#but it was mostly Aigis and Koromaru

[spooky-activity]

Honestly the MVPs of my Persona 3 Portable run

[still-breathing-au-p3r]

[previous post for November 4th]

When Minato returned to the dorm after school, he’d found Koromaru stationed at the front window. According to Amada, he had been in the same spot when Amada had arrived earlier, and he hasn’t moved at all since. He sits at military attention, perfectly motionless, ears swivelled forward, watching through the glass with absolute focus.

He apparently is using up the entire dorm’s supply of stillness; everyone else mills aimlessly around the ground floor or fidgets where they sit. Fuuka plucks away at her laptop keyboard in second-long bursts, glancing at the door in between each. Yukari makes a token attempt at homework that appears to mostly involve her pen doing acrobatics over and under her fingers, while Junpei doesn’t even bother with the pretense and wanders around the space seemingly at random. Amada sips at a cup of coffee, seated at the other end of the table from Yukari, swinging his legs more vigorously than usual.

Minato sits in one of the armchairs, holding a volume of Aigis’ yakuza novel series in his lap. He hasn’t read a single word. 

Koromaru’s tail twitches, though the rest of him remains as still as a statue. A moment later, the rest of them catch what he’d heard first: the rumble of wheels on the pavement outside. Koromaru starts to pant and wag his tail in earnest, and when the sound of car doors opening filters in from the street, he tears off into a lap around the perimeter of the lounge. That apparently doesn’t burn off enough of his gleeful energy, so he weaves through everyone’s legs as they gather around the couches. He plants himself down in front of the door just as Mitsuru lets herself in.

And there Aragaki stands, a beaming Sanada beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. Judging by how spooked Aragaki looks at the sight of all of them standing there waiting for him, it seems like Sanada isn’t physically steadying him so much as keeping him from turning around and bolting.

Before any of them can respond, Koromaru croons low in his throat and taps his front paws rapidly against the floor, drawing Aragaki’s attention. Immediately the alarm softens out of his face.

Koromaru springs to his feet and turns three rapid pirouettes, then pops onto his back legs to paw at the air. Despite his obvious excitement, he does not jump on Aragaki.

If Aragaki is trying to sound aloof, he’s doing a pretty terrible job of it.

Minato and the others draw back to make room as Aragaki makes his way– a little slowly, but steady on his feet– to the couch. He holds his arm at a strange angle as he goes, his elbow sticking back and to the side, and at first Minato thinks his shoulder must be hurting. Then he realizes that it’s actually to pre-emptively fend off Sanada, who hovers behind Aragaki the entire way. Ultimately, though, Aragaki lowers himself to sit without any assistance– but not without grimacing and grumbling like an old man.

The instant Aragaki is settled, Koromaru is already up on the couch and slugging his way into his lap. He heaves a sigh so drawn out that his entire body seems to deflate, and makes a sound of the purest sort of contentment as Aragaki settles one hand on his flank and the other atop his head.

Neither Sanada nor Koromaru seem at all bothered by this; Sanada laughs aloud and Koromaru simply melts further over Aragaki’s legs.

Aragaki groans and lets his head drop against the back of the couch, laying a hand over his eyes.

Sanada had ended the argument before it could even begin. Between accepting defeat and the prospect of making Fuuka get involved, even a tough-as-nails guy like Aragaki could only ever go with the former. Evidently he’s got a soft spot for Fuuka, which is completely understandable. Everyone has a soft spot for Fuuka.

Grinning and unrepentant, Sanada bounds up the stairs and is back down not even a minute later, the new coat folded tidily and tucked under one arm. 

On his way back to Aragaki, he passes Amada where he’s lingering behind the rest of the group, looking unsure of himself. Sanada sets his hand on Amada’s shoulder and gives a brief, supportive squeeze, which earns a flicker of a smile from Amada. When Sanada moves on, Minato makes a point to catch Amada’s eye and does the Feather Victory Salute. Amada sticks his tongue out at him, but he does it through a smile that lasts a little longer. And he returns the Salute too. Minato counts that as a win.

[elle-p]

may i ask, what's the difference between og p3 and fes? i only got into p3 this year [a little before reload released] and was under the impression they were the same if not at least very similar

sorry to bother you as a “newgen”, just very curious!

Nah, it's fine! Don't worry about being new to Persona. I'm mostly just being salty because it's something that I see far too often. If you like FES, play the original. If you don't, you won't enjoy it either, so don't bother. The combat and presentation are the same because it's literally the same game on the same console sold again a year later with some minor additions/tweaks.

Time changes are shorter

The 3 scenes of Hero walking home from school(2 of which are with Junpei) and seeing all the Social Links were added

You can use the arcade to increase your stats

Junpei's bag when he moves in is purple instead of orange

Multiple bits of npc dialogue was changed to reference Strega

Ikutsuki's dialogue after 10/4 was changed to alter the details of what happened 2 years ago

A few new scenes and npc dialogue regarding Chidori were added/changed if you say the right things to Junpei at certain dates

Aigis' Social Link was added

Elizabeth's dates were added

Koromaru's walks were added

The command room recordings were added

Taking party members out to the film festival was added

Elizabeth has a few more requests

There are a few more Personas

You can wear different outfits in Tartarus

The Answer/Episode Aigis was added

The title screen changed

Both opeings were changed: the main one is now P3FES(which is one of 2 trailers I can find for FES), and the one that plays if you wait is the original's, replacing what was trailer 1

Fuuka can play music in Tartarus

There's definitely other things I've forgotten, but this should be most of it.

[starlight-phantom]

Persona 3 Arcana Swap

Just a quick note, Koromaru is pretty much the same because I have no clue how to really change the storyline of a dog.

Name: Shinjiro Aragaki

Arcana: Fool

Description:

Has the power of the wildcard. Shinjiro is a quiet and reserved young man who mostly prefers to keep to himself. He was childhood friends with Akihiko and Miki, often playing around with them after school and pulling pranks together. However ten years ago, Shinjiro lost both of his parents in the Moonlight Bridge incident and immediately closed himself off. He was quickly passed off to his aunt as he needed a new legal guardian, however they quickly discovered that his aunt just wasn't equipped to take care of a child. After this he was passed around from family member to family member until he was accepted into Gekkoukan and moved into the dorms. Due to the constant moving, Shinjiro was never able to properly form any friendships or come to terms with his loss, leading to him developing a very apathetic view on life, not really caring what happens one way or the other. It's not until he joins SEES, learns about their objective and rekindles his old friendship with Aki that he begins to open his eyes and appreciate everything around him.

Name: Mitsuru Kirijo

Arcana: Magician

Description:

A cheerful and friendly girl in Shinjiro's class. Mitsuru is the first of Shinjiro's classmates to welcome him to Gekkoukan. She and Akihiko have known each other since middle school so they are quite close despite their occasional bickering. Mitsuru joins SEES shortly after Shinjiro after Minako discovers her during the Dark Hour and realises she has the potential. While she can be a little clumsy or awkward at times, Mitsuru always manages to say the right thing at the right time, so she's often in charge of raising the morale of the group when things are looking dire. She also can't help but want to help whenever she sees someone who is in trouble but denies any help from anyone, despite how people often describe this trait of hers as annoying. Thanks to this, she's insistent on helping Yukari despite her numerous protests.

