Persona 3 Reload

It is the game I fell in love with 10+ years ago and more.

I just wrapped my playthrough up and figured I'd throw my review into the crowd. I won't divvy it up into the typical "pros vs cons" format or split it up to talk about graphics, audio, gameplay, et al.

I played Persona 3 FES in 2013 and it was... life-changing. I say this with no hyperbole. When they announced Persona 3 Reload, I was mildly apprehensive and felt very protective. As popular as Persona 5 Royal is, I kinda prefer Persona 5 vanilla over it. I liked some of the additions Royal brought, but I really didn't care for other aspects of the "enhanced" version and will most likely opt to play vanilla in the future. Bearing these feelings in mind, I didn't know what to expect going into Persona 3 Reload.

Long story short, the additions they brought to Reload are not only fine, but they feel like they belong. Reload did what I didn't think ATLUS could do with a P3 remake: they enhanced the original P3 experience without messing with what made it special in the first place. Obviously they added the QoL enhancements everyone wanted: direct control of your teammates, being able to pick skills during persona fusions, etc. But they also managed to do more than that: the pieces of extra content they added feel organic and contribute to the story. It's all written in such a way that it feels like it could have been "cut content" from the original game. The extra context you get surrounding the characters is excellent. Nothing about it feels tacked on, it doesn't feel like bloat.

If there are some things I could say irritated me about Reload, I guess I could mention a couple. The daytime slot was the most crowded time slot in FES, and with the extra hangouts you get with teammates in Reload, I'd say that issue is exacerbated here. If you want to max out every social link, there's a 97.5% chance you'll need to follow a guide. I'm also not a fan of a small number of the remixed tracks (most of them are excellent though).

Minor gripes notwithstanding...

If ever there was a single game I play in my life that I would give an 11 out of 10 score, it's Persona 3 Reload. With the crippling depression I'm experiencing in my life, Reload was an incredible and necessary reminder of why FES resonated with me so strongly all those years ago and why the themes presented in it were and still are timeless.

Never before have I cried so hard in a game lol.

There are a few things that are left to be desired, such as I would like Atlus to improve on the writing for some of the Social Links to create a better sense of involvement for the MC to the characters around the games rather than just a passive listener. In this aspect alone, P3R is pale in comparison to P4G or P5R.

Aside from that, this is a beautiful remake from the basic elements such as the UI and the model to core aspects like the writing. and the development for the Linked Episode (the character in your dorm) is great and helps flesh out the characters a lot. And somehow they make the elements that are already great even better (e.g. the music, the endings, and the writing in important events).

Worth every penny.

Clarifications: I never played any version of the Original and my only experience outside of this was Persona 5 Royal (Next project will be Persona 4 Golden)

If you are not a fan of turn-based games or JRPGs, I don't think you should touch this series of games since they are not your taste and in case you want to venture into this genre (as happened to me) I will give you the recommendation that everyone gives : starts with person 5 Royal.

Is this game worse than Royal? Not at all, this game has a better story, characters and it seems that it was redesigned to not require the grinding that Royal required. However, Royal is easier and above all it is more dynamic in the gameplay (you will understand me when you compare tartarus against the palaces) which I can forgive since this game is a remake of the original that came out in 2009.

In general I loved the game, the ending made me shed a couple of tears and the lesson it leaves touched me much more than any other game has done. I can understand why for many it is the best Persona ever made and its characters make you love them.

I easily recommend it

This is the game where nothing happens and then it all happens at once.

Most of the game is just you doing pretty much the exact same stuff everyday and night. You will clear all of Tartarus in 1 or 2 attempts per month and then all you can do is go back to grind/farm in Tartarus or hang out with social links. Other than that, you can increase your social skills, but the game is pretty long and you won't have to focus so much on them, not for the first few months of the game at least.

That's actually pretty nice as you can then focus on the social links and the stories that they provide, but unfortunately most of them tend to be very strange or straight up boring and if you don't care about them, then you are very unlucky.
The combat is really good and so is the ui, they both go well together managing to create a very cool and pleasant experience.

Most of the fighting is going to be done in Tartarus as you try to climb higher and higher. I like the 1 dungeon approach, but the fact that you can just run past all enemies and go up to the next floor over and over again is really baffling to me. I also feel like it goes on for way too long as there are a lot of floors in Tartarus.
I'm feeling mixed about the music as we hear too much of lotus juice, like this time around he just had to make an appearance in almost every song possible. You cannot escape this man and how he's in the house like carpet.

The visuals are really strange, some areas of the game look just fine, others look amazing and some look very flat and boring as if they were made on another engine or they just forgot to add details in these areas and they just released the game like this anyway.
And that would have been OK, but they messed up Iwatodai dorm and I just cannot accept that. Iwatodai dorm is literally one of the best video game areas ever. The dorm is absolutely the soul of this game, it's where you meet with all the homies and hang out, you will see this building more than any other place in the entire game.
The lounge of Iwatodai dorm is a character of its own and it deserves respect.

