Are the P3 movies good?

[henrymidfields]

So I am aware that P3 FES has some better storytelling than P3P through the animated cutscenes and the Answer epilogue. However, as I don't own a PS3, and I really prefer the portability of Vita which I recently got, would getting Persona 3 Portable then watching the 4 animated movies (and see the Answer through Youtube) be a good enough alternative in terms of enjoying the story?

EDIT: Just to be crystal clear, I am talking about whether I can appreciate the story after experiencing everything P3P related. Not about the gameplay experience of FES or P3P on their own.

Edit 2: I'm changing the question to as follows: Are the P3 movies actually good? Is there much difference from the games?

Edited April 15, 2018 by henrymidfields

[Bubba Jones]

Honestly, a lot was cut from p3p.  I’d recommend playing the ps2classic version downloadable on the ps3 before that.

The only thing p3p really has over FES is the female storyline which was a thorough and well-done effort with alternate s-links and alternate cutscenes that make it work.

[Slumber]

26 minutes ago, Bubba Jones said:

Honestly, a lot was cut from p3p.  I’d recommend playing the ps2classic version downloadable on the ps3 before that.

The only thing p3p really has over FES is the female storyline which was a thorough and well-done effort with alternate s-links and alternate cutscenes that make it work.

P3P has some quality of life improvements that are worth mentioning. From what I remember, it cut down a lot of the downtime from physically running places during daily activities(Though I can understand if people actually liked that. Unlike P4 or 5, however, I don't find P3's environments all that charming or fun to run around in), and I also believe it's the only version of Persona 3 where you can control your whole party, which can prevent quite a few headaches(Though maybe this was also in FES. I'm blanking at the moment.) 

Edited April 14, 2018 by Slumber

[vilkalizer]

Watching a movie later (potentially much later, because P3 is long) is not going to change the gameplay experience you're having right now. Whether you watch them or not, as a game, for the experience you get while actually playing it, FES is the best way to play P3. 

Emulating a PS2 game is not terribly demanding nowadays, or you might be able to borrow a PS2/3. But it's up to you if you feel the portability is more important than more immersive cutscenes and exploration.

[henrymidfields]

4 hours ago, Bubba Jones said:

Honestly, a lot was cut from p3p.  I’d recommend playing the ps2classic version downloadable on the ps3 before that.

Wait, so even the PS2 original have more than P3P? I don't quite understand...exactly what was cut? If we are just talking about streamlining gameplay, then I don't really care.

1 hour ago, vilkalizer said:

Watching a movie later (potentially much later, because P3 is long) is not going to change the gameplay experience you're having right now. Whether you watch them or not, as a game, for the experience you get while actually playing it, FES is the best way to play P3. 

I'm more concerned about how much I can appreciate the story at the very end of the entire experience, and I mean in totality as opposed to the experience of game on it's own. Which is why I asked whether watching the movie in addition to playing P3P was a reasonable alternative, story-wise (ignore the gameplay) in the first place. I mean, when I was in middle school, I've read Rocket Boys and saw the movie afterwards (October Sky), and appreciated the story even more after experiencing both. 

Which leads into the a subquestion: Have any of you seen the actual 4-set movie?

Edited April 14, 2018 by henrymidfields

[vilkalizer]

21 minutes ago, henrymidfields said:

Wait, so even the PS2 original have more than P3P? I don't quite understand...exactly what was cut?

Original P3 still has the exploration and the animated cutscenes and character models missing in the PSP version, but there's no reason to play it over FES.

22 minutes ago, henrymidfields said:

I don't care too much for the gameplay experience

So... If you already decided that, why make this thread?

22 minutes ago, henrymidfields said:

Which leads into the a subquestion: Have any of you seen the actual 4-set movie?

The first couple, never got around to the rest.

[henrymidfields]

1 minute ago, vilkalizer said:

So... If you already decided that, why make this thread?

I should have made this clear, but I was asking from a story enjoyment point of view, which people in other forums recommended FES over P3P. But no-one mentioned whether the movies are a reasonable alternative in filling in the P3P's proverbial gaps enjoying the story.

[Bubba Jones]

1 hour ago, henrymidfields said:

I should have made this clear, but I was asking from a story enjoyment point of view, which people in other forums recommended FES over P3P. But no-one mentioned whether the movies are a reasonable alternative in filling in the P3P's proverbial gaps enjoying the story.

As someone already mentioned there are a lot of quality of life improvements in the Tartarus - like full party control so you don’t have to deal with “Mitsuru I’m dying...Marin-fuckin-Karin” moments.  Combat is overall easier and you don’t have to deal with as much bullshit.

As for what was cut along with the animated cutscenes...all of the town exploration outside of the Tartarus.  You cannot walk around in Gekkokan like you can in Inaba in P4G.  All of the cutscenes where the character’s 3D models and their animations which would be used in the explorable areas was also cut and replaced with narration in a visual novel which IMO does not have the same impact.  Some ambient NPCs also no longer exist.  Gekkokan and the surrounding area is now navigatable in a Visual Novel style interface, the entire story is now presented mostly as a visual novel.  No, filling in with the movies is not a reasonable alternative, you would have to rewatch every story scene in someone else’s LP to get the same effect.

