Atlus is planning to pour as much as it can into Persona nowadays, and it should not come as a shock to anyone. The series went through the impressive journey of debuting as a quirky spinoff of Atlus’ primary franchise, developing its own identity, becoming a company mainstay, and finally overtaking its parent series in popularity. Persona turned into Atlus’ flagship franchise in the process, and never looked back. To top it all off, the series is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, so Atlus’ efforts to reward the Persona series for its success is an obvious choice to make.
For the upcoming anniversary, Atlus planned and announced several upcoming projects, with one of the most exciting being ports of other Persona games that put the series on the map. This includes Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal. Portable and Royal will join Golden in the PlayStation 4 and Steam libraries, whereas all three games will receive first-time ports on the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. This decision was requested by fans for a long time, and if Persona 3 Portable is especially supported, then Atlus could finally greenlight an equally requested remake of Persona 3 as a whole.
The Inconsistent History of Persona 3
Persona 3 is an important game to the history of its own series, as well Atlus and Megami Tensei in general. It was the first Persona game to introduce the games’ now famous hybrid system that has players dungeon crawl for one half of the game and experience a life simulation during the other half. It started the evolution of modern Persona, which eventually led to the series becoming the most mainstream JRPGs aside from Pokemon and Final Fantasy. Its characters still show up in Persona-themed crossovers as often as Persona 4’s Investigation Team and Persona 5’s Phantom Thieves. For all intents and purposes, Persona 3 is the game that started the series' rise in popularity.
Despite having an enormous impact on the direction its series and company would take, there has never been a “definitive version” of Persona 3like Persona 4 Golden or Persona 5 Royal. The closest equivalent would be Persona 3 Portable, the one that will be getting all the ports, but it was specifically tailored to the PlayStation portable and has perks that FES lacks. Persona 3 is pretty much an incomplete game, and that will not officially change even if mods and emulation make the complete experience easier to reach.
Persona fans have been torn between Persona 3 FES and Portable. At first glance, Portable is clearly superior. It has the famed female protagonist while Persona 4 and 5 force people to play as a boy to this day. Party members do not get tired in dungeons anymore. There are more characters to bond with, and some characters’ fates can even change depending on the player’s actions. Most importantly, Portable made every party member controllable, fixing one of Persona 3’s most infamous issues.
However, FES has anime cutscenes, a vaster overworld to explore, actual 3D models and environments outside of Tartarus, a less compressed presentation, more accessibility due to being a PS2 game with digital rereleases on a Sony home console, and an epilogue in “The Answer”, should the player be interested in such a feature. The perks are minuscule compared to the quality-of-life improvements brought by Portable, and “The Answer” itself is divisive, but Persona 3 is otherwise not the same without them. A proper remake that acts as the game’s definitive edition could retroactively incorporate improvements introduced in Persona 4 and 5 and reunite the elements that make Persona 3 such a satisfying experience.
Porting Portable and Royal is a sign that Atlus might actually be listening and not just providing random fan service to appease rabid requests. A Persona 3 remake has been requested for a long time. There are easy ways to circumvent the drawbacks of all versions of the game, but having all features in a contemporary work with more expressive visuals and polished gameplay will heighten the joy that comes with playing the game. Nothing can guarantee this hypothetical remake’s existence, but it has plenty of potential.
Persona 3 Portable is available on PS2 and PlayStation Portable, with PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S versions releasing this October.