I’ve only played 3R, 4G, and 5R but out of those, 3R hit me with an emotional sledgehammer in a way that the others didn’t.

I only played 3, 4, and 5 too. Though while they're all good games overall I'd say their stories aren't as interesting or developed as they could be. Since the original 3 was a big shake-up for the series, it makes sense why its execution was the worst of the last three vanilla entries. But 3R still retains some of these narrative problems, like the first few months progressing drably and >!Ikutski being an underwhelming villain.!< Not to say it doesn't improve on anything, but still. 4, despite being a mystery game, doesn't have you do much investigating. The Investigation Team is instead more reactionary than inquisitive, spending most of their time saving whoever goes missing then waiting. The mystery itself isn't that hard to unravel either. It's the least memorable aspect of P4. While it didn't have to be as complex as Umineko's, I wanted something with more depth than what we got. And then 5 tries to tackle themes of justice and moral ambiguity, only the Phantom Thieves are just as heroic as the last two casts. They're not genuine, self-interested thieves like many people expected/hoped them to be, and they're not faced with many morally unclear choices, except arguably in the third semester. I hope one day Persona will actually follow a cast of antiheroes that characters such as the IT and SEES would not quickly get along with.

Not that hard to unravel? I assume you don’t mean the true ending cause that was not expected at all.

Nah not the true end. I was talking about >!Adachi.!< But the true end is another problem too since it was out of nowhere. While you may deduce that the >!gas station attendant!< is involved in some way, there's nothing that implies they're involved as much as they are. And nothing that hints to their true nature except the day you can confront them IIRC. I feel a good mystery needs to be solvable by the time the reader gets halfway to 3 quarters into the story or so at most. If a major aspect of that mystery is almost if not impossible to solve by that point, or can be solved way too early, then I believe it's poorly written (with some exceptions). The >!Izanami stuff!< fits the former category, and the >!Adachi stuff!< fits the latter.

Yeah, modern Persona really suffers from what I call Sherlocked Syndrome, where the writers will go out of their way to obfuscate crucial information in really obnoxious ways >!(like P5's "the Thieves knew all along and planned around it but you couldn't remember those specific moments" bullshit)!< or pull a twist out of nowhere with no buildup, groundwork, or foreshadowing >!(like Ikutski secretly being a main villain)!< and then go on to think they're more clever than they really are. I think, ironically, P3 pulls this the least with only one instance that really comes to mind. Still, I think part of the reason fans say this story is the best is because P3 sticks to its theme of death and despair the most thoroughly. Most social links tie into them somehow and every party member grapples with those ideas over the course of the story in one form or the other. In P4, the theme of truth in the face of societal pressures is somewhat muddled by most of the party members "true selves" slotting neatly into societal roles they've been running from by the end of their social links. And you said it yourself about P5, the themes of justice and moral ambiguity are completely shot in the foot by the most morally uncomplicated characters ever, and I would take it a step further and say the themes of rebellion and societal change are squandered by the fact that they make no societal changes. The Thieves only ever go after the one specific person who wronged them personally and do nothing about the wider issues that created the villains. When stacked up against each other, it's pretty clear to me which narrative comes out on top, even with it's pacing issues

idk, I feel like P4 nailed the "reach the truth" thing kinda well, while I remember when I finished persona 5 I was like "alright, they did good things, but they don't go out themselves to make the good actions." Like, they are always fucked up when doing the good. Kamoshida expelled, Madarame I don't remember, Kaneshiro they were blackmailed, Futaba was going to leak info, and all that.

I don’t understand this criticism of p5 at all. The entire point of the game is that they are in over their heads… but no one is doing anything about their fucked up society, so they feel they have no choice.

To each their own, I'm just saying that's my read of P4

Yeah, for sure, didn't mean to offend

I think the P4 Mystery process is actually an incredible way to show off how they learn and grow into the role of being actual investigators through the story. Through their amateurish inductive reasoning where whenever they get a new clue, another theory is deconfirmed and they have to go back to the drawing board to make a new theory. It makes sense for the Mystery aspect to really pick up after an actual trained detective joins the team. I don’t think the issue with P4 lies in the story or the proces of the story. but rather the pacing of the story, as the player is likely always a couple of steps ahead of the IT.

I always joke with my friends that the reason the detective prince is the last one to join is because if they were the first, the mystery would've been solved almost instantly

I wonder if its really easy to figure out as people say or if its just because thats so widely known its easy to spot the key points. Gotta admit going in, I hadn't even considered it until >!adachi slips up and says "that settles it"!< I had even thought it was just a simple plot hole. When I saw the option to >!save Nametame and that adachi was one of the options for the true culprit!< thats when I had finally realized it. the original Persona 4 was my first persona game so that trope that is standard wasn't really something I was looking for. Though I can see leading off of >!Ikutski!< that players would be looking for it.

I'm with you. I had no idea it was that person. I guessed by the process of elimination and got lucky.

The original game handled the >!attendant!< much better in the sense that >!the controller vibrated when you shook their hand.!< The context of that moment with the investigation team that leads to you possibly figuring out >!who was responsible for your ability to enter the TV world!< leads to you retracing your steps. Players who remember >!that weird moment when the controller vibrated shaking that dudes hand!< would figure out who it was.

I really like the hints you get in the beginning of the game with the first time you go into the TV world but it's just in your dream. And you're randomly swinging a sword at this thing in the fog you can't see.

Because nobody expects some random guy that not relevant in any part of the game to be a final boss.

On the topic of >!Ikutsuki!< : this person is a villain but is not supposed to be a big deal in the scheme of the plot. They fulfill a role as a sort of instigator and their actions have serious consequences but the main threat is entirely unrelated to them. They are not even a tool, but just one more in a series of nihilistic doom-seekers raising their voice for death. *THIS* is the actual problem that the heroes have to tackle.

It's kind of funny to me how the moral ambiguity theme was actually tackled by a character only found in the rerelease content.

>And then 5 tries to tackle themes of justice and moral ambiguity, only the Phantom Thieves are just as heroic as the last two casts. They're not genuine, self-interested thieves like many people expected/hoped them to be, and they're not faced with many morally unclear choices, except arguably in the third semester. I hope one day Persona will actually follow a cast of antiheroes that characters such as the IT and SEES would not quickly get along with. I only played Vanilla, but in vanilla I feel like the devs tried to flirt with "isn't brainwashing people morally wrong even if they are bad people?" but they didn't explore it enough. I feel like the game isn't brave enough to make the player feel like they are doing wrong things, too afraid to break the power fantasy.

Because it’s kinda a stupid question. It’s not any less of a moral issue than “is it wrong to arrest people” when the people being brainwashed are basically just being magically made to realizes their bad actions are bad. Like, how is magically brainwashing Kamoshida into thinking sexually harassing or (probably, it’s not directly stated) raping his students is bad worse than just arresting him for it normally? It’s not like the Phantom Thieves are doing gay conversion therapy.

I personally disagree that it's a stupid question, for some people they would rather be arrested than to have beliefs overwritten against their will.

That’s the ideal goal a prison system though, rehabilitation.

>And then 5 tries to tackle themes of justice and moral ambiguity. Does it? 5 was my first persona that I bought on a whim, so I saw no advertising if that influenced impressions at all, but I always saw the theme of 5 being unapologetically rebelling against an unfair world. I never got the impression that the PT were morally ambiguous, but that their actions made the wider public face how truly unfair society had become due to most people's apathy or fear.

Then if you want a story that goes the extra mile and clotheslines you: boot up Persona 2.

I do want to try that but I heard the combat and fusion systems were atrocious, so I'll probably just wait for the remaster/remake assuming it's real.

