This review contains spoilers
I'm writing this literal minutes after credit roll which I do feel may affect how I'm judging this but I don't care.
I have this weird thing while playing certain games that I have aptly named "Persona Syndrome". Essentially it boils down to as I play through a game I am swept up by its momentum enough to forgive any flaws that it might carry, but once the ending hits and I have a few weeks to really think, my opinion starts to sour because my thoughts are more detached from the momentum of the story.
I begin with that to say I believe this is the only persona game that I don't believe will be affected like this. I know it sounds hypocritical in conjunction with my previous statement but there's just a particular sense of magic that I can't believe coming from this game.
Starting with the gameplay because it's definitely the part I have the most (though not many) gripes with. In terms of pure mechanical depth, Persona 5 and presumably plenty of SMT games have this beat. Even adding things like shifting and theurgy only really exist to accelerate the combat as opposed to deepening it in any major way, though that's not something I mind. When those parts are stripped away, the age of some of the design shows and though it never fails to entertain, by the ending it feels like it strains itself to come up with ways to be exciting (with the exception of a phenomenal final boss). Despite this, and Tartarus not being great to explore (though I do prefer it to persona 4's dungeons) the thing I think persona 3 does best is incorporate it with the other half of the game.
Persona 5's concept of having each social link grant unique skills or other benefits is interesting and it certainly is fun to get new abilities, but it strains the relationship between the two halves by making certain social links practically necessary. I know it seems silly to say that a previous game has the amazing benefit of not having a modern feature, but by simply not having it and keeping the benefits of social links to just bonuses for the specific arcana being fused, it means that social links have near equal utility and the question of day to day life outside of what social stats to level up turns from "Which of these NPCs can give me a new skill" to "Which one of these characters do I want to spend time with".
To transition then, I'll preface my talk on confidants by saying Gourmet King, Kenji, and to a lesser extent Maya are all terrible with gourmet king being my contender for worst in the series. I don't think this is as much of an issue due to the ability to ignore them outright if you so choose, but it is worth mentioning still. Outside of the unlucky few, I love these social links. They don't have quite as consistent iconic characters as 5, but actually sitting down to talk to them, I enjoy talking to them more because they're allowed to be more rough around the edges. The problem you help them solve is almost always internal, and even once you've finished the social link, it doesn't necessarily mean the problem has been fixed completely, rather you continue in confidence with the understanding you've allowed them to become better independent of you.
Honestly though, my favorite aspect of the social links is how so many of them deal with the game's theme of death, either in the literal or the metaphorical. A large amount of the social links properly begin with a tragic loss for a character. It could be something as direct as quite literally knowing you have months left to live, or something less so, like your home life deteriorating to the point you have to sacrifice part of your life in order to keep it together. Either way it's always interesting to delve into a character's specific philosophy on it.
I've been tossing this word salad for like an hour now so I'm just going to finish up with my absolute favorite aspect of the game and to nobody's surprise it's the overarching story. One of my least favorite things someone can do with their writing is fail to really add any stakes because it makes the reader question why they should even care when they know everyone will get out scott free.
In accordance with it's ever-present theme of death, persona 3 refuses to do this. Characters we have known and cared for are able to be ripped away and because of it, not only are other characters allowed to show true suffering especially in their incredible new performances, but it also means I was never sure if characters were safe.
The former especially manifests during my favorite portion of the story, the december that SEES spends understanding their deaths are seemingly unavoidable and yet still going out of their ways to be good to one another and spread genuine care.
Again, i've been writing this for an hour so I'll take that as an excuse to say my final thought on the game and that is this.
I.
Love.
SEES.
I love that they aren't immediately expected to get along with one another. From the beginning, they technically are nothing more than coworkers and they allow their bonds to grow from that point. It doesn't feel like the investigation team or the phantom thieves where once a new member joined they were obligated to be friends, and characters are allowed to have friction with one another outside of a stupid week long arc of leaving the team. By the end though, because they are allowed to not always be friends, they become the best family out of the three groups. Special shoutouts to Junpei who pulled an inverse Ryuji and gradually became better and better until felt an obligation to dig him out of storage to use for the final battle.
With all that being said, Persona 3 Reload is pheunomonal.
