Persona 3 and 4 are both very good RPGs in their own right, but they’re fairly different from one another. Where Persona 3 is a mature story about the nature of life and death, Persona 4 is far more light-hearted and deals with softer, looser connected themes. Where Persona 3 robs players of party control to force them to strategize, Persona 4 opts for a more immediately engaging traditional combat system.

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Despite being a part of the same series, Persona 3 and Persona 4 are two very distinct games with two very distinct identities. Where one falters, the other thrives. Persona 4 corrects issues with Persona 3, whereas Persona 3 has certain charms that Persona 4 simply lacks. Which is better ultimately depends on what one values in their RPGs.

Updated March 19, 2022 by Ritwik Mitra: The Persona series was nothing more than fairly standard spinoffs of the Shin Megami Tensei series, before Persona 3 rocked the foundations of the series to the core and introduced new life-sim mechanics that have become a staple of the series. Persona 4 took this concept and rolled with it, with both of these titles being widely beloved by the fan base. While a comparison isn't necessary given the immense quality of both titles, players who want to find out which of the two games fare better when pitted against each other should read on.

14 Persona 3: Better Replay Value

Persona 3 Portable Art and Persona 3 The Answer Art

There are a multitude of editions present for Persona 3, making it a great game to replay due to how different the experiences are. Persona 3 FES features a proper 3D game where party members can only be ordered, followed by an epilogue where Aigis takes over.

Meanwhile, Persona 3 Portable plays more like an interesting visual novel of sorts. On top of that, this edition features a female protagonist that drastically alters the gameplay and some of its story beats as well!

13 Persona 4: Better Combat

An anime version of Izanagi from Persona 4

Persona 3 still has some rough edges when it comes to the combat. The PS2 version fares worse here, with players not even having the ability to directly control their party members!

Persona 4 refined and ironed out a ton of kinks from its predecessor, leading to a vastly different and engaging experience in battles. It's undoubtedly better from a pure gameplay perspective.

12 Persona 3: Better Protagonist

Minato Arisato awakens his Persona in Persona 3

Minato Arisato's character design already makes him pretty memorable, as is. On top of that, he also plays a massive role in the story near the end, where he sacrifices himself to save the world from destruction.

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While Narukami is also pretty memorable in his own right, his sacrifices are nowhere near as important as Minato's. The latter just feels more enjoyable to play as, albeit by a very thin margin.

11 Persona 4: Better Accessibility

Persona 4 Golden's Investigation Team in official artwork

Unfortunately, as of right now, trying to play Persona 3 can be a huge chore. Players need to get their hands on either a PS2 or a PSP, following which they need to grab a copy of either Persona 3 FES or Portable.

Meanwhile, Atlus and SEGA released Persona 4 Golden on Steam, allowing many PC players to check out this game without really requiring powerful hardware. The accessibility of Persona 4 is a huge reason why more gamers have played this title over its predecessor.

10 Persona 3: Better Story

Persona 3 stylized cover art

Persona 4 has an entertaining story, but it’s by far the worst of the six mainline Persona games. “Truth” as a theme is fairly undercooked and Persona 4 is generally at its best during its slice of life moments, not when advancing the plot. Persona 3, on the other hand, really excels when it comes to its storyline.

Only Persona 2: Innocent Sin gives it a run for its money. There’s some downtime around halfway through, but life and death as themes are incorporated excellently into the plot and the script is, if nothing else, the best localized of the Persona scripts. Persona 4 has a fun story, but Persona 3 has gravitas.

Persona 4 conversation with Ai

While Persona 3 may be the better written game overall, it really fumbles when it comes to Social Links. They get the job done and some still hold out as series standouts, but most of them are incredibly short, simple, and don’t have much in the way of character depth. Which is fine for members of SEES since they develop as part of the story, but not so much for everyone else.

Persona 4 not only has better Social Link variety, but they’re far more engaging and require doing more than just kissing up when answering questions. The Social Links of specific characters end up being the best ones in Persona 4, having an opportunity to grow in a dynamic way that most of Persona 3’s Social Links lacked.

8 Persona 3: Better First Act

Persona 3 blue-colored artwork

Persona 4’s opening hours are painfully slow. So much time is unnecessarily spent establishing Inaba and other characters through cutscenes, when gameplay would have done the trick just fine, if not better. Persona 5 would correct this with a comparatively brisker (or at least more meaningful) introduction, but what’s jarring is that Persona 3 didn’t have this problem.