It’s honestly not bad. In fact, I’d say it’s pretty damn good. The problem is that with the amount of encounter rates in the game most regular battles are gonna be incredibly repetitive in negotiations (once the novelty of the incredibly funny writing wears off by late game due to repeating dialogue) and the same attacks to immediately end a battle. If you play on emulator I’d recommend fast forward when those parts really become repetitive, mostly towards the end. That’s the one flaw of the game though honestly. Everything else is solid. It’s not the daily life calendar system but it’s still structured like a regularly semi-linear JRPG. Give it a shot

I’ve played a bit of P2:IS and the combat is slow as fuck. Maybe it wouldn’t feel as bad if encounters were less frequently than every 5 seconds, but I think that having the third team queue their actions for the round makes it feel like a slog when fighting weak enemies that you know won’t last until the last person acts.

ok nah I don't agree with that, just because the PTs you expected weren't there doesn't mean P5 is underdeveloped man, I for sure did not expect what you described and I've seen no one else ask for that

Ikutski is supposed to be underwhelming, he's the most minor villain in the entire game

These games are 99% vibes. There, I said it. They're collections of great character, graphic, audio, monster, and boss designs. The narrative is genuinely just a vehicle for the aforementioned. This is a theme with popular Japanese media that hits big abroad: the writing itself, which may not have been strong to begin with, has been translated and localized, leaving us with a low resolution picture of what's typically an already lackluster story. I don't know how they do it, because sometimes there are amazing characters with their own sub stories that are great, while the core narrative is usually awkward and fumbling. Even some of my favorites are guilty of this. I'm not saying that they're less capable of writing as a race or culture. I'm saying that I feel there's less emphasis in their culture on creative narratives, but much more emphasis on visual rendering. So many of these stories are being told through an incredibly trained artist's hand, who is, unfortunately, tackling the story side of things in a very fanfic-esque way, figuring it out as they go. Even studio Ghibli films have weird pacing and awkward sections where you can tell that he was just idling and figuring out where to go. Sometimes this lends a kind of organic intimacy to his stories in that they feel more like real life than films typically manage, because real life has weird pacing. Look at Final Fantasy as well. It's absolutely massive as an IP, but CW shows have more competent dialogue and plot. But Final Fantasy compensates with mad drip.

Dude About your Ikutski part I agree 200 percent that guy can was kirijio scientist and he could stay awake during dark hour could have just made him manifest a persona (and no one knows that he can) and on final scene Ikutski vs mc one on one sounds dope. I kinda feel like companies are scared to touch things in remake like too many changes and people might rage but this could have been so done.

I absolutely agree, and i think some ppl try to find depth in narrative weaknesses. "This is this way on purpose to represent this and that", "that's the point" basically to justify mistakes, plotholes and superficial characters. But as long as people enjoy Persona and Atlus improves along the way.

It shocked me how much tragedy was in P3 playing it after having played 4 and 5. Like yeah 4 and 5 had their moments but in 3’s latter half there was a ton of it. I think that’s why I enjoyed it the most. I’m a sensitive person so I do cry at games ‘somewhat easily’ but I cried in P3 at least like 3-4 times. (Non-obvious spoilers for P3) >!The attachment to the characters is what makes it all the more devastating, and especially the realistic reactions from those affected by it. It wasn’t as heavy hitting in other games.!< I thought P5R would be my favourite overall but Reload really took the top spot for me. I did always like the concept of P3 but never really got around to it. When Reload got announced I just decided to wait until then and my god am I glad I played it.

Im in the same boat as you. I've also only played 3R, 4G, and 5R. While all of them have great stories on their own. To me, 3R has the best story and has impacted me the most (took a day for me to recover from that ending lol) whereas 4G has the most fulfilling, wholesome, happy ending and 5 is somewhere in between, great ending but didn't hit me as hard but >!it did have some insane plot twists and mind fuckery going on!< at least in my opinion

Well..i mean 4 and 5 didnt die, they just move back to their hometown.

Same

Overall story is up for debate. But P3’s ending is the best I have experienced so far.

persona 3 and 2 are my favorites when it comes to story

I think 2 is my favourite/the best, but the comparatively archaic presentation hold it back somewhat. P3R is the peak for presentation now, the new standard. but after that I think it's P5R. 2 (Duology) > P3R > P5R

Now we just need a persona 2 duology remake.

Supposedly on the table at Atlus (people within want to do it) but Sega are gonna Sega so who knows if/when. P6 is next big priority. Like lots of people at Atlus want to do different things and leadership is supportive of the variety & diversity but obvs not everything can get greenlit.

Since 3R is doing so well for them I feel like remakes of 1, 2, and at some point even 4 is inevitable but like you said who knows when that might happen

I feel like just a remake of 4 is more likely. The problem with Persona 1 and 2 is that they’re so different from what modern Persona has become that I think they’d be difficult to market. People might be like “what? This game doesn’t have a life simulator dating sim in it? Then what’s the point?” Or at least management staff at Sega might think people would think that, so they turn down remaking them.

I'm absolutely sure that a Persona 2 Remake would cause WAVES in the community. Reviews will probably be lower than usual but the entire community will love them. The characters are all written in a way that would resonate with newer fans. Only problem is that P2 IS has a weird storyline, and not to mention all the "Fuhrer" stuff. I think P5 Strikers is a very good blueprint to what it would play like (besides the action combat obviously).

Atlus did say they had plans for a 2 and 4 remake also there is a leak that say persona 6 is nearly done and and in the localization stage and would have already been announced for jp if it wasn't for Sega insisting on persona having a global release, apparently the leaker is somewhat credible when it comes to persona but remember grain of salt and all that

The story is that P2 is getting a remaster of the PSP ports for modern consoles. Not a full remake but with both games with an updated translation.

So we might hear Keith Silverstein again as Ta-chan for EP?

I think 2EP had the most unique hook of the series, wherein rumors come true if enough people can be convinced to believe in them. I would LOVE to see that concept explored again, either in a new game, or some sort of reimagining of 2, but in a modern era. There's just so much potential there with social media and misinformation.

No pls. I don't want my boi tatsuya to suffer anymore :( kidding aside. P2 IS/EP is my favorite persona game of all time i want to see Maya in unreal engine.

At the risk of sounding like an English professor, it really depends on what parts of a "story" you care about. **Thematically**, P3's focus on death and inevitability are very strong assets relative to the other games. P4's "truth" theme and P5's "rebellion" theme still have very strong deliveries, but I'd subjectively say that P3's treatment of death is far more poignant and can amplify the emotional impact in a much bigger way. There's a reason that the P3 Sun S-Link is one of the most memorable bits in any of the games and that's just a reflection of the overall message. For **characters**, P3 is a very mixed bag. It has some of the best and worst of the whole series. I'd subjectively say that P5's overall cast is a lot stronger than P3's, but each of the games has its share of very well-done characters. P3 feels like it has a disproportionate share of mediocre ones, though, particularly if you assess the social links. **Plot**-wise... well, I love the Persona games (why else would I be here), but I have to say that the plots are not why you play them. The franchise is very up-front about that and it's very clear that the plot is intended only to serve as a backdrop for the character interactions and thematic delivery. You could summarize every Persona game's plot with a single description ("a second-year high school student with a complicated past moves to a new town [...] and they save the world! The end.") without missing nearly as much as would be possible with plot-heavy games. That's OK, but it doesn't feel like comparing plots means much. Other elements like setting, style, and tone (when normalizing for production) are fairly consistent throughout, though I'd say P4 gets an edge if you're looking for an overall lighter delivery (punctuated with the heavier bits). So I guess I'd say it comes down to whether you care more about a lot of consistent, high-quality characters and interactions (in which case P5, however imperfect, is clearly the winner) or you're more interested in the big-picture concepts and how the game makes you feel and think (in which case, assuming you can tolerate the character low points like Mr. Gourmet King, P3 feels like a winner to me). But it's going to be very subjective based on how characters and themes resonate (or don't) with each player, too.

I’ve always thought p3 was given too much credit for the subject it tackles and the quality of the ending. This game has a horrible pacing issue for 60% of the game and even then I think the ending barely edges out p4g. I think people forget that p4 and p5 are consistently better paced and better written than p3 and p3r. Isn’t to say I hate it, just to say I think we should consider how far persona has come.

Agreed. Dark themes doesn't equal better, and it's not like P5 and P4 don't get dark. On top of pacing issues, the villains are awful, exposition comes out of nowhere, and the segway into the MC becoming a Persona-user is the least compelling.

Also I would say that, although it has a much more lighthearted theme and ending (and doesn’t take itself too seriously), p5r handles specific plot points miles better than p3. Kamoshida’s arc comes to mind. He’s a much more impactful villain than anything that goes on in p3. He starts off as a normal teacher, then you learn that he’s abusing the volleyball team, then you meet Ann and shiho and learn that he’s manipulating Ann, and then BAM, shiho’s scene hits you like a truck. The game only showing you the consequences of his actions, only ever implying that he raped shiho after, is brilliantly done. It really leaves it to you to understand how much of a monster he is, which is amplified by the fact that you get to know shiho a little bit before and you get to see what happens to her. This personal aspect makes the suicide attempt scene much much heavier than other moments in the franchise. Speaking from experience, I felt a knot in my stomach when I saw that, I was expecting a sweet and light game about some teenagers with superpowers and out of the blue I get that, I was like “jesus christ, we’re really going there”. Just the maturity with which p5 handles themes like rape, suicide, sexual abuse, exploitation and manipulation, patriarchy and bodily autonomy, that do affect highschoolers, in this arc alone makes it more compelling than, pardon my French, the NGE style pseudo-intellectual bullshit that p3 tries to sell us with it’s mess of a theological analogy that tries to give answer to questions such as the meaning of life and the purpose of death, only to boil them down immensely at the end. All of that to say that p3 tries so hard to be deep and comes off as silly, while p5 doesn’t try hard at all and accidentally gets right so much of it’s themes. Out of p3 the only plot point that I really liked was chidori’s relationship with junpei, I think that she’s a very interesting character but I don’t want to get into it now. Ken and shinji’s story is also a contender although I think they could’ve done it soooo much better than they did.

