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One of the greatest RPGs of all time in the palm of your hands! Featuring the unprecedented addition of a new female player-controlled protagonist who offers players a fresh new perspective for one of gaming’s most inventive narratives, in addition to numerous additional improvements and enhancements, SMT: Persona 3 Portable promises to bring one of the highest‐rated RPGs of all time to PSP(PlayStation Portable) system in its grandest iteration yet!

I've never written a review for a game before but this game was so good I just had to write one.
I really suggest this game for any RPG fan. You will fall in love with this. The Japanese role play of a school teenager and the amazing storyline will have you hooked.
I got hooked on this game fast, the lines are funny, the dungeons are addicting and I love the fashion that all of the characters have. *santa suit for yukari* ~_^! ahah.

Either way I give this game a 100/10 and if you buy this game you will most likely get hooked on the rest of the persona series. *persona 4, Persona 3 FES,*. Plus! Persona 5 is coming out in a bit too.

It is the best game I've ever played on the PSP and makes me glad I actually bought one.

Persona 3 Portable is third version and second update of Persona 3 to hit the stores. If you've bought either one or both of the previous versions and want to know if it's worth buying again, I'd say sure. Make no mistakes; the addition of a female protagonist doesn't drastically change the main storyline (any changes to it are akin to the ones made to the Journey of P3: FES), but that- along with the changes to the core game play- does make it a blast to play or replay. The downgrades made to the game to fit it on the PSP are balanced out by some nice improvements to make P3P more streamlined and polished than ever.

If you haven't played any of the previous versions of P3, you might wonder if it's really worth re-releasing it twice in less than three years. From the description, it sounds like pretty much any other RPG you might find out there. You play as a teenage orphan who moves back to the place where he or she was born only to find it in danger from a group of mysterious enemies called Shadows. Only you, along with a group of dormmates, can save the city with your special power, the power of Persona. Even with its modern setting, the plot sounds a bit cliché, and it is to a certain extent, but its overall charm and presentation make it shine.

Before you get into P3, you should know that it's definitely not a game for everyone. The evokers and personas based on all world religions make the game controversial enough to deserve its M rating even if it is on the lighter side as far as SMT games go (P3 is part of an SMT spin-off series).

It's also a dungeon crawler. The game does a nice job of breaking the game's main dungeon, Tartarus, down into several manageable parts, but it can still be a bit of a slog, even if it is much better than it was before. You still have to climb over 250 floors of this Tower of Demise throughout the course of the year and fight shadows along the way (you can see, attack, and avoid them; there are no random battles in this game). It's still a tad on the bland side design-wise, make no mistake, but the battle system was upgraded a la Persona 4, letting you take direct control of your teammates rather than just the MC. For those who actually appreciated the AI, it's still pretty decent in this version, but there are fewer tactics options to choose from, and at some point, you will have to take control of your party to make up for those losses.

Every ten or fifteen floors, you will have to fight a boss or group of mini-bosses. While you had to marathon through each little group of floors in the original P3 before you could reach a point to record your progress and teleport back to the entrance, in P3P, you can warp out of the labyrinth at any floor and resume from where you left off by checking the main gate. Your party doesn't get tired (a state where they weren't as effective in battle and would return to the dorms when you got back to the entrance in P3 and P3: FES) until you leave Tartarus either, so you can stay as long as you want now and even climb as far as you can in a given month in one go.

In addition, P3 is a Japanese RPG in every sense of the word, complete with anime-style graphics, a setting in modern-day Japan, and Japanese honorifics to hammer in the point that yes, this game takes place outside of the US. While you climb the Tartarus by night, you spend your days as a normal Japanese high school student. You have to study, make friends, and work to become braver and more charming by playing through the social sim portion of the game.

This is where P3's main draw comes into play: while the main story and goal are as linear as they are in most JRPGs, you get total freedom over what you want to do with your character for a year of their life. You can go to Tartarus whenever you want to and hang out with any of the 19 different people you can forge social links with at your leisure. While some of the characters involved in each link stay the same for both the male and female protagonist, many of them are unique to one gender, and several change in tone depending on which protagonist you choose. Just a note: the female's route has social links for all of the main characters, which develop them a bit better, and they are spread out a bit more evenly than the one's in the male's route, making them easier to max. While the female route is touted as being for "advanced players only", it seems geared for beginning players who might be a bit overwhelmed with the game system as well as P3 vets.

These social links also factor in to the RPG elements of the game. Your character is unique in that he or she can switch between multiple personas, which you get by either exploring Tartarus or fusing the ones you have together to make stronger ones. Your social links give extra experience to fused personas of the same arcana, letting them level up and learn new skills without going into battle. These new personas can also inherit skills from their "parents", and yes, it's still a bit of a pain to get the exact skills you want to carry over during fusion. Fortunately, if you get these personas to a high enough level, they drop Skill Cards that let you teach a specific skill of theirs to any persona you want. This is new to this version of P3, and believe me: it makes fusion less of a hassle than it was before.

The other changes made to the game are meant to make it fit on the PSP. Unfortunately, this means that all of the original's anime cut-scenes are now gone, and you don't get to see full sized character models outside of Tartarus. You use a cursor to move around Iwatodai, which makes getting from place to place shorter and less tedious, so it's a decent tradeoff there. Event scenes are now told visual novel-style with just character portraits, 2D backgrounds, and sound effects. It works for the most part once you get used to it, but some scenes aren't quite as effective as they were in the earlier versions. All of the original voice acting is still there, though, which is great for the most part (many of the main characters have excellent voice actors) but can be a bit... less so in others. It's still the same Persona 3 experience as before, just made to have reasonable loading times.

