends persona skills both in power and consequence.
@@Chesozz Girl really said "Nah I'd Live"
I played FES first and Portable second and I completely agree that doing that is the better way to experience this game. The themes of death and depression are done insanely well in the original game and I do think it's better to experience the story that way. But I also absolutely adore the FemC route. As someone who copes with depression by using false cheeriness, I related to the female protagonist a lot more. I also absolutely love her social links and I feel like Shinji's was needed. Even though it feels like a cop out, the idea of him waking up only to realize that his loved one (or dear friend) passed away while also knowing he's going to die soon due to the drugs he took is a very interestingly morbid idea. But damn I love your videos. Keep up the good work. Thanks for putting in so much time and hard work with these.
Not just Shinji, who is much better than Makoto’s Moon link. I think she has the better Magician, Chariot, and Hermit links (her Hermit link is one of my personal favorites in all of Persona).
@@Mojo1356 Right?!?! I agree. Her hermit link is phenomenal. There are a lot of forgettable social links in persona games but that is definitely not one of them
@@happylilguy1827 I love a lot of social links in Persona, but Makoto had a lot of duds in 3 (while FeMC has the best Moon social link, Makoto has the worst moon social link by far, and he’s also one of my least favorite links in all of Persona)
@@Mojo1356 true. I went out of my way to try to finish his social link and it was so disappointing. I guess if anything, his lack of change is pretty human but also pretty underwhelming. And I missed out on some really good links the first time because of that:/
@@happylilguy1827 also, while I prefer to play Portable for multiple reasons (between being able to control multiple party members, FeMC and her social links, no more forced harem, and no stupid jealousy system, I find Portable to generally be a more comfortable experience), I can understand why one would say it’s better to play FES first. It makes it all the easier to appreciate the large number of quality of life updates.
I'm glad that you decided to give FeMC a fair critique, rather than writing her off as "ruining P3". As you said, it's an alternative experience.
Especially since, to me, FeMC is the most maligned protagonist for Persona. It feels you'd see more hearsay on the internet about her, than what the game actually provides.
Too many people seem to focus on how she can change the fate of a certain character, and that supposedly ruins the game's story.
Personally, she's my favorite Persona protagonist. She's the only one, outside of Persona 2's protagonists, who actually feels like a character. Really wish more Persona games had the option to play as a female protagonist, some Social Links feel really weird when playing a character of the opposite gender.
@@CrystalTikal Same! She has so much more of a personality than the other protagonists, and as a woman, it's a lot easier for me to put myself in her shoes when it comes to social links.
@@CrystalTikal I kinda disagree there. P3MC’s definitely his own character despite being somewhat of self insert is definitely his own character. Through how acts and how most of his friends describe him, you can peace together that he’s an emo, with how often the game can make you choose the path of indifference towards most dialogue options, and the Q games translate that perfectly with how bored or uninterested he naturally seems.
Narukami and Joker are the same as well.
@@sundowner4076 ehhhhhhhhh narukami and joker are a bit stand in
@@sundowner4076 also I’m not sure I want a character for joker considering all the nasty stuff he can do which would make him gross
Shinji's watch clearly had Absorb Pierce in it.
Sometimes I just choose to pretend Ken's latter half of his Social Link doesn't exist because then I have to deal with the fact an entire group of people looked at that and went "yeah no that's okay put it in"
Shame too, I actually really like Ken's character
The first half actually made me care for Ken a lot. Thankfully, the pedophelia route is optional with Ken unlike romancing in all console versions of 3.
Optional... but there.
And it’s not like Atlus is doing any better in the present day, with Persona 5 providing FIVE entire overaged romance options.
@@emarceeqem4715 5?!?! I can see where people come from for Futaba even though I don’t really agree, but who the hell are the other 4?!??
Edit: oh- By overaged you mean adults. Well, there’s the fortune teller, the reporter, the doctor, you own teacher (the only monumentally major red flag of the group, though not as big as Ken)... whose the 5th one?
@@Mojo1356 I miscounted. But was close. Also saying Kawakami is the only red flag is basically like saying "Well *this* pedophile is bad, but these other three pedophiles are okay." Um... no?!
