Highlights

  • Akihiko's Theurgy gauge in Persona 3 Reload fills from any buff present on him at the start of his turn.
  • The English version of the game suggests the meter only fills when Akihiko buffs himself.
  • The mistranslation suggests Akihiko's Theurgy gauge is one of the most difficult to fill, but it's actually among the easiest.

The English version of Persona 3 Reload contains a mistranslation suggesting Akihiko's Theurgy gauge fills much slower than it actually does, as recently spotted by one attentive fan. While this isn't the only localization mistake that the fandom has spotted in Persona 3 Reload to date, it's among the most problematic ones that have been confirmed so far, as it inhibits the process of making informed decisions about party compositions.

Theurgies are a new battle mechanic in Atlus's latest RPG that has effectively replaced Fusion Spells from Persona 3. While their effects are pretty much unchanged, leveraging them no longer comes down to farming and spamming Antique Shop items. Instead, the way Theurgies work in Persona 3 Reload requires more planning and consideration, as these spells can now only be activated by filling their accompanying meter. The quickest method of doing so is different for each character.

Persona 3 Reload Yukari Junpei Makoto all-out attack angry vein edit
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Akihiko's Theurgy in Persona 3 Reload Fills From Any Buff, Regardless of Source

In Akihiko's case, the game suggests that his Theurgy gauge fills when he buffs himself, which is a situational condition at best, as he doesn't really have the spell selection to play the typical support role for the majority of the story and his single-target buffs in the early game are usually better used on healers or the protagonist. Or rather, it would be a situational condition if it were true. But as recently pointed out by Reddit user Gingingin100, Akihiko's Theurgy gauge in Persona 3 Reload actually fills from any buff that's present on him at the beginning of his turn.

Persona 3 Reload has no shortage of methods for buffing characters: spells, passive skills, items, Theurgies, and even some enemies can provide Akihiko with stat increases. Ditto for all types of equipment, some of which come with effects that automatically buff the entire party at the start of each battle. So, despite the English version of the game suggesting Akihiko might be slow to use the Persona 3 Reload Theurgy system, his meter actually fills at one of the quickest rates among all the characters.

Akihiko Is Still Not That Good in Persona 3 Reload

Although this misleading mistranslation ostensibly affected some players' party composition, even knowing the actual mechanics behind Akihiko's Theurgy gauge might not be enough to convince players to pick him more frequently. Out of all the S.E.E.S. members in Persona 3 Reload, Akihiko's skillset is the only one that got noticeably worse compared to the original game, not least because he lost all of his multi-target debuffs bar Matarunda without gaining much in the way of reliable offensive options.

His single-target heals are also no longer as useful as they were in Persona 3 FES now that dedicated healers are more reliable by virtue of not being AI-controlled. Granted, that was already the case in Persona 3 Portable, which was the first version of the game to allow the player to control the entire party instead of just the protagonist.