Persona 3 Portable, also abbreviated as P3P, and localized in the West as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable, is an enhanced remake of Persona 3, released for the PlayStation Portable as per the game's name. Backwards compatibility had made the game playable on PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV.
The game allows the player to choose the gender of the protagonist, which possibly opens up new routes and scenarios in the story. The theme of the game revolves around the butterfly effect, reflecting the changes that happen should the player pursue the path of one protagonist over the other, and the Latin phrase memento mori which literally translates as "remember (that you need) to die," which has served a major role in the thematics since the original Persona 3.
Unlike other renditions of Persona 3, the game lacks 3D environments and character models (outside of combat areas such as Tartarus), all anime cutscenes are replaced by in-engine cutscenes or written descriptions, the graphics and audio quality were compressed, and The Answer ("Episode Aegis" in the Japanese version), a post-ending story without the series' hallmark social elements, is not available in P3P due to limited storage space on the PSP's UMD.
In June 2022, as part of the Persona 25th Anniversary, it was announced that Persona 3 Portable would be ported on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, the Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows via Steam and the Microsoft Store.[2][3][4] The remaster was released on January 19th, 2023.[5][6][7]
Gameplay[]
The setting takes place during the main portion of Persona 3 (known in FES as "The Journey"). The storyline of the female protagonist features many differences from that of the male protagonist, such as new social interactions as well as Social Links. The Persona of the female protagonist is a more feminine Orpheus. In the female protagonist's path, there is also the choice of selecting Elizabeth or a male-equivalent named Theodore to be Igor's assistant in the Velvet Room.
Vision Quest Hall
The Desert of Doors from the Abyss of Time seen in The Answer will still appear, however, in an extra feature known as the Vision Quest. In this mode, the party can fight stronger incarnations of the Full Moon shadow bosses — save for Arcana Magician — and partake in special battles that test the party's abilities. When all of the battles have been successfully met, a second optional boss can be fought: Margaret, Igor's assistant in Persona 4 and guardian of the Desert of Doors in P3P. Margaret's challenges become available as soon as the Adamah Block is accessible, and are accessed from a separate door in the Tartarus lobby.
Another new addition is the ability to pick who the protagonist spends the last moments of the game with. This feature is only accessible on a New Cycle, and the protagonist can only select members of SEES with whom they have maxed social links and are romantically involved with. Both male and female protagonists have 4 choices to choose from: 1 is the default Aigis ending and 3 from the others. The male endings include Yukari, Fuuka and Mitsuru, and the female endings include Akihiko, Shinjiro, and Ken.
World[]
Navigation in P3P overworld is menu-based. Players cannot walk around as in the PlayStation 2 version, although interactions still retain the "visual novel" feel. Overworld characters are rendered in sprites.
There are now two overworld save points; Aside from the log book in the Iwatodai Dormitory, there is also one on the main character's desk at school.
The facilities in town where the protagonist's Social Stats can be increased still function the same way, but some of them now offer part-time jobs on certain days, rewarding the protagonist with money, which can increase if the protagonist repeatedly works at a specific store or restaurant. It also bestows higher boosts to the protagonist's condition than if the protagonist simply attended the store as a customer.
In Paulownia Mall, the police station is now the only place where the protagonist can buy equipment and sell items. Aohige Pharmacy is now a buy-only store, and Be Blue V is just a part-time work site and hangout to improve the main character's condition.
Social Links[]
Social Links can still reverse or break, but only if the player has made poor dialogue choices. Neglecting to hang out with your Social Links for too long will not cause them to reverse. For the male protagonist, who inevitably romances every female schoolmate he has a Social Link with, he no longer runs the risk of making other girls jealous. The female protagonist, on the other hand, has a choice of keeping her relationships with her male schoolmates platonic.
Battle[]
From previous versions, two difficulty modes have been added: Beginner and Maniac alongside Easy and Normal from Persona 3 and Hard from Persona 3 FES:
- Beginner: Enemy damage is significantly toned down, and the protagonist is given 30 Plumes of Dusk to continue in case of a game over.
- Easy: Enemy damage is toned down, and the protagonist is given 10 Plumes Of Dusk to continue in case of a game over.
- Normal: Standard difficulty. Enemies deal average damage.
- Hard: Enemies deal 1.5 times more damage than normal and can gain a higher chance of Enemy Advantage when not taken by surprise.
- Maniac: Enemies deal 2 times more damage than normal, can gain a higher chance of Enemy Advantage when not taken by surprise, and certain weapon fusions cannot be performed (Ultimate Weapons are still available). Moreover, when starting a New Cycle from any difficulty level to Maniac, no data from the prior game carries over to the new one (character level and Social Stats start at 1, the Persona Compendium will reset, and the doors for Vision Quest and Monad will not be present early in the game).
