What are the major differences? I want to get into the persona franchise and I've heard that P3 is the best place to jump in. Which one should I go for?
I prefer Persona 3 Portable, but there's some huge differences... I'll try to list the major ones so as to be concise Persona 3 FES: +All cutscenes are presented with in-game models/animations +Includes The Answer epilogue which is an important part of the story (Persona 4 Arena spoils it, BTW) -Can't directly control party members Persona 3 Portable: +Vision Quests allow you to refight bosses and fight a new powerful secret boss +Skill Cards allow for easier Persona customization +Female Main Character option with different social links, music and events +Can access high-level Monad dungeon and secret boss without having to play "New Game+" +Can directly control party members, making combat less tedious +Combat includes refinements originally made for Persona 4 -Female MC isn't canon -All cutscenes are presented by still images, portraits and text (like a visual novel) -Doesn't include The Answer epilogue (major con, since it's important to the story) So yes, basically... FES has better presentation and the important epilogue, but Portable has much better gameplay. I would recommend FES overall to a newbie, specially since it would be hard to play FES after getting used to P4's and P3P's more refined systems. That, or play Persona 3 Portable and watch a playthrough of FES' The Answer online, lol.
MMM, well I'll have to grab FES then. I really think that would drive me nuts not knowing the epilogue..
I also remember you not being able to move the MC in the portable version. All you can do is move a cursor using the PSP's analog stick.
That's true. You only move a cursor and not the actual MC while in the city. I kinda like that change, since it is faster to move the cursor than the MC. I think that was one of the changes they did because maybe the PSP couldn't handle the fully-rendered city or something, though? Anyway, yeah, that's one of the most noticeable changes.