Persona 3 vs Persona 4 – Which is Better?

Hey, remember how last time I said I was going to go into some articles about fan-favorite franchise “Shin Megami Tensei: Persona” (which I’m going to refer to from now on simply as “Persona” in an attempt to shave off a couple hundred words from having to constantly write the full names of the games)? Well, here I am, ready to keep my promise! While “Shin Megami Tensei” is still kind of a niche franchise that only JRPG aficionados have any real interest in, its “Persona” spinoff has grown into a cultural phenomenon. Nobody thought that a game that is so deeply rooted in Japanese culture, philosophy and mythology could be successful worldwide – in fact, when released overseas, the first “Persona” was majorly overhauled for an American audience, with changed names and locales to make it more Western. Neither the first nor second games were really big hits on the original PlayStation, but when “Persona 3” hit on PS2… Boy oh boy.

The game acted as a soft reboot of the franchise, changing many of its core elements and overall acting as its own thing, and it was beautiful. Shortly afterwards, the world was treated to “Persona 4”, which managed to sell about a million units worldwide (which may not seem like much, but for an obscure JRPG in 2008 it was a ton) and made “Persona” into a cultural phenomenon. “Persona 4” built its own story, characters and world only loosely connected to that of “Persona 3”, but kept many of its predecessor’s mechanics and assets, inviting numerous comparisons between the two. Now, don’t get me wrong, sales and popularity-wise, “Persona 4” blows “Persona 3” out of the park, to the point where it was popular enough to receive two anime adaptations, an updated re-release on the Vita, two fighting game spinoffs and a dancing game spinoff. But putting that aside, if we compare P3 and P4 objectively, which one of them is superior?

I’m not going to be comparing things like graphics, mechanics or any other technical stuff – honestly, the two games are nearly identical when it comes to those. Instead, I’d like to focus on the story, characters and atmosphere of each game, which is where they REALLY start to come apart. Story-wise, there’s absolutely no doubt about it – “Persona 3” is infinitely superior. “Persona 3”, at its core, is a tale about life and death, exploring them as both sides of the same coin. It’s a constant motive throughout the game that you need to die so that others can live, and vice versa. Hell, the way you fight is by shooting yourself in the head – if that doesn’t make the themes clear, I don’t know what does. But even if we place the symbolism and complex themes aside, the plot is actually really interesting, featuring numerous turns, twists and revelations, including one of the best mid-game reveals I’ve ever seen in my entire life, which I won’t dare spoil here. “Persona 4”, on the other hand, places a lot less emphasis on its plot. At its core, it’s a murder mystery, but it’s a pretty terrible one – none of the victims are even remotely likeable (in no small part because you end up saving most of the victims before their deaths so they can become your party members), there are really no major clues that point out towards the identity of the killer, and you need to figure it out based on circumstantial evidence alone. It’s not great.

When it comes to characters, on the other hand, “Persona 4” is the winner… Though it is pretty close. Don’t get me wrong, I love the “Persona 3” characters, but… I don’t know. Look, it’s complicated. It’s not like the “Persona 3” cast is bad, quite the opposite – they’re great guys, all of them. But “Persona 4” has two things that distinguish it from its predecessor – first and foremost, it has based its dungeons on its characters, which allows you to learn about them during combat and exploration rather than simply through dialogue. Second of all, “Persona 4” is kind of like wish fulfillment – it’s a fantasy friendship. Everyone gets along with everyone, they constantly hang out together and do fun stuff… You get the feeling that they’re not just together because of the events in the story, and that they’d remain friends even if they weren’t obligated to be. On the other hand, the “Persona 3” cast goes through a lot of turmoil, and they’re not quite as close as their P4 counterparts. It’s made pretty clear that, at the end of that story, all of them will go their own separate ways, and that’s fine. On the other hand, you truly feel like you’ve lost some real friends once the credits of “Persona 4” start rolling, and that’s not something that can be easily replicated.

What about atmosphere, though? Considering the fact that P3’s motif is all about life and death, you can imagine that the game gets pretty grim at times. Almost every single party member has to deal with the loss of someone in their life. Party members die, deal with depression, consider suicide, undergo nervous breakdowns, but ultimately come off as stronger people than they have been before their ordeal. The atmosphere is dark, but I wouldn’t call it “edgy” or “emo” – there are just enough bright and happy moments to offset the darkness. The message of the game is quite clear – “Being a Persona user is suffering. The fact that we have this power gives us the responsibility to use it for good, as well as all of the burdens that come with it.” On the other hand, there are nothing BUT happy moments in “Persona 4”. Well, sure, that’s not entirely right, there’s exactly one sadder moment that gets resolved pretty much immediately (as long as you’re not an idiot and trigger the bad ending). Other than that, the message is very clearly “Being a Persona user is having a fun time with friends”. Neither is better than the other, so I guess the final result is a… Draw? That’s kind of anti-climactic, but it is pretty accurate. The thing is, neither of them is better than the other. They’re both great, in their own, unique way. If you’re looking for something a bit darker, more complex and with a great plot, if you get a tickle from psychological titles with lots of symbolism in the vein of “Silent Hill”, go with “Persona 3”. If you prefer to have pure, unadulterated fun in a character-driven JRPG, “Persona 4” is for you. Now pick your favorite and go hunt some Shadows!