They made it look very bright and flat with no shadows and it just has this glossy plastic look to it. It looks and feels very wrong, no idea what they had cooking for Iwatodai dorm, but it looks like they asked Yamagishi to take care of it and look what happened.

I also dislike how they had the chance to make the definitive version of Persona 3 by adding every version into one and then focus on improving everything that each version of the game brings.
Unfortunately they did not do that, instead they decided to release a remake of the original game and add some improvements on top of that. Keep in mind that this game released for 70 euros with day one DLC

And speaking of DLC, it looks like they decided to show us that " The Answer " will arrive for Persona 3 as DLC. I do not know how much it will cost, but I would bet that it would go for 20 to 30 euros max and that's terrible considering that we already paid 70 euros.
The Answer was already part of Persona 3 FES, they could've just released Persona 3 Reload with The Answer in one package for the 70 euros, but they didn't.
I also expect that they will do something similar with the Female Protagonist.

The modern trinity of persona games is impressive. We have Persona 3 , 4 and 5. They are all great games, but they also have flaws and when it comes to Persona 3 Reload, I just cannot stand the DLC issues and the story pacing.

Me: "What is Persona? I should try it."

1 Day Later...

Me: "Oh this game is really good."

76 Hours Later...

Me: "..."

Status:
- 5 school assignments due
- 2 assignments over due
- Sleep deprived
- All my music playlists have Persona 3 Reload music in it
- The date "March 5th" is stuck with me forever

REVIEW:

100/10

This game is something, I will never forget. The characters, story, music, and gameplay is on a whole other level than any other game I've played. There was so many plot twists and emotional parts. The story was very well put together. All doe I didn't cry at the ending, the only thing I heard was my heart beating. This is one of the best games I have ever played. Keep in mind I am writing this review after beating the game ten minutes ago.

I just can't believe how emotionally attached I got to this game.

If you want to play a game that has an AMAZING story. GET this game right NOW! If the game is to costs a lot you should get the Portable version instead.

The DLCS are not needed unless you want to make the game more easier. (combat)

I don't want to spoil anything so, I will end my review here. Since I just beat the game, I will go lay on my bed and think about this game and my life choices. PLAY THE GAME RIGHT NOW! >:(

Top tier JRPG, coming from a casual enjoyer. Never played the original or P3P, so it's a fresh experience for me. Well rounded characters and nice dungeons with mature and thought provoking themes. Gameplay provides a lot of freedom for creativity and strategy.

t's those unintelligent monsters, ain't it?
What are they thinking? Please explain it
Don’t really need this crap, can't waste time
What I possess can’t copy and paste
I'm doing it better never, Settling for another regular, letter to my enemies hey I'm telling ya
Breaking you down to the level of molecular
Better be wise when you're choosing battles it's mostly babbles you know one of those big time shady foe foes ain’t worth fighting for
Drop these bars in my sleep, and a few more tricks up my sleeve
It's way too late for you to leave now (get ready)

Disturbing the peace
Look into my eyes
Now tell me the things you blabbing about behind my back
The tenacity I hold, it's hard to break down
It's too late for apologies
It's going down now

You're thirsty for blood
Actually craving for love
What you only want is dumb
Greed makes you go numb
Purposefully blocking good thoughts
Hey please doctor doctor
He’s about to be that patient
Cause I’m about to knock him out cold (bring him back please)
Whole lotta moves I make on you like dance floor and during this beat down you prolly wish that you can fast-forward (oh!)
Don’t you worry about it, I'll save some room for your last words (make sure of it)
After I do this, do that and the third

Disturbing the peace
Look into my eyes
Now tell me the things you blabbing about behind my back
The tenacity I hold, it's hard to break down
It's too late for apologies, It's going...

Break Down:
Some things may break me
But always get back up
New perspective gained
From all of the pain and stress
And when I do come back
I’m stronger than ever before so
Kneel down

Disturbing the peace
Look into my eyes
Now tell me the things you blabbing about behind my back
The tenacity I hold, it's hard to break down
It's too late for apologies
It's going down now

This is an amazing game that honestly moved me to tears. Everything from the characters, story, and music is just beautiful. I hope that anyone who has the slightest interest in this series, or JRPGs, will pick this game up and fall in love with it as i have.

Now i don't often do game reviews, and if i do they are usually very small but this game remake for me was a masterpiece so bare with me!!

I have been playing Persona since 2, but persona 3 will always have a special spot in my heart. I am thankful for Atlus remaking this masterpiece.

