The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed!
I have a lot to say so this will be long.

I have been waiting for this! Played P3 FES back in January 2021 and it became my favourite persona game and my 2nd favourite game of all time, Kingdom hearts 2 being first. Ever since then I have been waiting for some remaster/remake of this game as it deserved it due to its broken state of FES being stuck on the ps2 and portable being the way it is. The fact that we got this remake still astounds me, Atlus actually listened. I remember suffering through the 25th persona anniversary waiting for some good P3 news only just to get portable ported and that game really isn't for me not much into the VN style. Atlus didn't fully listen as people obviously wanted the FEMC but they never added it which for me is sad but doesnt affect me too much as I was never a portable lover anyway but it would of been great to have her here.

P3R is an unreal game and a near perfect remake for me personally, it is basically a 1:1 remake but updated graphics and mechanics with some new additions and honestly I loved this. I am biased but I didn't really want it to change major things in the game as P3 doesnt really need to be changed majorly. I do have some minor issues but they don't spoil the game for me.

The new graphics look amazing and feel great within the game. there was some small additions with the graphics that I loved such as minor ray-tracing in tartarus which was a nice touch. The character models all looked great, super detailed and high quality felt strange seeing the cast so HD. There was one odd thing with the graphics which was the dorm for some reason looking dated like it had been taken right of the ps2 without any upgrade. The game performed smoothly without any issues ran at a perfect 120fps for me as I played on PC.

The UI for this game was beautiful, so smooth and snappy, had so much going on, love the water theme made it feel like MC was drowning which is sad but sadness is this game.

The Story is still perfect as it is unchanged but does feature new additions within to help flesh things out. the heavy themes of life and death and living in the moment and not worrying about the future are still tightly wrapped around this entire game and feature In every inch of this game, which is the reason why I love P3 so much as it changed me as person with its story and themes. The new additions to the story are some extra scenes with the cast as they go through the journey itself. these extra scenes are small but add a lot. there is also some extra scenes with Strega which were great too! The new link episodes for the boys of SEES were excellent, felt like they were really important more than just the normal social links as they progressed with the main story and had to be done within a time frame before the next event happens. they weren't just some random filler side story, each of their links felt important to the main story but also their character development. such as Junpei's link being able to make a change in the story and Shinji's really developing not only himself but Akihiko and Mitsuru and their time together in the past. I would prefer if they just used linked episode for the main party going forward and keep the social links for the side characters. P3's characters developing in the main story and finding their resolution too made me feel like they were all their own person without the need for the MC, made them feel alive.

The social links are more or less the same as before which to be honest they were hit and miss which the Sun Arcana being absolute peak and the best in all of persona and then having the Moon Arcana which if you know you know. but one thing about these social links is that they are all voiced which was such a great addition makes the characters feel real and makes you more immersed with them. P3R had Recast all the VA's which did make me nervous at first but they really sound great and some are unbelievable such as Alegra Clarke for Mitsuru and Zeno Robinson for Junpei.

Tartarus is still Tartarus but with some new additions, the floors have been graphically updated and stylised to make it feel better than what it is and adds things such as the monad doors and the greedy hands to offer some different features within which was nice. I have never been bothered by tartarus and I'm someone who's loves the grind so I am biased on this topic but if tartarus wasn't for you before I'm not sure if this will really change anything but with the new combat it might. the combat is different now more akin to P4 and P5 as you control your party and the game is more balanced due to that. it has new bonuses to the combat such as the stylish theurgy attacks which look and feel powerful. and the shift which is basically the baton pass from P5. I enjoy these additions as it helps the flow of battle and adds more variety within. I will say though that like P5 this game was too easy for me, I played on merciless and did struggle from time to time but also flew through it swiftly. I don't need these games to destroy me with difficulty but P3 FES really was a challenge especially Nyx were here she didn't really pose a major problem for me still one of the best final boss battles ever!

I hate to say this but the music was also hit or miss for me which is sad as the P3 FES soundtrack is my favourite soundtrack of any game. All of the new songs such as Colour your night and its going down now were bangers but some of the remixes for the OG songs weren't such as the new mass destruction it doesnt hit for me like it did before. the new singer is amazing but the OG songs were created in mind of Yumi Kawamura the original singer and Yumi has a different voice to the new singer so I think that's why the remixes with Azumi feel strange not bad but different and I don't know how to feel, think I just need to get used to them more. but some of the remixes like Memories of the city which is my favourite track in the game still hits and Battle for everyone souls stills goes hard, even memories of you still makes me sob.

the only other thing that I was unsure of was the use of in game cutscenes compared to the anime ones. The anime ones were unreal and I loved them all especially the aigis one in December. but some of the OG anime cutscenes have been replaced with in game ones and it feels weird like MC's awakening with orpheus and Thanatos is an in game one which didn't hit as hard as it would of if anime, even P5 had its awakening in anime. this is just a nitpick but I did notice this throughout the game. the in game ones are really good anyway but their was times were it would of been nice for a little anime one.

This game made me feel all the emotions I did back when I played FES and the ending destroyed me again leaving me feeling empty which is amazing. P3 was an experience I have never felt before and no other game has made me really feel this way and being able to re-experience it all of over again in Reload is something I won't forget. It makes me so happy that so many people can experience this game in a new up to date form and for the game to be accessible on nearly every console. I would recommend this game to anyone!

Time never waits. It delivers all equally to the same end.