Ok so I have a really long train ride coming up and I need a good long rpg to settle into for this trip. I've narrowed it down to P3P or FFIV and I cant decide between the two. Some backround information is that  I'm not a huge JRPG guy and JRPGs and anime usually creep me out with their underage girls and womenly men. But FFIV is abstract enough for me to ignore that and I really enjoyed the P4 endurance run and could get past it's animeness there. I have played some six and enjoyed it, but my only experience with persona is the quick looks and endurance run. So can any one in the know help me out with this info in mind?
 
Thanks

You should definitely play Persona 3, especially if you liked the Endurance Run. 

@supermike6: See I am a fan of the endurance run, so I thought I would play P3P & I am finding it incredibly boring so far.

If you're considering P3P, that better be one long-ass train ride.

P3P I've been thinking of getting it as well...dunno how much it is now though...

Unless you have some nostalgia for FF4 and really want to see it in higher resolution, you should probably go with the more modern P3P.

Persona 3. I need to play it again...maybe on my commute to work.

As said, if you enjoyed the endurance run, P3P.  P3 is a bit more uneven in terms of when major events occur than P4 (you'll know what I mean), but P3P has made some noticeable improvements, such as letting you pass skills outside the Velvet Room.  Also, Tanaka social link. 
FF4 is decent, but I don't think it holds up as well as people say, especially in comparison to FF6 and Chrono Trigger. 

I'd say P3P, based on playing P3FES on PS2 (that is the geekiest sentence I have ever written), but be prepared for a different mood than P4. I think P3 is a fair bit darker, both graphically and thematically.

P3P But boy be ready for a long ass persona start before you get into the meat of the game.

First of all, stop feeling creepy, it'll help.

FF4 I think is for nostalgics, I loved the game 100 years ago but I got bored when playing it now. Too.. old!

P3P is loooong and kinda dark in a dorky way compared to P4 but I think it's worth experiencing if nothing else.

edit: Actually feel creepy, but ignore it, is what I meant!

P3P.

@supermike6: Its not the fact that they are anime character it's the fact that a lot of the characters are underage girls and a major component of the game is having, mostly innocent, relationships for them. Also the fact that I will be playing the game in public right next to some stranger

Oh, God, if you buy FFIV I will punch you.

I vote for P3P! But I have played through it vanilla P3 and P3FES. So I'm completely biased. You should know though it has moments where grinding is necessary to make it easy or to make it through 10 floors or so. It's very easy to rack up 100 hours on P3P.

FFIV is solid and probably like 20 hours or so. I still like it but the game has been hyped to hell and back. Some of the big moments are still memorable but the rest of the story just flies by.It basically feels like "hey here's a new character! Well bye! Oh another new character! Oh here's the end where everyone comes together." The last time I played it was on GBA. I can't speak for the cell phone quests added or the new quest.

P3P all the way. Slow start but much like Persona 4 it has a great cast of characters and is very funny.

P3P is good and all, but if you are nit picking, i would recommend playing the PS2 version for the better experience. Although if you will never see yourself doing that, then i would say go for P3P, although be warned, its a long ass game, 70 hours roughly. You will probably end up playing it outside of your train journey.

P3. FFIV isn't very good.

Persona 3 has better combat, characters, and story. Also, it's a lot longer.

Tactics Ogre damn it!

OK so it looks like the consensus is that Final Fantasy IV is only good if you have some nostalgia for it but goin in fresh it wont have the same mystique. And persona is a good game by today's standards. So my fear with persona is that it seems like the kind of game that you can shoot yourself in the foot and not know it until 20 hours later. So is persona 3 like that or will i be able to just play it by ear and be fine?