For starters, lets decide if you even WANT to play Portable over the other versions of Persona 3.

There are currently 3 versions of Persona 3 to choose from (Soon to be 4 versions come Early 2024 with the release of Persona 3 Reload, a Persona 3 remake, Releasing on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series)
The 3 versions of Persona 3 you can currently choose from are as follows:

1. Persona 3[backloggd.com] (2006) (PS2): The original version of Persona 3 for the PS2. Quite frankly, there's no reason to choose this version over its expanded version.

2. Persona 3 FES[backloggd.com] (2007) (PS2): An expanded version of Persona 3, building on top of the 2006 game. Contains many great QOL changes that go a long way as well as a new story arc "The Answer".

3. Persona 3 Portable[backloggd.com] (2009) (PSP, PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Xbox Series): The version of the game we're looking at in this guide. Despite being the most recent version of Persona 3 and containing many of the QOLs from FES, as well as many new additions of its own, it doesn't contain FES' story arc, "The Answer". Instead, the main selling point of Portable is a second and new route: The Female Protagonist route, a route of the game that tells the same story but with a different (and obviously female) protagonist. This route contains some differences from the male route, mainly different Social Links, namely having Social Links with the male party members, which the male route does not contain. The male route of course is still playable as well. Portable also adds the ability to directly control your party members with direct commands, like how you can in Persona 4/5 (Tactics menu still an option though if you prefer it), the previous two Persona 3 releases forced AI control for party members with the Tactics menu. The main sacrifice in this version is the presentation. Not only are animated cutscenes removed (Though we'll talk about how to restore those), but the presentation some may be accustomed to in the Persona series is very different in Portable. While the other Persona games have 3D models enacting out the dialogue, Portable plays like a visual novel, with 3D models only being used for the gameplay sections, and even then, only for the combat sections. This sacrifice in presentation may not be worth Portable's additions to some.

4*. Persona 3 Reload[backloggd.com] (2024) (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series): A remake of Persona 3 that is scheduled to release Early 2024. This remake plans to bring Persona 3 to the modern era, if you want this to be your first experience of Persona 3, then I suggest waiting. It is to feature many of the QOL from FES and Portable as well as new changes of its own, but it has been confirmed that it will NOT feature "The Answer" from FES or the Female Protagonist route from Portable.

Breaking down all of the differences between the versions of the game would be far too time-consuming, so instead, here's a chart breaking down the biggest differences between the games:


There is also a 23-minute YouTube video that goes more in depth with the differences, if you want a more in-depth comparison:

While Atlus ported Portable to modern platforms, the port was not great. Main complaints come from the lazy (and ugly) AI upscaling of textures and some downright horrendous audio quality for SFX among other things. But never fear as modders do what Atlus don't, and this guides main purpose for creation is to list off the mods I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you take into consideration.

First things first, you must learn how to install mods before anything, there's an excellent tutorial on how to do just that on GameBanana, Persona 3 Portable's main hub for modding: https://gamebanana.com/tuts/15677

Once you setup Reloaded-II for modding, here are the mods I recommend for P3P:

0. Persona Essentials (You need this mod to load any other mods, as the tutorial above should've explained, but you using the "Configure Mod" option, you can also use it to Skip the Intro Videos and Render the game in the background, which means if you click off the game, the game will continue running as opposed from pausing as it usually does. Useful for multiple monitor setups): https://gamebanana.com/mods/408376

1. HD Audio SFX (Fixes the audio quality of SFX, funnily enough the SFX in this port of P3P sound worse than they did in the original PSP version. Why? Apparently, its due to an error in the code): https://gamebanana.com/mods/423569

2. High Quality Music Pack (Game still uses lower quality versions of music, you can also use the "Configure Mod" option in Reloaded-II to swap the main characters battle themes, if you'd like): https://gamebanana.com/sounds/65786

3. P3F Model Port Project (Brings higher quality models from P3 FES into the game): https://gamebanana.com/mods/424584

4. Cutscenes Restored (Restores the cutscenes that are exclusive to the PS2 P3 releases, only applicable to the Male Protagonist route. The installation of this mod is a little more complicated than others, so make sure to follow the instructions on the GameBanana page): https://gamebanana.com/mods/429929

5. Pixelated Backgrounds (Put above TrueHD Reloaded in mod list so that mod takes priority, you'll know you did it right if your room has a P5R-themed calendar. I'd recommend this as I'd rather have the original Pixelated PSP backgrounds than the AI upscaled ones this port uses): https://gamebanana.com/mods/440962

6. TrueHD Reloaded (Replaces some backgrounds with the higher quality P3 FES version): https://gamebanana.com/wips/73567

7. Useful Descriptions (Skill descriptions in Persona games are shockingly basic by default, especially in 3 and 4): https://gamebanana.com/mods/423373

8. Visible Rankup Ready (Adds indicators that Social Links are ready to rank up in the Social Link menu and when talking to them. Persona 4/5 players are likely familiar with this mechanic): https://gamebanana.com/mods/457935

These are the mods I'd consider "must-haves" but the next "Optional Mods" section will contain mods that I still think are worth installing as well.

