I'm in that weird limbo between taking an exam and waiting for the consequential set of very important results. 

Speaking of fucked up social interactions

I'm going to keep playing though.

I'm in that weird limbo between taking an exam and waiting for the consequential set of very important results. 

Speaking of fucked up social interactions

I'm going to keep playing though.

Exactly like that.

Sorry to hear you dislike Persona 3 that much.  I happen to like it much better than Persona 4 even :(  Then again I experienced it when it came out, so I played it before Persona 4 improved many things.  
 
I dunno stick with it a bit more, the story gets better as it progresses in my opinion.

P3 is awesome. 

" P3 is awesome.  "

Good to hear you enjoyed Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.  That is by far my favorite XBLA game of the summer despite not being on the Summer of Arcade.  Okay... maybe MNC is, but Scott Pilgrim is a close second. 
I totally agree with the grinding in Persona 3 being absolutely terrible, but then again I find that to be the case in most RPGs.  Perhaps it's because I absolutely love the characters and their voice-acting, but I haven't found the story that perturbing.  It certainly is different than P4, but these are different characters and a different mentality.  These dudes actually have armbands and a name for their whole... shadow-fighting operation, I think it's at least believable they'd be a bit more calm about their shadow-fighting. 
Also... "More like Stupei, Ace DEFECTIVE" is perhaps the best worst line in any game ever.

" @C2C: I'm going to keep playing. It's just weird. I'm fighting shadows for reasons I can't explain and nobody has yet presented me with a reason as to why I should care. After getting so immersed into Persona 4, the indifference of Persona 3 feels worlds apart. "

Like a womans period the boss battles cycle once a month and, like a womans period, they bring huge discomfort and inconvenience for everyone involved.     

" @Sweep said:

" @C2C: I'm going to keep playing. It's just weird. I'm fighting shadows for reasons I can't explain and nobody has yet presented me with a reason as to why I should care. After getting so immersed into Persona 4, the indifference of Persona 3 feels worlds apart. "

Have you gotten past the first 10 minutes? "

P4 is definitely a lot better, but I still enjoyed P3. I played P3 when it came out so the differences may not have been as obvious to me. 
 
I think the thing that bugged me the most in P3 was having to find exits in Tartarus in order to go home. P4 had the "Goho-M" or whatever and remembered which floor you left off on. While in P3, when everyone gets tired you have to search around for an exit and then when you go back, it starts you off at the last floor a boss was on. This was really annoying to me, but I found all other aspects of the game to be fine. I thought the story of this one was really good. How far along are you?

Great read. Would you rather continue playing P3Portable or play P3FES?

well you're kinda expecting too much; this was the first game they had social links of any form, and as such is kinda.. arbitrary, who you can or cannot s-link with (although some of the social links themselves are great; hanged man, sun, hierophant, hermit, star...) and honestly, the main plot in persona 3 is a damn slight better than persona 4 was, although it does start off slowly. Keep trucking, you'll get more immersed the more you play.
 
how far are you, by the way?

And once again, Sweep says something stupid.

It comes across as though you might be limiting yourself by playing the portable version. For what it's worth, the changes made for the portable are relatively substantial. Just ambient movement between characters in cutscenes, higher quality audio/visual stuff really take a lot from the experience. I'm not by any means saying the portable is an inferior port, but I think combined with the fact that you're playing it on the 5 inch screen or whatever really resonates in the sense where you're just not immersed, because you're very aware that you're just playing a handheld thing, as opposed to an actual television. 
 
However, I respecfully disagree with the character interaction. I found too, that Persona 3 starts off quite a bit slower than Persona 4, but I think the breadth of interesting characters can be a bit more likeable than the cast of P4. I think it's come down to Atlus refining their narrative storytelling down from P3 to 4, basically. P3 was 2007, and while it's only a year later, the refinements they made to P4 seem very user friendly, in terms of gameplay and story. 
 
How far in are you at the moment? Moon wise/characters you have?

" And once again, Sweep says something stupid. "

I don't remember any big plot holes at all, I have no idea what you're talking about.
 
And the point of the story in the early game is that you have no idea what's going on. You're just exploring Tartarus to try and get some answers, but you're supposed to feel lost, you're pretty much just experimenting in Tartarus, trying to see if anything you can do in there will stop the shadows.