There have been changes to battle mechanics from previous versions of Persona 3, often falling in line with features and changes already present in Persona 4:
The player taking direct control of Yukari.
- A new tactic, "Direct," has been added to the game, which allows control of party members for the first time in the Persona 3 series.
- The "Wait" command is replaced with the "Defense" command, and will decrease the damage and any knockdown effects of the next attack the user suffers.
- If a combatant attacks multiple enemies and at least one of the targets gets knocked down, the game will issue a "1 More"; the original Persona 3 and FES required all hit enemies to be knocked down for a 1 More.
- Combatants who have been knocked down no longer spend the turn by getting up and can act as soon as they stand. Attacking a Downed target will instead inflict "Dizzy" which then forces them to skip a turn before recovering.
- Upon landing a Critical hit or striking an enemy's weakness, party members can follow up with a co-op attack.
- Fusion Spells from the original Persona 3 are now activated from items instead of equipping a pair of Personas and selecting it like other spells.
- Allies can now take a fatal blow to the protagonist for them if they are able.
There have also been general changes to the game from previous versions:
- Returning to the main lobby in Tartarus no longer automatically restores the party, and must now be done for a fee via the save point (this cost varies based on the date in-game and status effects currently inflicted on the party).
- Accessing the main stairway from the Tartarus lobby offers the ability to resume exploration from the highest floor you've reached so far.
- "Tired" status no longer is inflicted during Tartarus exploration, and is inflicted on all used party members after leaving (this will only drop to "Good" if the character used was at "Great" during exploration).
- Unlike previous versions, money found by party members when split up will now be given to the protagonist.
- Party members' equipment and status can now be accessed at any time from the pause menu, unlike in previous versions, which required the protagonist to directly speak to them while exploring Tartarus in order to change their equipment or view their status.
Personas, Skills and Skill Cards[]
Four Personas from Persona 4 have been added to the original P3 lineup with altered levels and Arcana affinities. The Personas from P4 are Tam Lin, Neko Shogun, Mokoi and Setanta.
The system of fusion remains relatively the same, and Heart Items released by specific Persona are still intact. However, all Personas now have the ability to produce a Skill Card when raised to a specific level. Each card can be used on any Persona to teach them a skill (for example, the Agi Skill card will teach any Persona the skill "Agi," regardless of if that Persona is naturally able to learn or inherit Agi or not). Aside from Personas, Skill Cards can also be obtained by trading gems in Shinshoudo Antiques, purchasing them through mail-order in Jika Net Tanaka (the contents of which have also been overhauled,) completing the Velvet Room attendant's requests, topping exams (rewarded by Mitsuru along with minor Arcana stat-booster cards) and as rewards for finding certain people trapped in Tartarus (given by Officer Kurosawa).
In P3P, the protagonists only have access to one weapon type (instead of all types like in P3 and FES); the male protagonist wields one-handed swords, and the female protagonist wields naginatas. As a result, the skills "Fist Master," "Bow Master," "1hSwd Master" and similar skills have all been combined into a single skill called "Weapons Master." Its skill card is called "Phys Boost," and all Personas which had learned a "master" ability (like Cybele with Bow Master) now learn "Weapons Master."
In addition to "Weapons Master," the new skill "Magic Skill Up" has been added in P3P. It can only be learned by Messiah, and strengthens any Magic skills used, including Almighty skills.
The Inari Sushi in Naganaki Shrine no longer grants random bonuses for item gaining and Tartarus explorations. Instead, it offers to duplicate Skill Cards, which will take 5 days to complete.
Almost all abilities can be learned through Skill Cards, with the following exceptions:
- Sukunda
- Masukunda
- Heaven's Blade
- Ragnarok
- Thunder Reign
- Niflheim
- Panta Rhei
- Samsara
- Die For Me!
- Morning Star
- Black Viper
- Magic Skill Up
2023 Ports[]
This version of the game, sometimes referred to as Persona 3 Portable Remastered by Atlus, was mostly unchanged from the PSP original in terms of content. Some quality-of-life and visual adjustments include:
- For the first time, the game is localized in French, Italian, German, Spanish and Simplified Chinese. It also supports dual audio.[8][9]
- In-game graphics were updated, using a mix of original assets and AI upscaling. In addition, the game runs at higher resolution and framerate compared to PSP's 480x272 at 30 FPS: 1080p at 60 FPS on most platforms, and 4K at 120 FPS on Xbox Series X and Windows.[10]
- The ability to change difficulty on the fly was added, including customizing the experience gain rate (More, Normal or Less).
- In place of Plumes of Dusk, it is now possible to resurrect the party from the start of the floor or right after a game over during the battle itself, an unlimited number of times.
- In addition to regular save points, a "quick save" feature now allows the player to save at almost any time; quick saving exits the player to the main menu.[11]
- Trophies/achievements were added, most of which are directly based on Persona 4 Golden's.