@@emarceeqem4715 I said major red flag- not only red flag. While dating the other 3 adults is wrong, the bad ethnicity from that can’t compare to dating your own teacher or going pedophile (the latter 2 are at least 10 times more of a red flag than the former 3)
I just started the video at the time of making this comment, but I just wanna say that I bought P3P SOLELY because I can control my party members. When it comes to turn-based RPG games, I prefer to be in as much control of my team as possible.
I also loved Saori's SL route, and I think it was one of the first I finished. I never ended up playing the male protagonist's route but I agree that no experience is better then the other. Although, femc's optimism (whether in fear of death or way of expressing her issues) is a breath of fresh air throughout the story and personally never felt too out of place
I have finished p3p last month and i will say that i enjoyed it immensely, my only complaint was the lack of cutscenes but above all, it's my favorite persona game so far
What type of Indiana Jones luck to keep the watch in the exact place to absorb the bullet
_Laughs in Kira Yoshikage_
_Luck has sided with Shinjiro_
Another incredibly well done video. That last line really got to me: Persona 3 has many flaws but the things it does right feel amazing to me. I personally would pick up Portable as well since I really enjoy the replayability of this version, but some of the features make me wish I was playing FES instead haha. One thing I wish you had talked about was Theo. He isn't a social link or really all the major but he is so different from Elizabeth personality wise and is exclusive to Kotone I figured it would have been worth talking about. Either way, I'm looking forward to more of your future videos.
Agreed, he is in the middle of being an unknown character and a well known one. For those not fortunate enough to play P3P and just jumped over to PQ1 & 2, they'll start scratching their heads thinking Theo is an OC on that game. But lore wise, i think theo is canon, but Kotone is Semi-Canon
@@ignaciojohnjoy Oh Theo is definitely canon! He makes an appearance in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. He is one of my favorite Velvet Attendants. Margaret sends him on a quest for some cola or something.
@@Tralissel oh yeah, i forgot about that, hahaha, but honestly like i mentioned can't blame people for not knowing him. In some parts he is better than Elizabeth, he's a gentleman, but there's just a wierd charm to Elizabeth being weird.
@@ignaciojohnjoy Yeah, he still doesn't have a major role in any game so far and some people probably don't think of him as canon. Theo and Elizabeth are my favorite attendants, they have the most interesting personalities to me.
@@Tralissel Same here, we only know Margaret as the eldest sibling and our interactions with her are just her compliments on the Emperess Arcana in P4 and Lavenza for me is just setting up Ken Romance vibes for me.
I wonder if they wanted to have another proper go of making “Maya” as a protag as a regret how they did in P2.
That might be why she clashes with P3’s theme with that as a focus to soften the blow.
As someone that has played P3 FES 3 times and P3P two times, I would definitely say this version is worth it.
There's a lot of QOL changes that make this less stressful, as well as additional scenes and social links exclusive to the female protagonist.
Has some flaws, especially the downgrade of cut scenes from FES.
If you can't get a hold of the FES version, this is still a good version of the game to play, not to mention you can easily emulate it on your phone.
I love P3P, and the lack of cutscenes rarely ever effected my enjoyment, with one big exception. The final scene where SEES remember the protagonist really suffers in P3P, so much so, that I'd recommend using a guide to tell when to watch the scene online.
Shinji's survival isn't _just_ due to the watch, but also due to the power that a rank 10 social link has to overturn fate.
Exactly, Jesus is the ultimate Persona for a reason
I mean even if you save him he will die because of the pills
I agree and disagree with a lot of the points made in the video.
Kens social link went really weird and yeah he is the one developing a crush and nothing really happens with him but I would have preferred for it to be just friendship just like Junpei.
Now as for Shinji, nope I will never agree that his death is NECCESSARY for the plot. Both Aki and definitely Ken already change a lot during the scene with Takaya even before Shinji gets shot. The shock alone s enough to completely alter Kens perspective on Shinji and Aki still loses his best friend to a coma state. But apparently that not tragic enough for the people here who never had a close family member be in such a state.
Now another thing no one really ever mentions but is understood in japanese culture is that watches as gifts or presents have a certain significants in japanese society. Normally you don't give someone a watch because in their culture it stands for 'the time running out' and therefore they are a rather unusual thing to give to someone. It is the reason Shinji was so surprised about the FeMC finding his watch and why it was so significant that he actually gifted her a clock back.
