An amazing RPG
Persona 3 can't really be grouped in with other RPG's, because it' just so much more than that. More than dungeon crawling, and grinding, just to get that next juicy bit of story. This is one of the few games with a silent protagonist that really makes you feel you're being yourself. You actually create bonds with NPC's, and get to know their individual stories. This is entertaining in it's own right, but also serves another purpose. When the bond between yourself and others grows, so does your potential for creating new persona's, which are your source of power in this game. Your character does gain levels, but these affect only the level of the persona he can create, as well as his own HP and SP. Everything else, from attack strength, magic, defense, and agility rely on the strength of your persona. This causes the game to become incredibly fun, where these side stories create more than just a diversion from the usual RPG fare of killing monsters.
The presentation of the game is outstanding, with the exceptions of a few lines of text that weren't translated completely (most players will go through the game without ever seeing them). Art design is creative, all the persona's are well designed, and the general atmosphere and elements come together well. The music in Persona 3 is also a refreshing change from the norm, mixing hip-hop, dance, and various other genre's. Atlus was even nice enough to include a hardbound art book and full (yes, FULL) soundtrack.
If you're a JRPG fan, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. Even those who normally steer clear of JRPG's could find this enjoyable for just the life sim aspect.