" And once again, Sweep says something stupid. "

Wait, you're getting excited for Forza 3?  What?

" It comes across as though you might be limiting yourself by playing the portable version. For what it's worth, the changes made for the portable are relatively substantial. Just ambient movement between characters in cutscenes, higher quality audio/visual stuff really take a lot from the experience. I'm not by any means saying the portable is an inferior port, but I think combined with the fact that you're playing it on the 5 inch screen or whatever really resonates in the sense where you're just not immersed, because you're very aware that you're just playing a handheld thing, as opposed to an actual television.  However, I respecfully disagree with the character interaction. I found too, that Persona 3 starts off quite a bit slower than Persona 4, but I think the breadth of interesting characters can be a bit more likeable than the cast of P4. I think it's come down to Atlus refining their narrative storytelling down from P3 to 4, basically. P3 was 2007, and while it's only a year later, the refinements they made to P4 seem very user friendly, in terms of gameplay and story.  How far in are you at the moment? Moon wise/characters you have? "

" I don't remember any big plot holes at all, I have no idea what you're talking about.  And the point of the story in the early game is that you have no idea what's going on. You're just exploring Tartarus to try and get some answers, but you're supposed to feel lost, you're pretty much just experimenting in Tartarus, trying to see if anything you can do in there will stop the shadows. "

" I think the thing that bugged me the most in P3 was having to find exits in Tartarus in order to go home. P4 had the "Goho-M" or whatever and remembered which floor you left off on. While in P3, when everyone gets tired you have to search around for an exit and then when you go back, it starts you off at the last floor a boss was on. This was really annoying to me, but I found all other aspects of the game to be fine. I thought the story of this one was really good. How far along are you? "

"@Sweep:  
 
I played Persona 4 because I was promised the ultimate-blocker Beelzebub.  The story was OK.  The s-linking sucked ass and was boring as hell.  50% of the game was looking at the loading screen and pressing the triangle button to skip through the dialogue... 
 
But... 
  

"

Epic Mafia sounds delightfully devious. Sort of like a more popular style of gameplay over K&L2. Just with alot less shooting (?) 
 
As for Persona 3, your descriptions have made it sound like it could an unintentionally hilarious title, but with still some of its character humour to back it all up. It does sound to be nonsensical but that's the first rule of writing a JRPG story anywhoo. 
 
Ohh and good luck with the exam results.

The dungeons (dungeon?) in this game are completely uninspired, monotonous and makes grinding that much more tedious 
 
The characters aren't even close to compelling. And the S-links are boring as hell.
 
I've already clocked around 70 hours though so I'm seeing this one through

" The dungeons (dungeon?) in this game are completely uninspired, monotonous and makes grinding that much more tedious   The characters aren't even close to compelling. And the S-links are boring as hell.  I've already clocked around 70 hours though so I'm seeing this one through "

" @Disgaeamad said:

" And once again, Sweep says something stupid. "

Nothing in this blog is stupid. They are his own opinions. If you don't like them, why bother reading them? In other news, that Epic Mafia game sounds interesting. I'll have to give it a go later. "

I really like Persona 3... but I'm 60 hours in as opposed to 10, and I can definitely agree that the plot pacing is pretty weak, particularly in the first few acts. There's also rarely much development in the story in between each full moon event which can often make things drag.
 
Edit: yeah, while the characters aren't nearly as good on the whole as P4, Yosuke has nothing on Junpei.

" @Zimbo said:

" @Disgaeamad said:

" And once again, Sweep says something stupid. "

Nothing in this blog is stupid. They are his own opinions. If you don't like them, why bother reading them? In other news, that Epic Mafia game sounds interesting. I'll have to give it a go later. "

Look, it's our thing. Sweep says something and I make fun of him for it, then he makes fun of me. "

" @Sweep: Wow, that is pretty pathetic.

"

I think it'd be very interesting to have played Persona 4 first before starting Persona 3; I could definitely see how that would cause some dissonance. I was a little wary of P4 when I first started playing it, but now I like it much better than 3. Particularly for what you were saying in your post; P4 is a much more cohesive, interwoven game. And the characters are so much more developed! Naoto is my shit.

" The dungeons (dungeon?) in this game are completely uninspired, monotonous and makes grinding that much more tedious 

Personally, I enjoyed 3 a whole lot and found the characters generally more endearing than 4's. Sure Ken was annoying as hell (and Hope from FFXIII was practically a carbon copy of him, but with a better voice actor), but then again so were Yukiko and Rise in 4. 
 
