I love Persona 3 and just bought Persona 4, even though I watched the entire endurance run like twice already :P. Now I'm thinking about getting this game because it's $20 at a store near me. I understand this is a port of an old playstation game with some updates. I'm more interested in the story. If I liked previous Persona games does this scratch the same itch? 

This is less Persona 3-4, more first person dungeon crawls of the older Shin Megami Tensei games. 
 
Hell, even the monsters are recruited and not just some cards. 
 
As for story, I don't know much about it.

It's hard to say: the story is pretty cool but it's also a grindy dungeon crawler with labyrinthine maps and a weird negotiation system that you can use to get demons to give you their cards. Combining cards allows you to fuse more powerful personae. The story and characters aren't as strongly developed and the game isn't as accessible. 
 
Though if you really, really like Persona you might still dig it.

" @owl_of_minerva: Would you suggest this game over Strange Journey?  "

There's a Quick Look of it. If you haven't seen it already, it might be a good place to start. 
 
Personally I don't think I could handle the random encounters and the mazes.

Start out with Nocturne to get a feel of the more traditional SMT style.
 
After that, try out Persona 1 and Strange Journey.