They both gifted each other a symbol of death but as it turns out it is that item is what saves Shinjis life. Now why do I say that is important? Because it basically says instead of their time running out they actually gifted each other some more time. Shinji in preventing his death and the FeMC probably a longer life too, because if you pay close attention to how the ending of OG P3 is read and how P3Ps ending sounds, the FeMC route seems to have a lack of 'you are feeling tired'... 'Your body feels tired' which very much exists in the male route of FES. Now I never played the male route on P3P but it could be that due to them sharing their lifetimes they increased each others lifespan. Of course that is just my personal theory, but it holds true from what I know of japanese culture.
If you think thats cheesy or defeats the games message, fair, but I think the FeMCs route isn't about giving up but about giving life and instead giving light to those around you while you still have the chance. And if I play P3P I will do exactly that.
I rest my case.
Plus the way Shinji died in the first place was ludicrous. He was still alive for a little while after the gunshot, so he definitely could have been healed by one the SEES members. They ignore this for some reason and when he dies, it just loses some of its impact as they could have easily saved him. But now, Shinji lives something that has no chance of killing, and is in a coma that can’t simply be healed. It’s quite a bit better than the original route
I feel that if you want to fully experience P3 it’s better to play through FES as the Male MC, then play through Portable as FEMC. It’s a shame P3 never got a definitive version like P4 and P5 did.
And the chances of it getting one is extremely low sadly.
Ohohoho 2 years later persona 3 reload
@@Reversemotion20 no femc
The most epic thing in P3 is when mitsuru doesn't use marin karin
I'm ok with shinji surviving in the FeMC timeline, because the social link made me fall in love with him. I understand why you don't like it tho.
Minako's happy demeanour is very put on, in comparison to Minato not making any effort to hide his depression, she hides it behind her smile.
That's deep.
The biggest issue I have with Portable is the missing anime cutscenes. The visual novel aspects I don't mind too much because P3P was the way that I first experienced Persona 3, so I don't mind it too much, but after playing FES the lack of FMVs just makes the game feel empty.
plus I think that having 3D models and environments with the visual novel aspects of this game just adds to it and doesn't take anything away makes a lot of scenes have a bigger impact also let's admit the Animated scenes do a lot as well.
Always a pleasure watching these videos
I find that being able to save a character that is normally meant to die can actually be a satisfying feeling in its own right.
Yes but not when it fundamentally goes against the games themes
@@CBman11037 Who needs the game's themes when you've got fan-service? 👀
@@CBman11037 I would argue it enhances the themes of the game. P4 would do more with the idea of making bonds with the time you have. but a big reason p3s messaging around death hits so hard is that you just spent 60 hours forming those bonds. By creating a path for Shinji to live you double down on this theme, and the game then argues that the only thing that can beat death is your bonds. and that is exactly how the game ends, with your bonds helping you achieve the feat thought imposable, to beat death. the theme of the game would be more accurate described as "You will die, but you will be survived by your bonds"
@@fluxk7506 yeah because even in death or if it's delayed, it means a bond can work wonders. Like how the ending of the game worked because even if it's death, at least there are friends to worry about(idk how to say this without spoilers)
16:47 The Chad Junpei vs the Virgin Teach Simp
I liked kenji
These videos seriously rock. They’re so detailed and interesting, can’t wait to watch this :)
I think Minako (it's just what I end up called Kotone/FeMC)'s way of dealing with her depression is completely fine, it's just another way one deals with it.
If Persona 3 is to ever be re-released, I do hope that it's using Portable's foundation. Though maybe also add more animated cutscenes for her and the like.
Re-re-released
Persona 3: Fesload Portable
I am so used to calling her Minako, that it is weird hearing her be called anything else. This is actually the very first time I have ever heard her called Kotone. I guess I will have to get used to it.
Great video as always! I'm wondering, are you interested in covering the spin offs? (Arena , Dancing, Q, and Strikers when it releases) I know these are way different gameplay wise and are a mixed bag but it would be cool to see your opinions on them!