Persona 3 takes its time setting the foundation for the game, but it also understands that audiences need a taste of the game early. It’s not long before players are controlling the main character and not much longer until they’re dungeon crawling and fighting Shadows on the daily.

7 Persona 4: Better Second Act

Persona 4 Void Quest title screen

On the flip-side, Persona 3 dedicates most of its second act to, well, not that much. The plot takes a back seat to move characters into place for the last act. It’s necessary, but it’s admittedly uneventful and this portion of the game is really meant to be a gameplay dive. Persona 4 manages to balance its second act much better.

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Not only is the story arguably reaching its first tipping point by this point, but Persona 4 generally keeps a more active plot line. There’s less downtime and far more instances of characters getting together, outside of a dungeon crawling context. It keeps the pace moving.

6 Persona 3: Better Finale

Persona 3 Dark Hour

That said, Persona 4 isn’t able to keep its momentum, tripping over itself by indulging in three separate possible endpoints (four with Persona 4 Golden). It leads to a finale that’s messy, cluttered, and at odds with itself by the end of things. There are some great moments, but it’s too unfocused.

Persona 3 does a much better job in this regard, dedicating its last few months specifically to building up to the grand finale. The player is given an entire month to do whatever they please, and it really sets in just how close to the end everything is with the world, the game, and the player. The build-up alone is enough to give Persona 3 one of the best endings in gaming.

5 Persona 4: Better Dungeons

Persona 4 Striptease seats

Tartarus gets a bad rep, but it’s not like it’s some marvel of dungeon design. It’s a decent procedurally generated dungeon with well-paced progressive. Other than that, it’s not much beyond a playground for battles. Persona 4 actually opts for real dungeon design and even tosses in some puzzles here and there.

They still aren’t perfect by any means and procedural generation plays its role, but Persona 4 dungeons are better focused and better themed. Plus, dungeons are such a key staple of the JRPG formula (for Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, too). Tartarus ends up sticking out unfavorably as a result

4 Persona 3: Better Characters

Persona 3 main characters

Persona 4 has a very likable cast, but they’re not well-developed beyond their introduction. Almost all of their Social Links fail to expand their characters in meaningful ways and the plot doesn’t allow them to grow, keeping them stunted once they’re recruited. It’s not great considering they’re such a lively cast.

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Persona 3 doesn’t have this problem at all, with every single character having their own arc that’s resolved over the course of the story. Everyone contributes meaningfully, everyone plays an important narrative role, and everyone changes. No one feels like a bit player in Persona 3 whereas only Yu, Yosuke, Naoto, and Teddie ultimately matter to P4’s plot.

3 Persona 4: Better Bosses

Persona 4 details menu

Persona 3 has a lot of great boss fights, but it also has a lot of filler boss fights that have no place being in the game and only exist to give players something to fight as they battle their way through Tartarus. Persona 4 opts for far more focused fights, leading to boss fights that can easily stop players in their tracks.

Maybe that’s not a good thing for everyone, but Persona 4’s bosses require more strategy on a whole than Persona 3’s. This is kind of funny, considering Persona 3’s combat system was built on giving orders to other party members. Maybe that’s why some bosses are underwhelming, though.

2 Persona 3: Better Final Boss

Persona 3 boss battle

Although Persona 4 may have better bosses on a whole, it just can’t compare to Persona 3’s epic final boss: Nyx. A multi-phase finale that’ll likely last over half an hour, this is the final boss to end all final bosses. It’s a confrontation with a manifestation of death itself. Should the heroes lose, all life goes with them.

It’s a final battle that ties back into the game’s main theme perfectly, even ending with the main character being forced to cast an attack that uses up all its HP. It’s a long endurance match, but it’s one that’s incredibly rewarding and surprisingly well-balanced. This is one of the best final bosses in gaming, period.

1 Persona 4: Better Definitive Version

Persona 4 Golden photograph

As a base game, Persona 3 is perhaps the better of the two. It’s more interesting, more mature, and its flaws aren’t enough to drag down its strengths. Unfortunately, Persona 3 lacks a proper definitive edition as both Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Portable offer very different interpretations of the same game, both with their own strengths and flaws.

Persona 4 just has Persona 4 Golden, a Vita re-release that expands on Persona 4 significantly. There are more months to play through, more dungeons, more bosses, more cutscenes, more Social Links, and more endings. It’s a larger game and one that improves Persona 4 exponentially.

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