This is why I recommend playing the female storyline in P3P which is because it was written for this type of game instead of re-written and edited for it.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Bubba Jones

[henrymidfields]

 

17 minutes ago, Bubba Jones said:

As someone already mentioned there are a lot of quality of life improvements in the Tartarus - like full party control so you don’t have to deal with “Mitsuru I’m dying...Marin-fuckin-Karin” moments.  Combat is overall easier and you don’t have to deal with as much bullshit.

As for what was cut along with the animated cutscenes...all of the town exploration outside of the Tartarus.  You cannot walk around in Gekkokan like you can in Inaba in P4G.  All of the cutscenes where the character’s 3D models and their animations which would be used in the explorable areas was also cut and replaced with narration in a visual novel which IMO does not have the same impact.  Some ambient NPCs also no longer exist.  Gekkokan and the surrounding area is now navigatable in a Visual Novel style interface, the entire story is now presented mostly as a visual novel.  No, filling in with the movies is not a reasonable alternative, you would have to rewatch every story scene in someone else’s LP to get the same effect.

This is why I recommend playing the female storyline in P3P which is because it was written for this type of game instead of re-written and edited for it.

Are any bits of the main story (besides the answer) being cut out? As long as the cuts are gameplay/graphics related, then it's just a matter of as long as I am aware if I choose P3P. As I said to another member, I've read Rocket Boys and saw the movie afterwards (October Sky), and appreciated the story even more after experiencing both.

Edited April 14, 2018 by henrymidfields

[Zapp Branniglenn]

The movies are not totally faithful to Persona 3. It's basically a re imagining of the primary plot minus any of the social links. And the protagonist was portrayed as some dude with serious social deficiencies which is...an odd choice given how cool the protagonists of these games are supposed to be. I think the movies are kind of cool, but definitely produced in mind for people who already played the games and have nostalgia for its themes, characters, and combat. This is unlike the Persona 4 animated series which is a faithful retelling of the game that I think could outright substitute for playing/watching that game.

If Persona 3 portable is the only version of the game you've got access to and you don't mind gameplay features cut, then I think that's an acceptable version. If you want to experience The Answer, definitely resort to Youtube, even if you had access to FES. That mini game is a frustrating slog. And I'm sure there's compilations on youtube of all the dialogue sequences and cutscenes. It's also probably not canon? Whatever it was, The Answer is a glorious waste of time that I recommend nobody play.

[Bubba Jones]

2 hours ago, henrymidfields said:

 

Are any bits of the main story (besides the answer) being cut out? As long as the cuts are gameplay/graphics related, then it's just a matter of as long as I am aware if I choose P3P. As I said to another member, I've read Rocket Boys and saw the movie afterwards (October Sky), and appreciated the story even more after experiencing both.

Allow me to quote myself:

2 hours ago, Bubba Jones said:

No, filling in with the movies is not a reasonable alternative, you would have to rewatch every story scene in someone else’s LP to get the same effect.

A lot was edited down to get it to fit on the psp.

I think the best way to describe the narrative and story differences would be like asking if you should watch Star Wars as a movie or the audio play that was released alongside it.  Most people will say movie because it was written and directed as a movie and things were lost and some of it didn’t translate well into the audio play.  Bits of exposition, context, timing, narrative beats, positioning, setting information, all get lost in the transition.

That’s really what this is - FES is the movie, P3P is the audio play.  (It’s also why the FeMC story was praised - because it was written as an audio play.)

Edited April 14, 2018 by Bubba Jones

[henrymidfields]

@Glennstavos: Thank you for filling me about the 4 movies. I'll wait for a couple more responses, but it looks like I'm sticking to my original P3P plan as stated above.

Edited April 14, 2018 by henrymidfields

[vilkalizer]

6 hours ago, henrymidfields said:

I was asking from a story enjoyment point of view

I'm responding from a story enjoyment point of view.

4 hours ago, henrymidfields said:

As long as the cuts are gameplay/graphics related, then it's just a matter of as long as I am aware if I choose P3P.

That's the thing, though. Yes, technically, it's the exact same story. But changes in the graphics and gameplay changes the manner in which it is told.

 

Any given scene in FES will show which characters are present, where they are, and what they are doing. It actually shows the protagonist getting up, moving to leave, and being intercepted by this rando. P3P does not give nearly the same context or information, because you don't see any movement beyond portrait changes. It is telling the same story, but in a less immersive and engaging manner.

[henrymidfields]

Since I'm not getting much useful answers to be blunt I'm changing the question: Are the P3 movies good? Is there much difference from the games in terms of the plotline itself?

Edited April 15, 2018 by henrymidfields

[Strullemia]

On 15-4-2018 at 2:02 AM, henrymidfields said:

Since I'm not getting much useful answers to be blunt I'm changing the question: Are the P3 movies good? Is there much difference from the games in terms of the plotline itself?

I've seen all four and I would say that they're good but they're too rushed to be a replacement for the games.

[Gemma]

On 4/18/2018 at 11:13 AM, Hekselka said:

I've seen all four and I would say that they're good but they're too rushed to be a replacement for the games.

Agreed, the pacing is way too fast in the movies. They're definitely not bad though, and aesthetically they're rather pretty.

I haven't completed the game though, so I couldn't help you on plot differences D;

[henrymidfields]

All right, I'll get P3P and the movies then. If the movies themselves aren't any bad then I'm sure I'll enjoy whatever I'll get. Thanks you both!