I just picked up Persona 4, and it is absolutely a great game!  Got interested because of the Endurance Run.

I saw Persona 3: FES in Gamestop for 20 bucks (new) and thought about picking it up too.  I also see that Persona is getting updated for the PSP.  Are these games as great as Persona 4, or at least worth the investment?

I just recently got Persona 3 FES, and it's a great game.  Just as good as Persona 4 from what I've seen/played.

Although it's worth noting that the two games are extremely similar.  Same S. Link/Combat structure, but different story and characters, with a few gameplay tweaks here and there.  So I would suggest finishing Persona 4, and if you're craving more Persona, the FES should get you your fill.

I really have no idea how the first Persona is, (I believe the PSP game is going to be a remake of the first persona at least..) maybe it will have some updates, but just because its coming out already it has my interest(though if they mostly keep it the same, just know persona and persona 2 both I believe are just core RPGs with none of the stuff in P3 or P4 like social links, or the day by day basis kinda stuff). P3 FES is definitely worth the purchase as well though, if you can handle not having direct control over your party...that's probably the biggest upgrade P4 did over P3. For 20$ though? its a damn steal for a great game.

Is the FES Addon a worthy addition or is it just like 10 hours extra gameplay? Do you start completely from the beginning?

FES is a great game, well worth 20 dollars. There are some gameplay things that they changed in 4 that might be a little weird to go back to, but they're mostly the same. So if you like 4, you should definitely get FES.

The original Persona, on the other hand, is pretty different. None of the social sim stuff exists, so it's strictly dungeon crawling and it's much more traditional. The combat system is also much clunkier and the dungeons are long and can get kind of tedious after a while. I know they're retranslating the game for the PSP, which is good news because the original translation was terrible, but unless they're updating a LOT else I can't recommend it as much as 3 and 4. Hopefully they're going to update both Persona 2 games next though, which is where I think the series really started getting good.

"Is the FES Addon a worthy addition or is it just like 10 hours extra gameplay? Do you start completely from the beginning?"

Don't play part 4 before part 3. I did and it made me not want to finish part 3 because part 4 had a few added features that made game play a little easier in my opinion.
Don't remember to much about Persona 1 and 2... I played them but that's about all i can remember.

I was thinking of buying P3 FES, but may wait a bit before I do so or if I do keep it shelved for a bit. I think having P4 on my brain will make it less enjoyable as I will be comparing it to its predecessor and will most likely cause a poor experience. Maybe i'll pick it up and in a few months i'll play it. P1 is coming to the PSP and I assume they'll do P2 as well and i'll probably play them both as well as id rather not buy the PS1 copies off of eBay.

And you can get a PS2 cheap off of eBay, if you like RPGs the PS2 has a great collection of them and they are still quite good and stand up to todays standards.

"P1 is coming to the PSP and I assume they'll do P2 as well and i'll probably play them both as well as id rather not buy the PS1 copies off of eBay."

If at all possible, I'd play 3 before 4 because there are several references/nods to P3 that won't be nearly as satisfying if you hadn't played 3 first.

But, even if you do play 4 first I still highly recommend grabbing P3:FES.  Prior to P4 it was my favorite RPG and still holds up very well.  Has some very different characters and story that make it well worth experiencing.

Ahhh only knew about Eternal Punishment, actually come to think of it I think Innocent Sin was translated by fans for the PC, not 100% positive on this tho.

Probably. A ton of Japan-only games end up getting fan translations.

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