As someone who has played both, I have to say that the original P3 was a lot more challenging. It made the tactics menu something you have to actually use. With the P4 battle system implemented in P3P, it just became too easy since the enemies themselves remained balanced for the original P3 system. I will say that I ran direct control all the way through P3P and P4 however.
Also @niedude, P3 and P4 have a neat little feature of their EXP system. The larger the level difference between a party member and an enemy, the larger of a multiplier the EXP gets multiplied by. So at the same level, its a x1. But if you're lover leveled than the enemy you get a boosted amount of EXP, while if you're higher leveled than the enemy, you earn less. Also, the less party members you have, the more EXP each member gets. The EXP it displays on the after-battle screen is simply the MC's personal share of the total EXP, which gets divided evenly between the party members then gets each members individual level multiplier applied.
In short, the bigger the level gap, the faster they'll catch up if you just slot them into your party. With dedicated training, you can have them up to speed pretty quickly.
@Ysa, I freaking love FFXII. My favorite of the whole series. I hope you enjoy it. ^^
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