Speaking of things taking less time, P3P gives you the option of installing some of the game's data onto your memory stick to reduce load times. Take my advice and make the space for it, especially if you have firmware above version 6.20 installed.

Overall, Persona 3 Portable is a great game and addition the PSP's library. The updates and new female protagonist make it a worthwhile purchase for any Persona 3 veteran, as long as they don't expect a major plot overhaul, and those same changes make it more accessible to newcomers to the series than ever. If you're an RPG-lover with a PSP who doesn't mind some of the game's odd features, than you shouldn't miss this version of Persona 3.

This is the third rendention of the third persona game, and this time it is for the psp. What makes version this worth buying over the vanilla Persona 3 and Persona 3 FES for the PS2. A storyline in which you can choose either to be a male or female protaganist, improved battle mechanics from Persona 4 have been thrown so now the player can can control everyone in battle, instead of relying on the stupidity of the A.I., new Persona cards enable the player to customizze his or her favorite persona with the prefered skills which elimnates the amount of time spent in fusing. New Social links and a slighty different story for the Female protaggnists, new customes, and a new side area called Vision Quest enables the player to refight prievous bosses to earn greater rewards and unlock a new secret boss. The graphics have been toned down greatly from the PS2 counterparts, but all the new features and improved mechanics makes this the definitive version of Persona 3.

I won't start this off with an obscure question or some passe skepticism about this title. Plain and simple: I am perhaps a "mega-fan" of anything in the MegaTen universe, especially the Persona offspring series. Yes, that does mean that I have both copies of the original Revelations and the new PSP remake, as well as both editions--that includes the Japanese-only--of Persona 2. The original Persona 3, and the subsequent FES, only helped solidify my love for the foreign franchise. And what can I say about P4? You can guess. And at the announcement of P3P, you could also guess the palpable amaze I felt. But enough about me.

Let me just say that this game succeeds on all levels. However, some may look at this iteration and ask: "Is it truly worth purchasing if I bought the original P3 and FES?" Well, yes, you should. First and foremost, this is only P3, albeit re-done with extra bonus and a new campaign featuring a feminine perspective. In this, they are tailoring to both newcomers and veterans alike. But, as I said earlier, this is only P3. While it does feature a bonus dungeon (Vision Quest) that resembles that of P3: The Answer, this version does NOT include the extra 30+ hour adventure. This shouldn't be a bad thing. Considering each campaign is around 80 hours long (more or less), and there are two characters to play, it should easily occupy you for ages.

Let's start with the story: If you've played this before, you know the drill. A group of gifted students experience a peculiar hour between each day hidden from the world. As the game goes on, plot twists (of which you won't expect, if you haven't played) ensue. It is dark and warped, with esoteric occult themes and morbid facinations. But there is humor, romance, friendship, struggle, and other emotional moments, so don't begin to think this is some overtly gothic romp. The dialogue--the translation--is superb. Atlus has always done an outstanding job translating these games, and P3P is no exception. Each character is well developed and deep; you may think they are merely archetypes, but P3 goes far beyond. Also, there are new characters, so veterans will be pleased. Accompanying the characters is equally wonderful voice acting. If you're somewhat lucid to any of the anime/Japananimation/Japanese-developed game scene, you'll recognize many of the veterans VAs. One of my favorites, Michelle Ruff of Rukia Kuchiki (Bleach) fame, voices Yukari Takeba! Hah. Many others entreat your ears with some of their best performances throughtout their careers.

Speaking of voice actors, I should mention the sound overall. Again, as in previous Atlus titles, P3P gives the gamer a splended assortment of musical tracks to listen to, all thanks to master composer Shoji Meguro. And the female campaign has personalized music and tracks throughout the adventure. I especially enjoyed the Battle themes... (I'm not a princess...) Ahem. Overall, still excellent.

Now, graphically, the game is a mixed bag. Being on the PSP, you can only go so far, but it feels as if P3P could have gone a little further. Character models look fine if not a little flat (graphically, not dimentionally), and Tartarus still looks menacing, but everything is a step down from the PS2 iteration. Colors are vibrant, but the textures don't have the same clarity. And it should be noted that the game eschews all anime cutscenes from the previous game, now giving you cutscenes in still-frames with character voices or those animated in the game's graphics. Some of the original cutscenes lose their bite, but for the most-part, P3P easily maintains itself.

P3P also changes in gameplay. In some areas, it's subtle. In others, not so much. But, it's not a bad thing, for the most part. In Tartarus, you can expect the original gameplay, with battles being fast, strategic and satisfying. P3P borrows elements from P4, such as the ability to manually control your party members, which give it a little different feel. Yes, you still grind (and I mean grind. There are over hundreds of floors of enemies) through Tartarus, but the battle system never tires. Luckly, if the combat aspects of the game aren't your cup-o-tea, there is another half of the game. But, navigating the regular world is a far-cry from the original. You now navigate a cursor, rather than an on-screen avatar. This isn't so bad, and there are more interactions with the environment available to you. Social links still are the same, and this includes their quality. For a portable, the game is beyond successful in its attempt and the game fully immerses you. While changed, it's formula still accomplishes each task with gusto. On a side note, you'll want to opt for the data install, which helps load times. Just a little forewarning.

In summation, P3P is an excellent title, easily the best in recent years. Atlus has poured time and care into crafting a new, yet familiar title for fan and newbie alike. All of the addons give it a new-experience feel, and the second campaign character breaths life and longevity into this handheld title. With wholeheartedness, I can recommend Persona 3 Portable to anyone who owns Sony's little buddy.

My son is a fan of obscure games. Amazon delivered as promised and above expectations.