This game is a remake of the original P3 before the portable edition or FEES. To be honest i never played the original back in the days, i played the FEES version. So this version is missing the "Answers" or how it is known in Japan " Aegis epilogue " and the female protagonist Kotone Shiome. So for me it fell a bit off that or that it's something missing. Though we are getting it has been confirmed from the company that we are getting "Answers" as DLC pretty soon but not the female protagonist.

Aside all that the game hasn't changed all that much from the original, somethings have been improved such as:
The graphics look more like Persona 5. User interface, UI looks more clean and the map has been updated.
Social simulation has been enhanced a lot (before it was more annoying to level up to social status but this time around is much easier).
Combat has also been improved to a more modern style like persona 5 and that was something i was really thankful for since the animations before where really bad, now they look a bit more smooth with an addition to each character having their own unique victory pose.
We also got more ways to get SP/Hp inside of Tartarus so this makes the exploration much easier.

Overall in my personal opinion this was a very successful remake of the much loved title from the persona games and i hope more people will come to play and like this one, both new and old!
So yes i highly recommend this one!!

Back when I reviewed P3 Portable, I mentioned that I hoped to see a reworked version of this story retold with all the modern updates added to it.

well safe to say that this remake does everything that I wanted and in my opinion is my preferred way of experiencing this story in the Persona Series. While it doesn't have the FMC (Female character from Portable) it is something that I can be okay with not having.

With the recent announcement that the Answer content from P3 FES is coming in September, this is the version that I will stick with.

Pick up Reload instead of Portable.

I'm so happy to have played this game.

My only experience with this game was watching the 4 movies with a friend a few years ago. I knew the ending...and it still got me. This game opened my eyes to how precious life is and I should make my mark on the world while I still can. One of the few pieces of media that made me sob in my 25 years of life on this planet.

I highly recommend this game. soundtrack is amazing. The story is beautiful. The cast is unforgettable and the game play loop is fun. If you like turn-based RPGs, then this is a must play. I will be eagerly waiting for The Answer to release.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go tell people that I love them. I beat this game earlier this morning...and I can still hear that damn piano many hours later.

Life and death are the same, but on different ends.

Now, you are looking at your own life, thinking what is the meaning behind it, searching and grasping for answers.

Storytelling is quite important for a medium to be good and P3 Reload did it perfectly with bringing back original story, but adding few tweaks and tricks here and there. I had chance to play original, but due to bugs, I wasn't able to finish it. Yet now, I have finished it with huge enjoyment, plentiful of laughs, immersive story and characters, at the same time, a story filled with sorrow, loss and a bit of depression. Persona 3 story in this refreshed state feels as it should, very real. Even though it is just a video game.

If you have never played Persona game, you should start with this one, then move either to older titles or newer ones. You will enjoy it quite well. As for me, I am tired of grinding, but that's just me trying first run on highest difficulty. That's why I have finished main story around 150 hour mark. Don't be like me, dumb. Play on easier difficulty and enjoy really well made game. Many other AAA studios should learn by now, that majority of people don't want multiplayer games and wanna come back to solid singleplayer stories.

Thanks and until we meet again. On Aigis laps this time.

I am not a Persona fan. Before playing P3Re, I played P4 a loooong time ago and never finished it cause i couldn't be bothered at some point and a month ago i've beaten P5R and the only real thing that kept me hooked was the style and presentation.
However, this game is the first work of art that made cry in over 2 or even 3 years. By no means is it perfect, it's got its flows, both gameplay QoL-wise and from the general plot in my opinion but it absolutely more than compensates and overwhelms the negatives with shockingly (to me at least) amazing main cast, presentation, vibes, music and themes.

I'm afraid to go into any further details because i could rant about it for actual hours (as i did to my friends, sorry for that lmao) so i'm just going to summarize it with what feeling i've been missing for years. I will truly miss the characters from this game and i will have to cope with this emptiness for about a week, but in the end it'll be a great memory that i'm going to cherish for a long, long time.

TLDR: Persona 3 Reload is a passion filled and genuinely brilliant remaster of the original Persona 3. While "The Answer" content is coming later this year in the form of an expansion DLC, this review will focus entirely on the base game. This is the darkest Persona game of the 3 modern main-series titles. It deals with heavy themes of apathy, death, loss, and bullying. It is a turn based RPG with social simulator elements, and its the second best Persona game out currently.

This review will be broken into chunks analyzing specific elements of the game, scoring each individually and then giving a final score at the end. I will be calling the came P3R for short.

Story:
The story of Persona 3 is easily the strongest of the main 3 games. While there are occasional hiccups and plot points that are not always fully explained, the meat of the story is phenomenal. Without getting too spoiler heavy; you are an orphan brought to a high-tech island sponsored by a massive corporate conglomerate. You have been drawn here for a specific purpose and reason, and the majority of the game is figuring out exactly why you are there and what caused the phenomenon of the Dark Hour that you experience on your first night.

It is phenomenally well done and well paced. The obvious influence of the story aside, the constant intrigue and twists you experience always keep you guessing on what will come next.

