Highlights

  • Persona 3 Reload showcases the importance of UI and menu design in RPGs, enhancing the overall enjoyment of the game.
  • The visually pleasing and aesthetically striking menus in Persona 3 Reload borrow from the incredible art direction of Persona 5.
  • Atlus is pushing the envelope in UI design with its upcoming game, Metaphor: ReFantazio, indicating its commitment to crafting utility and artistry in UI frameworks.

Taking the fan-favorite Persona 3 and remaking it using the same visual style and aesthetics of the incredible Persona 5 was practically a no-brainer, given how much the latest game in the series has remained popular among fans and spawned several successful spin-off titles. Persona 3 Reload now represents the ideal template for other remakes in the series, and it would be surprising for Atlus to not give the same treatment to Persona 4 despite how much the original continues to hold up. In Persona 3 Reload, Atlus has also once again proven to be one of the most talented studios when it comes to UI and menu design.

UI, or user interface, is essentially the framework through which users interact with computers and digital media. In terms of how UI design is implemented in games, it's most commonly understood as the means that the player uses to accomplish tasks within the game, whether that be through menus or within the game's world itself using a heads-up display (HUD) and maps or other navigational tools. Surprisingly, UI and menu design are factors that often get overlooked when discussing RPGs, and Persona 3 Reload establishes why they are so important to a game's overall enjoyment level.

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The Mythological Origins Behind Persona 3 Reload’s Tartarus Explained

Persona 3 Reload's central dungeon Tartarus can trace its thematic inspirations back to one of the most important locations in Greek mythology.

Considering how much time players spend within menus, parsing through equipment loadouts and stat screens, it's surprising that more RPGs don't pay closer attention to the readability and artistic direction of their UI and menu design. Persona 5's release in 2017 marked the beginning of a new era for JRPGs while also proving that the staples of the genre are still just as enjoyable now as they were in their early years more than three decades ago. Persona 5's incredible art direction was a key part of this bold new path. Accordingly, it's nearly impossible to talk about the stunning visual aesthetic of Persona 5 without also mentioning its menus and UI.

Persona 3 Reload liberally borrows the general artistic structures of Persona 5 while retrofitting them to the setting, characters, and original color palette of P3. As a result, the act of entering menus is a visually pleasing experience and stands as some of the best and most striking menu design of any game in years. Beyond their aesthetically pleasing appearance, Persona 3 Reload's menus also take things a step further with the audio feedback they use to confirm selecting or canceling menu commands.

Atlus is Continuing to Push UI Design with Metaphor: ReFantazio

The audio and visual cues provided by both Persona 5 and Persona 3 Reload's UI and menu design combine to make the commonly overlooked act of parsing through menus in an RPG become something just as visually striking and appealing as the games that they feature in. Even though it's not part of the Persona series, Atlus seems to be continuing to push the envelope in this regard with the next game arriving from the publisher and developer in 2024 in the brand-new IP Metaphor: ReFantazio. There's not much info on this new title available outside the trailers shown so far, but the glimpses provided seem to indicate that this project from Atlus' Studio Zero division shares more than a few characteristics with P-Studio's work on the Persona franchise.

UI and menu design in games are crucially important yet so often overlooked, which is a shame considering how the disparate elements of each combine to help make the act of accomplishing things within a game less frustrating. With their distinctive visual appearance, bold colors and striking design, and helpful audio feedback to indicate successful actions, Persona 3 Reload's menus are an example of how developers can put effort into crafting a UI design framework that delivers both utility and artistry.