Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden will soon be available on Nintendo Switch, and it's an appreciated preservation effort, offering two JRPG classics on a modern platform to help ensure they don't get lost in the generational shuffle. What's on offer won't surprise anyone - though it still seems odd to go with P3P over FES - and they both perform smoothly on Nintendo Switch. For sheer convenience alone, it's hard to argue with the prospect of picking up these two fantastic iterations of the series to have available during travel.
In terms of story, the two games are almost polar opposites in tone - Persona 3 Portable is brooding, melancholy, and dark, with a much bleaker outlook on life. Its characters don't quite get fleshed out the same as later instalments in the series, either, a product of lack of familiarity with the social sim elements that ultimately came to define so much of the Persona experience. It's why so many still want a Persona 3 remake, in spite of the game's age.
Important characters are gated behind stat rankings, which can be frustrating when compared to the more modern Persona design. It's easy to see why these characters are so memorable for fans when players get the chance to hang out with them - unfortunately, that's more difficult than it needs to be early on.
Persona 4 Golden On Switch Is The Best Way To Play
Persona 4 Golden, on the other hand, has a much more refined narrative with slice-of-life beats that help break up the more depressing plot points. It's a far more balanced story, one that's complemented by a social sim system that makes characters more accessible and nuanced. Both stories and ensemble casts excel, and while certain elements of both stories haven't aged as well as they could have, they remain engaging tales that players will want to see through to the end.
After playing both Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden on Switch in a small window of time, however, one thing becomes painfully obvious - the chasm between the two titles' gameplay. P3P is serviceable but frustratingly barebones compared to P4G's wider array of environmental exploration, team composition, and grind. Making time for social links is also significantly more palatable in P4G, and there never feels like there's a lack of things to do on a given calendar day, which isn't the same for P3P.
Both games remain excellent, but P3P desperately needs a remake more than just a nicer coat of paint to stand among its series' best. Persona 3 Portable's story, characters, and world-building still necessitate preservation, but a new spin on this world that includes better gameplay systems informed by decades of experience building these social simulation exchanges and dungeon crawling would be much appreciated. Naturally, this doesn't change the fact that as it stands, P3P on Switch is still well-worth playing - it's just obvious how far the series has come, much more so than when chugging along through Persona 4 Golden on Switch.
Ultimately, both games remain fantastic additions to any JRPG fan's game library, with Persona 4 Golden by far the more refined and exciting experience. While re-releasing the same games on multiple platforms isn't necessarily the most enthralling action from a long-time Persona follower's perspective, it's nice to see classics continue to become more accessible to potential newcomers. The preservation of this series is important, and if in the process of that the best way to play them emerges - like the case of Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden on Switch - then that's just an added bonus.
Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden release for Nintendo Switch on January 19, 2023. Screen Rant was provided with a digital download code for the purpose of this review.
Source: Nintendo of America/YouTube
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Persona 4 Golden
- Franchise:
- Persona
- Platform:
- PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, Steam, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4
- Released:
- 2020-06-13
- Developer:
- Atlus
- Publisher:
- Sega
- Genre:
- RPG, Life Simulation
- ESRB:
- M
- Summary:
- Step into the Shadow-World in Person 4 Golden - an expansion/definitive version of Persona 4. The original version of Golden was released on the PS Vita in 2012. The protagonist arrives in a rural town called Inaba, where mysterious murders have occurred, with the bodies appearing on television antennas on roofs. Players will build a rag-tag team of heroes that will attempt to solve the murders after awakening to their mysterious inner powers known as Persona. Additionally, players will balance turn-based combat and daily life, building relationships and increasing stats to prepare themselves for dungeon exploration.
- Prequel:
- Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable
- Sequel:
- Persona 5
- How Long To Beat:
- 80-90 Hours
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Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable
- Franchise:
- Persona
- Platform:
- PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch
- Released:
- 2023-01-19
- Developer:
- Atlus
- Publisher:
- Atlus, Sega
- Genre:
- RPG, Life Simulation
- ESRB:
- M
- Summary:
- Originally released on the PlayStation Portable in 2010, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable is an updated version of the original PS2 title. Players take on the role of a new protagonist who arrives in Iwatodai and soon discovers he is awake during a mysterious hour that exists between the transition to a new day. During this time, people who can experience it are attacked by dangerous shadow-like creatures. To combat this threat, the protagonist joins a school group known as S.E.E.S., dedicated to eradicating shadows by using their mysterious inner power, Persona.
- Prequel:
- Persona 2: Innocent Sin
- Sequel:
- Persona 4 Golden
- How Long To Beat:
- 65hours