9/10

Music:
Persona games are often jokingly called "Albums with a game included" and P3R is not much different. Atlus's sound teams always create such an atmosphere with their soundtracks, but P3R's backing audio might not be for everyone. Rap heavy with a lot of pop influence as well, the combination of Lotus Juice and Azumi Takahashi create an undeniable character for the game as a whole.

Standout tracks include: Full Moon Full Life, Hymn of the Soul, It's Going Down Now, and Burn my Dread. The classic Aria of the Soul is present as well. While I don't personally like P3R's soundtrack as much as I like P5R's, it is still a phenomal soundtrack. The music never takes you out of a moment and, like Hymn of the Soul, can often enhance it.

9.5/10

Characters:
All persona games are heavily dependent on their ensemble cast to carry the bulk of the social simulator aspect of the game. P3R has a good, not great, cast of characters. I'll refer to them by their respective Arcana to avoid spoilers. Moon is easily the worst of the major side characters, followed pretty closely by Emperor and Sun. The rest of the cast is fairly middling, with a few bright spots. The Empress's development is predictable but well done, Aeon is also well done. A few other good characters are your actual party members, which (mostly) are not social links in this game. Overall it has a weaker cast than both 3 and 4.

8/10

Graphics:
P3R is made in Unreal 4, and nails the typical "anime" aesthetic that Persona games aim for. Colors are bright, effects are crisp, and the game is beautiful. The User Interface in this game might be the most gorgeous I've ever seen in an RPG. The theming of it, the way it flows, and the color scheming for character's eyes are fantastic. The persona and enemy designs are also superb. This is what everyone wanted when P3P got ported, but we had to wait 2 years for it.

10/10

Audience:
Persona games have always been aimed at older teens and up. There are instances of profane language and profane design. Mara, in particular, is a phallus riding in a cart. There are heavy themes addressed in this game as well like death, loss, and sacrifice. Definitely an M game, 17+ age range.

Gameplay:
The good news for most persona players is that if you've only played Persona 5, this will feel very familiar to you. The shift system is almost identical to baton passes. Otherwise it plays just like any persona game: buff, debuff, power up, hit weakness, heal, win. There are no technicals from status inflictions, instead hitting a statused enemy results in a much, much higher crit chance.

Persona fusion functions almost identically to the previous games in the series as well. The social system is also almost entirely unchanged from other persona games. You only have 3 social stats in P3R, each capping at level 6 and they are prerequisites to various things in game like social links or quests.

Gameplay gets a 9/10, technicals would've made it a 10/10 but also make the game insanely easy.

Difficulty:
P3R has a strange difficulty curve where it is actually fairly challenging to begin with and then gets insanely easy towards the end. Your first few trips up the tower are intense, but later on it becomes much simpler to bulldoze through enemies. P3R is certainly harder than P5R. The final ultimate challenge boss, though, is the hardest fight in the entire series. Requires insane attention to detail, swaps, and pacing.

9/10, the "Ultimate Adversary" adds a full point on its own.

Price:
I think P3R is worth a full MSRP, but it is certainly worth getting on sale if you have a passing interest in the franchise or this title in particular.

Bugs:
none that I encountered, which is standard for Atlus games.

Playtime:
I 100%'d this game in around 76 hours because I was familiar with how Persona games played. If you are not, this game could easily stretch to around 90 or even 100 hours. There is a NG+ option but, unlike Personas 4 and 5, there is nothing added to the game.

Final Score: 9.1/10
P3R is a phenomenal JRPG and shows how a remaster of a classic turn-based RPG should be handled. If games like HD2 and PalWorld weren't also competing with it, it might be frontrunner for GOTY.

I thought I wasnt able to cry. I've never been able to cry properly and that made me sad, to not be able to let out my frustrations, happiness, anger, and only being able to keep it inside to weigh me down. My anxiety kept me from being able to cry as it probably reminded me of the lowest times in my life. So, my body has not allowed me to cry. I thought I wouldn't be able to cry. After the credits started rolling I found out,
I am able to cry too.

Btw. That means this game is amazing, and genuinly has now become my favorite game of all time.

Pretty good remake (or whatever you want to call it) of the original(s)
Contrary to the OST sold here it is a 9.5/10 game in my opinion.
Great, fluid animations make menus seem like a part of the game that do not pause the flow, each keystroke/decision triggers a small voiced response and the combat seems pretty balanced for what is expected of a persona game (those DLC Personas do be broken though)
The soundtrack is a perfect fit from the "BABY BABY BABY BABY Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" to the "(HEY) It's been a good day good night It's gonna be a good day good night". I am addicted to "Color your Night"and "Full Moon Full Life"", I almost never never skip the intro because I think it hits pretty good.
You can now friend-zone the girls and not be a cunt dating them all at once so there is that... and you can now spend more time with the dorm bros and have at least some good bro moments with them.
The small events (cooking, gardening, movie watching and dog grooming/walking) are a great addition to the game, not every moment in the game has to be full of drama... sometimes (most of the time) life is just about chilling.
Some Social Links are atrocious in my opinion but that's why there is the fast forward button.
Other Social Links can be awesome and are worth the time to just press auto and hear it as the game devs meant it to be listened.
Apparently The Answer will be released so one of my biggest no nos of this game will be fixed.
The ending is still a great tearjerker and the story as a whole pretty simple but also pretty engaging.