Yep! I’ve already planned out how I want to tackle the spin-off games on this channel. Not every game is going to get its own individual video, but I will be covering them
@@NamsCompendium yea I do see how you would group p4a and p4au as well as pq and pq2
@@NamsCompendium but will you give the fighting game a fighting chance? And not just simply speedrun the story and cut n run?
Heads up. You don't need to buy p4a. Its entire story mode can be purchased as a dlc ad on for p4U. No need to waste money on vanilla just to check out a story mode.
This game and FES is why we all want P3 remake/Def edition
You're pretty much grooming Ken by the end of his social link lmao
I didn't even know that was possible in this game and I have it... Ken is literally like 10-12 during this game's timeline 'cuz he's 13 canonically in Persona 4 Arena. What. The. F-ck. Atlus.
So, can we agreed that Kotone is cancelled and she isn't canon?
Personally, I see it as just Minako/Kotone spending time with him and Ken just develops something of an innocent crush on her while she sees him as more of a younger brother.
@@DezuFuck no cause that would be too harsh to the 2nd female protagonist.
Just ignore the weird part of he’s social link and he’s still a fine character.
@@DezuFuck Romance is optional for FeMC. So it's the players choice to groom him
I keep forgetting how different the ps2 and psp versions are.
@MCspanky Panky the main difference is definitely some the gameplay changes like controlling a circle instead of the character avatar when you move around places besides Tartarus.
@MCspanky Panky Being able to control everybody instead of leaving them to control themselves is definitely a giant change.
@@yurikuki Everything's in a dating sim style in the psp persona too, don't forget that.
@@alleosussquirt8041 there’s also the fact that the stupid jealousy system and forced harem shit are completely gone in Portable, which makes completing social links in Portable a monumentally more comfortable experience.
About Junpei rejection for Kotone, i feel that is more like "give me more time to sort my feeling" after the Chidori died and perpare for the battle with Nyx. He will give her the answer when he ready
I recently finished it
I played the female route and now im doing new game plus male route
I couldnt put it down
I like Akihiko's romance route, he went from oblivious to sweet to NSFW if you visit his room.
On Shinji social link (+revive):Awww
Ken social link:Yikes
So basically ryoji has 2 social links now
Yeah, kinda stupid but whatcha gonna do?
It's him.
Damn it
omg king
@@b0ne_fiend is he? He attacks sees and yes its to show them that they have no chance of winning but blowing up a bridge really doesnt fit with ryojis kind personality
Now we have a definitive video about P3P here on yt
Thanks once again for making this video Nam
Love these videos, man. Specially as a fan who recently got into Persona. These are the videos I've been looking for. Binged all your Persona videos in the last week 😁
I must admit Saori's social link is the most realistic i have ever seen especially at the part where the teachers got involved.
I'd say the tone for FeMC being cheery to contrast the Male protag's tone is mostly for the perspective, while some can be quite and depressed about death, some have already accepted it, and are happy in life. But that doesn't mean they aren't done, the Journey for the female protag, to me, feels like she's accepted her mortality and is therefore more outgoing towards others, helping them with their struggles, already willing to die on a moment's notice for them because she already embraced death, the male character instead tries to find the meaning to life, hence why The Journey is called that, he's going through existentialism and keeps himself reserved, while the female isn't like that, she just seems to be already over it, like a fool at the end of her journey (like the numbers on her hair pins)
Also Makoto's route tones in game may be dark and gloomy, and Minako's route tones in game are more cheery and outgoing, they're both in the end dead, but one just accepts it sooner than the other, that's my take on why she's more cheerful and outgoing.
(because men can be cheery and women can be gloomy too)
Dude I checked out Aqua's channel thinking he was a small channel barely scraping by. He has almost 60k subs and his vids are lit. What the heck.
I see u everywhere if its smt even buff's stream
They really need to make a version that includes everything from FES AND Portable..
I want to play Persona 3 but I feel like no matter which version I play, I miss out on essential things..
Fun fact for those who don't know:
P3P allows you to choose who you meet on the rooftop as Minato. It's not locked to Aigis.
If you're like me, and chose Yukari as the favored love interest, having her be there ads another layer to her freakout in The Answer.
