I wonder how I’ve gotten here. If you were to ask me my general thoughts on Persona, I’d be rather neutral, I had only played one game of the series, and I didn’t like it. Then, not even a month ago, I played Persona 5, and it rewired my brain in a way, I found a Persona game that I loved. I loved it so much that I immediately bought Persona 3 Reload, and I played through it immediately after. Of course, it took me longer to beat it, I didn’t have as much free time, as unlike Persona 5, I was in classes at the time. From what I’ve heard about FES and Portable, I’m glad I chose Reload over them, there were some design and gameplay decisions in those versions that I’m glad aren’t here (though I would’ve loved FeMC). Persona 3 Reload has further rewired my brain, making me love this series even more.
Of course I don’t want to go too in-depth into all of this. While Persona 3 has existed for over a decade now, Reload released barely over 2 months ago (at the time of typing this). Saying anything even somewhat specific, even now, might be too much of a spoiler, and I’d like to try and avoid it as much as possible. Especially since Persona 3 as a game is something that I think deserves a blind experience, I want to avoid saying anything too revealing. But I will say as much as I think I can.
Combat-wise the game is amazing. One Mores are as amazing as a mechanic as ever. The adaptability, switching between your teammates in battle to help hit certain weaknesses, or heal if need be. I still love that enemies benefit from this system as well, it makes enemies feel more dangerous, especially if they luck out with crits. It’s interesting how there’s three different types of physical attacks, Slash, Strike, and Pierce. Each character’s regular attack differs too, being one of those three types which I think is really cool, and can help determine your team composition.
Social Links are interesting in Persona 3. If I hadn’t played 4 and 5 beforehand, I would be fine with Social Links in 3. What I mean by that is that Social Links only give EXP boosts when fusing, and there’s no other bonuses. This critique though is of minimal importance, contextually, Persona 3 was the first to introduce Social Links, so of course it wouldn’t have the things that were added in 4 and 5. But with that being said, I think of the three, Persona 3 has my favorite set of Social Links. The best way I have of describing it is that it’s the most realistic. Some Social Links are just normal people, some of them are unlikeable, and some of them feel meant to be hated. But that in itself feels purposeful, and meant to mirror relationships you may have in real life. You’re not gonna like everyone you know, and I’m glad that this game was able to emulate that experience. One thing that I’m grateful about with Reload though is that you’re not locked into Romance routes with social links.
Tartarus as a dungeon is another interesting aspect of the game to me. It made me further realize why I don’t like the dungeons in Persona 4, and I apologize for the oncoming tangent. Persona 4 in a way is a mid-transition, between the randomly generated dungeon of Tartarus, and the personal dungeons of Palaces. While Persona 4’s dungeons are meant to represent certain ideas about relevant characters, they only really do it aesthetically, but because of it being randomly generated spaces, it still feels impersonal. It makes them all blend together, aesthetics alone don’t feel enough to differentiate the dungeons of Persona 4. Now bringing this tangent back to Tartarus, it feels purposeful that Tartarus is like this. It’s long, it’s randomly generated, it’s purposefully impersonal. It’s meant to feel like an uncomfortable, otherworldly place, and I think it does that really well. And honestly it never felt too long. Sections are unlocked over time, and usually you unlock about 20 floors at a time. As well, it feels clear to me that while I did it this way, I wasn’t supposed to clear each section in a single day. The game gives you a good number of checkpoints, so if you need to, you can take a break, and come back another day.
And what can I say about the story. The answer, really? Nothing. I’m saying nothing. This is the part of the game that the less you know, absolutely the better. The story itself is why this game is probably my favorite of the Persona titles that I’ve played thus far, and I don’t want to potentially ruin that for anyone else. Yet again, at the time of typing this, the game came out barely over 2 months ago, so there’s still some recency here. What I can say though is that it’s absolutely amazing, and also Fuuka is my favorite character. That’s all I’ll say here.