The one thing I don't quite understand with your rant is the fact you're bothered by unexplained contrivances. That has been a staple of not only Persona, but Shin Megami Tensei in general since the franchise's inception. A police officer selling weapons to kids makes as much sense as a fox tending to shrine and healing you inside of a TV, yet Mysterious Fox gets a pass?
 
But I think for people who were introduced to the series with 4, 3 is going to feel weaker, and rightly so in ways. 4 fixed a lot of the issues that 3 had (such as not being able to control secondary characters, or knockdown making you miss the whole turn since there was no secondary stun state).  
 
The story, however, is one of those subjective things. I really enjoyed it, more so than 4's, in fact (especially the social links. The Hermit was hilarious). The whole argument that "they haven't given me a reason to care" is silly, to me. From the opening scenes I was curious to know just what the hell was going on -- people turn into coffins? Fighting giant monsters by shooting yourself in the head? Hell yeah, this is gonna be awesome!  
 
Anyhow, good read as always.

" @teh_pwnzorer: pffffftttt  You can make plenty of ultimate blocker Personas in both games. Ultimate blocker Personas are just for show anyways. "

" @Zimbo said:

" @Disgaeamad said:

" And once again, Sweep says something stupid. "

Nothing in this blog is stupid. They are his own opinions. If you don't like them, why bother reading them? In other news, that Epic Mafia game sounds interesting. I'll have to give it a go later. "

Look, it's our thing. Sweep says something and I make fun of him for it, then he makes fun of me. "

I might be the only person in the world who loved Tartarus. The combat system was excellent too, as long as you know what you're doing. 
 
And I thought the pacing was pretty good too, there was always something interesting to look forward to, and if you didn't feel like grinding at the moment, you could try out the other parts of the game, as long as you beat the boss before the deadline there would be no problems.

"  The one thing I don't quite understand with your rant is the fact you're bothered by unexplained contrivances. That has been a staple of not only Persona, but Shin Megami Tensei in general since the franchise's inception. A police officer selling weapons to kids makes as much sense as a fox tending to shrine and healing you inside of a TV, yet Mysterious Fox gets a pass? "

" @mutha3 said:

" @teh_pwnzorer: pffffftttt  You can make plenty of ultimate blocker Personas in both games. Ultimate blocker Personas are just for show anyways. "

I think you can make an ultimate blocker Beelzebub in P3, but I'm never trying to do this again.  It took me longer to fuse that thing than to blast through the last dungeon, solo, letting most enemies commit suicide. "

This is what I mean about 4 successfully contextualising it's own insanity. When Fox first shows up at your investigation meeting the other characters at least have the decency to be alarmed and ask why the fuck is there a fox here and why is it wearing a bib?

" @teh_pwnzorer said:

" @mutha3 said:

" @teh_pwnzorer: pffffftttt  You can make plenty of ultimate blocker Personas in both games. Ultimate blocker Personas are just for show anyways. "

I think you can make an ultimate blocker Beelzebub in P3, but I'm never trying to do this again.  It took me longer to fuse that thing than to blast through the last dungeon, solo, letting most enemies commit suicide. "

Why bother with Beelzebub? There are more viable ultimate blocker options.  

 "

The actual reasons why your fighting these shadows does get revealed later on in the story putting them in context.  There will be many elements left unexplained though by the end of the game, those get explained by "The Answer" portion of Persona 3 FES (which I don't know if they're in P3P). 
 
I will say that Persona 4 in general is much more down to earth about the story, and paces the main story much better than Persona 3.  

" @mutha3 said:

" @teh_pwnzorer said:

" @mutha3 said:

" @teh_pwnzorer: pffffftttt  You can make plenty of ultimate blocker Personas in both games. Ultimate blocker Personas are just for show anyways. "

I think you can make an ultimate blocker Beelzebub in P3, but I'm never trying to do this again.  It took me longer to fuse that thing than to blast through the last dungeon, solo, letting most enemies commit suicide. "

Why bother with Beelzebub? There are more viable ultimate blocker options.  