Name: Akihiko Sanada

Arcana: Lovers

Description:

Shinjiro's classmate and close friend. The two of them knew each other as children but lost contact after Shinjiro moved away. While in middle school, Akihiko met Mitsuru and, despite getting a little exasperated by her at times, he respects her way with words and willingness to help others. Akihiko is a newer member of SEES when Shinjiro arrives and is still learning the ropes. He's a little cautious of Aigis due to her family's ties to the Moonlight Bridge incident but still trusts her judgement in battle. Akihiko joined the fight against the shadows because he lost his little sister, Miki, during the incident ten years ago and wants to prevent that from happening to anyone else. Despite the time apart and how much they've changed over the years, Akihiko and Shinjiro's teamwork is as strong as ever.

Name: Minako Arisato

Arcana: Emperor

Description:

One of the original members of SEES. Minako is a spunky girl in her third and final year at Gekkoukan High. She is extremely popular with her classmates due to her prowess in the kickboxing club, winning tournament after tournament. She is one of the powerhouses of the group and tends to charge into battle head first without thinking, much to Aigis' dismay. She lost her parents as a child and was raised in an orphanage with her twin brother. Thanks to this experience, she feels as though she has a duty to protect those younger than her. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, as it often leads to her prioritising others' needs over her own. Due to an event that occurred a few years ago, her relationship with her brother has soured and, despite her best efforts, it shows no signs of improving.

Name: Aigis

Arcana: Empress

Description:

One of the original members of SEES. Aigis is an intelligent and focused girl in her third and final year at Gekkoukan High. She is admired by the majority of the student body, due to her position as the student council president and her reputation of running the school better than the principal ever could. Her classmates like to joke that she's like a robot with how well she can calculate how events will turn out and plan accordingly. Aigis is the strategist of SEES and acts as the de facto leader whenever Ikutsuki isn't around to give orders. Aigis fights shadows due to a sense of guilt as it was her family and their senseless actions that led to the Dark Hour's creation; however, while she won't admit it, she can't help but feel bitter towards her grandfather for making her and her father clean up after his mistakes. Aigis is a nickname given to her by her classmates that everyone else picked up… after three years of calling her that no one can really remember her real name anymore. Not that she cares.

Name: Ken Amada

Arcana: Priestess

Description:

A young boy currently attending Gekkoukan Elementary. Ken is a quiet, polite boy who is unfortunately getting bullied by some of his classmates. SEES learns about him through Ikutsuki mentioning he has the potential, however they first meet when they save him from Tartarus after his bullies 'played a prank' on him and locked him in the Gekkoukan High gym overnight. Their original intent was just to get him in trouble for trespassing in the highschool overnight. After this, Minako immediately latched onto him as a big sister figure and began teaching him self defence, just in case those bullies ever tried to bother him again. Ken is extremely intelligent and talented with technology, managing to modify his laptop and create entire programs by himself, despite his age. This causes him to develop a large interest in Fuuka, desperately wanting to figure out how her systems function. Fuuka oftens worried that he may try to dismantle her at some point in his quest for knowledge but Ken would never go that far. Ken is a big fan of Featherman and finds this whole persona user thing very exciting due to the similarities to the show. He especially likes how his navigation abilities essentially make him the guy in the chair for the rest of the group.

Name: Fuuka Yamagishi

Arcana: Aeon

Description:

An anti shadow weapon developed by Ikutsuki's team of scientists. Her appearance was based on the daughter of one of the engineers who unfortunately passed away in the Moonlight Bridge incident ten years ago. Fuuka starts off very rigid and mission oriented, with an odd fixation on supporting Shinjiro, however the more she accompanies the rest of SEES, the more she begins to develop her own personality. She gains an interest in flowers and cooking; she tends to a lovely garden on the dorm rooftop that everyone is happy to help out in, however she lacks any kind of talent for cooking, leading to the rest of the group feeling intense terror whenever she is in the kitchen. Shinjiro and Minato are trying their best to teach her, however neither of them are having much luck. Her codename from her creators is Oracle.

Name: Junpei Iori

Arcana: Hermit

Description:

The owner of Koromaru and a second year in Gekkoukan. Junpei is a friendly guy in the same class as Yukari and Fuuka. His father was in charge of the local shrine and its upkeep, however his father passed away a year ago and Junpei is left to take care of both Koromaru and the shrine. He tries his best to stay on top of everything but the responsibility quickly weighs him down. Junpei has conflicted thoughts on his father as he had a tendency to drink and take out his frustration on Junpei and his mother, which lead to Junpei's mother leaving them making him feel extremely bitter towards the both of them. However Junpei has plenty of fond memories of how happy and proud his father was of their work at the shrine and his mother playing with him at the playground; he desperately wants to hold onto those positive memories, despite everything else. Joining SEES was a blessing for Junpei as now he has a reason to move forward instead of dwelling on the past. And not to mention, now he has a better place for Koromaru to live and plenty of people to help take care of him.

Name: Yukari Takeba

Arcana: Justice

Description:

A standoffish girl in her second year at Gekkoukan. Despite her prickly nature and her often sharp tongue, Yukari is still a very caring girl and eager to help out her peers when they need it. She never used to be so closed off, however a couple of years ago while walking home from an evening out, Yukari's father was killed by a shadowy figure in front of Yukari. This caused her to fall into a depression and begin pushing away those close to her, including her mother. Yukari became resentful as her father's killer wasn't found, however years later she learned that it was a persona that killed her father. Due to this discovery, she has made it her mission to find that persona's user and make them pay. The only piece of information she has to go on is the harp the persona wielded.

Name: Minato Arisato

Arcana: Hierophant

Description:

One of the original members of SEES. Minato is a quiet and soft-spoken boy who prefers to keep to himself and will act aggressively if it makes people leave him alone. He would be in his third year, however he dropped out and ran away from the dorms, despite Minako and Aigis' best attempts to stop him. He lost his parents at a young age and was raised in an orphanage with his twin sister, Minako. However, Minato could never develop the same optimism that Minako has and would often wish he could see their parents again, despite what that may entail. The two of them were inseparable, especially after awakening to their personas and moving into the dorms. Minato was never able to gain full control over his persona like Minako was able to, due to his mindset. This would unfortunately lead to him losing control of it one night and accidentally killing a man who was in the area, in front of his child. This incident riddled him with guilt and made him believe he was dangerous to be around, so he ran away. Minako keeps trying to persuade him to come back but he's terrified of hurting her, so he refuses.

