I'm over the 60 hour mark now. I'm close to the point where I dropped P3 in the past. I can say with certainty that I prefer P3 to P4 now - better social links, a more interesting story, a better core cast, some challenging boss battles and better use of colour. The story, while almost as empty as the one in P4, drags far less, not spending 30 minutes constantly going over the same information every month.
I've already done what I wanted on the social link front - Chihiro, Yukari, Yuko are all maxed. All of them are superior to the crappy, unfulfilling girlfriend links in P4, and the jealousy system adds some difficulty that was lacking in P4 when it came to maxing out the female links. P4 would've been much better if it had a shy girl (who would CLEARLY by less shy in other areas!), a girl who wants nothing more than to have a baby and a miniskirt-chan with he hottest English voice actress ever.
Yukari made my penis harder when she said, "I'm worried the others will hear me scream..." in her rank 10 scene. I'm in love with computer graphics - I feel dirty.
Most of the FES additions to the The Journey haven't been great. The scenes involving the MC showing Elizabeth around the human world haven't really been funny. The only added scenes I've found amusing? The one where Mitsuru thought someone had broken into Stupei's room and the scene involving Yukari dressing in a maid costume, imitating Stupei's voice AND having some previously unused artwork. But, now that I've gotten a fair few rank 10's, I've discovered how awesome the previously unused weapon fusion system is - for as little as 120k, I've been able to create the ultimate sword for Junpei; a sword that deals 350 damage fire attacks (without SP) and an axe for the MC that has the power of thunder. It actually feels like I'm getting worthwhile rank 10 bonuses in this game.
Another thing that has pleased me about FES after playing through P4 recently is the money side. In P4 it was impossible to get a lot of money without leaving my PS2 on all night in order to do the auto-money trick. In P3 you can get 3-40,000 by simply winning a battle and picking the right card. So, even though fusions cost a lot more in P3, I'm able to buy whatever personas I want AND buy equipment. I was worried at the start when I discovered that gold shadows would very rarely drop coins in FES but it all worked out well in the end.
My goal now, on the social link front, is to max out the two (or is it three with Aigis?) remaining girlfriend links. Fucka's the worst girlfriend character ever, so dull that I imagine the MC will need viagra for the rank 10 scene. But I can't say she's that much worse than the annoying French fella or the the doctor wannabee who has Kengi's character model and mannerisms. I'd rather do all the girlfriends than bother with the other school links.
Anyway, onwards I go. Look forward to my next update when I'm nearer to the end.