Highlights
- Persona 3 Reload is breaking new ground as the first game in the franchise to be remade from the ground up, modernizing the title and potentially becoming the best way to play the game.
- Persona 3 Reload's Iwatodai Dorm is full of added features building on top of the original system. This additive approach is great, since it preserves nostalgia for old fans while providing an updated experience for new fans.
- Future Persona remakes should follow Persona 3 Reload's remake strategy by building on top of what came before, rather than revising the core experience heavily.
Persona 3 Reload is breaking new ground for the beloved franchise. While Persona games have more often than not received enhanced re-releases such as Persona 4 Golden or Persona 5 Royal, never before has Atlus remade one of the games from the ground up. Persona 3, however, is the perfect candidate for doing so. While the Golden version of P4 and P5's respective rerelease feel like the definitive iteration of each game, P3 lacks that right now. FES contains more story content, and the PSP re-release has a female protagonist with unique Social Links. Persona 3Reload will not have this extra content at launch, but it will modernize the title and hopefully prove to be the best way to play the game.
Persona 1 and Persona 2 are excellent games in their own right but share little resemblance to recent additions. Persona 3 is where the foundation of modern entries started to form. P3 added social simulation mechanics and brought combat closer to that of modern turn-based RPGs. The addition of social sim mechanics balanced against dungeon-crawling RPG combat has defined the Persona series since. While Persona 3 added these mechanics, they were still rudimentary; among SEES, only female members had Social Links, making it harder to feel attached to male party members. Thankfully, some changes to Persona 3 Reload remedy this.
Persona 3 Reload is Adding To The Game, Not Revising It
A recent Persona 3 Reload trailer showcased the Iwatodai Dormitory and some of the activities players can do there. P3R will hold onto the original soundtrack but is brightening up the space and making it a social hub. Not only will it be a headquarters for SEES, it will be a place to make friends. In contrast to the original, the player can spend time completing some of these activities with male classmates, accompanying the addition of Link Episodes. Adding more activities for players to do in the dormitory, like gardening and watching movies, respects the intent of the original and leaves the experience intact, only adding to it.
This approach is echoed in some of Persona 3 Reload's other changes. All-Out Attacks in P3R share the original's animation where the characters rush into a cloud of dust, but if the attack finishes the encounter, it will trigger a Persona 5-style character-specific win screen. These win screens are more subtle than those of Persona 5, reflecting P3R's tone. This sensibility extends to the rest of the game's UI and soundtrack; they've been enchanced, but not replaced with totally new systems.
Persona 3 Reload Presents A Great Model For Remakes
From what has been shown, Atlus seems to have taken what worked about Persona 5 and effectively transformed it to work with Persona 3's aesthetic sensibility. This, combined with the approach of adding content more than replacing things, is a model that can please players of the original while bringing in newer fans of the franchise that were won over by P5's sense of style. This approach could work well for other remakes in the franchise, especially if Atlus were to remake Persona 4, which is incredibly similar in a number of ways. A Persona 2 remake might require some more inventiveness due to its structure, but the model set by Persona 3 Reload is one that would suit most remakes across the industry.
Persona 3 Reload's trailers thus far depict a remake that seems to be doing almost everything right, even though some are disappointed by the recasting of voice actors and the omission of Persona 3 Portable's female protagonist. While the absence of added content from Portable and FES is a shame, this content could be ripe for an enhanced version of the game or for DLC. Beyond the lack of content from previous revised releases, Persona 3 Reload shaping up to be a strong example of a remake done right, as well as the definitive version of P3.
Persona 3 Reload will be released on February 2, 2024 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
