Persona 3 Portableis the second time that Persona 3 has been re-released. You’d think that during these revisions of the source material, quite a few kinks would be ironed out. Even if some things can be passed off as simple game mechanics that we have to accept, there are some more egregious moments in Persona 3 Portable which don’t fully make sense.
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Would you really buy weapons and armour from the local police? It might be a world of fantastic monsters and mythical figures, but there’s a level of reality involved in Persona games that ground it.
10Buying Weapons From The Police Station
Officer Kurosawa is your main way to buy weapons and armour to gear yourself up as you fight through Tartarus. It’s easy to look at that and accept it, but if you think about it, it’s absolutely bonkers that he’d sell you anything.
Sure, Kurosawa might have an inkling of something not-so-chill happening in Tatsumi Port Island, but there are a few more steps to go through before being totally fine selling full-blown katanas and other deadly weapons toa high school student. Consider inPersona 4 Goldenwhen Yosuke is parading replica knives and swords around Junes, results in you being taken to the police station for it.
9Everyone Is Seemingly Okay With Being Turned Into A Coffin
The idea behind P3’s story is that there’s a hidden hour after midnight called The Dark Hour. During this time, people who can’t use personas – which is likely a huge majority of the population – are turned into coffins. For one hour, every night. But we never really know what happens to them after The Dark Hour ends other than “they have no memory of it”.
Aren’t they curious or concerned? What if they’re on a train and miss their stop? You’d expect that at least one enterprising person would cotton on to the fact that they miss an hour of their lives every single night. It also knocks out electronics, so does that mean every single fridge or freezer in Tatsumi Port Island goes off for an hour? That can’t be good.
8Makoto And Kotone Are Accepting Of Everything Happening From The Start
The two main characters you can choose from in P3P are Makoto Yuki (MC) and Kotone Shiomi (FeMC). You make this choice at the start of the game, and it will change the story slightly in parts if you pick Kotone, but the biggest difference is being able to play as a man or a woman for the first time in a Persona game.
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Whoever you choose, it’s fairly outrageous that both of them arrive in Iwatodai and very obviously see pools of blood, coffins instead of people, a sickly green sky, and a gigantic moon looming overhead. Despite this, both of them are absolutely, completely unfazed by any of these details as they calmly make their way to the dorms. They don’t even ask any questions when they arrive there.
7Only The Female Main Character Can Choose Friendship Routes Over Romance
Just like in Persona 3: FES, Persona 3 Portable retains the system where you may only enter into romantic relationships with other female characters in the game if you choose to play as the male main character Makoto.
At no point can you suggest being friends and all of the compatible female social links will result in romance if you get them high enough. This is the case for the male MC in both versions, while the FeMC can friendzone every male romantic interest.
6Aigis Can Understand What Koromaru Says
Sure, Aigis is a robot, but why would she be able to translate a dog? This almost implies that the big brains who made Aigis also created some standardised dog dictionary that they could use to implant a full vocabulary into her.
Of course, the game tries to cover itself by showing that Aigis is an incredibly smart AI, and it does track to some extent. However, if some big-brained science whiz can do this, why do they have to rely on high school students to get to the end of Tartarus?
5The Main Character’s Wild Card Ability Is Barely Mentioned
In every Persona game, your main character is special in that they hold the power of the Wild Card, which lets them use multiple Personas instead of being limited to one like your party members are. The short of it is that it’s kind of a big deal in the world of Persona users, but barely anyone talks about it or asks you about it Persona 3 Portable.
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It is mentioned in The Answer, but you’d think someone like Mitsuru would have more to say about it than just one throw-away piece of dialogue. In Persona 4 Golden andPersona 5 Royal, a bunch of characters continually refer toJoker’s Wild Card power,which makes so much sense as something to talk about.
4Kenji Tomchika’s Social Link
Someone at Atlus likes the idea of a student dating a teacher and, while this is achievable for Joker in P5, this is Kenji’s goal in P3P. While problematic in and of itself, Kenji’s approach to the whole thing is extremely confusing. Not to mention, it’s weird that he essentially takes Junpei’s place for a Social Link when playing as the male MC Makoto.
Retrospectively, it’s a rogue move to use Kenji as the Magician Arcana. This social link is supposed to be Junpei when you consider that he’s the Magician Arcana in the FeMC’s route. In future games, Yosuke and Morgana are the Magician Arcana in P4 and P5, which makes sense with them being such integral characters.
3Answering Questions In Class Increases Your Knowledge
This is simply a gameplay consideration. But it is funny to think about the thought process behind this as a way for you to get smarter simply by answering a question you know the answer to. Sadly, it doesn’t quite work like that.
We all know the drill; in Persona 3 onwards the games have a social stat feature. This lets you level up certain things like knowledge, charm, kindness, and so on as you progress through the game. The reason for doing so is that some events and Social Links are locked behind progressing them.
2Someone Understands How To Make An Evoker For Dogs
Whatever canine division they have at the Kirijo Group, they should probably think about sharing this wealth of information. Evokers, which resemble a gun, are how characters in Persona 3 summon and use their Personas to fight shadows. Koromaru is just a straight-up dog, not a mascot or some Velvet Room creation, so this is somewhat unprecedented in the Persona 3 Universe.
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With this in mind, it makes no sense that someone could so easily create an Evoker a dog can use. Better yet, it took them no time at all to come up with this gadget, which almost hints at the fact that someone had prepared for this incredibly intricate piece of tech and had been waiting for the right moment to give it tothe SEES teamif they somehow happened to get a dog Persona user.
1Ken Amada’s Romantic Social Link
One of the weirdest, most confusing, and downright troubling parts of Persona 3 Portable is that the FeMC can enter a romantic relationship with Ken Amada, who just so happens to be canonically an 11-year-old child.
There might be some other intention behind this romantic Social Link, but the way it comes across boils down to Kotone effectively grooming and taking advantage of a deeply troubled child who has experienced nothing but loss. Yes, this romantic route is optional, but considering how your main character is a 17-year-old teenager, the fact it is an option in the game at all is troubling no matter how you look at it.
