A Green Mushroom

I played the first few hours of Persona 3.  After loving Persona 4 Golden I was hoping I could take a step back to the previous entry in the series and still get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I don't think I can. There's nothing really bad with Persona 3 but there are just so many little things that Persona 4 Golden does well that it's hard to go back to this one.  Part of the problem might be that the version I have access to is P3P which is the portable version.  There are almost no 3D free roaming parts to the game except in dungeons.  It makes the whole world feel a more flat and makes it harder to connect with the characters since all you see are their anime portraits.  After reading up on it, apparently there are other versions out there that are better but they're hard to get a hold of. Anyway, the core concept of the plot is interesting and the gameplay has the core of what I liked about Persona 4 Golden.  I bet if I played this game first...

Persona 4 Golden is one of the greatest JRPGs that I've ever played.  It's amazing.  I was blown away.  I haven't had a game hook me like Persona 4 did in such a long time, it was absolutely a treat. The game is extremely story driven.  If you don't like story in your RPGs then this one isn't for you.  The whole game encompasses a year in the life of the unnamed protagonist (you) as you spend a year in a new town as a transfer student. You move in with your uncle and cousin in the small town of Inaba and start the school year.  You begin to make friends with other students when a series of murders happens in the local community and things take off from there. It turns out there's a whole other world that this one is connected to and inside of it are shadows (enemies) and Personas (positive super-powered versions of people).  A lot of the fun is the mystery of finding out what is going on with the connection between worlds as you and your w...