My favorite gameplay in the entire Persona series, a thematically great story elevated by a great collection of characters, including my favorite character in the series (Aigis my beloved), a fantastic soundtrack, and a delightful visual style.

As someone who hasn't played the old releases of Persona 3, I cannot find a single thing to dislike. Easy 10/10

As one of the many waves of people who were introduced to Persona through Persona 5, I had kept my eyes on Persona 3 for the way it tackles the complex themes of death and mortality. Fortunately, the game getting an Persona 5-ified flare was more than enough for me to hop gleefully into this remake. The results took a while for them to show, but when they did, it became a literal death-defying experience.

The game's main fault I'd say is that the beginning is slow. It has a fascinating hook in its opening moments, but for the story to start picking up takes time. Once you move past that, you'll be gifted with endearing characters with connections that matter, a mysterious narrative, and an addicting gameplay loop all-too-familiar to Persona veterans.

Underscoring this is a significant improvement to the original OST. Mixes are a lot less thin and more full, vocals are more controlled and focused, and Lotus Juice's rap contributions are expanded. Though not all songs on the remake surpass the original, I still enjoyed every song I came across.

And the story is so good. There's a decent amount of subtext you'll have to read into to understand the scope of the story, but with what it provides, it can put you on the verge of tears. And this is to say nothing about its ending, which ties the entire story together in a fitting, poetic yet bittersweet bow. Part of my tears were from the fact I beat it, but the other part is from the realization that the journey's over.

An incredible game! Truly a phenomenal remake of a classic. Just be sure to take Elizabeth out. You won't regret the shenanigans that ensue.

Memories of You intensifies

Definitely recommend Persona 3 Reload after playing all the way through. In my opinion, the most definitive way to experience Persona 3 FES (pending on how well they fix my problems with The Answer in September), which was my first Persona game so I might be bias in how much I loved it. But it definitely improved the flow of Tartarus and having fully voice acted Social Links really helped my ability to revisit all the links I already know the plots to, and the new "Social Links" with Shinji and the other guys, along with all the additions Reload added were nice to experience. I'll probably give myself a break but then go back to do a 100% SL run, since I missed out on finishing Yukari, Fuuka, Fortune, and Moon due to running out of time in game to max any of them out, but have Max social stats to probably follow a calendar guide.
Anyways, it was a blast but also bittersweet (plot wise) to experience one of my favorite games front to back in an updated experience. Playing it "blind" by just doing what a wanted and not following a SL guide also made it feel like I was playing Persona 3 for the first time again, which was nice.

If you're curious, it took me 66 Hours on Easy doing most of the extra stuff like Requests and the new stuff in Tartarus (besides the Superboss), and I did skip a lot of fluff dialogue at the beginning of each school day near the middle and end, but also grinded a lot near the beginning (which caused me to be overleveled near the end that most Shadows ran away from me, but beating Reaper shot me up to Level 92 so it didn't matter in the end, lol). So probably a longer game for most, but that's just how my experience was.

Persona 3 is often lauded as the "edgy" one out of the parts of the series with social links and honestly? I don't think that's right at all. P3 is a game that deals with immensely heavy topics and does so in a way that's masterful and heartfelt. It truly plays to its narrative themes in a way very few games have ever done. People often claim that the game is just about death...but that's only part of it.

P3 goes above and beyond to also show life. What makes life worth fighting for? Living for? It's not about just death, but about learning to overcome it and accept it in order to live life in the most fulfilling way possible. We may all have limited time, but the path we walk through life is ours alone. P3 embodies that message in every aspect, between its characters, music, story, and player choices in a way that puts the later entries to shame. While 4 is in its own right an amazing game and 5 is just kinda mid in all honesty, 3 truly is the only one worthy of the title of masterpiece in my humble opinion.

Death is inevitable. The game openly states this. No matter who you are, what you do, or the choices you make, it will come for you and everyone you know eventually. But at the same time, are books written just to end? Are songs sung just to finish? Is art as a whole just a means to an end? Of course not. Life is the same thing. Just because things end, doesn't mean they aren't also beautiful. P3 tells us that and I personally believe that there's no better message for a piece of media to have, then one that reminds us just how important and precious life is.

Memento Mori, Memento Vivere
Remember that you are mortal. Remember to live.

