I loved Persona 3 Portable (P3P) on the PSP. It was my first Persona game, and its great mix of dungeon crawling and traditional Japanese simulation gameplay was a breath of fresh air. I also really enjoyed the exceptional art style and music, making me an instant fan of Shigenori Soejima and Shoji Meguro. It remains one of my favorite RPGs.

I finished P3P in early 2012. By that time, Persona 4 Golden (P4G) had already been announced for the Vita. Playing P3P on the PSP was such a positive experience that I decided to wait and play its follow-up on the Vita. Thanks to my thoughtful wife, I received both the system and game on Christmas Day 2013. I tore in and got started immediately.

Nearly 4 months later, I’m still playing it. According to one of the FAQs I looked through today, I’m nearing its halfway point, having put in about 37 hours so far. Like P3P, this is a long game. I put about 80 hours into that one, and I’m assuming I’ll be putting in at least that many hours into this.

What do I think of it? I’m enjoying it, but unlike P3P, I wouldn’t say I’m loving it. I like the town of Inaba and the more intimate feel of the storyline, but I preferred P3P’s SEES/Dark Hour narrative better. P4G has a more relaxed and upbeat atmosphere, but it could be that general lack of urgency that’s translating into me going through it at a snail’s pace.

The characters are another area where I feel P3P excelled, although I’m still at the point where my key social links are only around 7 out of 10, so my opinion could change as things progress and those relationships grow. I’ll comment more on this in my final review.

I really like that I am so at home in P4G, though. Everything feels the same as it did in its predecessor, just bigger and more varied. It’s immediately comfortable. Like P3P, the art and soundtrack are of the highest quality, and the graphics pop so vibrantly from the Vita’s terrific screen. Games likes these fuel my opinion that RPGs are best consumed in portable form.