[wutheringheightsfilm]

ok here's my persona 3 lineup so far

me. obviously . the protagonist

yukari is ALWAYS ON. she is my main bitch . my main healer. my everything <3

koromaru has not left that third spot on my team ever since i got him. he's literally too fucking good it's fantastic to watch multiple enemies try to dark instakill him and they literally never can because he's already a dark and evil dog . love him

this fourth spot is always interchangeable but it's currently been mostly aigis or junpei (literally only for his rakujaka though)

sorry akihiko you're always getting the short end of the stick because i will still put mitsuru before i even consider akihiko as a choice. i haven't gotten the guy in the beanie (shinjiro i think) or the kid on my team yet

[proxythe]

What kind of music can you see the P3 cast listening too? Your latest post just made me wonder that. Also just curious, what music do you listen to normally? I ask everyone this lol

im kind of unbelievably horrible at knowing music genres, let alone trying to assign specific genres to characters but i’ll try my best 😭 guys plz dont cook me if its bad im not that big of a musichead plz plz

Anyways. firstly, since minato and kotone both canonically listen to the p3 ost, i can assign them hip hop/rap/pop off rip. if it’s in their playlist, i think we can gather that they enjoy it.

minato - alt rock, pop punk, gothwave, video game osts. i say video game osts bc i yhink minato would like sitting around in a video game afk just to listen to the background music. i dont think minato is a goth but i feel as if gothwave has a sound he’d find enjoyable

kotone - alt rock, hip hop/rap, pop rock. she loves to lip sync to it and u can hear the song she’s lip syncing to bc i also know kotone probably turns her volume to max so loud you’d think she’ll damage her ears someday if not soon

yukari - dance pop, new wave, pop. she’s one of those people who hates country and sucks at listening to music outside her preferred genre. secretly likes a few alt songs but she’d never put them on her main playlist

junpei - hip hop, r&b. probably also a pop enjoyer, but honestly he’d like anything if it were catchy. he loves to dance and it sucks bc he’s really good at it so nobody can make fun of him

fuuka - alt/indie, pop. she’d also enjoy video game music, like minecraft ost and she cries to it. i think she mostly likes slower music. music that makes her feel like her soul is leaving her body and ascending to a different plane of existence

mitsuru - classical. rich girl… but i also think the girls would influence her taste to expand more and she’d find herself enjoying the worst songs you’ve ever heard in your life. it’s ok tho since it’s her first time branching out. she’ll grow…

akihiko - whatever’s on the radio, mostly enjoys upbeat faster paced music that can easily hype someone up. he’s kinda that one pic that’s like “Gym Beast Playlist” and the first song is hi high by loona

shinjiro - death metal, old school hip hop. death metal came to me bc i was thinking about casual outfits for shinjiro and i really wanted to put him in a death metal shirt bc of the font lmfaoo. but i prefer more old school hip hop for him and occasionally other things like old school rock music. he hates that new shit

ken - pop, alt/indie. ken is a kid so his taste is just beginning to form. he only knows pop radio. i also think ken’s music taste is music where you’d hear it and be like “god how does anyone like this” but he’s a child so he’s allowed to get away with it. and i say indie bc i also think ken is the type of person to be sad so he listens to more sad music as if it won’t make his mood worse. he goes on youtube and types “sad music playlist” when he’s in a bad mood

aigis - feel like she focuses more on the lyrics than the sound 😭 it’s her first day on earth she hasn’t yet learned that u can listen to music for the vibe instead of the lyricism. even then, i think aigis would probably enjoy almost any kind of music bc she thinks the creativity is beautiful

koromaru - adding him bc i think he’d have shinjiro’s taste from how much he loves him. he hears death metal and it puts him right to sleep…

ryoji - similar to aigis, but he’d probably heavily prefer whatever music the protagonist also enjoys. he has his own thing for classical music as well. he plays the piano and stuff …

+ thanks for asking what my taste is. i personally prefer to listen to a lot of rock, punk, metal, etc. if my cutesy art doesn’t make it so incredibly obvious BUT i enjoy anything as long as it sounds pleasant to my ears ✌️

[windamp]

persona 3 weekly fic rec

SPOILERS BELOW

fics may be from any version of the game

theme: ryoji

telling eyes by Katseester: Minato/Ryoji, 2.111, G

Ryoji Mochizuki walks into your life one day, and it's all downhill from there.

69912 by neonsign: Minato/Ryoji, 2.140, G

“Have you ever kissed anyone before?”

i call out these prayers to the sky, heavy with thought, see your face by foxmulder_whereartthou: Minato/Ryoji, 1.696, T

Inside of Nyx Avatar, Ryoji - or whatever’s left of him Death’s clinging to, desperate - feels his personality be digested.

Song for a Winter's Night by akisazame: Minako/Ryoji, 2.611, T

In December, Ryoji tries to visit Minako secretly. Minako isn't having any of it.

put that weight on my shoulders by annperkinsface: Junpei & Ryoji, 2.597, G

A mournful shadow passes over Junpei's face. Ryoji wonders at it, swallowing back the same questions he's been swallowing back since Junpei showed up to their internship looking like someone had borrowed his skin and was walking around in it, but then Junpei's face cracks into a small smile and he looks like himself again, the same boy that immediately proclaimed himself Ryoji's friend in their first meeting and the first person Ryoji went out for ramen with, the noodles at Hagakure seeming to taste more delicious in the warm light of his companionship.

The Monsters at the End of the World by Stealth_Noodle: Ryoji + Aigis, 8.656, T

As the world turns obliviously toward its end, Aigis is the only one who remembers. She's also the only one hallucinating a dead Ryoji.

Winter Pilgrim by Stealth_Noodle: Ryoji & Others, 24.039, T

Ryoji does December, mostly by happening to Social Links and Not Quite Getting It. (Or, Akinari waits, the Kitamuras feed a stray, Rio tries girl tactics, Maiko fails at Stranger Danger, Saori goes to Catholic school, Mutatsu goes home, Ms. Toriumi attempts a good deed, Koromaru smells things, and Kurosawa has an uneasy night.)

[sparkykitsune]

Lackadaisy X Persona 3 AU

Been thinking about doing an AU with this idea since I think my P3 cat designs can pass off as Lackadaisy designs for the most part

little premise of this AU: SEES is a speakeasy set during the Roaring 20s (haven't figured an abbreviation for this SEES), and they have to compete with the Marigolds and the eponymous Lackadaisy (canon Lackadaisy cat cameo perhaps)

Notable character name changes (I haven't decided on new surnames yet): Makoto -> Michael Yukari -> Yvonne Junpei -> Juniper Mittens (Mitsuru) -> Maria (but she's still called Mittens; I can't call her Mitzi for obvious reasons) Akihiko -> Andrew Fuuka -> Flora Aigis -> Angela (but called Aigis as a play on "I guess") Koromaru -> Shiro Ken -> Kenneth (but called Ken for short) Shinjiro -> Shane

Some other tidbits (contains some canon stuff from Persona 3 but altered to fit the Lackadaisy world):

All characters are aged up to adults to fit the Lackadaisy theme (Ken is the youngest, he's 18)

Michael's parents died when he was young, so he lived with his extended family before leaving home at age 18 and somehow managing to land himself in the position as a rum runner

Yvonne's father was killed by a drunk driver when she was little, and she didn't think she'd end up as a rum runner many years later much to her dismay (as she detests alcohol combined with her father's death)