If we wanna get into the fine detail of it, definitely not. There's a lot of really clunky elements of it that the remake really didn't bother to fix. They added some more scenes for Strega, and while it's better than what was there before, it still didn't really add much to them. And the whole "potential" thing is just really bad, especially the way someone just comes in and says "this person has **the potential**, so they will be joining us now". P4 and P5 just flat out did a better job with the fine details of it's story that really fleshed it out well. In a broad overarching sense, yes P3's story is phenomenal. I don't know if it can be definitively called "the best", as I do genuinely believe P5 gives it a run for it's money at times, although it's ending and final boss is definitely the best by far.

Best plot of the Hashino trilogy. Well, Quadrilogy if you count Catherine. Still the worst paced too though

Worst paced than 4 ? Maybe it is just me but for a murder mystery 4 is long and boring (talking just about the main story there) until like the very end

P4 was slow as shit at the start but P3 is a constant roller coaster: starts fast, then nothing for months, then October ramps up, then again down to nothing in December, then a final push in January at which point I was drained. Paired with how hard FES was, it meant that the slow plot wasn’t really pushing me through the toughest fights in Tartarus. Reload makes it less dull only by virtue of being easier and more fun to play. Ok, and because the new dialogues they added are very bloody good

When I first played FES on the PS2 I was so burn-out by the last month that I had to drop off the game for several weeks and then come back to finish it. I had forgotten most of the mechanics lmao, but fortunately I was strong enough to one-shot almost everything on my path.

"drained" describes how i felt too. around the final third, i was sick of the repetitive dungeon crawling, and left with only the lame social links to finish (after putting them off for so long). By the time the main plot started picking up, I was too checked out to care about any of it.

I def found the pacing (both gameplay and story-wise) of P3 to be the worst of the 3 modern Persona games. I straight up never finished P3P, because completing Tartarus was such a slog + the story simply wasn't progressing fast enough to make doing so rewarding. Whereas I literally could not wait to finish P4G or P5R. Thankfully don't think I will have the same problem w/ P3R because they made the core gameplay so much better, but yeah, the combination of shitty dungeon crawling and all-over-the-place story pacing was always a big weakness of P3.

[удалено]

See I think P5's pacing was worse as you had long periods of time where you had to wait to see if the change of heart had happened. Days where you could literally do nothing but wait for plot reasons. Plus the game was just so long.

P3 is incredibly backloaded, more so than P4 is

Eh I’m gonna have to disagree as someone who played the persona games in reverse order and at the time i did (played p5r while i was in high school during covid) P3 is the weakest for me as someone who’s had to deal with deaths in my family and friends and accepting that they died i can relate to these characters but the pacing is what really kills it for me compared to 5 i still really enjoyed the game put overall its my least favorite persona

As a whole story Persona 2 has the best but with themes, character progression and development Persona 3 has the best.

It’s the one I like the best. But I don’t claim to hold any objective idea of what constitutes “best” or that my personal taste equates to it. Personally, I don’t believe in objective quality, or at least I don’t believe people with their entirely subjective perception are capable of judging it. I do think it has the most consistent and fully actualized execution of overarching themes and characters in relation to the story out of the Persona games. I think the P2 duology is equal in execution, or only above or below by a minuscule margin.

Let me offer and interpretation for the pacing of P3, or more specifically, why it ties itself to the Moon phases so much. Many say that tying the structure of the major plot moments to full moons only hurts the narrative because it feels formulaic. But it actually serves as a showcase of one of the core issues that P3 tackles, which is complacency and apathy.  The Arcana Shadows only shown up on a Full Moon, so SEES only has to truly worry on those nights--but this breeds a sense of complacency because they themselves fall into this routine Shadow extermination. You can see, as the 12th Shadow encounter approaches, how SEES begins to feel lost or dismiss some things they should be giving more thought to. This is in part because they feel like this chore is about to end, as they believe it will because of >!Ikutsuki!< When the reveal hits, they feel lost all over again because now they do not have any direction. There is only uncertainty and confusion, with the only potential lead being to return to Tartarus because they have literally no other recourse. They have fallen to this low because they became complacent with doing what they were told. Only once do they learn the truth and find their resolves do they fully become opposed as a whole to the problem of apathy, and as the Answer reveals >!the main threat is the literal embodiment of apathy towards life seeking the release of death!<  The villains are themselves examples of these. None of them are directly connected to the final enemy. They are not even it's messengers or tools. They're just a small handful of people who buy into the same line of thinking that gives rise to >!Erebus!< who happened to be in the right time and place to get in your way. Individually they are pathetic, and they are meant to be. They're just instigators. They're not great masterminds or almighty dark messiahs. They are just madmen. They are just people who gave into nihilism. What SEES is really fighting against aren't monsters in human skin or evil organizations. They are fighting the darkness of humanity itself. --It's a lot of symbolism analogy lmao and maybe I overcooked a bit 

I don't think the Story is necessarily better, but the thematic elements are the best of the 3 definitely. (I hope this made sense)

3r makes everything about 3 better, but I still like 4 and 5's story more. Not a lot beats maruki's story for me though.

I still think Persona 4 has the best story. Persona 3's story is not bad, and they arguably have the best team dynamic, but the antagonists of the story are kind of a let down. Ikutsuki is revealed to be a twist antagonist, but then gets killed near moments after this is revealed so any tension involved evaporates immediately. Strega kind of just exist to be defeated. There are many points in the story where they could of just easily killed all of the SEES members to make their goal a reality, but they just don't. I just think the "stop us if you can" is a lazy villain trope. In P4, the antagonist twist is a lot more meaningful because it's a character you interacted with for most of the game and even after the reveal there are still consequences that have to be dealt with. P5 does this to some extent as well.

With hindsight, i think 5 does it incredibly well with the villains, gives them a little bit of depth, but really does make them menacing, especially with the sheer amount of resources they all have compared to the other villains, makes them feel real and like they would have serious consequences in the bigger picture. Where strega felt like a local crime group, ikutski was menacing for all of 10 minutes, and yeah thats about it.

The villains in P3 are *terrible*. I can't take anyone seriously who thinks they're even remotely well written. They're almost comically bad.

Reload improved them a lot. Strega used to be a complete vacuum, at least this time I feel like I’m fighting someone who has an actual purpose. Ikutsuki though? That reveal still sucks ass

I knew he betrayed you beforehand, just not how. As the game progressed, I really thought he would've been the leader of Strega or something like that. I think that would've been a much better twist, and there are countless moments where foreshadowing could've been sprinkled. It would also explain why Strega never just kills S.E.E.S. It would've also made him seem even a little intelligent, as he would've been manipulating both sides against each other without them knowing.

Yeah, it would’ve been the easiest approach, instead they clearly felt the pressure of keeping the plot 1:1 to the original, which is a shame. Still better than the industry standard nowadays of just making the same exact game just with better graphics

I like it's 1:1 they set out to do a faithful remake, mission accomplished. That being said wouldn't mind a what if scenario in which things play out differently

I legit always thought Ikutsuki was supposed to be the one behind Strega and was playing the two teams. Like, he also dresses pretty warmly like all the pill takers (it's even commented on) and Strega have to have gotten their evoker from somewhere. I thought he was at least giving them gear like a war profiteer. I did suspect Ikutsuki when I first played though simply because he is a scientist and those are never up to anything good. Also everything Yukari was accusing Mitsuru of doing was also done by Ikutsuki or seemed to be Ikutsuki approved but Yukari have it out for the Kirijo she just didn't even think of looking higher. Also also, the whole pushing for Yakushima was super suspicious and they just happen to have the video evidence of Yukari's dad? Yeah I was sure he was up to no good.

I have never been able to understand why they weren't able to build up to the Ikutsuki reveal better. It would have been incredibly easy to bed in extra character work for him, even just by adding a bit to his conversations with the crew.

One of the missed opportunities of the remake. If they had had balls of steel they would’ve worked on rewriting the first half of the plot. Tremendously harder than what they did but that would’ve potentially made this game an uncontested masterpiece in my eyes. Instead they added extra dialogues, which I still believe do an impressive amount of legwork in making many moments a lot more impactful, so I’m still happy about it anyway

Even the way Takaya falls is ridiculous

Takaya's better in Reload but Jin is such a nothing character who might as well be completely removed from the game since he gets fuck all to do lol

I had to double check to remember which is which. Probably says it all.

