If you happen to’ve but to play any model of Persona 3, then its darker tones and subject material may come as a little bit of a shock.
The opening scene reveals supporting character Yukari Takeba sitting alone with a gun pointed at her personal head, working up the braveness to drag the set off. Even contemplating a number of the instructions the next sequels take throughout their respective narratives, it’s a daring opening assertion that units the tone for the remainder of the sport.
After all, going again to the unique now (and even the FES and Transportable releases) may show tough should you’re used to the slick presentation and gameplay present in Persona 5 Royal – in order that’s the place Persona 3 Reload is available in.
Freshly ported over to Swap 2 after launching on different platforms in February 2024, it is a full remake of the 2006 PS2 entry, that includes revamped visuals, improved gameplay, and a bunch of quality-of-life updates. Whereas the shortage of content material from FES and Transportable prevents it from being actually definitive, it’s however one of the best ways to expertise the principle story.
Talking of which, Reload sees you switch to Gekkoukan Excessive College in Tatsumi Port Island, however your arrival reveals that every one isn’t because it appears. A hidden time frame often called the ‘Darkish Hour’ happens each night time throughout which the moon glows inexperienced, residents change into encased in coffins, and monstrous ‘Shadow’ creatures stalk an enormous tower referred to as Tartarus.
Fortunately, these with the flexibility to summon Personas can stay aware throughout this time, and so it’s not lengthy till the ‘Specialised Extracurricular Execution Squad’ (S.E.E.S.) recruits the protagonist to its trigger. Utilising the tried-and-tested ‘Chosen One’ trope, it is revealed that not solely can you summon a Persona your self, however you may accumulate a number of directly, swapping between them on the fly in line with the state of affairs. “I’ve by no means seen this earlier than!” gasps the squad chief.
And so begins Persona 3 Reload’s acquainted but streamlined loop through which you spend the daytime constructing your social hyperlinks and strengthening your Personas, when you discover Tartarus and put your abilities to the take a look at at night time.
Time passes with every chosen exercise, with main story beats occurring as soon as a month through the full moon. Generally, development by way of Tartarus could also be blocked off till you attain these so-called ‘Full Moon Operations’, at which level you’ll must spend your time elsewhere till you’re capable of proceed.
Daytime gameplay is cut up into morning, afternoon (or after college), and night. Until it’s a Sunday, throughout which you’ll be off college, the afternoon and night segments are normally if you’ll wish to plan out your actions, however don’t stress an excessive amount of about how one can spend your time. Reload provides you ample alternative to do what you need, whether or not it’s merely hanging out with your folks, taking part in an internet recreation, or working part-time on the native cafe.
Most actions increase your core stats, so that you may really feel considerably overwhelmed at first as you determine how greatest to go your time. Once more, you actually don’t want to fret about it an excessive amount of; a method Reload improves upon the unique is immediately notifying you of obtainable actions through your flip cellphone, so that you don’t need to spend day by day monitoring what you may and might’t do – it’s largely spelled out for you.
It’s through the day that you simply actually get a superb sense of your supporting forged, too. Like Persona 4 and 5, Reload boasts an exceptionally likeable set of characters, and so they really feel significantly fleshed out when in comparison with the PS2 unique – I am keen on Junpei’s lighthearted nature alongside Mitsuru’s extra severe, no-nonsense method.
It helps, too, that each the English and Japanese voiceover work is equally distinctive. I spent the overwhelming majority of the sport with the Japanese forged, just because it lends the general setting an air of authenticity, however should you stick to English, you’ll be properly catered for.
Dungeon-crawling at night time retains some limitations of the unique, however key enhancements make every thing much more pleasing. Every flooring of Tartarus is procedurally-generated, with corridors and rooms containing Shadows to struggle and gadgets to assemble. There’s positively a way of repetition as you make your means by way of — quite a lot of flooring showcase the identical visible type — however the frequency at which gadgets crop up retains issues partaking alongside the informal chit-chat between the characters.
Fights may be initiated by both working right into a Shadow or swinging your weapon with ‘Y’ to hit them. If you happen to handle the latter, you’ll achieve a small benefit firstly of the struggle, but when a Shadow occurs to run into you, the benefit can be reversed. Encounters will really feel fairly acquainted should you’ve performed Persona 5 Royal, and so they stay simply as pleasing and thrilling as ever.
As you’d count on, victory typically hinges in your capacity to use your enemy’s weak point, whether or not it’s hearth, ice, wind, and so forth. Attaining this grants you one other flip, and you’ll increase it additional by instantly shifting play to a teammate, doubtlessly persevering with a streak of highly effective assaults. Exploiting weaknesses additionally knocks enemies to the bottom, ultimately culminating in an ‘all-out assault’ through which your total squad rushes in to pummel foes in a cloud of chaos.
As you progress, your data of how one can method every battle expands, and also you’ll end up attempting out totally different methods relying on the state of affairs. An all-out assault might properly deal a good bit of injury, but additionally ends in your enemy instantly recovering from their knockdown, so it could be extra advantageous to maintain hitting them with elemental assaults to maintain them on the bottom.
Whether or not you are locked in battle or chilling in your dorm room, Reload’s presentation stays distinctive all through. As soon as once more taking a couple of cues from Royal, this recreation is solely dripping with type.
Launching into the in-game menu presents a slick animation that appears such as you’re being plunged into water, whereas assault animations throughout battles are persistently spectacular, whether or not you’re summoning a Persona or slashing your katana round. None of it feels fairly as flamboyant as Royal, however the stripped-back nature of the presentation is much more in step with the darker tone of Reload’s story.
Equally, the marginally remixed soundtrack is simply as memorable now because it was again within the day. Particular tunes play relying on the place you’re within the recreation, and so they’re merely marvellous. I’ve misplaced rely of the variety of instances I’ve began buzzing the varsity theme whereas hopping within the automotive or cooking a meal – it’s simply so catchy and addictive. This soundtrack could also be my favorite of your entire sequence.
In porting the sport over to Swap 2, Atlus has executed a reasonably nice job. Visually, it is gorgeous whether or not you’re taking part in docked or handheld, and loading is stored to an absolute minimal all through.
The most important disadvantage, nonetheless, is the 30fps efficiency. I wish to stress that the gameplay right here doesn’t endure; turn-based JRPGs are not often reliant on super-smooth gameplay, but it surely’s the precept, y’know? Reload doesn’t really feel prefer it’s pushing the Swap 2 very exhausting, so I’ve to marvel why Atlus wasn’t capable of obtain a better body charge. Maybe it may be addressed in a future replace.
Lastly, as talked about earlier, it is price protecting in thoughts that Reload would not characteristic the expanded content material present in Persona 3 FES, nor are you able to go for a feminine protagonist like in Persona 3 Transportable. It is true that that is undoubtedly one of the best ways to play the principle recreation, however I would not say that Reload is absolutely the definitive model of this entry.