I recently bought a ps Vita and I’m planning on buying p4 Golden and p3 portable before the store closes . I loved persona 5 looking forward to playing 3
"Akihiko acts as if his growth and realization was due to the social link rather than the actual story" (paraphrased)
This highlights my semi-disappointment with the party member's story arcs in 4 & 5 tbh... In these two games since having social links for every party member has become the norm, it feels like too much primary character development gets crammed into them rather than being supplementary like they are in P3. But since they're optional content this development never bleeds into the main story which is a little disappointing. Narratively I love how each main character had a full arc within the main story of 3, culminating in the awakening of their ultimate persona as those arcs came to a head. That this development is optional (as showcased by the ultimate personas being locked behind rank 10 social links rather than plot progression), it feels like each character in the Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves have a mini arc during their focus dungeon then just kinda stagnate afterwards for the most part while the interesting developments are hidden away .
The cheerful personality that Kotone has, I always took as a coping device for depression. "Fake til you make" if you will. I for the longest time did this. You would never think I was depressed. Even alone, I refused to let go of the perky mask. So I related to the happiness the character showed. You'll pry never read this, but I wanted to give you a different perspective of why her personality seemed so happy when Makoto seems so depressed. They are both versions of depression.
Stop projecting onto fictional characters
I'm glad you took a little time to bring up the music of the game it's very enjoyable!
I did miss hearing your opinion on Theo. Personally I think he's an interesting foil to Elizabeth in a way that I wasn't expecting. I don't know the difference with Elizabeth directly as Femc since I didn't choose to go with her, but it's just interesting to see how differently the two protags interact with their attendants.
The interesting thing for me was that a friend and I were both playing it around the same time and I was playing the female mc and he was playing the male. By the time we beat the game it’d get brought up occasionally and sometimes one of us would reference something and the other wouldn’t have any idea what we were talking about. It didn’t happen super often but it was nice they bothered to make those little changes as frequently as they did.
New Nam video? Let's go boys
0:22 Idk man, Ive heard The Answer is quite difficult.
It's only difficult by how much they managed to screw up how progression worked
They took a game that had like 6-7h worth of content and tried to add a bunch of padding to make it hit that 10h mark without even varying how you explore dungeons since most of the layouts repeat multiple times
@@icedcapplord710 20*
It's stupid.
Problem 1. Long ass dungeons and zero down time. Not fun.
Problem 2. No compendium, so you're forced to work with whatever you find and kinda play fast and loose.
Problem 3. Fake difficulty, early on you'll fight enemies weak to ice despite mitsuru not being available and most persons at the time won't give u bufu. No weakness having big health baring fuckers with, no joke, instakill moves. Bosses with no weakness. Enemies who start to have null or reflect physical or magical, have massive health bars and will have "evade" skills for their weakness.
You'll start to fight enemies that operate on super boss logic if you cast magic mirror they'll infinitely cast megidoloan. Exp gain is still a drip feed like normal p3. No new game plus so you could revisit for fun but fully decked out, stat boosters are rarer to get your hands on so you won't be able to beef up a persona to a reasonable degree. You'll become reliant on humuculus to avoid a "lol random hama". The final set of bosses are cool but getting to them is dog shit and I had party control+free persona switching. So if I think it was just sucky, Yknow I mean it
@@PrincessNine and this is why I don’t think The Answer is a plus for FES. Gameplay is so bad that it’s just not worth going through it.
“Thankfully I’m not alone in thinking it’s wrong for Kotone to be in a romance with Ken.”
Simply dad liked that!
Im sorry, i dont mean to offend but did your dad shipped Kotone and Ken?
@@ignaciojohnjoy oh that’s a nice one
I actually prefer FES’s combat, for me, predicting your party’s actions was just part of the fun; the AI generally won’t behave optimal, but they are quite predictable. The thing that got me to enjoy it was realizing that I can actually check turn order (missed that for half of my first play through).
It’s also the only game where I like being able to instantly switch personas, the trade off was less control over your party, but the MC has a party worth of skills to choose from.
Honestly, it’s because it’s a crapshoot that I don’t like it, I’ve gotten game overs a few times because some characters like Mitsuru have such incompetent AI.