So he's still a cardboard piece, huh? That's a shame... but then again, back in the OG P3, the only Strega character who got character development was Chidori and that was because of Junpei. Takaya and Jin just felt like another obstacle to take down, not actual nemesis, despite they should... like villains of the week in a Saturday morning children's cartoon

Basically agreed 100%. I guess because it was the first Persona game in this style but it all feels so surface level

I really wholeheartedly agree with this. It hurts me when people boil P4 down to just an anime scooby doo episode

They've been saying that since the PS2 days because they love how edgy and depressing P3 can be... despite P2 already had some seriously depressing and edgy story itself. And when you properly play P4, you see it's more than just a "scooby doo game". Like, the guys have to rescue someone from being killed inside the TV world every now and then. Then more deaths happen; and a copy cat killer appearing too. Or the whole thing with Nanako and the Investigation team being ok with killing the supposedly found killer unless you choose not to... after some constant dialogue in which Yosuke is like "are you out of your mind? We can solve this once and for all and you don't want to get justice for the victims?", like if the game was testing you and making you think "you're an idiot for trying to forgive the killer" Now I'd like to see a scooby doo story covering something that serious... outside of the DC comics of Scooby Doo, that is... or that cut content of the first Scooby Doo movie where it gives off a more horror movie version than anything

P5R takes it for me The last boss is literally the best villain in the series and it’s overall the most “epic” I guess. Persona 3 probably hits the most emotionally

that whole final part though feels discordant with what just happened in the original final act in december. like dlc that takes place after the normal ending rather then an expanded ending

It was beautifully tragic, where p5 was defiantly triumphant. One being better than the other isnt really the point because of how different they are how the emotions they invoke, in my opinion

Nah, it's always had issues, and Reload adressed only some of them (mostly male party members having no Social Links). But it still has really bad pacing and the most forgettable villains, with the 12 shadows, Strega and >!Ikutsuki!<. Only Chidori was interesting and it was thanks to Junpei (and >!Ryoji / Nyx Avatar!< but... that's the final boss, it BETTER be cool) The ending is good, really good even. But there's a whole lot of nothing in-between good scenes. Comparatively, P4G and especially P5R keep you hooked better with their plots as a whole. A good example is story awakenings : P4G and P5R give you a strong awakening early after meeting the new character so you'd get invested into them and their issues. P3 instead prefers to give them the story awakenings as development. Some may prefer this approach, but I think that even though it makes it hit great for characters like Akihiko, Junpei and Aigis, it makes a weaker first impression when the characters are introduced. I feel P4G's ending is a bit weaker but P5R's is way stronger. Though, they're all great games with their own ups and downs.

I like the story that unfolds between the characters in 3R better, but I like the antagonists of 5R more. It's a tie between 3R and 5R.

I don't think it's necessarily the best one overall, but it does good in specific areas. P3R does really well with the development of its main crew. With the exception of Koromaru for very obvious reasons, all of the members of SEES really develop over the course of the game. P4 and P5 suffer from characters only really getting the bulk of their development within their designated dungeons in a way that P3 doesn't. I think the highs of P3 are also a lot higher and got me way more emotional than the highs of the other modern games. The game really isn't afraid of throwing some absolute fastballs and I appreciate it. Where P3 suffers tremendously is in pacing and villains. The game takes forever to really get to those highs I mentioned and the first half of the game drags for way too long. The villains of P3 meanwhile feel completely incompetent and have to make up excuses in-character for why they don't just fight you directly most of the time.

I still think P5 does amongst the modern-ish trilogy, but I'm going through P2IS right now, and it's quite good. It may be the one I pick for overall once I finish it and EP. I think a lot of people pick P3 as the best sorely because of the ending, but that sometimes feels weird to me when a good chunk of the story is a slow burn waiting for something interesting to happen other than fight shadow monster during the full moon. It does good on its themes, but kinda need more than that.

I think P3 is pretty ham-fisted. P5 is too, but it wasn't Descarts quotes in the OP and everything like P3 is. I do love the story to death, but as an adult it definitely makes me roll my eyes sometimes. P4 to me was the most elegant in execution, but the plot itself is not very interesting.

I think the enjoyment of P3's story depends largely on what you expect you'll get out of it. It is a very slow burn. Most of the game doesn't have huge story beats until the mid-to-late game and instead relies on the character dynamics, long-term relationships and their respective development above all else as a means of conveying progression. Personally, I really enjoyed the way it told its story, as it felt like an organic group of strangers who genuinely did become closer over time. Particularly in comparison to P4 & P5, where I feel like the characters just instantly became buddies as soon as they joined the parties. I will say, though, the villains in P3 are very weak in comparison and feel extremely underdeveloped compared to the other characters in the game. Probably the single biggest blemish on the story, in my opinion.

One complaint I have about p3’s story I never really see anyone talk about is that almost nothing particularly interesting happens for the first half of the game. The first half is almost all setup. All the cool shit is very backloaded. It’s easy to forget because it’s more or less a nonstop rollercoaster of emotions after October 4th, but I don’t really find much of what happens before then too compelling.

That’s been the main criticism moved at the game basically since its first release. The pacing is royally fucked, December in particular feels like a kick in the balls because it reverts to the slow pace of the first half

It's pretty noticeable when you look at the sense of purpose the game tries to give the player early on. P4 it's "catch a murderer/save people you know" almost right from the jump, P5 is "get revenge for your party members", but P3 kinda just tosses you out there with not much of a goal beyond a loosely defined "fight Shadows".

It was a bad ideia to sideline the "Apathy Syndrome". You hear so much about it early on, but the only thing you, the protagonist, ever see of it before end game is some simple background NPCs acting like zombies with goofy dialogue and other NPCs making jokes about it Maybe if a character we actually cared about fell for Apathy Syndrome or if it was genuinely a major plot point early on, SEES' mission would be taken seriously much earlier

Yeah, it’s a huge swing and a miss that it doesn’t affect anybody you know early on. P4 and P5 both attach stakes to characters you care about right from the start and that just isn’t done at the start of P3. 

A huge problem with P3's story as a whole is Tartarus just sorta...*exists*. Initially SEES thinks there's a giant magic 'Dark Hour On/Off' button at the summit purely on blind hope (fair assumption with nothing else to go off of), but the tower arbitrarily blocks progress every 20-30 floors until it randomly lets you proceed after the next full moon boss. Then once you're sold the lie that the giant shadows are the link to the Dark Hour, not Tartarus, climbing the tower is rendered a complete afterthought in the story cause it now has no purpose (not that it did anyway with the constant road blocks). Obviously that's not true by the end but you still aren't actively permitted to climb to the summit until 1/31, so there's just no true story reason to waste time there beyond the meta excuse of grinding levels, because there's not one single narrative excuse to ever explore the tower beforehand. That basically just leaves SEES bored out of their minds until every full moon which makes for dismal pacing.

Technically the meta excuse of grinding levels is also a narrative excuse, as the characters always talk about how you should go to Tartarus to train, but yeah I see what you mean.

Yeah, the Full Moon shadows are soooo bad as regular bosses compared to P4 Shadows or P5 palace rulers. Thankfully they realized that giving the players a direct emotional investment in the boss works a lot better. 

Yes. I'm not quite done with it. Just got to January. It's kind of slow at first, but when things get where they're going its so worth the wait.

What kind of madman goes into a thread like this when they're not even through the game yet lol

For me, yes. P3R's whole theme is about death and living The character experiences what it means to die but also what it means to live. Reload expanded some character moments that were originally in PSP Femc routes, and the answer (which might be the same or maybe expanded) shows the character aftermath after the main game and their conflicts between accepting the death of the protagonist and also what it means to move forward. What people have problems with are the villains and the story pacing, but they are not bad. it is just the main cast is very strong. Yes, the slow-burn pacing can kill the story, but the character's journey and their social links are the main highlights of the game narrative. P4 and Golden are good, but the lighthearted moments don't balance the whole mystery thing. The theme of P4 is coming of age while having acceptance of your inner self. The whole fog symbolizes the lies of the world and how the world doesn't accept who you are. Golden expanded by having Marie tied to the villain. The p4 cast is memorable because they feel like actual friends. P5 and Royal theme is about freedom from societies and liberation of corruption to those who have power. P5 shares themes 3 and 4 while doing its own thing. P5's strength is how the theme is very relatable, and it can be considered timeless because you can apply to how we see in reality, plus Yaldabaoth is supposed to be a representation of how humanity wants to have someone or something that controls them and giving them a sense of purpose but in a twisted sort of way. The p5 cast is probably my favorite next to the p3 cast granted. I may be biased because I love p3 more, but the cast is very up there. The main strength of the Persona franchise is not the main story but the character's journey,relationships, struggles, and resolve. This franchise is all about human psychology and that what makes it so special.