Mods that I think are still certainly worth considering, but less essential than those of the former section.

1. Colorful Skills+ (Makes the skill icons pop more): https://gamebanana.com/mods/423473

2. Controller UI Overhaul (Makes the controller prompts pop more, useless if you play with mouse and keyboard): https://gamebanana.com/mods/423178

3. Battle Localization Fixes (Make sure this mod is above Useful Descriptions so that mod takes priority, this fixes some localization errors in the game): https://gamebanana.com/mods/438386

4. Skill Fusion Spells (Fusion spells were skills in the PS2 releases of P3 but were changed into items in Portable. This mod tries its best to faithfully restore them as skills. I choose not to use the spell items when using this mod, and stick with just the skills): https://gamebanana.com/mods/428661

5. Colourful Cut-Ins (Makes the attack cut-ins colorful): https://gamebanana.com/mods/442382

6. Confident Akihiko for All-Out-Attack Prompt (Truly the most unforgivable thing the Portable release of the game did was change the portrait used for Akihiko's iconic "I've been waiting for this!" line, this mod changes it back to what it SHOULD be): https://gamebanana.com/mods/440681

7. Colourful AOA Cut-Ins (Makes the AOA screen colorful): https://gamebanana.com/mods/443905

8. FeMC AOA Portrait Tweak (Improves the Female Protagonist's AOA portrait, only applicable to the Female Protagonist route): https://gamebanana.com/mods/440084

9. FEMC can romance Elizabeth (Edits the final dorm trip with Elizabeth to restore the romantic undertones, only applicable to the Female Protagonist route): https://gamebanana.com/mods/425698

10. New FeMC Title Screen Art (FeMC Title Screen Art that matches the Male Protagonists. Put below TrueHD Reloaded): https://gamebanana.com/mods/461398

11. HD Cleaned up Bustups (Improves the bustups used in the game): https://gamebanana.com/wips/73351

12. Manual Skill Inheritance (If you prefer manual skill inheritance, like Persona 4/5, here's a mod for you): https://gamebanana.com/mods/434312

13. Protagonist Bustups Use P25th Anniversary Artwork (If you want the Protagonists to use their artwork from the "Persona 25th Anniversary event" for their bustups, here's a mod for you): https://gamebanana.com/mods/423752

14. Modern Makoto Yuki (If you don't mind the obvious clash in style this mod will have with the other models, you can replace the Male Protagonists PSP model with his model from Persona 5 Royal, which is obviously far higher quality, only applicable to the Male Protagonist route): https://gamebanana.com/mods/430535

15. Rebirth Cutscenes (Prefer the style of the Persona 3 movies to the PS2 games animated cutscenes? Here's a mod for you, only applicable to the Male Protagonist route): https://gamebanana.com/mods/436736

16. Mass Destruction P3 + P3FES (Replaces the song "Mass Destruction" with its full size version from Persona 3 Dancing in Moonlight): https://gamebanana.com/sounds/66053

17. Persona 3 Dancing Music Pack (Replaces many songs from the game with their remixes from Persona 3 Dancing in Moonlight): https://gamebanana.com/sounds/66288

18. Simple No Ken Romance (I wish I was joking but the Female Protagonist has the option to romance a... ten/eleven year old. You're not forced to do it in the game but if you want to get rid of the option entirely, here you go, only applicable to the Female Protagonist route): https://gamebanana.com/mods/423127

19. Female Orpheus Telos (Unlike Orpheus, Orpheus Telos does not have a female equivalent for the Female Protagonist. This mods replaces Orpheus Telos in both routes, so make sure you're aware of that if you plan on playing Male route, and possibly disable it when playing Male route): https://gamebanana.com/mods/454732

Settings you should know about/change:

Audio

Voiced Line: If you prefer your JRPGs in a more classic style, before they had much/any voice acting, setting "Voiced Line" to off will turn off most/all of the voice acting in the game.

Audio Language: Allows you to switch between English or Japanese voice acting. I prefer the English personally, but both are good. English VA may not be available in all regions.

Game

Auto Text: Turning this on will automatically progress the text when the voiced line ends, effectively, it means you don't have to press the A button to progress the text every time a voiced line ends, I recommend turning this on.

Graphics

Rendering Scale: Most of the graphics settings are self explanatory, except this one. I highly recommend, if your PC can handle it, setting this to 200%, this means the game will render at twice your native resolution, making the game look better overall. Though, if you cannot do 200%, then just leave it at 100%, any of the other options do not look good.

All other options should be self-explanatory.

Enjoy Persona 3 and give me Wholesome 100 Chungus award thank you <3