I like being able to save Shinji. I didnt knew he was going to die, so I ended up using him a lot. And liking his playstyle.
Always glad to see nam pop up in my sub box keep up the great work man
to be fair, even if Chidori revival being canon, it wouldn't be that bad. sure you can say "but it would ruined that moments and wouldn't fits the game theme" which i completely agree wholeheartedly, but for me seeing Chidori revival is like some hopeful moments in the dire setting of persona 3. like sure we are going to die someday so live your life to the fullest, but it wouldn't be wrong to hope for some miracle to happen. besides from my limited knowledge and view on literature, i do think that Chidori was written to interact with Junpei specifically AND her death doesn't exactly affect the plot nor the whole cast so i don't think it is as bad as Shinji not dead.
I completely agree with you in regards to Saori's social link the degree of which it goes from bad to worse in terms of the amount of stuff she goes through is... just astonishing. But it also reinforces the idea that Kotone has a profound impact on her and that's on reccurring element with her character throughout the entire game IMO.
babe wake up
new Nam's vid
Never thought I'd say this, but thank you UA-cam algorithm.
Literally the video I needed thanks a lot man
l just love how l can play it on my phone, playing as a very exciting schoolgirl and a very interesting story! Unforgettable experience!
Saori’s route reminds me of this one Japanese movie where the girl was also a punching bag and the world stepped on her because of it. I hated it, it was pure misery porn.
What movie was that???
@@acedetective9542 I believe it was called Memories of Matsuko.
I think Saori's Social Link is also underappreciated because she's a fairly down to earth SL that replaces the previous Hermit, which was the fan favorite wacky Maya. I was disappointed when I found out the female protagonist wouldn't have Maya, and that just reduces Ms. Toriumi's role in the game by that much.
Kotone? Oh you mean Minako. I love FEMC route so much, glad you did a review on it
Unpopular opinion: Persona 3 Portable is the best version of P3 and what it adds to the gameplay and content more than makes up for what they had to scale back
Very true
Agreed
Agreed brother or sis
You know, after watching this video, I can see why Atlus decided to make a port of P3P instead of FES. Sure there's no animations still during cut scenes, but being able to control your party members, the differences between the male and female routes, ALL of the music, and so much more makes this game. at least in my eyes, a pretty "Definitive" version of P3 as a whole.
My first playthrough of P3 was on the Femc route, because I couldn’t stand not having social links with half of the party members. I played the male protagonist route afterwards, and yeah I agree, Minato fits the themes much better than Kotone, but I don’t think she ruins the story. Playing as one protagonist or the other won’t affect the essence of the story in my opinion, which is the way death is perceived by humans
I've been waiting for this
I wish that more Persona games had Female protagonist, or.. a choice to pick a gender :C
I highly agree they should've killed Shinji off in Kotone's route. I guess they kept him in a coma for the fanservice on NG+. I didn't really care much about his death in the original P3 since we didn't get to know him well, so if they kept his original fate with Kotone's route, his death definitely would've wrecked me more. It also would've been interesting since the secret romance option happens two days before that full moon operation.
We gotta love some scripted deaths in games!~
Jealousy in the male route is removed in P3P
you can still reverse links (it's just harder to do).
@@xbolt678 yeah
Guys argue over Kotone
@@ignaciojohnjoy Kotone/Minako are cool. Best protag
Thought you meant Junpei’s jealousy lol. He gets even more jealous of Kotone being the leader than Makoto
Junpei also gets added development in the main story too when in the female route, because there's an added level of sexism/toxic masculinity where he can't accept that he was passed over as leader in favor of a girl. He makes constant remarks like "but she's a girl!" and "even though I'm the only guy here", but eventually comes to terms with it and apologizes for being a prick.
Pretty good review. As someone who played P3P back in the day but still picked the male protag route, this was a good watch.
But after playing P3P and then later Personas, the lack of party member direct control in the PS2 P3s ensures that I just cannot possibly go back to those. Sure, P3P has its own weaknesses, but I'm of the "a game should not be a chore" camp and P3P understands this well.
