ohhhh persona 3 portable, how i love you...

p3p was my second persona game. my first, vanilla persona 5, pales in comparison. p3p has the best art, music, writing, and gameplay out of the entire franchise--plus a lovely female protagonist!

i started p3p during a pretty dark time in my life: november of my sophomore year. i had just left behind all of my friends (i found them boring, and they disliked me because i disliked their main interest...which was minecraft youtubers.) and i felt really alone. i started femc's route while i was bedridden over thanksgiving break. it was a miracle the emulator i used for it could even run on my shitty laptop that crashed if i spent more than ten minutes on google chrome. i was unable to put it down until i beat it about a month and a half later. the ending had such a powerful message i couldn't help but tear up: live. live no matter what!

i've spent the majority of my life in a pit of suicidal misery, and this was especially true when i started p3p. since then, its entire story and message has made me rethink how i view life. listen, i'm not saying persona 3 portable fixed my mental issues, but it definitely made dealing with them a little easier.

i think i put 70 hours into my playthrough? i romanced shinjiro, akihiko, theodore, and ken, my preferences for each of them in that order. sorry, ryoji, but you always got on my nerves. and unfortunately, i never finished aigis' link! if i ever replay it, i definitely will prioritize hers.

my favorite character in p3p (and my favorite character in the franchise overall) is jin shirato. shinjiro and aigis are the runner-ups. kotone is my favorite protagonist, akinari has my favorite link, and p3 has some of my favorite music ever.

please give persona 3 portable a try, if you haven't played it already!