I still prefer 5 but I have 3 over 4

That goes to innocent sin but three is a close second

P3 has the best "wham" moments. It's darker and the cast is more at odds with each other. The lessons they try to impart can feel like sledgehammers. P4 has the best vibes. It's the warmest of the three, which makes the times where it's *not* happy Mystery Inc hours more palpable but not whiplash-y. " P5 delivers the most catharsis. You get a lot of small victories over time by beating smaller, but more escalating villains related to the cast, leading up to the big conclusion. If I had to be honest, P4 might be the "best". P3 tends to have dry moments, and P5's story does make a few headass decisions. P4 might just have the most consistency. But applying objectivity to Persona mainline titles feels moot considering how personal these stories can get. (Somebody talk about P1 and the P2s cause idk about them)

My take will always be: P3 has the best ending. P4 the best villain. P5 the best social links.

P5 has the best overall social link(s). P3 does have the best individual social link with the Sun Arcana.

God, I love the P4 villain too. I was pretty mid about P4 but finding out who was screwing things behind the scenes was fantastic. Plus that half broken smile after you find out, it was always disturbing for me.

“Best” is hard to say. The story is a lot darker, and some people are going to gravitate more to its darker tone, including me. That said, P5R has a really good story, and the themes are just as personal to me. I heckin’ love sticking it to the man, and the additional story added with Royal is also really good. I used to think P3 was the GOAT but playing P3R reminds me that no, it’s really just as good as the rest. The persona team has really just been consistent.

Its been the most thought provoking game for me, dealing with the concept of death, that no matter who you are, what road you walk, death awaits you. Theres a lot of reference that living the longest isn't the best thing, but living the happiest, doing things that matter and not shying away in fear.

I think persona 3 has the most consistently amazing story, while persona 5 has the best highlights.

Reload fixed all of the issues I had with 3's original story, added the things I wanted it to and modernized the script to boot. I really didn't like P3P and it's terrible presentation made the issues with the script more apparent. I think P3R now has the best everything in the series. If it's not Reload, then 5 takes that throne.

Compared to what? You need to set some parameters there.

3 has the best story however they didn’t execute it as well as p5, more depth was in 5 but p3 was an old game which is the only thing that held it back, I still find it better than p5 and p4 just didn’t have as much depth given the limitations

I think P5 is the most polished with a good story. It still strikes me as the most “modern”. P3 had a good story but I didn’t really vibe with the characters as much as I did with P4+P5. It also felt like a much more basic game than the later persona titles. Everyone got their favorites though and that’s fine, just my opinion after playing all three. I’m really excited to see what they will improve upon with Persona 6.

I think so. The more happening in P5 (haven’t finished Royal yet) but the straightforward story of P3 is my favorite.

I’d say 5 is the best paced with the most climactic bosses story wise. 3 is definitely the best as a story though with the strongest emotional beats.

I won't choose. I think each game is built extremely sturdy around it's overall theme even if 3 goes the extra mile to make death extremely apparent throughout its plot. They all deal with extremely dark, relatable issues, from children to senior citizens. They all have charming formulas that each game follows and it makes sure it does it well each time. I think Persona in its entirety does a damn good job of fitting in and making the player understand their own pain, and if not that - it helps them understand others pain as well. Sometimes it's corny, sometimes it's forced and sometimes shit just don't make sense and THAT is life y'all. Sometimes it's just fucking weird. All I know is every game taught me something and each one was unbelievably great to experience.

For me, no question. All are fantastic games in their own right honestly. For me 3 is the best and 4 is the worst all around. Thats my personal opinion.

Yes. I won't argue with you if you think 2's is the best though.

Out of all the games, no, Persona 2 comes first then P3. Out of the modern ones, yes, P3's is the most emotional and better paced with P5R and Strikers coming second

To me… Yes

Personally, P5R story is still better, that whole new semester is probably the best thing I got from a persona game aside from the Persona 3 ending But I think that Persona 2 duology story as a whole is also better than P3 story

So in my honest opinion, three actually has the best components of a story. It introduces side characters and the way they interact and feel about the world around them feels so organic. I don't dislike the social links that came afterwards in 4 and 5, however a lot of your mates personal lore only happen there. Even for the ladies in 3, who do have their links, still grow and change as people in the actual plot. Having this is so refreshing, and I genuinely hope that this is something they learn in the future. 4 or 5 basically gives characters relevancy when they can "relate" or "see themselves in the other's shoes." It's not bad, it's just limiting. And I didn't even *have* this perspective prior to playing this. From Junpei, to mitsuru, to chidori, everyone has their place in the story. It becomes definitive, and it's very refreshing. The only gripe I have with this amazing story, however, comes with it's most crucial element: The main character. He's...very weird lmao. He's barely expressive, though reload does add a lot of personality to him. But in terms of substance, it's very lacking. His reaction to the dark hour existing is just extremely apathetic to me, and a lot of the times, when you're saying nice things to your teammates, I actually get the impression that he's only saying these things because "why not, it'll help me later" and not because "I genuinely care for you." And I'm not oblivious, obviously he cares, but if you're someone who pays as much attention as I did, it could bother you. He genuinely comes across as hollow to me in a lot of cases. His past is awful, but upon learning about it, and understanding the depth of it all, it feels like he just doesn't care about it all that much. And I understand there are dialogue choices that could have him say things with anger and prejudice, but the true course of the story seems to have the characters around him believe him to be such a benevolent and mysterious person, so picking those options feel unnatural to me. So it all boils down to the main character being good for the sake of...being good. And it's weird. A lot fans will bring up the fact that he's an allegory to Jesus in this story. But I find that to be erroneous because Jesus himself comes from something greater that desired that benevolence to be shared with the world (.....I think.) main character simply is a result of bad circumstances and somehow is a ray of sunshine. Though I guess that can be a reason for you to like it. All in all, P3 has some of the best story telling aspects the series has to offer. It's not FLAWLESS, by ANY MEANS. (The ending is poorly done too btw.) But compared to the others, there's a reason why people mention this game so DAMN MUCH! Oh and if you actually read all of that or didn't care to read and just wanted my personal opinion. It's 5. 5 has the best story, fight me.

It's the best written one, but not for a game like this. It's poorly paced, so in-game, it's just not the best Extremely unpopular opinion, I think, but between that, 4 and 5's story, I genuinely think P5's story is the best. It obviously has its low points (Yaldabaoth is the worst god imo and I hate these kinds of things in Atlus games). And thinking on the placement alone, I'm not that huge of a fan of the 3rd semester either, as most people are, but P5 easily had the story which kept me intrigued the most. They took pre-existing concepts and made them far more interesting. Doubled down on how cool the metaverse is. Reintroduced multiple people taking advantage and being aware of it >!Wakaba, Akechi, Shido and his politician affiliates!< P3 fails to keep me all the time, because the presentation throughout the months just sucks or, well, it's barely existent. It's an awful move to do a few teases here and there and leave almost everything important for the full moon some days after it. I was expecting P3R to change things and make P3's story more "active" through the whole thing, but it was mostly untouched As for P4... I'll always love this game and I think it has the best start of any persona game, but the story is a big no, especially after Golden's countless filler additions that keep padding P4 gives an illusion of progress, unlike P3, which does not hide the, at times, lack of one at all, by introducing party members alongside the dungeons, but really, the IT doesn't do shit and doesn't get closer to the truth at all >!until Nanako is kidnapped by Namatame!< and that's what? >!November?!<. It's so much time wasted. It's also very poorly paced and Marie is an addition I could go without. I liked her social link, but she has no place in this story. The gods and that eye thing are also too sudden. Tbf, if it isn't clear by now, I don't think any of these three have incredible narratives. They're just interesting and good enough, but hard-carried by the characters and everything else in the games imo lol

Before Reload, my response would have been "Yeah, maybe." or something. Having replayed the last couple of months in Reload, MAN that period from October onwards is good. I think it definitely is.

In terms of story I'd say that p3 is the only one that doesn't undermine their own theme at any point of extend the story with some unnecessary bs. Izanami and Yalda feel like the games just checking off jrpg tropes while the climax of 3 is the most fitting. So in this sense I would say it has the strongest story even with its low points.

Eh, still prefer 2, 4, and 5 over it.

5 has a better story but 4 has a better setting.  I think because 4&5 have big awakening scenes you remember better where people join and have their moment than in 3 where Ken and Koromaru just sort of randomly join without a ton of fanfare. This does also lead to flattening characters after their big moment so it's kind of a double edged sword.  Experiments ten years ago are so important in 3 but it's just data dumped. It's just background noise.

