Persona 3 Reload reawakens the past hidden deep within one’s soul in this fantastic JRPG.
Remakes are all over the place nowadays, with it becoming a fair complaint among many. Many want new and original content, so it is only fair that there is a stigma against the constant flow of releases and remakes. However, a couple of instances bring the hype back to that idea of a remake.
In many cases, it is purely to update a game that was already good with even better design and flow, like the more recent Resident Evil Remakes. Luckily, SEGA and Atlus seem to have been paying attention to an outcry from fans as they recently released Persona 3 Reload, a remake of a 2006 JRPG.
The Persona series has a bit of a strange history, being an offshoot of the Shin Megami Tensei series of games with a lot of the same design elements but a vastly different story structure. Despite it being a spin-off of sorts, the Persona series is much more popular, at least in the West.
To make things even more bizarre for the series, the games seemed to have really gained popularity around the release of the third and fourth games. Then, on top of that, Persona 5 gained massive traction, with its style gaining a lot of attention. All of this combines to create sort of a confusing history for the games, but it explains why Persona 3 Reload was created before something like a Persona 1 or 2 remake.
In a lot of ways, Persona 3 Reload was also very deserved despite the lack of 1 or 2 remakes. Persona 4 and 5 fixed a lot of the combat issues that the older games had, and many fans praise the story from Persona 3’s story, but the combat system in that game can be a bit difficult to deal with. Applying the coats of paint that made Persona 5 so amazing to Persona 3 Reload allows for the game to become something amazing and shrug off a lot of those issues that held the game back.
Without getting too much into things, it is very easy to tell just at a glance that Persona 3 Reload is something of curiosity. Despite the changing times, the combat system remains a turn-based JRPG, a format that not many games have stuck to. Even a series like Final Fantasy has forgone that format for more action-focused combat. Despite this, the turn-based combat fits perfectly and feels amazing during gameplay.
Everything is so snappy and smooth, and even when things aren’t fast enough for players, there is a fast-forward option to breeze through combat. Although with how fleshed out combat is, using a feature like a fast-forward only really gets used when trying to clear out the more annoying small fry.
The combat still has a lot of depth to it despite the much older format. As mentioned prior, the gameplay has been updated significantly throughout the years and has reached the point it is at today. Many would say it is difficult to return to the original Persona 3 when Persona 3 Reload has such a smooth-flowing combat system.
In the original, only the player could be controlled, while the other party members would act independently. While they would often do the correct things in combat, it was frustrating to have them waste resources when there were better options that the player could force. Here, in the remake, the player has full control over the party, allowing the AI to take a back seat.
On top of the full control over the party, there are a good handful of new combat options and takes made to make things better fit the gameplay loop in Persona 3 Reload. New ultimate moves were given to each character, including the navigation character, to help with resource management and reward diligent players with visually stunning moves.
These abilities are called Theurgy, and each character has a completely different ability tied to them. Eve, for the protagonist, there are multiple that feature the different personas the player can acquire throughout their journeys in Tartarus.
Speaking of Tartarus, it acts as the main form of dungeon crawling in Persona 3 Reload, as there are no traditional dungeons found in the game. Instead of having a specific dungeon for each boss in the game, there are sections of Tartaus designed to prepare the player for the upcoming battle, and if they so wish, the player can ignore large chunks of Tartarus until the game forces the player to reach a specific point by a specific in-game date.
This is a low for players to do tasks at their own pace. That causes difficulty problems if the player doesn’t pay enough attention. However, there are several reasons to explore Tartarus, whether it is side quests, experience points, or money.
Persona 3 Reload is based on a calendar, letting players do what they want on most days that don’t have story beats on them. This means the player is free to shop, hang out with other characters, do activities, or explore Tartarus. This open-ended format is one of the elements that really make Persona as a series really unique, as almost everything the player does will have benefits in the long run.
