I'm getting the PSP remake of the first one for Christmas so I can't say anything about it yet. I have started playing Persona 3 again though after not having enough time to play it when I got it and putting it aside for a long time (I don't think I even made it to the first full moon then for those who have played it). I'll put my opinion on it as simply as I can though; aside from FFXII and probably Valkyria Chronicles this is the best RPG I have played in almost ten years.

In fact, despite growing up playing RPG's almost exclusively I'd say I've been pretty apathetic about the genre at best since FFIX came out, largely because few of them did anything new and the ones that did weren't half as good as games like FFIX and FFVI. Then I heard about Persona 3 being, essentially, part RPG and part relationship simulator. After getting over my initial "huh?" reaction I picked it up. Despite not getting the chance to dive into it for two years or however long it's been, it was well worth the wait. The game is amazing. Hands down one of the best RPG's in literally a decade, and I can't wait to finish it and track down a copy of Persona 4 eventually.