UPDATE: nominated P3R for Best Soundtrack, Best Game on Steam Deck, and Most Outstanding Story-Rich Game for 2024's Steam Awards.

9/10 game. No spoilers in this review.

This is one of those games where words really can't do it justice. It was like I didn't realize just how special of an experience this was until it was almost too late.

For context, I've only played Persona 5 Royal. I cannot speak for other Persona games, or previous releases of Persona 3, but this game reaches the same high bar Atlus set for themselves.

This game really snuck-up on me. The pacing and storytelling are different from P5R, but in a refreshing way. The characters grew on me overtime, for example, compared to P5R where I felt attached to many of them almost right away. The dungeon crawling aspect works quite different from P5R as well, but it's broken up as you progress with some really nice designs for the various areas (except one in particular that hurt my eyes). The introduction of new characters and new abilities also keeps the dungeon crawling fresh.

Do yourself a favor and spend time with your team members! Not just the ones with social links; there are other side activities and time-sensitive optional hangouts too. I think P5R does a better job of getting you to bond with the characters through the main story, but here I think you'll really miss out if you don't go out of your way to hangout with them.

I did miss a really important detail in the ending, so the full weight of what happened didn't occur to me until I found a comment online. At first, I thought that the ending was more open to interpretation. But boy was I wrong. Anyway, even if you miss it, Episode Aigis explains things (the DLC, I think also called "The Answer.")

I have not played the DLC yet, and I'll leave a separate review for that.

Altogether another 9/10. Besides what I said about spending time with the characters, do yourself a favor and just enjoy the main story. I'm a perfectionistic completionist, which I think ruined the experience a little bit for myself because I was looking certain things up and trying to optimize my playthrough. That's what ng+ is for. A hard way to learn, but despite all that I can recognize that this is a truly special game, one that will leave a lasting, positive impression on you.

UPDATE: nominated P3R for Best Soundtrack, Best Game on Steam Deck, and Most Outstanding Story-Rich Game for 2024's Steam Awards. 9/10 game. No spoilers in this review. This is one of those games where words really can't do it justice. It was like I didn't realize just how special of an experience this was until it was almost too late. For context, I've only played Persona 5 Royal. I cannot speak for other Persona games, or previous releases of Persona 3, but this game reaches the same high bar Atlus set for themselves. This game really snuck-up on me. The pacing and storytelling are different from P5R, but in a refreshing way. The characters grew on me overtime, for example, compared to P5R where I felt attached to many of them almost right away. The dungeon crawling aspect works quite different from P5R as well, but it's broken up as you progress with some really nice designs for the various areas (except one in particular that hurt my eyes). The introduction of new characters and new abilities also keeps the dungeon crawling fresh. Do yourself a favor and spend time with your team members! Not just the ones with social links; there are other side activities and time-sensitive optional hangouts too. I think P5R does a better job of getting you to bond with the characters through the main story, but here I think you'll really miss out if you don't go out of your way to hangout with them. I did miss a really important detail in the ending, so the full weight of what happened didn't occur to me until I found a comment online. At first, I thought that the ending was more open to interpretation. But boy was I wrong. Anyway, even if you miss it, Episode Aigis explains things (the DLC, I think also called "The Answer.") I have not played the DLC yet, and I'll leave a separate review for that. Altogether another 9/10. Besides what I said about spending time with the characters, do yourself a favor and just enjoy the main story. I'm a perfectionistic completionist, which I think ruined the experience a little bit for myself because I was looking certain things up and trying to optimize my playthrough. That's what ng+ is for. A hard way to learn, but despite all that I can recognize that this is a truly special game, one that will leave a lasting, positive impression on you.