Juniper works as the bartender for the speakeasy, and he does consider it as an "escape" from his insecurities and such while talking with patrons at the bar. He seems to have a crush on one of the bar's regulars

Maria's family runs SEES (Ikutsuki isn't here in this AU), but she's the sole heir of the speakeasy as her father passed away

Andrew's backstory is the same as canon (him, his sister and Shane were living in an orphanage but his sister died), he doesn't dare tell his foster parents that he's working as a rum runner

Flora's parents are doctors in this universe but Flora ran away from home because of pressure and wound up working at the speakeasy (her medical knowledge does come in handy, and she has some mechanic skills as well that she learned in her spare time growing up)

Angela suffered from a brain injury and damaged her amygdala, so she's rather "robotic" and emotionless, she's most certainly "enigmatic" as she's rather shut in about her past (she's just a regular of the bar that ended up as part of the speakeasy staff)

Shiro and his owner came from Japan* but his owner was killed on the job as a rum runner. Shiro is currently a stray dog that's looked after by SEES and Shane (dogs do exist as pets in Lackadaisy)

Kenneth's mom was killed (as a bystander) when Shane shot her, and he joins the speakeasy as a ploy for revenge. Kenneth is also 18 in this AU (but much like Freckle, he's short and has a babyface)

Shane left the speakeasy and lives on the streets homeless out of guilt on what happened

A lot of character dynamics are mostly the same as in the actual game (like Juniper and Yvonne bantering etc)

Strega doesn't exist in this AU but the three members of Strega still appear as characters (homeless trio)

*I'm aware that shiba inus didn't come to America until the 1950s but like, Lackadaisy itself does contain a few minor anachronisms so it probably won't affect anything

[selicyoats]

my thoughts on the persona 3 cast

SPOILERS BELOW (OBVIOUSLY) Junpei Iori Battle Rating: 3/10 Junpei was never doing anything too impressive in all honesty. He had Agi and he had decent Phys skills, but he began losing relevance once Akihiko joined and Character Rating: 10/10 There's one of his lines that really spoke to me, and it went something like: "The only reason every day has felt the same was because I wasn't putting in the effort to make every day different." It's really stuck with me, and in addition, him helping Chidori find reason to want to look towards the future and living was also beautifully done. Yukari Takeba Battle Rating: 9/10 She's pretty useful early-game and late-game, with a slightly weaker mid-game due to Ken and Mitsuru being slightly more useful. Character Rating: 8/10 Seeing her come to terms with her father's death and her resolve to end the Dark Hour was very beautifully done, and seeing her interactions with Mitsuru really helped her character a lot. Akihiko Sanada Battle Rating: 10/10 Debuffing and having ridiculous normal attacks made Akihiko a staple team member for me, and boy does he pack a punch. It's a shame he doesn't get any physical skills, but his normal attack is pretty good as is. Character Rating: 10/10 Just look at the scene where he talks to Shinjiro's coffin and you just know, man. I couldn't do his character justice in a description, but I can at least lament at how they murdered his character so he could be turned into "lol protein!!!!!" man.

Mitsuru Kirijo Battle Rating: 8/10 "haha marin karin" have you heard about FULL OFFENSE (or playing portable like i did) She's pretty good. Heals plus damn good ice damage is very very nice. Character Rating: 8/10 Similarly to Yukari, her character benefits a lot from having to come to terms with her father's death. I unfortunately can't give much say, as I didn't get to spend much time with her. Once I do replay P3, I'll go through her S. Link. Fuuka Yamagishi Battle Rating: uhhh/10 She's your support, so, uh. Yeah? Kinda hard to rate her in that aspect. Character Rating: 7/10 She had cute interactions with Natsuki. While her character don't go extraordinarily far, she doesn't really need to have a deep character. Aigis Battle Rating: 10/10 She is so fucking busted and she also provides buffs and can also HEAL??? And she comes with Orgia Mode to boot? The devs 100% wanted you to use Aigis. Character Rating: 10/10 Man. Seeing her come to terms with how she'll never be human the more human she gets really hits hard, but seeing her resolve to "live" as herself and not as who she was made to be was such a great scene it made me tear up. Koromaru Battle Rating: 8/10 dog. The Mudo and Agi support kind of just make him a better Junpei I guess? I used him a bunch while Aigis was out and he did a great job. Character Rating: 6/10 I mean, dog? It's hard to give him character, but it's nice seeing him come to terms with his former master's death. Ken Amada Battle Rating: 7/10 He comes with healing support like Yukari, and the Hama skills are nice too. Shame he overlaps Zio with Akihiko, but he's not bad if you're not running Akihiko. Character Rating: 8/10 Like with most Persona 3 characters, seeing him deal with his mother's death is a big showcase of his character. It's nice seeing undertones of his character in the S. Link, and how he wants to be older and how he likes superhero movies but deep down he wants to be taken seriously, and he wants to be seen as more than just a kid. That being said, if you romance him with FeMC, what the fuck is wrong with you. That's a kid. Shinjiro Aragaki Battle Rating: i dunno I never used Shinjiro, but from the looks of it, he seems to be heavily phys-focused which is good for bosses but not so much for Tartatus exploration. Character Rating: 8/10 He's got cute stuff going on with Koromaru, but he's mostly a wheel to move other characters than he is a vehicle himself, if you understand what I'm saying. That being said, he acts as a fantastic wheel for both Akihiko and Ken, being pivotal for their character growths. In general, the S.E.E.S. has some fantastic characters under their belt, and I couldn't be any happier Persona 3 was my first Persona game. I'll probably give my thoughts on the Investigation Team another time.

[faradaykay]

I know your mostly a p3 blog but I really wanna know, thoughts on Morgana? (Or just the mascots in general, I'll let you chose if that means Aigis or Koromaru)

I LOOOOOOOVE MORGANA I AM SUCH A MORGANA LOVER AND DEFENDER people are so mean to him and for what. he’s just a kittys. a little kitty meow meow of a guy. HE IS SOOOO SILLY and honestly his potential was underutilized bc i truly wish he had a better arc than the one during okumura’s palace bc the concept there was good but the execution was not great… i also think he is overhated for the “lady ann” stuff. like yes atlus should leave ann alone always and forever but i also think people make that situation a bigger deal than it was and use it as a reason to be so so meanies to him when literally every guy in that damn game has commented on ann. i think morgana is adorable and funny and had a character arc that was pretty good although the execution could have been better. i wish he were taken more seriously as akira’s best friend and as a crucial part of the team

[latenitewaffles]

What are other swaps in your P3/5 swap au?

It's not like. A direct swap for every character, sorta excluding the Senpais, mostly because that's kinda difficult with P3 and 5. It's a retained personality roleswap.

The more direct ones are Ren and Minato, Sumire and Aigis, Kasumi and Metis, Akechi and Mitsuru, Makoto and Akihiko, Cat Mona and Koromaru, and Haru and Shinjiro.