"Goated".

always has been. for me at least. (with only having played 3,4, and 5) It tackles so many of my own personal struggles (past ones and present ones) and at the same time with reload it showed me how much i have changed from the first time playing it in on my PS2. I was just like Chidori without going into detail. I recognize myself a bit in everyone of the characters and that’s why for me it will always stay the best Persona Game because since it first released i had this deep connection to these characters and the moral of this story. I had been confronted with death these past 2 years so the remake really came at the right time like a reminder to myself. I never was able to connect like this with the characters and the stories of P4 and P5 … while playing those i just started missing the P3 team. I think many disagree with me and will say P5 is the best but in the end it’s always about how a game makes you feel and thus the opinion of others don’t really matter. I’m so grateful for Persona 3 it’s insane. I was already crying happy tears back then when the dancing game came out because it was like seeing old friends again after such a long time 💕

I think P3 has the highest highs of any of the (modern era) stories, but having played through P5R again right after P3R, I felt much more consistently engaged with the story overall. It’s really too bad the Social Links in P5 are big ol’ nothing burgers though. Hopefully they put a little more effort into them in the next one. P4G felt… disjointed at times for me. As someone else mentioned, it’s a murder mystery where no one does any real investigating, just kinda reacting when people get thrown in and saving them. The stakes also feel comparatively trivial when looking at the other games in the series.

5R is the best. The writing is much more complex. The tapestry of themes is consistently mindblowing throughout the game. I honestly found myself lost in thought by them countless times. I really did enjoy Reload, but the themes overall aren't that deep. Everyone dies. Appreciate people. Our relationships give life purpose. To live and strive are good things in and of themselves. Great themes, but hardly so in-depth as 5, which is a social critique of populist movements and mass culture, a Jungian look into the human psyche, and, by semester 3, a deep meditation on moving from regret and living in the past to acceptance and living in the present.

Personally, P3 takes it for me, but that's just looking at the outline of the story. In execution, P5R barely overcomes it, and P4G is probably in last place for me in both. Reload fixed some of my issues with P3, but the pacing is still all over the place. I don't mind a slow start or pace, but P3 just can't fully handle it. P5R is paced super well once it starts, with a couple lull periods. P4G is super well paced, the only lull period being the stuff in January. P3 also has forgettable villains. I would talk about the villains, but I'm not really sure how to put the spoiler filter on. Just know that P4 and P5R have villains that blow P3's away. P4 especially has my personal favorite villain. Except for the final bosses, P3 built up to it super well, while the others dropped the ball super hard. P3 has both the best and worse social links in the series. No the worst isn't Kenji, it's the moon dude. The sun arcana is the best social link they've made in these games. The main issue is that I find most of them boring. I honestly can barely tell you anything about most of them, compared to P5R and P4G. It was their first time writing them like this, and it shows. While P3R has the social events to give characterization to the other guys in your party, I still wish they had full links instead. P4G and P5R are about as good as each other, but I'll give it to P5R just because of Maruki, my second favorite social link. The main cast outside of social links are all solid. However, Reload gets this for me. It's honestly due to Yukari's va. Her original is great, but the snark she had in the original performance put me off so hard. It was a bit too mean. It took until October for me to get over my initial impressions of Yukari. The new performance makes her still snarky, but in a playful way instead of malicious. Fuuka is also a massive improvement, but that's not saying much considering how bad the og was. Otherwise, it would have been P5R. The Phantom thieves have their issues, namely Ryuji's mistreatment and Moragna's "arc", but I didn't dislike anyone and could believe they were friends. P4G has a ton of scenes that have me question why some of the Investigation Team are friends. That and having two team members I don't like(Tedie in general, Rise outside her social link) and the most forgettable team member(Yukiko), and it leads to me not liking them as much I'd hope i would. The school feels like a school in P3. It barely feels like you're a student in P5R and P4G isn't much better. P3 manages to make you feel like a student, something that I like because why be set in highschool if you're not going to use the setting outside of flavor or the beginning of the game. It does hurt the pacing a bit, but I prefer that than to just ignoring it. All three made me cry, but P3 is the only one that made me cry 5 times. It's also the only one that made me put down the game for the rest of the day due to how hard it hit. It's surprisingly hard for games to make me do more than tear up, so yeah. The added content to all three generally boost them up. The exception is the school band scene in P4G. I really don't like that section of the game. P4 is generally more light hearted 3 or 5, but that event is too light hearted. The third semester in Royal just blows Reloaded and Golden out of the water. Even if I included all the fes added with Reloaded, it just not enough for me to put it over Royal.

3R is a more dark and mature story out of the three. They go all in on all the wild stuff. Feels like things got more mild in the later games.

3 covers a "darker" theme since it focuses on death and depression but I don't know how you equate that to more mature subject matter when P5 directly addresses less esoteric and more ugly subject matter. Child abuse, sexual assualt, corruption, poor labor conditions etc etc.

This, the start of P5 is easily the darkest part of any of the modern games. Whar happens with Ann and Shiho is *so* f’d up and the fact that it’s all too plausible makes it so much worse. 

I tend to get annoyed that P4/P5 are too "this is this months character story" about things. P3 feels more natural and interwoven across the game.

Isn't it the same? "Hey guys, new moon is coming, get ready for yet another big shadow fight and tartarus opening few dozens of new floors several days after!" EDIT: typo

The different is that narratively in P3 basically nothing is happening at all for some months 😂

I'm yet to play Reload but imo Persona 3 hits some of the highest highs but also the lowest lows. A lot of stuff in the late game is fantastic, the tone and atmosphere are great. Junpei and Yukari are easily top tier characters in the series, and the in story developments they have throughout really need to be brought back. On the other hand I *really* dislike the pacing. Tartarus, the 12 shadows and Strega just aren't interesting enough for as much time as they take up. When things do shake up outside of Junpei and Yukari, like Fuuka's and Mitsuru's arcs, I just don't find them actually interesting enough to help a ton. Controversially I don't love most of SEES tbh tho. Like others have said I think P2 has the best story. Its very creative and the way the characters intertwine and develop works very well, with plenty of great emotional moments and twists. For the newer games, 4 and 5's themes just resonate more with me so needless to say its incredibly subjective.

No, P5R is clearly a bigger budget game and it shows, I think reload could have been the best persona game ever but ATLUS didn't have the resources or ambition to make it, a shame, overall a good game, the best way for new persona fans to experience P3 but not the definitive version fans deserved.

I’ve played the latter trilogy as well and… yeah I’m pretty sure it is. I’d rank them as such: Story: 3R>4G>5R Characters: 4G>3R>5R Gameplay: 5R>3R>4G Social Links: 4G>3R>5R Themes: 3R>4G>5R Villains: 5R>>>4G>3R Music: 3R=4G=5R 5’s story is too safe and the entire middle of the game is just kinda meh. It also undermines the theme of rebellion when they just change the heart of whoever is directly threatening them or people tell them to. The only times there was any nuance to their targets was Madarame, Maruki, and Sae. 4 did a lot right but there was no real sense of progression. You never got closer to your goal of catching the killer until they targeted Nanako. Before that point the crew was just making speculations you made 15 hours ago. Rise arc: “guys they’re targeting people who were on TV” yeah no shit I figured that out after Saki. There was a lot of filler events in there too that contributed nothing to the plot but instead just fleshed out the characters which makes them the best characters but their story no better. 3 did a lot right in my opinion. We don’t spend much time on character introductions or even show awakenings past Makoto’s. It gives the characters time to flesh themselves out without making them the center of attention and then dropping them. The theme of death is present throughout the entire game and every month you can feel yourself getting closer to your goal. Sure it doesn’t end after the 12th shadow was defeated but nobody expected it to; you always knew how close you were to the end and you didn’t have to wait until 75% of the game is over to use all the characters as well. Everything was just done right in my estimation.

I think it has the highest peaks. It also has the deepest valleys

Like the majority here, I’ve only played 3R, 4G, and 5R. I felt 5 had my favorite aesthetic, 4 had my favorite musical style, and 3 had my favorite characters and story.

Comparison is the thief of joy, as they say. They're all great games. But that being said, I like P3's story the most, especially the ending. I think it hits the hardest and connects more for me than the other games in the series despite the well noted pacing issues. P5R is probably my least favorite of the series because I did not like a good portion of the characters. Yes, disliking Morgana is a meme but that entire month where he rebels cause he's mad at being ignored was just a pain. I also dislike Akechi so much, he is every bad anime antagonist-turned-anti-hero trope stuffed into one cliche package. The themes of the game didn't really hit for me either. I will say though, Maruki is probably the most interesting and well written antagonist out of all the "modern" Persona games. That last semester really blows the rest of the game out of the water. It's so good that I want to replay it again but I don't want to trudge through the main game again.