I was waiting for this video and boy it didn't disappoint me, keep up the good work
Being in a coma is a interesting take because him in a coma is basically him being dead most people are considered dead in a coma
Woah I looked up for a video on this didn't expect there to be one from yesterday
I like Junpei's social link the most for FeMC. Because not all female and male interaction leads to romantic interests. The friendship between Kotone and Junpei felt so real. I continues to seek that kind of relationship in later Persona games, but it doesn't really happen again.
It's really a shame. I like stirkers a lot because there's a main party playable character that's older. Persona in general doesn't really expand male and female relationship beyond these three, Daughter, Sister, Lover.
Portable has some worthwhile additions primarily the female MC. Party control is subjective I feel, but nice for those who really couldn't stand the system in vanilla 3 and FES. I personally enjoy it a lot, the cast in Persona 3 take awhile to get close and spend a lot of time in their own groups or doing their own hobbies and only over time do they start doing things with each other. The command system and not having party control felt to complement the writing and story and gaining new commands felt as though it was a natural progression reward for the party getting closer. It became very fun to use and understanding how the AI would react to my actions or the state of battle, made me actually feel like a leader trying to comprehend how my teammates would react to an obstacle and directing them to success. Due to the many things they had to strip or scale down for the sake of the PSP hardware, is enough for me to not be in the camp who want them to use Portable as the basis for a potential Persona 3 remaster. Even though people may not like it, The Answer is a very important chunk of the overall narative of Persona 3. Also, many aspects of the presentation aren't on par with FES thus the female MC does not have many assets that would match the quality of the male MC throughout The Journey and of course The Answer which would mean these would have to be made or skipped. If they didn't want to touch up Portable, I think my ideal Persona 3 remaster would be a bundle of FES and Portable and choosing which one you want in the menu. Portable is a fine version, but certainly not the definitive version nor superior nor a replacement to FES.
Honestly, I found that AI controlled party members were just a big crapshoot in FES. While they usually do what I want them to, I’ve had some characters like Mitsuru make bad choices more times than I like (Mitsuru sucks in console 3 being frank because of her poor AI, but in Portable, she’s easily the best party member after the MC). I’m not about to argue FES having much better presentation than Portable, but where Makoto in FES excels in presentation, I think FeMC excels in social links. Makoto has a number of dud social links imho (I really don’t like his magician, hierophant and star arcanas. I also despise his moon arcana. His fortune arcana is just okay.), and while FeMC shares his hierophant arcana, I think all of her new links are vastly superior to Makoto’s links (barring the fact that you can go pedophile on Ken). In fact, FeMC’s hermit arcana is among my top 3 social links in all of Persona. It’s because of FeMC’s social links that I can’t say there is no value in picking her route over Makoto’s FES route. It’s also because of FES’s glaring issues (not just party members that you claim to be subjective. FES still has that stupid forced harem mode from vanilla 3. As I said earlier, a lot if the links are just okay at best. Also, The Answer just sucks from a gameplay perspective. So much that it’s not worth playing through it) that I can’t say FES is better than Portable.
I know this video is a year old, but thank you so much for mentioning Ken's route. Once I realized things could take a romantic turn, I was so uncomfortable. He was the one potential love interest that I refused to take the romantic route with, but it even being an option was a huge ick factor for me.
P3 needs and deserves a remake so bad
Yes, If it can get some gameplay improvements from P4 and 5, then that coupled with the story would probably be the best Persona game ever.
@@keeysOST I see you Alot
If they add a fast forward button, and all of the quality of life changes that were implemented in P5, then it might be contender for my favorite Persona game
@@DezuFuck I've been getting that a lot recently lol
How about.....a patch instead o-o
The Tiredness mechanic being changed is my biggest irk. at least for me. It makes me want to use the same party members over and over while before I would rotate between party members that weren't tired
Innocent sin of FES: brings back chidori
Innocent sin of P3P: brings back shinjiro
You can bring back Chidori in p3p
@@PrincessNine yes but FES did it first.
FINALLY DUDE, HOW LONG DID I WAIT. AUTO LIKE
Edit: I commented before watching the vid but i laughed my ass of on your reaction to the Ken Relationship Route
I think it's unfair to ignore the watches symbolism in the context of Shinjis social link. The whole situation is supposed to represent how time is limited. The watch itself represents the time we have left to live. The watch getting destroyed represents how our time on earth is subject to change by random factors we can not control. The lesson here is that we should enjoy the time we spend together because any moment could be your last time with them.