I don’t think there’s much else I can really say here. I absolutely adore Persona 3, I haven’t played the other versions of the game yet, but I can’t imagine any would be better to play than Reload. I swear, I’ve drastically changed my tune on the Persona series in less than a month thanks to this game and 5, it’s somewhat crazy to look back on. I already bought the Expansion Pass for Reload, so it’s assured I’ll hop on The Answer as soon as it releases, and I can’t wait. Reload may be a pretty expensive buy, 70 dollar base price is a lot, but if you can afford it, please get it. It’s just such an amazing game.
Of course I don’t want to go too in-depth into all of this. While Persona 3 has existed for over a decade now, Reload released barely over 2 months ago (at the time of typing this). Saying anything even somewhat specific, even now, might be too much of a spoiler, and I’d like to try and avoid it as much as possible. Especially since Persona 3 as a game is something that I think deserves a blind experience, I want to avoid saying anything too revealing. But I will say as much as I think I can.
Combat-wise the game is amazing. One Mores are as amazing as a mechanic as ever. The adaptability, switching between your teammates in battle to help hit certain weaknesses, or heal if need be. I still love that enemies benefit from this system as well, it makes enemies feel more dangerous, especially if they luck out with crits. It’s interesting how there’s three different types of physical attacks, Slash, Strike, and Pierce. Each character’s regular attack differs too, being one of those three types which I think is really cool, and can help determine your team composition.
Social Links are interesting in Persona 3. If I hadn’t played 4 and 5 beforehand, I would be fine with Social Links in 3. What I mean by that is that Social Links only give EXP boosts when fusing, and there’s no other bonuses. This critique though is of minimal importance, contextually, Persona 3 was the first to introduce Social Links, so of course it wouldn’t have the things that were added in 4 and 5. But with that being said, I think of the three, Persona 3 has my favorite set of Social Links. The best way I have of describing it is that it’s the most realistic. Some Social Links are just normal people, some of them are unlikeable, and some of them feel meant to be hated. But that in itself feels purposeful, and meant to mirror relationships you may have in real life. You’re not gonna like everyone you know, and I’m glad that this game was able to emulate that experience. One thing that I’m grateful about with Reload though is that you’re not locked into Romance routes with social links.
Tartarus as a dungeon is another interesting aspect of the game to me. It made me further realize why I don’t like the dungeons in Persona 4, and I apologize for the oncoming tangent. Persona 4 in a way is a mid-transition, between the randomly generated dungeon of Tartarus, and the personal dungeons of Palaces. While Persona 4’s dungeons are meant to represent certain ideas about relevant characters, they only really do it aesthetically, but because of it being randomly generated spaces, it still feels impersonal. It makes them all blend together, aesthetics alone don’t feel enough to differentiate the dungeons of Persona 4. Now bringing this tangent back to Tartarus, it feels purposeful that Tartarus is like this. It’s long, it’s randomly generated, it’s purposefully impersonal. It’s meant to feel like an uncomfortable, otherworldly place, and I think it does that really well. And honestly it never felt too long. Sections are unlocked over time, and usually you unlock about 20 floors at a time. As well, it feels clear to me that while I did it this way, I wasn’t supposed to clear each section in a single day. The game gives you a good number of checkpoints, so if you need to, you can take a break, and come back another day.
And what can I say about the story. The answer, really? Nothing. I’m saying nothing. This is the part of the game that the less you know, absolutely the better. The story itself is why this game is probably my favorite of the Persona titles that I’ve played thus far, and I don’t want to potentially ruin that for anyone else. Yet again, at the time of typing this, the game came out barely over 2 months ago, so there’s still some recency here. What I can say though is that it’s absolutely amazing, and also Fuuka is my favorite character. That’s all I’ll say here.
I don’t think there’s much else I can really say here. I absolutely adore Persona 3, I haven’t played the other versions of the game yet, but I can’t imagine any would be better to play than Reload. I swear, I’ve drastically changed my tune on the Persona series in less than a month thanks to this game and 5, it’s somewhat crazy to look back on. I already bought the Expansion Pass for Reload, so it’s assured I’ll hop on The Answer as soon as it releases, and I can’t wait. Reload may be a pretty expensive buy, 70 dollar base price is a lot, but if you can afford it, please get it. It’s just such an amazing game.