There are other stats than the typical JRPG stats, like strength, magic points, or health points. In the Persona games, there are social stats that can be tracked, such as how well the player character performs in things like academics, social charm, and courage. While these don’t affect combat, they will have benefits in the social elements of the game.
Those social stats really come in handy in the Arcana social links, which are bonds that level up when a player grows closer to a nonplayable character. Mazing out these stats will unroll deep and emotional stories, but they also have to boost properties to Persona in the sane arcana as the character with the said social link.
Social links can sometimes require certain social stats to start or finish, forcing the player to explore other avenues before experiencing others. As an example, the party member Mitsuru Kirijo can only have her social link started after having maxed out the academics stat. This also prevents some story beats from being mentioned too early but also gives the player something to drive towards.
An odd element to the social links comes towards the end of the stories with the female characters, as they can be romanced. In the original Persona, there was only the male protagonist, so in turn, only the female characters could have this deeper connection. However, in the PSP port of the game, there is an option to play as the female protagonist, therefore swapping the potential romance options.
There were a few continuous problems with the female protagonist, so it’s easy to see why she isn’t present in Persona 3 Reload, and it does seem like the game wants the player to romance a specific character that wouldn’t be an option otherwise. So, in some cases, this game is actually missing content that an older version had, but in the long run, it really isn’t changing much about the game itself.
While it is quite clear that the core game of Persona 3 Reload is very good, there is something that usually takes the backseat in other games that really flourishes in this title. That being the UI elements. It is absolutely insane how detailed and prettied up the menus, battle screens, and even transitions look.
Everything has this emotional blue to it, with a splash of water effects, perfectly mimicking the overall theme of the game. With how often these menus will be in the player’s face, it is a great thing that they are a joy to look at. It is honestly a shock how the game manages to blend the overly blue elements without being overbearing.
Aside from the menus, there is another element that deserves high praise that doesn’t usually get direct praise, and that is the soundtrack. With the exception of the standard battle theme, which somehow sounds like a lesser version of the original Persona 3 battle theme, every song is a complete jam to listen to.
Even while attending class lectures, the music has this wonderfully unique beat to it. With so many songs that are amazingly great, it is acceptable to have a battle theme that just isn’t perfect, especially when there is a new battle theme that plays whenever the player gets the advantage on a standard foe.
There is really so much to enjoy in Persona 3 Reload that it is hard to describe every element of the good. That being said, there are a few downsides that sort of just come with the nature of the game. With all of the different things to do, time management can be a bit difficult, especially for new players who don’t really know what they can do or what is best to focus on.
There are a couple of workarounds to this, such as setting the difficulty lower or following a guide, but those decisions also have their drawbacks in nature. A new playthrough after beating the game could also act as a good way for players to experience everything they missed, but it is also in a very long game, so it’s an understandable complaint.
In short, the biggest issue with Persona 3 Reload is the learning curve, but with so many workarounds, it is easily remedied. Even playing other titles in the series will help quite a lot. So, with so little to complain about, it is safe to say that Persona 3 Reload is yet another great example of a remake done well.
It is insane to think of how many great remakes there have been over the last couple of years, like the previously mentioned Resident Evil Remakes, the Dead Space Remake, and so many more with the recent addition of Persona 3 Reload. At this point, it is clear that things are not just being driven by nostalgia but by genuine quality games.
Persona 3 Reload is a fantastic and emotional experience throughout the whole ride. While it is long, and there is a lot to learn, every single moment is absolutely worth it. The sheer beauty of the game is enough to drive players to check it out, and having excellent storytelling and fun combat alongside is a treat.
It’s easy to see why Persona has become its own thing aside from the father series of Shin Megami Tensei when the series is full of so many high-quality games, and with the quality shining into other Atlus projects, it is absolutely worth looking at both the series future with the inevitable Persona 6 and other Atlus titles like the upcoming Metaphor: ReFantazio. Regardless, Persona 3 Reload is likely one of the best JRPGs ever to come out, and it has a strong foundation that makes future Atlus titles exciting to see.