The less direct ones are Ann + Futaba and Yukari + Fuuka, Ryuji + Human Mona and Junpei, and Yusuke + Human Mona and Ken. I call these "less direct" because aspects of the p3 character's stories had to be split in order to make this work better

[twilightknight17]

Last night on P3R: mostly Tartarus, HOW DARE YOU?, and once again a lack of aggressive dialogue options.

I got my shit wrecked in Tartarus, between multiple gatekeepers in a row, and the Monad passage Elizabeth wanted me to explore. The shadow tactics are getting better, and it’s fun having to work around them.

Throwing a Cowardly Maya at me that immediately starts off with Concentrate+Megidolaon is a little much, though.

I got through eventually, though, and got some great rewards!

Hehehe

HEHEHEHEHE

(I’m sorry, I think these outfits are great. XDDDD)

...I’m sorry, what is the CATHEDRAL OF TIME? Can I have a slightly bigger fragment??? Please??? Oh man.

Anyway, summer break is kind of off to a disappointing start, because like… it’s been 2 weeks, and I haven’t gotten to work on any of my links or anything. Yakushima was great, but now I’m at extra track training for this competition that’s coming up.

I mean I guess I’d be happier if there was something more to it than just showing the same scene of us running laps every day for six days or whatever. Or if there was a choice whether to attend or not. But no, I’m just locked into advancing none of my social links except Tanaka.

Every time I talk to this man I want to push him in the fountain. Also, he keeps asking if I remember my promise and haven’t told anyone. Sir, tbh, I don’t even remember what you don’t want me to tell people.

The Dark Hour has begun, and I’m happy to see Pharos again, because obviously, I love hi-- oh. Wait, no, this is Fuuka, calling me to the command room. Never a good sign.

SEES throws on their uniforms and sprints upstairs, and we’ve got a problem!

Hm. A normal shadow? Akihiko’s probably got it, but yeah, weird that this one left Tartarus…

And then Akihiko calls, and we’re off, because the shadow is defeated, Akihiko is fine, but someone is very badly hurt.

HOW DARE YOU HURT KOROMARU?

I knew he was coming to our dorm eventually but I didn’t realize it was because he was hurt that badly!! Literally everyone is upset about this turn of events, Aigis can speak Dog, and we’re using Mitsuru’s influence in the best way possible.

(We couldn’t even cast dia to stabilize him, though??)

The next evening, Mitsuru informs everyone that Koromaru is gonna pull through just fine, and Pharos stops by to give his weekly warning.

Guys, I have a track meet the day after tomorrow, please stop waking me up at midnight. T_T

………no.

You shouldn’t even be drinking coffee, you’re like 10.

So now I’m off to my track meet, and did really good! I kind of wish it had been a longer scene, or a minigame, or something? I dunno. But the wunderkind runner from the other school came to talk to me after, and wants to be friends?

I guess? Is this a new social link? Hm. I guess we’ll see, since I’m free again, but first I’m gonna go rank-up with Maiko.

Maiko is ready to run away from home. She tells me goodbye and not to tell her parents where she went, and then heads off. And after a blip of a time jump, here come her parents! They have no idea why she would have done this! She’s never acted like this before!

Man I really wanted to pick that second one.

And the dad recognizes me. Apparently she’s mentioned that she plays with “Arisato-kun”, a high-schooler, at the playground. Maiko’s mom is appalled, because she didn’t know anything about that. I’m not surprised; do you ask anything about your daughter’s day?

They literally start bickering to the point where it isn’t dialogue boxes, it’s just audio, like background noise. But eventually the dad remembers I’m there and cuts off the mom.

Sir, you’re the ones arguing instead of looking for your kid. You’re lucky I even want to help, after what you did to her!

They ask if I have any ideas where she might be, and I suggest the takoyaki stand. We all go running off, and Maiko is in fact there. She starts crying almost immediately, and is finally able to tell them why she’s so upset.

And her parents actually apologize! They promise to go home and actually talk to her! I’m skeptical because, again, he HIT her, but I’m gonna have to give them the benefit of the doubt, I guess. :/

Two more people have gone missing in Tartarus, and the full moon is in two days, so we’re gonna have to go in and get them. So that’s up next!

[elle-p]

Here is what every Persona 3 character calls each other in the jp version of the drama cds, movies, the weird masquerade, and dancing.

Leader/Makoto Yuki/Sakuya Shiomi

L/MY/SS-YT: Takeba/Yukari(PQ2)

L/MY/SS-JI: Junpei

L/MY/SS-AS: Sanda-senpai/Sanada-san

L/MY/SS-FY: Yamagishi(mostly)/Fuuka

L/SS-MK: Kirijo-senpai/Mitsuru-senpai(DMN)

L/MY/SS-A: Aigis

L/SS-KA: Amada

L/SS-K: Koromaru

L/SS-SA: Senpai/Aragaki-san

SS-SI: Riji-cho(Chairman)

SS-P: Pharos

L/MY/SS-RM: Ryoji

L-HO: Vice-president/Odagiri

L-MK: Obaa-san(Granny)

L-BK: Bunkichi-jiisan(Grandpa Bunkichi)

L-KH: Hiraga-senpai

L-CF: Fushimi-san

L-MO: Maiko-chan

L-M: Mutatsu-san

L-AK: Kamiki-san

L-E: Edogawa-sensei

L-K: Kurosawa-san

L-E: Elizabeth

Leader/Kotone Shiomi

KS-YT: Yukari

KS-JI: Junpei

L/KS-AS: Sanada-senpai

L/KS-FY: Fuuka

KS-MK: Kirijo-senpai

L/KS-A: Aigis

L/KS-KA: Amada-kun

L/KS-K: Koromaru

L/KS-SA: Aragaki-san/Aragaki-senpai

KS-SI: Riji-cho(Chairman)/Ikutsuki(after 04.11.09)

KS-P: Pharos

KS-RM: Ryoji-kun

L-RI: Rio

L-YN: Yuko

L-I: Igor-san

L-T: Theo

Yukari Takeba

YT-MY: Yuki-kun

YT-SS: Shiomi-kun

YT-KS: Kotone

YT-JI: Junpei(Stupei is Junpei-no-baka)

YT-AS: Sanada-senpai

YT-FY: Yamagishi(at the start)/Fuuka

YT-MK: Kirijo-senpai/Mitsuru-senpai(after 18.11.09)

YT-A: Aigis

YT-KA: Amada-kun

YT-K: Koromaru

YT-SA: Aragaki-senpai

YT-SI: Riji-cho(Chairman)/Ikutsuki-san/Ikutsuki(after 04.11.09)

YT-RM: Ryoji-kun

YT-NM: Moriyama-san

YT-KT: Tomochika-kun

YT-HO: Odagiri-kun

YT-RI: Iwasaki-san

YT-YN: Yuko

YT-CF: Fushimi-san/Chihiro-chan

YT-IT: Toriumi-sensei

YT-E: Edogawa-sensei

YT-K: Kurosawa-san

YT-KS: Kikuno-san

YT-E: Elle-P-san(DMN)

Junpei Iori

JI-MY: Makoto

JI-SS: Sakuya

JI-KS: Kotone

JI-YT: Yukari-chi

JI-AS: Sanada-san/Sanada-senpai(P3M/DMN)