 "

Why bother with anything? "

" @teh_pwnzorer said:

" @mutha3 said:

" @teh_pwnzorer said:

" @mutha3 said:

" @teh_pwnzorer: pffffftttt  You can make plenty of ultimate blocker Personas in both games. Ultimate blocker Personas are just for show anyways. "

I think you can make an ultimate blocker Beelzebub in P3, but I'm never trying to do this again.  It took me longer to fuse that thing than to blast through the last dungeon, solo, letting most enemies commit suicide. "

Why bother with Beelzebub? There are more viable ultimate blocker options.  

 "

Why bother with anything? "

 uhhh....that's an oddly philosophical question, but... .....'cuz its fun?  Atleast, I assume that's the reason you wanted to make an ultimate blocker Persona. I'm just saying, you didn't have to inflict the pain of getting there upon yourself. "

" @mutha3 said:

" @teh_pwnzorer said:

" @mutha3 said:

" @teh_pwnzorer said:

" @mutha3 said:

" @teh_pwnzorer: pffffftttt  You can make plenty of ultimate blocker Personas in both games. Ultimate blocker Personas are just for show anyways. "

I think you can make an ultimate blocker Beelzebub in P3, but I'm never trying to do this again.  It took me longer to fuse that thing than to blast through the last dungeon, solo, letting most enemies commit suicide. "

Why bother with Beelzebub? There are more viable ultimate blocker options.  

 "

Why bother with anything? "

 uhhh....that's an oddly philosophical question, but... .....'cuz its fun?  Atleast, I assume that's the reason you wanted to make an ultimate blocker Persona. I'm just saying, you didn't have to inflict the pain of getting there upon yourself. "

The result was fun, but the process wasn't.  EDIT: I didn't make a Beelzebub for the blocking, I made a Beelzebub cause he's the lord of the flies, bobdamnit. "

" @Disgaeamad said:

" @Zimbo said:

" @Disgaeamad said:

" And once again, Sweep says something stupid. "

Nothing in this blog is stupid. They are his own opinions. If you don't like them, why bother reading them? In other news, that Epic Mafia game sounds interesting. I'll have to give it a go later. "

Look, it's our thing. Sweep says something and I make fun of him for it, then he makes fun of me. "

Oh, I see. I offer my apologies then. "

" @C2C: I'm going to keep playing. It's just weird. I'm fighting shadows for reasons I can't explain and nobody has yet presented me with a reason as to why I should care. After getting so immersed into Persona 4, the indifference of Persona 3 feels worlds apart. "

" @Disgaeamad said:

" @Sweep: Wow, that is pretty pathetic.

"

You couldn't even be bothered to photoshop a hamburger head onto the shark? 0 points for effort. "

Hahaha, god dammit jim. gg.

" @Sweep said:

" @C2C: I'm going to keep playing. It's just weird. I'm fighting shadows for reasons I can't explain and nobody has yet presented me with a reason as to why I should care. After getting so immersed into Persona 4, the indifference of Persona 3 feels worlds apart. "

this is is addressed. The lack of a clear explanation for what SEES is fighting or why is what makes Yukari so angry and paranoid towards mitsuru. It is explained. Also, not everything is as it appears. Some things don't make sense because they don't make sense. Remember what the arcana is for SEES. It's the fool. That is supposed to tell you something.  Trust me, mitsuru, yukari, and akihiko have very good reasons for fighting. Ken has a very good reason for joining sees, and so does a girl who joins later. The characters with the weakest motivations are Junpei, Fuuka, and koromaru. Junpei doesn't have a very good motivation to fight, and that becomes a veeeeeery major plot point and is the reason why he is initially kind of dickish to the protagonist. Fuuka feels indebted to SEES and she likes being able to help and the game specifically has a scene where mitsuru apologizes for getting Fuuka involved and Fuuka explains her motivations. Koromaru, well hes mostly for fun.  Don't forget that just like in persona 4, each of the party characters in P3 have problems they are trying to work through. They all have "awakened" versions of their personas which they get at key plot points. Before these points they really are a bit lost and confused about their lives, just like normal teenagers.  As for the plot, without giving any spoliers, Persona 3 is basically a retelling of the plot of Neon Genesis Evangelion set in a normal tokyo.  The shadow bosses are like angels (especially later in the game). The characters are like the child pilots, and i can't say more really without spoling stuff, but P3 gets almost as messed up as evangelion except that the MC is awesome, where as Shinji is not. Stick with it, it is really great. "