Technically you don't save shinji like you can chidori. You get an extra line of dialogue then he is gone for the rest of the game. All you do is give him his girl to see in his final mins.
I'm not too sure if anyone else agrees with me on this but if there's one gameplay change with Portable that I'm not a fan of compared to FES, it's that Makoto Yukki is 1 hand Sword locked in Portable.
YES! This bugged the crap out of me! Getting to pick your load out was so cool on FES
The fact that P3P actually makes P3 bearable to play due to the fact that it's gameplay is not trying to be different for the sake of being different makes it my preferred version of P3. Plus I really like Femc's music
You have trash taste
Honestly Koromaru's SL could have been greatly boosted if Aigis was there as a translator for most of the levels
I have only ever played the Portable version, but I want to have that challenge of just using the tactics menu, no matter how good or bad it is. I think the tactics was a good idea in the fact that you have to trust the AI, and maybe with a possible PC port coming soon, I hope they revised the group support/attack skills the AI utilise, *looking at you Yukari*, or modders would do something about it themselves.
Or just give us an option between direct command and the other tactics
@@DezuFuck that’s every game but vanilla 3 and FES.
i love these videos bro i hope you make more when you have the time to
I’ve just watched the movies, and played P4G, P5R and a three dancing games and P5 scramble and I really want to play P3 as I loved the P3 movies and the characters in the dancing game too. I only have a vita and PS4 though so want to get this. Also playing as a girl sounds great, especially getting to date the dudes as I like otome games as well. It looks a bit like P4G, awesome and informative video.
Okay, it's been over a year, so I have no idea if you're going to read this...but I'm going to put my thoughts on some of your points down.
1: Shinjiro is actually pretty popular, and "our Husbando is not allowed to die," which is kind of annoying, but it's the reason that Shinjiro doesn't die when you max out Moon before you get to the point he disappears. Also, while not AS strict as Fortune and Aeon, you do have VERY limited time to finish it.
2. I agree that the "Lovers Route" between Kotone and Ken is...disgusting....There are relationships between ADULTS that have that age difference, but not between a fking Elementary School kid and a High Schooler.
3. Yeah, Kuro-chan's Social Link would've been better with animations...the pictures are too adorable though.
4. Okay, time for the real meat and potatoes. Your dislike between the tone of the game vs Kotone's personality....
Kotone is VERY different from Minato, and her outlook still actually works with the theme...you just have to think more about it.
Minato is stoic, silent, almost just...plodding forward to his inevitable end. It takes until close to the end of the game for him to actually realize that he can actually trust his classmates and friends, and call them friends. That it what allows him to actually decide to save the world, and sacrifice himself.
Kotone, on the other hand, is about looking forward with a positive outlook while facing the inevitability of death. She makes friends, has tons of positive interactions, and acts happy and energetic because she is happy and excited to have new friends and people to talk to...You can bet that with what happened to their family, neither Minato nor Kotone had the best childhoods.
You can just ignore this if you want...or disagree with the interpretation I've seen from both myself and other fans of Kotone.
You raise some fantastic points honestly. I completely agree in regards to how Kotone's personality fits the theme, it doesn't undermine it at all if anything it makes it more tragic due to the direct effect she has on others. I'll be honest, if it hadn't been for the romance option in Ken's route I actually wouldn't have minded it as Ken having a crush on Kotone actually makes sense but to apply that in reserve is so... mind numbingly stupid I can't even think why they'd do it. Of course one major aspect of Kotones character that wasn't highlighted in this video is the fact Kotone is far more lonely than she admits and her "cheerful" personality is effectively a mask to prevent others from worrying about her which of course only amplifies how much characters like Junpei and Akihiko do.
I sure hope I get a chance to play this some day...
There's a really good psp emulator por computers and mobile, its called ppsspp, and its free
I suggest playing this on your phone, it's a blast
I foresee many people coming to this video in the near future
Saori might be best persona girl
Not my best, but she is easily one of my favorite links in any version of 3.
YESSS ANOTHER BANGER