JI-MK: Kirijo-senpai

JI-FY: Fuuka

JI-A: Ai-chan(mostly to her)/Aigis

JI-KA: Amada-shounen(mostly)/Amada

JI-K: Koro

JI-SA: Aragaki-san

JI-SI: Riji-cho(Chairman)/Ikutsuki-san

JI-T: Takaya

JI-C: Chidorin(mostly to her)/Chidori

JI-RM: Ryoji

JI-NM: Moriyama

JI-KT: Tomo-chi/Tomochika

JI-KM: Miya

JI-RI: Rio-chi

JI-B: Bebe

JI-E: Edogawa

JI-K: Kurosawa-san

JI-E: Elle-P/Elle-P-san(DMN)

Akihiko Sanada

AS-MY: Yuki

AS-SS/KS: Shiomi

AS-YT: Takeba

AS-JI: Junpei/Iori

AS-MK: Mitsuru

AS-FY: Yamagishi

AS-A: Aigis

AS-KA: Amada

AS-K: Koromaru

AS-SA: Shinji

AS-SI: Riji-cho(Chairman)/Ikutsuki-san/Ikutsuki(after 04.11.09)

AS-J: Jin

AS-C: Chidori

AS-RM: Ryoji

AS-K: Kurosawa-san

Mitsuru Kirijo

MK-MY: Yuki

MK-SS/KS: Shiomi

MK-YT: Takeba/Yukari(after 18.11.09)

MK-JI: Iori

MK-AS: Akihiko

MK-FY: Yamagishi

MK-A: Aigis

MK-KA: Amada

MK-K: Koromaru

MK-SA: Aragaki

MK-SI: Riji-cho(Chairman)/Ikutsuki(after 04.11.09)

MK-T: Takaya

MK-J: Jin

MK-C: Chidori

MK-RM: Mochizuki

MK-HO: Odagiri

MK-CF: Fushimi

MK-E: Edogawa-sensei

MK-KS: Kikuno

MK-E: Elle-P(DMN)

Fuuka Yamagishi

FY-MY: Yuki-kun

FY-SS: Shiomi-kun

FY-KS: Kotone-chan

FY-YT: Yukari-chan

FY-JI: Junpei-kun

FY-AS: Sanada-senpai

FY-MK: Kirijo-senpai

FY-A: Aigis

FY-KA: Amada-kun

FY-K: Koro-chan

FY-SA: Aragaki-senpai

FY-SI: Riji-cho(Chairman)/Ikutsuki(after 04.11.09)

FY-C: Chidori-san

FY-RM: Ryoji-kun

FY-NM: Moriyama-san/Natsuki-chan(after 12.06.09)

FY-KT: Tomochika-kun

FY-RI: Iwasaki-san

FY-KH: Hiraga-senpai

FY-E: Elle-P-san(DMN)

Aigis

A-L: Leader

A-MY: Makoto-san

A-SS: Sakuya-san

A-KS: Kotone-san

A-YT: Yukari-san

A-JI: Junpei-san

A-AS: Sanada-san

A-MK: Mitsuru-san

A-FY: Fuuka-san

A-KA: Amada-san

A-K: Koromaru-san

A-SA: Aragaki-san

A-SI: Ikutsuki-san

A-C: Chidori-san

A-RM: Ryoji-san

A-KT: Tomochika-san

A-E: Elle-P-san(DMN)

Ken Amada

KA-MY: Yuki-san

KA-SS/KS: Shiomi-san

KA-YT: Yukari-san

KA-JI: Junpei-san

KA-AS: Sanada-san

KA-MK: Mitsuru-san/Kirijo-senpai

KA-FY: Fuuka-san

KA-A: Aigis-san

KA-K: Koromaru/Koro

KA-SA: Aragaki-san

KA-SI: Ikutsuki-san

KA-C: Chidori-san

KA-RM: Ryoji-san

Shinjiro Aragaki

SA-SS: Shiomi

SA-KS: Shiomi/Kotone(04.10.09)

SA-YT: Takeba

SA-JI: Junpei

SA-AS: Aki

SA-MK: Mitsuru

SA-FY: Yamagishi

SA-A: Aigis

SA-KA: Amada

SA-K: Koro(in P3M/WM, he calls him Koro-chan when no-one's looking, and Koromaru when someone is)

Shuji Ikutsuki

SI-MY: Yuki-kun

SI-YT: Takeba-kun

SI-JI: Iori-kun

SI-AS: Sanada-kun

SI-MK: Kirijo-kun

SI-FY: Yamagishi-kun

SI-A: Aigis

SI-KA: Amada-kun

SI-K: Koromaru

SI-SA: Aragaki-kun

SI-TK: Takeharu-shi

Takaya Sakaki

T-J: Jin

T-C: Chidori

Jin Shirato

J-T: Takaya

J-C: Chidori

Chidori Yoshino

C-JI: Junpei

C-T: Takaya

C-J: Jin

Ryoji Mochizuki

RM-MY: Makoto

RM-SS: Shiomi-kun

RM-KS: Kotone-san

RM-YT: Takeba-san/Yukari-san

RM-JI: Junpei/Junpei-kun

RM-AS: Sanada-san/Sanada-senpai

RM-MK: Mitsuru-san

RM-FY: Fuuka-san

RM-A: Aigis-san/Aigis(after 2.12.09)

RM-KA: Amada-kun

Natsuki Moriyama

NM-FY: Fuuka

Kenji Tomochika

KT-MY: Yuki

KT-YT: Takeba-san

KT-JI: Junpei

KT-A: Aigis-san

KT-KM: Miyamoto

KT-RI: Rio

KT-YN: Nishiwaki

Hidetoshi Odagiri

HO-YT: Takeba-san/Takeba-kun

HO-JI: Iori

HO-MK: Kaicho(President)

HO-KH: Keisuke

HO-CF: Fushimi-kun

Mitsuko Kitamura

MK-BK: Ojii-san (Grandpa)

Bunkichi Kitamura

BK-MK: Jaa-san (Grandma)

Kazushi Miyamoto

KM-MY: Yuki

KM-JI: Iori

KM-RM: Mochizuki

KM-IT: Sensei

Rio Iwasaki

RI-KT: Tomochika

RI-KM: Miyamoto-kun/Miyamoto

RI-YN: Nishiwaki

Yuko Nishiwaki

YN-JI: Iori-kun

YN-AS: Sanada-senpai

YN-KT: Tomochika

YN-KM: Miya

YN-RI: Iwasaki/Rio

Keisuke Hiraga

KH-L: Leader-kun

KH-FY: Yamagishi-san

KH-HO: Odagiri-kun

Chihiro Fushimi

CF-YT: Takeba-senpai

CF-MK: Kaicho(President)/Kirijo-senpai

CF-A: Aigis-senpai

CF-HO: Odagiri-san/Odagiri-senpai(P3M)