Here's hoping this isn't persona syndrome.
I have this weird thing while playing certain games that I have aptly named "Persona Syndrome". Essentially it boils down to as I play through a game I am swept up by its momentum enough to forgive any flaws that it might carry, but once the ending hits and I have a few weeks to really think, my opinion starts to sour because my thoughts are more detached from the momentum of the story.
I begin with that to say I believe this is the only persona game that I don't believe will be affected like this. I know it sounds hypocritical in conjunction with my previous statement but there's just a particular sense of magic that I can't believe coming from this game.
Starting with the gameplay because it's definitely the part I have the most (though not many) gripes with. In terms of pure mechanical depth, Persona 5 and presumably plenty of SMT games have this beat. Even adding things like shifting and theurgy only really exist to accelerate the combat as opposed to deepening it in any major way, though that's not something I mind. When those parts are stripped away, the age of some of the design shows and though it never fails to entertain, by the ending it feels like it strains itself to come up with ways to be exciting (with the exception of a phenomenal final boss). Despite this, and Tartarus not being great to explore (though I do prefer it to persona 4's dungeons) the thing I think persona 3 does best is incorporate it with the other half of the game.
Persona 5's concept of having each social link grant unique skills or other benefits is interesting and it certainly is fun to get new abilities, but it strains the relationship between the two halves by making certain social links practically necessary. I know it seems silly to say that a previous game has the amazing benefit of not having a modern feature, but by simply not having it and keeping the benefits of social links to just bonuses for the specific arcana being fused, it means that social links have near equal utility and the question of day to day life outside of what social stats to level up turns from "Which of these NPCs can give me a new skill" to "Which one of these characters do I want to spend time with".
To transition then, I'll preface my talk on confidants by saying Gourmet King, Kenji, and to a lesser extent Maya are all terrible with gourmet king being my contender for worst in the series. I don't think this is as much of an issue due to the ability to ignore them outright if you so choose, but it is worth mentioning still. Outside of the unlucky few, I love these social links. They don't have quite as consistent iconic characters as 5, but actually sitting down to talk to them, I enjoy talking to them more because they're allowed to be more rough around the edges. The problem you help them solve is almost always internal, and even once you've finished the social link, it doesn't necessarily mean the problem has been fixed completely, rather you continue in confidence with the understanding you've allowed them to become better independent of you.
Honestly though, my favorite aspect of the social links is how so many of them deal with the game's theme of death, either in the literal or the metaphorical. A large amount of the social links properly begin with a tragic loss for a character. It could be something as direct as quite literally knowing you have months left to live, or something less so, like your home life deteriorating to the point you have to sacrifice part of your life in order to keep it together. Either way it's always interesting to delve into a character's specific philosophy on it.
I've been tossing this word salad for like an hour now so I'm just going to finish up with my absolute favorite aspect of the game and to nobody's surprise it's the overarching story. One of my least favorite things someone can do with their writing is fail to really add any stakes because it makes the reader question why they should even care when they know everyone will get out scott free.
In accordance with it's ever-present theme of death, persona 3 refuses to do this. Characters we have known and cared for are able to be ripped away and because of it, not only are other characters allowed to show true suffering especially in their incredible new performances, but it also means I was never sure if characters were safe.
The former especially manifests during my favorite portion of the story, the december that SEES spends understanding their deaths are seemingly unavoidable and yet still going out of their ways to be good to one another and spread genuine care.
Again, i've been writing this for an hour so I'll take that as an excuse to say my final thought on the game and that is this.
I.
Love.
SEES.
I love that they aren't immediately expected to get along with one another. From the beginning, they technically are nothing more than coworkers and they allow their bonds to grow from that point. It doesn't feel like the investigation team or the phantom thieves where once a new member joined they were obligated to be friends, and characters are allowed to have friction with one another outside of a stupid week long arc of leaving the team. By the end though, because they are allowed to not always be friends, they become the best family out of the three groups. Special shoutouts to Junpei who pulled an inverse Ryuji and gradually became better and better until felt an obligation to dig him out of storage to use for the final battle.
With all that being said, Persona 3 Reload is pheunomonal.
Here's hoping this isn't persona syndrome.