Combining an overarching theme that everyone will have to confront later in their life alongside an exceptional gameplay loop as players balance controlling social aspects during the day to craft stronger personas for dungeon crawling at night to earn money to improve said social aspects in the day. Immerse yourself in its stellar soundtrack centered around a strong leitmotif of bonds and death. Experience it all through the immaculate UI design with as much subtle theme and foreshadowing as the OST itself. Persona 3 Reload is here to show us how this genre-defining title once left in indelible mark in JRPG history and is capable of doing so again 18 years later.

At the end of your journey, I truly hope that you will find your answer to life. As the best girl once said, "You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of." Here's to a brand new day.

(note: am currently in July, opinions may change but having played FES and unlocked most existing social links I'm fairly confident my overarching feelings on Reload won't change)

Essentially Atlus Persona 5-izing Persona 3. It's a fairly faithful remake of 3 with both combat and social life mechanics brought up to Persona 5's standards.

If you've played Persona 5 and/or 4 Golden but struggled to get into Persona 3 FES/Portable due to the downgrade of quality of life features, this is the perfect way for you to enjoy Persona 3. I do wish they could have preserved some niche aspects of the game like FES's more robust tactics system, showing full turn order, and maybe be able to toggle some OST options between original and Reload tracks, but for most fans this will be the definitive version of Persona 3.

Also a great place to start for anyone who hasn't played a Persona game, despite some mechanics being lost in translation and some fairly sus social link moments Persona 3 is a story about learning how to appreciate life despite its several tragedies and the inevitable approach of death. It's a tale uniquely told by living through the day-to-day life of a Japanese teenager and making connections with the world around you, with characters managing the difficulties of the supernatural Dark Hour in the main story and the difficulties of ordinary life in the social links. As silly as it sounds it's a story that helped me look at fiction and storytelling in a new light, and I'd recommend it to anyone who's even passively interested.

This is my 3rd playthrough of a persona and 2nd review of one. Last review was of persona 4 golden which I gave a 8.5/10. This time I’m doing persona 3 reload though I will add a little bit of persona 3 portable into the review as well.(fyi my next persona playthrough and review of persona is persona 5 royal in April so stay tuned).without further ado let’s review:

Story:9/10(the story is phenomenal. The theme of life and death and related topics plays so well in my opinion to the games story. I’ll admit like every persona I’ve played the pacing can be kinda wonky and there was some padded filler dialogue BUTTT it’s great nonetheless and I am emotionally invested/attached to persona 3).

Setting:8/10(I believe the setting taking place in tatsumi port island is bland yet effective. It’s a new city it feels vibrant at first but the longer you play the less that magic to it is there. Compared to the small town of inaba which also carry’s the rank of an 8/10, inaba has a small edge in comparison because everything surrounding inaba compliments it. Tatsumi ports island only really has one area that’s fine and no other area really mattered.I still loved every minute actually being able to move around in the game unlike in persona 3 portable).

Art:10/10(absolutely stunning. Beautifully made. The use of the unreal engine was great. World design is ravishing and character designs in animated scenes and normal scenes are just great. Nothing more to say, it’s just pretty much perfect to me).

Music:10/10(portable and reload have perfect soundtracks. I genuinely listen to the soundtrack pretty much daily. Compared to 4 golden which DOES have an amazing soundtrack there are some tracks I just didn’t like while persona 3 I simply like them all. The remixes to the popular titles are funky at first but I got used to them and grew to also love them).

Characters:10/10(near perfect cast. Junpei?fun loving idiot that you hate at first but grow to love,Yukari?kind of annoying at first but the more you get to know her the more you can relate to her, sympathize for her and like her,mitsuri?she’s just perfect,Akihito?meathead who isn’t 100% dumb and has some fun dialogue,Aigis?perfect and best girl,shinji?pain,ken?pain,koromaru?WHAT THE DOG DOIN?As for the side characters, the social links while overall do lack overall value compared to persona 4 golden BUUUTT seeing as this was Atlus’s first game with social links persona 3 reload and portable have some memorable social link characters like kazushi,chihiro,maya(if ya know ya know),keisuke,maiko, AND Akinari. All memorable to me and my fav side character social links. I’ll say which main cast social Links are in the game play section).

Battle/fights and gameplay:9/10(oh look, we’re already in the gameplay section.might as well get social links out of the way. My favorite main cast social links are mitsuru(which I only did in portable,‘I’ll do hers in new game plus on reload),Aigis and fuuka. The addition of interacting with all your teammates as a pseudo social link also really made me like junpei and Ken more than I did in portable. I can’t directly speak of male social links in portable cuz I played as the male in portable as well.social links out of the way, here’s the rest of the gameplay review:WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO the fights are fun just like in any persona game. The boss battles are fun and just as great in portable to me and also on par with persona 4 golden which has some great bosses. The hot topic though is Tartarus. I liked the concept of Tartarus in portable but I didn’t have a lot of fun being in it most of the time, i loved the dungeons in perosna 4 WAYYYY more but in reload? It made me fall in LOVE with how Tartarus look and feel. I just had a great time. Personas themselves are also great design wise and how they work. Using dlc persona’s we’re fun, I totally didn’t use sataneal to ease the grinding(I’m lying)).