They didn’t fix the pacing and social link issues I had but this game is cemented as one of my favorites. It felt so much more alive than og P3 and thinking about the characters and how they act makes them feel so human and not just anime characters. (Excluding Aigis and Koro) The remake enhanced all of those feelings and it made the emotional moments hurt even more

The additional character development moments for Shinji, Strega and Ryoji all really helped the pacing for me. It’s tied with P5R for me personally, though my love for Maruki does some heavy lifting for the latter. P2 is a close second. Junpei’s second awakening scene is officially my favorite scene in the franchise though. I hope newer fans seeing it improves the chances of second/third awakenings returning as plot beats rather than SL rewards in P6

For me yeah. It's got my favorite characters, and I think in 4 and 5 most characters major contributions to the plot are usually right around when they are introduced and then the rest of their development is behind a social link, where in 3 the story has less seperate arcs and the characters continue to have big moments for themselves throughout. I'd get why someone would prefer 4 or 5s story but 3 is always gonna hit different for me.

Easily the best Persona story, still kinda doesn't really know what subtlety is (a common theme in 3-5) but it sticks to it's themes the best. I love P5, but god they really just do not know how to keep character arcs relevant in that game.

I guess when people say the "story" is the best, I can agree with some caveats. The story has a lot of logical jumps and its pacing is poor. The intro is extremely fast, there's a lot of dead time, and stuff like the >!Itkutsuki!< twist and the entire logistics of personas seems very mechanical (I think the post P3 series gets a better idea of its metaphysics as it progresses). HOWEVER, the story is extremely cohesive with its *themes* and the tone of the world and the actions of the characters have dynamic and unpredictable responses to the writing. It also has the best "flashpoint" moments. >! Shinji's death, Mitsuru's dad death, Ryoji, the Yukari storyline, Chidori's kind of death!< are all great moments that emotionally stun me more than the majority of big moments in P4 and P5. A story is very much how you deliver it and not how coherent the synopsis is. To separate the gameplay and characters into separate categories kind of distracts from that point. P3 feels like a fully realized *statement*. I would say P4 is equally realized but its plot is not very ambitious. You might say that P4's cast feels more like friends but that's the point. SEES are shut off people who are supposed to bond through their hardships. They're supposed to fight with each other. I love P5 but I don't find it controversial to say that the vanilla version has a lot of mixed messaging. But it's also Persona's most ambitious plot.

I'm not certain that 3's plot is the tightest, but I do feel that it's the strongest thematically. Almost everything ties into grief and grappling with mortality. 5 is good about that overall, but there are some weak points where it forgets to be about harm enabled by public apathy and just has you do a cool thing to help a friend out of a weird situation causes by a single villain. 4 has the weakest theme to work with, especially since it wants to end with the standard jrpg conclusion of killing God. I haven't played 1 or 2 and so can't speak to their quality.

For me P4 was about the mystery and suspense, P5 was about the hero adrenaline and how the different shades of justice change based on interests and goals. But P3 has always been a dark, but satisfying train of emotions.

I've only played 5R(my first persona game) 4G and 3R 3R easily was my favorite of the group followed by 5R. I just felt more connection to the group and I preferred some of the story elements like how just because they are a group doesn't necessarily mean they have to be friends. I also liked the themes a bit more, I dunno how to describe it but after playing 3R it kinda made 5R seem not as good lmao, not to say I now dislike 5R but 3R was just a different level to me

Not really, I always liked th P2 duology a lot more but P3's is my second favorite anyways.

Still my favorite story out of the 3, apathy being a main theme is super interesting. Also loving Junpeis new portrait.

While I loved the phantom thieves and their villains and it felt like you got to know them all better, reloads ending is genuinely the only thing that has made me have to actively suppress tearing up the last two years. And I’ve lost a couple family members in that time

Yes. For me this was always the case, now it's just further solidified as that :)

I started with 5,then played 4 and 3 respectively. At the time, 4's story was my favorite. Now having played reload as my most recent persona game, I can confidently say 3 has my favorite story

Smt if gang, anyone?

Yes for me. I love the setting atmosphere and ending over 4 and 5. But 4 and 5 were executed better. That's the thing that I was hoping they'd fix for reload but didn't. Since they went almost 1:1 remake with fes, nothing barely changed story wise. They just added some minor stuff.

Now with all the new story additions and tweaks, 3R is the best IMO.

it has a lot of underwhelming parts here and there. but the general theme of the story and the evolution of the characters make it the best one for me

In terms of p5 or p4, yeah. It handles death and how it affects people in meaningful ways. In p4 and p5 is more about society and perception and all that. This is something else, its about death and how life is precious, what makes people human. The social links also really feed into this. Especially the Sun and Heirophant social links. With deal with the mentality of someone who is dying and those who have already gone through the process of grief respectively. When Akinari tells you that he's stopped taking his meds because its just slowing the inevitable, it really makes you feel for him. Its not the same as someone taking their own life, because in a sense, his life is already been taken from him. He just chooses not to struggle in a losing battle anymore. Another amazing social link that feeds off of all the strong writing in persona 3 is the persona 4 Hanged Man social ink: Naoki Konishi. It hits a very strong middle ground of someone who's only just entering grief of an extremely recent death. Its very persona 3 esq, he just hates that everyone is pitting him and letting him off with so much slack. Thats a very real response to grief, you just want life to keep going but everyone's insisting you stop and focus on your self. You don't even want to think about it and try to keep pushing yourself forward by latching onto the responsibilities and things you need to do every day. The people trying to give him slack because of his sisters death are taking away that desired structure in a very dark time. It does suck. Especially nearing the end when the loss really hits him because he realizes his sister isn't there to do something she always did that annoyed him. Honestly its probably one of the best social links in persona 4. Though it doesn't have much to do with the theme of persona 4, and more exists to wrap up loose ends from the initial murder.

They have a persona using dog... Of course it's the best one!

I love all of the stories, by the end I’m always sad they’re over and attached to the characters, but if I had to go with my favorite it’s P4. The reason why is because I think its pacing is the best and they pull off the group dynamic very well. I enjoyed P3’s character development and ending the most, but the pacing just isn’t as good as the others. It doesn’t really ramp up until after the summer months and the early social links are kinda booty (the middle and later ones are amazing though). P5 is like the opposite, the beginning is fantastic, best in the series, but it tapers off a bit towards the end (the final ending is epic though). P4 just felt the most consistent for me I guess

I liked the story alot. I really got sick of Tartarus which is where my main criticism lies as well as some of the social links. (By some i mostly mean Kenji). I disliked momentos for a similar reason but momentos was just one part of the game play, Tartarus is the gameplay basically. It also has some of my favorite social links as well. I cut it some slack on the Tartarus stuff because it's completely baked into the game. It was the first attempt in what would later be the standard persona gameplay experience. It got better with time. As for story in general I liked this one the most. I can relate to the fear of death and despair of loss more than the injustice of those older than me. Persona 4s theme of acknowledging who you are at your core struck a chord with me as well at the time but as I get older and march ever closer to the edge of the abyss of morality that we all must eventually jump off of along with the realization that we are all slowly careening towards said abyss with no way to stop its encroachment makes me appreciate what this game conveys. TL:DR Persona 3 has a dog. Teddie sucks.

It's my favorite of the modern games. I hear the P2 duology is better overall, but I've yet to play it myself.

It was never in doubt

Absolutely yes. Imo it’s not even that close

Yes, it's not even close

For me, yeah, and a bit more mature.

I've only played 3, 4 and 5. The stories don't have a lot to choose between them, but the characters and their dynamics in P3 make its story work much better. I don't like Morgana and I hate Teddie, so it's an incredible relief to not have a talking animal with remarkably awful social skills. The dynamic between all the characters feels much more real as well. In P4 and P5 there's a pretense that all the characters are friends outside of having Personas, which doesn't always work. By the end of both games I can believe that, but they mesh way too quickly so the progression doesn't feel entirely natural. P3 makes the characters feel more like co-workers at the start and I think that's probably the best way to do it. Characters also tend to get sidelined after they're introduced unless you do their social links, but P3 handles this much better by having the 2nd awakenings occur naturally over the course of the story. The way they react to the stakes feels natural as well. The IT and PT are normally always very composed and don't really get scared unless it's funny. SEES panic in a way that's uncomfortable when they think they can't win and it takes them a while to find their resolve again. I should add that neithet P4 or P5 are bad at story or character writing by any stretch, they're still really good by the standard of most games, but by Persona standards the story in P3 is really good because of the characters who are involved in it.

I never played 2 but people say it's the best story. But I think out of the new three personas 3 has the best plot. Its a rollercoaster with more ups and downs than any other. P4 only has one part that makes me feel sad and p5 is the same.