Maiko

MO-L: Onii-chan

Bebe

B-JI: Iori-dono

B-A: Aigis-dono

Tanaka

PT-RM: Ryoji-kun

Toriumi

IT-JI: Iori

IT-KT: Tomochika

IT-KM: Miyamoto

Edogawa

E-JI: Iori-kun

E-MK: Kirijo-san

Elizabeth

E-YT: Takeba-sama

E-JI- Iori-sama

E-MK: Kirijo-sama

E-FY: Yamagishi-sama

E-A: Aigis-sama

E-KA: Amada-sama

E-K: Koromaru-sama

E-T: Theo

Theodore

T-JI: Iori-sama

T-KA: Amada-sama

[bobzora]

more reload thoughts, this time on the characters, heavy spoilers under cut (for p3 content, and also spoilers on some of the new stuff!!)

akihiko and mitsuru got arena era characterization blasted it's actually really sad he is not protein. she is not a helicopter mom. they are equals and friends who respect each other. please get the memo. most of the others' characterization seemed fine but man they got the worst of it

it's really funny that akihiko has gone from best to worst party member. i'm thankful to be free from the shackles that forced me to use him. i beat nyx with junpei aigis yukari. ken and yukari i swapped between for other fights.

yukari is one of my favorites. and she still is. i'm kind of bummed they made her nicer though

this is my first time actually saving chidori. ok time to mention junpei's new english va did a banger job. most of the cast in general killed it. shoutout to yuko (strength sl) ? for an unexpected banger of a natural sounding voice? anyway junpei's second theurgy. goes hard.

i still dont care about koromaru nothing could make me care about koromaru he's cute. i guess. lol. i like that you can pet him.

i love you aigis! there's nothing notably new for me to say about her but i lvoe her i love her i love her. she matters so much if you even care. crazy how i actually used orgia mode in reload

KEN AMADAAAA. ken. ken. ken. ok FIRST of all he's usable now! yay! i love having non-instakill light and dark skills. SECOND of all oh my god the first couple ranks of his not-SL drove me crazy. i went Uh. Uh. Um. it's like awww he likes featherman :) oh. yeah. this ten year old is actively planning a murder-suicide. he wants you to look after his hamster named hamburger if (when) something happens to him. i have such a big soft spot for ken he is my favorite child soldier. jesus christ. slightly sad that they removed some relevant dorm dialogue. i dont have the fes screenshots on me those are on my old laptop. but trust that they are missed.

i'm not a true shinji-er, frankly i mostly care about him (and akihiko) just through his relationship with local justice kid ken. it was nice hanging out with him though...jumpscared by his smile. his last hangout event (the post-mortem one) was good. oh yeah he's such a strong battler i wish i could keep him around. his theurgy is over the top with the bloody tear but i love that lol.

ryoji mochizuki voice "I know I said I wanted us to be friends, but... I actually want to be something more."

not being able to say "same":

they actually fucking did it. dude. they actually fucking did it. throughout the hangout i was like okay which 5 royal writer was working on this because this is some pretty good bait. and as it progressed i was like there's no way they're actually going for it, right? man they went for it. ryoji makes good on his word that he would love mc whether girl or boy. love wins. or loses i guess. good fucking content. movie ryomina is still on top but well that is the movies and this is video game. and this is the first time minato and ryoji can actually hang out in a video game. i love you bisexuality

i prefer "that was my name for a time. i didn't mind it." over the version in reload but man that's just me being attached to lines lol. also nyx (avatar) gets he/him-ed. shoutout detransitioned ryoji ( :( )

i wish i could put aigis in a butler outfit.

i miss femc.

[sage-nebula]

I finally finished Persona 3! Thoughts below the cut.

First — I have only played the female protagonist (Kotone's) story. Something like ten years ago I started FES which only has the male protagonist (Minato's) story, but I got stuck on the October boss because I was super underleveled and the Fortune shadow's cheating made it so that I was doing too much damage to my party to be able to keep up with the healing. As a result, I never finished it. I don't really remember Minato's story too much, aside from remembering that it felt different than Kotone's did, so I can't comment on the story from Minato's point of view. I'm also not very interested in playing his story, though I might someday. But for right now, it's not a priority. So any comments I make on the story, I'm making solely on Kotone's version of events.

All of that out of the way . . . while I'm not counting this as a formal review because this game originally came out in 2009 and so it's a bit late for that, it'll still be easier for me to break my thoughts down the way I usually do for a formal review. So that being said:

Overall Score: 7/10.

The Pros:

— For the most part, the gameplay is pretty smooth. Apparently being able to change party member's equipment from a menu instead of talking to them in Tartarus was a Portable edition, as is the ability to buy equipment at night. Both of these things are huge quality of life upgrades. I also liked the option of being able to take direct control of my party member's actions in battle; although I only did this near the end, it helped a lot in cases where I knew the enemy was invulnerable to magic or physical attacks, and they kept using them anyway. I also only ever ran into the issue of having to leave Tartarus because of the Reaper once, though I don't know if that was just because I was better at managing my time there this time around or not.

— I really enjoyed just about all of the characters. I remember not really liking Yukari back in the day, and I don't know if that's because her interactions are different with Minato than they are with Kotone or what, but I really liked her this time around. (And in fact it was Junpei I didn't really like at first, but he grew on me.) I like the fact that they're all nuanced; oh sure, there are definitely anime tropes present in them, but they're also allowed to be flawed and are written to be a little more realistic, particularly with regards to things like the traumatic events they experience / are still healing from. I think Yukari's relationship with Mitsuru was probably my favorite in the game; I really loved seeing how they grew over the course of the plot, including how they grew closer.

— The social link aspect is really fun. My favorite part of any story is the characters, so getting to build relationships over the course of the game and see how the characters change in relation to the protagonist was pretty delightful. Even though the protagonist is mostly just a vessel for you, the player, to experience the story through, it was still fun to see.

— The fact that there's a social link with each of the SEES members is apparently exclusive to Kotone's route, but I really liked that, too. I didn't manage to max all of them (I only got Akihiko, Koromaru, Mitsuru, Shinjiro, and Fuuka to max), but I got them all pretty close. (Junpei and Yukari were at 9, I think Ken was at 7 or 8, and Aigis was at 6 or 7.) To me this really added to the feeling of camaraderie between the main characters; I could believe that they cared about Kotone because their relationships with her had been significantly developed.

— The side characters were all pretty great as well! Special shout-outs to Maiko and the old couple at the bookstore; they were probably my favorite non-school social links. I also really care about Rio and Saori as well, though. (Hidetoshi . . . not so much. But he did redeem himself near the end.) Hoping one day Rio wakes up and realizes that she deserves so much better than Kenji's ugly ass, though. Same goes for Yuko and Kazushi.

— The ending is pretty ambiguous as to whether or not Kotone survived the ordeal. On the one hand, she comes back at the end and you have that whole segment at the school leading up to the moment on the rooftop. On the other, Aigis keeps breaking down in tears, and there's the implication that none of that is really happening, that it's all in Kotone's mind, or something of the sort. I kind of like the fact that it can go either way; either Kotone magically came back somehow, or she really did sacrifice herself to save everyone. I understand that FES has an epilogue called The Answer that confirms that Minato is truly dead, but since The Answer isn't included in Portable, I think the paths in Portable could go either way and that's fine by me.