Overall:9.5/10. BEST PERSONA GAME I’VE PLAYED YET AND YOU SHOULD TOTALLY BUY IT AND PLAY IT.

Seriously one of the best games I think I have ever played. As someone who got into the persona series starting with the original Persona 3 seeing this game in a updated format with amazing gameplay and graphics is honestly just such a blessing. Highly recommend to anyone who's interested in buying it and trying it out themselves.

After beating Persona 3 Reload, I think it's fair to say that it is genuinely one of the greatest JRPG's of all time (imo). It takes everything from the original Persona 3 and makes it 10 times better while staying true to the original story. It makes the overall experience much more enjoyable and adds plenty of quality of life features that make the game feel good to play, and not feel like a slog to get through. If you have a spare $70 lying around, get this game because it is 100% worth your time with its 60-70 hour long story.

This game is really good. If a friend asks you the best game to play persona first is, it's either this game or royal for sure. There are a bit of issues with the PC port but that doesn't separate from the love that this game got from Atlus.

The Arcana is the Means By Which All is Revealed.

Persona 3 Reload is a fresh take on a game that was held back in 2006 by a dated combat system and graphics. It more than fixes both of these issues, while also remastering the soundtrack and adding a few new tracks. It's a much more welcoming experience for newcomers to the series than the clunky tactics-menu-combat of the original. While still not sporting the most beautiful graphics it is quite alright for anime-style games. The UI is beautiful, as is expected from a modern Persona game, however some transitions feel laggy despite there not being any actual lag. All in all it'll be a quite pleasant ride for 60 - 90 hours (depending on how fast you breeze through the story and/or Tartarus and how many social links you interact with).

I played this when it first came out back in the PS3 days and I loved it back then, I was optimistic but a little guarded going into this updated version, worried they may mess with mechanics or ruin something. Thankfully they did an amazing job with this remake. Very true to the original while still feeling fresh. If you’re looking for a game that’s deep and going to be a commitment, I recommend it strongly.

Just like the original, but on steroids. Fully remastered and built from the ground up on Unreal Engine, bringing the characters we know and love back to life. There are a few difference to more modernise the game, however it simply adds to the experience, not taking away anything.

Overall, it's the game that got me into the Persona series and Atlus have done it justice. Despite the high price point, i'd say it has been worth it.

Absolutely terrific, RPG perfection, basically. Atlus just can't be beat when it comes to these sorts of games. Admittedly, I prefer the palaces of Persona 5 as far as dungeon content goes, but that was my first Persona game, so my expectations were set differently. Regardless, even without the unique dungeons, the gameplay loop in this is still flawless. Everything is smooth and stylish, with a good story to pull you through it all. If you love RPGs, there is no question that this is a must play.

I love Persona 3 and it is currently my favorite Persona game out of all. I started with Persona 3 Portable, then Persona 3 FES for "The Answer". Then I bought the P3P port on my Switch. That's how passionate I am with this game.

Now, with that out of the way, here's my honest review, humor me for a bit:

I've seen many trailers of this game since last year, found out a lot of things like new and arranged music, the content compared to the original games, etc. I was kind of disappointed that we won't get "The Answer" from FES in Reload, nor we get to play as FeMC from Portable. I was also neutral in terms of the new singer Azumi Takahashi replacing Yumi Kawamura. I've heard some sample music from YouTube and there are some parts that she's good and there are also some that is quite out of place for my taste. Despite that, I want to try this game without my nostalgia blinding me to what Atlus has cooked for this remake.

Graphics:

What can I say, the graphics is good compared to the originals, even compared to Persona 5 Royal. 9/10

Music:

The soundtrack is GOOD on its own right. It has its own identity. It was never meant to be a "Yumi Kawamura" style, and I am fine with that. Lotus Juice spitting fire as always with the rap. "Color Your Night" and "Changing Seasons -Reload-" also slaps. 10/10

Gameplay:

THEURGY! A welcome mechanic. It is like a "Limit Break" for playable characters that can turn the tide of battles. You can only use it when your gauge is full though, and every characters have different ways to charge it fast based on their personality. It's neat and I like it. The rest still plays like neo-Persona. There's 1 more when you hit weakness or land critical hits, and there's "Shift" that works the same as "Baton Pass" first introduced in Persona 5.