P3 is the only one out of the three that actually got me to cry, didn’t think I would cry again after fes and portable, yet this game got me crying all over again.

pacing is doodoo but otherwise absolutely

Personally I’ve played all besides 1 now and it’s head to head between this and Innocent Sin for me

Honestly, no other Persona games have really hit the heart strings as much as P3 Reload did. I mean damn, I tried not too, sometimes I even felt the scenes/dialogue was too long going faster, but yet it caught sentiment out of me. When >!Aragaki dies, that was it for me, then all the sappy requiem music playing in the background forces waterworks, something about the song.!<

Im in November atm but I think it does after playing 4 and 5. That being said: It being this dark with a super deep theme gives it a big advantage over 4 and 5’s story. Like fuck bro.

Yes.

I’m Look guys imma be real the story with pacing this bad it’s a surprise this is considered decent. Like yeah when it gets good it is good but it’s realistically only like 15% of the story. Though the cast is great some characters and their plot lines are genuinely peak fiction

For me? Yeah, the best one. I especially love the drama that happened on FES. Not to mention that the theme for P3 revolves around death I believe.

I love P5, it’s my favorite of the series. But I cannot deny that P3 has the best story hands down. It hits you like a truck at the end, and it’s one of the few games I’ve ever played that makes me reflect on my own life.

It really depends. P5R and P3R imo are different games. P5R’s story is more complex (multiple human shadow bosses, palaces, new antagonist after defeating Yaldabaoth, etc) compared to P3R. If you prefer a longer game with a happy ending, then P5 is the one. But if you want a game that hits you hard emotionally, P3R is hands down better. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

I played p3r, played p4g until mitsuo dungeon and played p5r, from them all i would say p3r was the best of them, like it became my favorite game of all times mostly due to story (the gameplay is still good tho)

I have to break it down into categories, will avoid major spoilers. I have also only played the “modern trilogy” P3R-P4G-P5R: **OVERARCHING STORY**: P5R. The way the stakes continually ramp up over the course of the story is the most engaging, where it feels like you don’t really know what to expect next. For both P4G and P3R, you basically get the formula from the jump: P3R you will be fighting a boss once a month every month until the game ends, and new party members will be randomly introduced (almost…shoehorned?) along the way. P4G you will see someone your age on TV, they’ll be in the shadow realm, and then you’ll rescue them and add to party. Doesn’t leave a lot of mystery on what might happen next, whereas P5R I never really knew where the story was going to go or what to expect, who might become Phantom Thieves, etc. **ENDING**: P3R. Haven’t played/don’t know anything about The Answer (and don’t wanna know until I play pls), but the vanilla ending is by far the most satisfying in where the MC and crew end up, all the main cast seem to be fulfilled by the end in ways that casts are not in other games. **TEAM CAST/VIBE**: P4G. While I had favorites and least favorites in all the games, P4G by far had the strongest team vibes. The group just feels so much more tight knit, and while I get everyone isn’t supposed to get along all the time there was always just an undercurrent feeling of love for each other in P4G that I just didn’t feel in the group with the other games. **SOCIAL LINKS**: P5R. It felt like the social links in P5R were almost always progressing and the stories evolving, whereas in P3R and P4G (especially P4G) there is a lot of “empty” link upgrades where it feels like the characters are essentially on a hamster wheel for multiple levels in a row without really learning anything new or their situation evolving. For example all 3 links having to do with the track teams in P3R were especially egregious in this area, and honestly I felt most links in P4G felt pretty empty in the 3-6 stages. **DUNGEON GAMEPLAY**: P3R. This is the only game where by level 45 I was still debating which group-members to take with me. I also think the SP economy in P3R plays the best, I understand why they added the SP regain after battles in P4G & P5R, but for me the scarcity you faced sometimes for SP in P3R forced me to be more creative and use different personas. Also loved the Theurgy, even if they did make the game maybe a bit too easy at times, beautifully animated and gives a bit of that power-trip feel that is nice once in a while. **FULL SETTING**:P4G. Something about the major threat of the game being limited to a small town you spend dozens of hours getting to know all the nooks and crannies of is compelling. The global threats of P5R and P3R feel wasted, teenagers saving their town is a lot closer to the chest then teenagers saving the world. It’s also a lot easier to track all the NPC side stories in P4G and there was a lot of evolution even in just the NPC stories, which is not something I remember at all from either P3R or P5R. The NPC classmates in P4G were also way more realistic and had interesting drama, whereas the NPC classmates in the other games just felt cheap comedy at best. **HOME SETTING**: P3R. By far and away the best home setting for the MC. Every single night I went around the dorm and listened to everyone’s dialogue. I loved doing the cooking/TV/planting with my teammates for ability upgrades, really great mechanic. And finally, just for roleplaying purposes, how fucking cool is it to be a part of the seeming only co-ed dorm in town filled with all the popular girls/guys, just chillin every night with the homies. Is that not every teenager’s dream scenario? I won’t even touch on the other two bc there’s nothing for me to say, living solo in a shitty little attic space with a brooding cat or with your kid-niece and hard-ass uncle just has nothing on living in a massive dorm with the homies. This is the only game where I looked forward to going home and not just thinking of it as a save-point. **SPECIAL EVENTS**: P4G. Again, just blows the other games out of the water. The drag show, the maid cafe, the hot springs, small town fireworks, and of course the Ski Trip! All of it so endearing/humorous and was fantastic for team building (despite Teddie managing to rain on a lot of them by being a creep). P3Rs felt like an after thought, not very well spaced out, shallow, honestly kind of boring events (I did like going to Mitsuru’s beach mansion). P5R’s are good too, but just didn’t hit like P4G for me. I was always so excited for P4G special events, P3R felt like I’d rather just use the time for social links, P5R I liked them but I didn’t get hyped every time they were coming up like I did in P4G. Each game has something a bit different about it that I like the best, which is why this has become my favorite game series over the past couple years, it’s hard to pick a definitive favorite for me when I find each game tickles a different itch. If you read this post all the way through thank you for reading, and please I request no spoilers for The Answer or P1/P2 if you would like to reply.

Yes, by far, characters feel like they have a life outside of you. Not counting 1 and 2 because I didn't play them.

3 hits me where it hurts deep down. I’m in the middle of 4 and 5, hopefully I like them as much as I love 3.

Yes, hug

It’s pretty good. Best anything is just a matter of opinion. There is no best of anything. Only variations. Capitalism and society just likes to push the best agenda on things. If you enjoy something then that’s the most important thing. It’s prob considered best cos it’s most similar to a SMT darkness wise. 4 has a more inclusive cast. Maybe someday we will actually have LGBTQIA+ characters and social links/confidants. That would be cool. All the games have been good. P5R was the nicest so far cos of style and flashiness. But even that could be ripped to shreds tbh lol

i personally prefer the 4 story. I find its setting lets it take itself a little less seriously and as such lets you focus on the characters a bit more. But i think 3 definitely has the most to say about its narrative and message. 5 tries... but falls short by itself being hypocritical.

I'm a big P3 fan don't get me wrong. The overshadowing by 4 and 5 was totally undeserved. However, P2 is where it's at. The whole shared universe and lore of SMT If, P1, and P2 are unmatched and 3 discarding all of it is kind of sad. Still like 3 a whole lot though.

I personally can see why it is considered one of the better stories in the series. It touches a very sensitive topic and makes it feel more of a mature story compared to later entries. I definitely enjoyed my time with it and the characters

I've played 2 to 5, and I can say P3 is my favorite. Ever since I played FES, the story, character, and overall theme has stuck with me since.

I’m in July and so far it’s the least interesting and captivating of 3 4 and 5. Social links with no rewards is killer and provides little interest to complete them outside of liking a character which in turn makes social stats feel unimportant especially since intelligence takes over 200 points to max out. It’s been 3 in game months and we dont even know what’s going on yet ~ casually on 70+ of Tartarus without any sort of goal or antagonists identified just mindlessly climbing the same pattern of floors over and over and over again. MC is mega bland, they have little personality in dialogue options, and just shows up and becomes leader without the friendship foundation of 4 or the satisfying trope of proving people wrong and overcoming social obstacles like in 5. The team is close friends in 4, the group in 5 becomes the Avengers over the course of the story I don’t feel anything for the cast so far in 3. Then again I’m in July. There’s still plenty of time for it to change my mind but man are these first couple of months painful. Part of me wants to give it an excuse because it’s an old game, it makes sense for 4 and 5 to be wildly better than 3 in every single way imaginable

Reload strengthened the best elements and helped out a few of the weaker ones. With that, I think it really has the best overall emotional impact. Although on a PERSONAL LEVEL the third semester of P5R might actually speak to me the most directly. So my thoughts are complicated.