— Koromaru. Everything about Koromaru is a gigantic pro. I love him so much ♥♥♥♥♥

The Neutrals:

— On the one hand, it's nice that you can put the characters in casual clothes or special costumes. On the other, it sucks that this is tied to armor. You're stuck with mid armor if you want to see characters fighting in something other than their school uniforms, which honestly kind of sucks. I wish that it was done like it is in Tales games, where the costume the character wears has no bearing on their defense stats.

— The Persona fusion system is nice, and I like that you can put Personas into the compendium so you can buy them back later if you need them. But also, it would be nice if you could have a storage box for Personas like in Pokemon, because I wanted to keep Orpheus around for sentimental reasons, and just honestly didn't have the space to do that. =/ RIP Orpheus, you are missed. (But missed much less once I got Hell Biker, my friend Hell Biker ♥)

— The requests system is cool and gives you a reason to go after certain goals in Tartarus, and similarly rescuing the people that wander in there gives a sense of accomplishment, too. However, both of these things are tempered by the fact that the quests do get repetitive after a while, and the dumb-dumbs who wander into Tartarus had a bad habit of doing so right after I had just been in there and didn't feel like going back. Like, I still did! But it was annoying. Especially when they did so right before a full moon so you either went that night or you couldn't save them.

— The story is okay. It's possible that I would feel differently about it if I was younger, but at this point I'm pretty used to the themes of the Power of Friendship and Defying Fate in JRPGs—or even accepting that you will die in less cheerful games like Zero Escape. So to me, the themes that you have limited time to do what you want and that everything will come to an end didn't really hit very hard, or feel very groundbreaking. Similarly, things like Ikutsuki being a traitor are things I saw coming from a mile away, so they weren't twists that were really shocking to me as they might have been if I'd played this game as a teenager. I still enjoyed it well enough! But it's not a story that will leave a lasting impact on me.

The Cons:

— The game isn't balanced very well, in that in both of my attempts at Portable (it took me so long because I restarted near the end of the game because I realized that I fucked up something I wanted to do and couldn't bring myself to keep going on that file) I ended up with basically nothing to do by the end of the game. All of my stats were maxed out, so I had no reason to go to the arcade, karaoke, or anything else. I finished my non-school social links, and you can't do SEES social links outside of school for whatever reason. It made it so that I was just going to bed early every night to progress the story. It feels like a letdown, and is especially frustrating when I did have SEES social links I wanted to max out, but literally couldn't because there weren't enough days at school to be able to do it.

— The second semester school music is annoying as fuck, I hated having to listen to it so much.

— The conditions needed to save certain characters, or to romance other ones, are just ridiculous in some cases and I'm not sure how anyone does it without a guide. In my first attempt at Portable, I missed out on saving Shinjiro because I started his social link one day too late. I also missed out on romancing Akihiko because I picked the wrong option in the fourth social link event, so even though I agreed to have Kotone date him in the ninth one, it didn't count as a romance. Like, what?? I understand making a game challenging, but this shit's ridiculous.

— Some of the story beats, both optional and not, are either uncomfortable or just distasteful Specifically: I hate that there's even the option for Kotone to return Ken's feelings. Him having a precocious crush on her? Adorable! Her returning those feelings? Disgusting! Of course, it is optional so that's good at least, but the fact that it's in there at all is just gross. Literally, why. Why would you do that, Atlus. There's no reason to do that.

Similarly, the idea of romancing Aigis as either Minato or Kotone is uncomfortable to me, because she very much falls into the Born Sexy Yesterday trope. Akihiko and Junpei both find her very attractive, but, because she's a robot, she has no concept of what it means to be human and her entire story arc is about her learning what it means to live. She already has a predisposition toward the protagonist due to sealing Death inside them, and while initially her desire to be close to them is because she wants to monitor Death, that changes pretty quickly. I'm not knocking people who do like shipping Aigis with either Kotone or Minato, because it's not like it's inappropriate from an age standpoint like the potential romance with Ken is, but it's still uncomfortable to me. Born Sexy Yesterday almost always is.

Lastly, there's the fact that Chidori was fridged for Junpei. Granted, it is possible to save her, something I had literally no clue about and honestly I'm not sure how anyone is supposed to figure that out, but it is possible to save her in a similar way to Shinjiro. However, the original story (and the one most people are likely to experience if they don't know beforehand) has her fridged for Junpei's sake. Which—it's not surprising. Women in Refrigerators is a trope for a reason. But it's still not something I'm ever jazzed to see. Junpei should have been able to grow and evolve as a person without having a female character sacrificed to make that happen.

— There are smaller, optional story beats that also aren't great. Bunkichi hitting on Yukari, for instance, with his "if I was fifty years younger" bit; Maiko's dad hitting on Kotone; Maiko herself being hit by her father and called annoying by her mother and the story treating that as if it's not a big deal, etc. This game was written over ten years ago, and these kinds of things crop up a lot in anime, but still. They're just not ideal.

I feel like there were other things that bugged me, or that I liked, but these are the main points of my experience overall. Again, overall I liked it! And I'm going to start Persona 4 Golden soon (I already have it downloaded on my Switch lol). But these are just my thoughts, now that I'm done with the game. Also:

Koromaru is best boy. That is all.

[proxythe]

Tho besides Aki what about the other characters ?

a lot of persona 3 reload spoilers

imo aki, aigis, mitsuru got the worst treatment, but everyone else was ok if not better

i think i mentioned it but mitsuru around the start of the game is like akis caretaker and it’s just annoying. and i did mention briefly that aigis constantly repeats “as they say” after like every phrase. both of them had excellent voice actors tho and i cried once again during aigis social link.

junpei and fuuka were definite improvements i think, especially junpei. i didn’t like junpei in the original p3 male route, i loved him in the femc route, and i loved him even more in reload. zeno (his english va) makes junpei all that much better too. i think fuuka’s voice also helped her but in general i thought those two were like perfect in reload

i saw people say yukari seemed less mean but honestly she felt the same to me and i still loved her in this game

ken was good, not changed drastically to be worse or better. his new social events were really fun and cute too and his voice actor was also really good, perfect for a lot of his emotional scenes

koromaru is a dog so he can’t really be ruined but his social events were good too 🫶

strega was more or less the same. they had a few extra scenes. jin was uplifted a lot and you get to speak to takaya two times i think, and i liked them both in this game more than i did in the original.

chidori was basically the same as the original, she didn’t really have anything added to her that i saw at all. she mostly uplifts junpei even more, but chidori is already lovable bc she’s chidori so that’s good

all in all the game definitely was enjoyable and fun, but even despite that i’m still a bit saddened by what happened to aki aigis and mitsuru. it’s not enough to completely ruin the game either tho ✌️ like it wasn’t unbearable, it was always just irritating in the moment

edit bc i forgot to talk about shinji:

i loved shinji in reload but i was honestly not a fan of his social events that much if at all. but he’s shinji so he was still perfect