They also added some stuff during the exploration of Tartarus:
- There are some "petrified" shadows with shiny things that they're holding. Players can destroy it and get valuable materials for selling or get "Twilight Fragments" that are very important, which I will explain further down.
- "Twilight Fragments" are valuable items because you will need this to unlock special treasure chests and use the clock in Tartarus (Yep, you can't use your money anymore). You can find these fragments while exploring Tartarus, exploring the areas of the map, or by progressing your Social Links then talking to Elizabeth.
- GREED HANDS. These special shadows are addition to the existing "Hands" shadows. They will sometimes appear when you first step on a floor, and they swipe all the chests available in that current floor. The only way you can reclaim the treasures is by correctly traversing which direction the shadow went. (Yes it is random and there is no way you can know for sure as far as perception is concerned). I kinda hate this new mini-game but after I unlock the navigator's "Tartarus Scan", which skips the mini-game entirely and proceeds to fighting, I am no longer bothered by it.
- Monad Gates. There are two types of it, the first one is the type of gate that appears randomly on a floor the moment you arrive. When you go through it, you will fight a mini-boss that blocks your way to the treasures. But once you defeat it, claim the treasures, and go outside, you will have full map of the current floor you are in and the next floor, which is neat. The second type of Monad Gates are the fixed gates stationed in some of the floors with a two-way teleporter on it. Similar to the random gates, you have to defeat mini-boss to proceed, but this time, there are multiples of it, like 2-3 mini-bosses. The treasures you get here contains tarot cards, some lore documents, costumes, etc, so it's definitely worth doing.
- SHUFFLE TIME is back, but without the actual shuffling like the original games. It's kinda like in Persona 4 where you just pick the cards you want. There's also an Arcana Burst mechanic wherein when you maxed out of Arcana cards to pick, you can never pick another Arcana card for that night, but the usual "Sword", "Coin", "Cup" and "Leaves" cards will be upgraded 1 level up. I personally like this change because I'm not fond of the cards shuffling in the original games, it makes me dizzy.
- Ambush. You will need to progress to the game before you unlock this but once you unlock this, it will guarantee a preemptive strike or "SEES Advantage" during battles whether you attack the shadows in the front or back. You can also upgrade your ambush by buying URLs in the Net Shop or the guy in the club. A neat addition in my opinion. It makes preemptive strikes easier to do.

They also made changes to how Social Link works with people that the protagonist can romance. You are not forced to enter a romantic relationship with them in order to max their Social Link anymore. Also, technically not a Social Link, but you can now hangout with your team members at the dorm. You can cook, tend plants, watch TV, and read books with them. They also award you with social stat increase and some useful items. I personally like this addition as it adds more character depth and development between the SEES members.

I might have missed some other new gameplay mechanics but this is what I remembered on top of my head. Overall, 9/10

Story:

Story is pretty much the same as the original, but they added some scenes that added more context and character depth like Strega scenes and Takaya scenes. I'll not expound further in this as it is spoiler territory, but I personally love these scenes.

As stated by Atlus themselves, the game doesn't include "The Answer" part of the story, first introduced in FES. It also doesn't include FeMC and her unique Social Link characters. If you don't want that, then avoid playing this game. But personally, I don't mind and I still like that they made it faithful to the original Persona 3. 10/10

Replayability

There is a New Game Plus available on this game, meaning your clear save data can carry over to your next new game. This is useful for people who want to try the game again to experience new dialogue options normally not accessible due to lack of social stat points, try to romance a different Social Link, or to just complete the achievements that they missed on their first playthrough. But story-wise, there is not much worth replaying the game as it has only two endings that I know off. One is the good ending and one is the bad ending where you kill Ryoji and the game will end prematurely. 8/10

Man, overall I love this game and Atlus made a good remake to satisfy this Persona 3 fan. If you're a fan of Persona especially Persona 3 and don't mind the missing "The Answer" or FeMC, or if you're new to Persona in general and a JRPG fan, I highly recommend playing this game. 9/10

A great remake of a classic game. While there is some missing content like the female mc and the answer it more than makes up for it by adding fully voice acted social link interactions. The game is also looks amazing and feels very alive.

Not a huge fan of the series, but this was a lot of fun. Hopefully, they remake P4 next. Who knows? Either way, a good game to try out if you've ever been interested. I liked the shadow or persona system a lot and Tartarus was an interesting grind to the top floor.

*Spoiler Free Review.* Like a lot of new players, I became of fan of Persona playing 5, and I loved that game so much I probably played it through 10 plus times now. I always heard so many good things about persona 3, I played 4 on steam but when I emulated three, it was too dated and I didn't give it a chance. This remake is absolutely fantastic, the music is outstanding, and the story was phenomenal. I see why this game gets so much praise, the later persona games are great but this is on a whole other level. I don't think I could recommend an experience more. I would say it is well worth the 70 dollars if you have the time to sit and play it. I did everything I could and it took me about 80 hours.