Highlights
- Persona 3 Reload should rework its unbalanced Physical skill distribution among party members to make combat more diverse and improve the flow of gameplay.
- Quality-of-life changes like improved Social Link mechanics and controllable party members are expected in the remake, but the extent of these changes is still unclear.
- Redistributing Physical skills or combining them under one category like in Persona 5 Royal would modernize the game without sacrificing its defining elements and alienating fans.
As Persona 3 Reload seeks to improve combat from the original game and bring it more in line with modern titles, there are a few aspects surrounding skills that should be re-evaluated. Aside from taking a page from Persona 5 Royal's Light and Darkness skill approach, Physical skills are in need of a rework as well. The way these skills are distributed across various party members is too unbalanced in the original Persona 3, making some characters unviable and others lacking in Physical damage potential.
Although Atlus has stated Persona 3 Reload will be a faithful remake of the original game, there seem to be some quality-of-life changes coming in the remake like improved Social Link mechanics and directly controllable party members. While the extent of these changes from the original is still unclear, Persona 3 Reload should take this opportunity to rework some of its less balanced combat mechanics like Physical skill distribution. Not only would doing so make it possible for players to diversify their party, but it would improve the general flow of combat and make exploring Tartarus a smoother experience.
Persona 3 Reload Should Redistribute its Party Members' Physical Skills
In Persona 3, Physical skills are broken down into three categories: Slash, Strike, and Pierce with each corresponding to a different weapon type. Unlike modern entries like Persona 5 Royal which categorizes all Physical skills under one umbrella, Persona 3's Physical skill distribution means different enemies are weak to different types of Physical attacks rather than just weak to Physical attacks in general. This design is a double-edged sword; on one hand, it creates another level of strategy players will need to consider in combat, but on the other hand party members with access to only one type of Physical attack can end up useless in certain situations.
One of the main issues regarding Physical skills in Persona 3 is their distribution among party members, with characters like Junpei and Shinjiro having a disproportionate number of Physical skills compared to Magic skills. This type of skill distribution makes the two ill-suited for facing foes who can repel or absorb Physical attacks, leaving them far less versatile than other party options. While Junpei does get access to Agi and Agilao, he is ultimately outclassed by other party members, and Shinjiro does have some of the most powerful Physical skills in the game, but his limited time with the party holds him back from being truly useful.
On the other side of things, Persona 3's Akihiko is severely lacking in Physical skills for a character who is notably a renowned boxer at Gekkoukan High. His only Physical skill is Sonic Punch, which is an innate skill for him, and the rest of his skills are mostly Zio-based Electricity skills. This skill distribution makes little sense for the character and could be rebalanced by giving some of Junpei or Shinjiro's Physical skills to Akihiko to round out his move set while opening up the others to gain more Magic skills in return.
Ideally, Persona 3 Reload would take one of two approaches to Physical skills to improve them over the original game. Either the remake should follow Persona 5 Royal's approach and combine all Physical skills under one umbrella, or redistribute them so that party members have access to multiple types of skills to allow for more party composition options. These changes might seem too big for a game that is supposed to be a faithful remake of Persona 3, but they would help modernize the feel of the game without sacrificing its defining elements and alienating fans of the original Persona 3 game.
Persona 3 Reload is set to release in early 2024 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