In this version of the game, changing the language will default the protagonist's names to "Makoto Yuki" and "Kotone Shiomi" (male and female protagonists respectively.)[12][13][14]
- Logo Changes
- The original ATLUS logo is updated to the current ATLUS logo.
- The CRIWARE logo is replaced by the P-Studio logo.
- The copyrights "©ATLUS CO,LTD. 1996, 2009" in the Japanese version and "©2006-2010 ATLUS" in the Western version are changed to "©ATLUS. ©SEGA. All rights reserved." This change emphasizes ATLUS' current parent company, SEGA.
Music[]
- Main article: Persona 3 Portable Original Soundtrack
Music is composed by Shoji Meguro, with lyrics by Reiko Tanaka and Lotus Juice, and performed by Mayumi Fujita, Lotus Juice, and Shuhei Kita. The official soundtrack was released on November 25, 2009. New tracks have been composed for the female protagonist's path.
- Soul Phrase - New opening theme
- A Way of Life - Played during Port Island's overworld
- 放課後 (Hōkago, lit. After School) - Played during select Social Link events
- Time - Played during the First Semester
- Wiping All Out - New battle theme
- Sun - Played during the Second Semester
- Easy Feelings - Played during select Social Link events
- Danger Zone - Played during Tartarus boss battles
- Soul Phrase -long ver.-
- A Way of Life -Deep inside my mind Remix-
Gallery[]
Limited Run Games[]
Videos[]
In Other Languages[]
| Language | Title |
|---|---|
 English
|
Persona 3 Portable |
 Japanese
|
ペルソナ3ポータブル (Perusona 3 Pōtaburu) |
 Korean
|
여신전생 페르소나 3 포터블 (Yeosinjeonsaeng Pereusona 3 Poteobeul) |
  Traditional Chinese
|
女神異聞錄3 便攜版 (Nǚshén yìwénlù 3 Biànxié bǎn) |
| Simplified Chinese
|
女神异闻录3 携带版 |
 French
|
Persona 3 Portable |
 Italian
|
Persona 3 Portable |
 German
|
Persona 3 Portable |
 Spanish
|
Persona 3 Portable |
Trivia[]
- The word "Portable" in the game's title is written in a font made to resemble the PlayStation Portable (PSP) logo. Because of the font's rigid, minimalist style, the capital letters "R" and "A" look identical, which has resulted in some fans affectionately mistitling the game as "Persona 3 Poatable".
- Various scenes, such as the confrontation between Shinjiro and Ken, and the final Takaya boss fight, had their dialogue revised.
- Additionally, certain scenes that were revised were further re-translated in the English version in terms of contextual change to better match the Japanese text. One example being the Operation Babe Hunt scene at Yakushima.
External Links[]
- Original
- 2023 remaster
- Official Japanese 2023 remaster website
- Official Korean 2023 remaster website
- Official Traditional Chinese 2023 remaster website
- Official Simplified Chinese 2023 remaster website
- Steam page
References[]
- ↑ A Graphic of Overall Persona Series Physical Game Sales in Japan for February 2020 Persona Central (Reggie, February 26, 2020)
- ↑ The Persona series is coming to Xbox and Windows PC, Eurogamer (Ed Nightingale, Updated on 13 Jun 2022)
- ↑ Persona 5 Royal Confirmed for PS5, Steam Release. Persona 4 Golden for PS4, Persona 3 Portable for PS4, Steam, Persona Central (Alex, June 14, 2022)
- ↑ Everything Announced During Today's Nintendo Direct Mini, Including Persona 5 on Switch, IGN (Matt Kim, Updated: 28 Jun 2022 4:56 pm, Posted: 28 Jun 2022 4:10 pm
- ↑ Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden release for modern platforms on January 19, 2023! #P3P #P4G, Twitter (@Atlus_West, Oct 8, 2022)
- ↑ Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden Remastered Release Dates Announced for January 19, 2023, Persona Central (Reggy, October 8, 2022)
- ↑ Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden are coming to "modern" platforms in January 2023 - Eurogamer
- ↑ Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable coming to Switch, Gematsu (Sal Romano, Jun 28 2022 / 9:21 AM EDT)
- ↑ 《女神异闻录》系列接连登上最新平台！ ｜ Atlus官网
- ↑ Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable Feature 120 FPS Support on Xbox Series X, 60 FPS on PS4 and Switch GameBolt (Shubhankar Parijat, Jan 17, 2023)
- ↑ Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden for Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC details new features Gematsu (Sal Romano, Dec 13 2022 / 8:49 PM EST)
- ↑ Persona 3 Portable MC and FeMC canon name revealed, YouTube (Faz, Jan 18 2023)
- ↑ A screenshot of the message box when switching between languages on Steam
- ↑ A screenshot of the message box in Japanese when switching between languages on Steam
