Played about 30 hours so far, in mid to late June. Will probably update once I'm done but I have a lot of thoughts I need to get out first.

Persona 3 FES is my favorite game of all time. I have a lot of very strong feelings and nostalgia for it, just to give some context on where I am coming from. So far I have mixed feelings on this remake.

I am not a fan of some of the gameplay mechanics that were changed in the name of "modernizing" or "bringing persona 3 up to the modern persona standard". Persona 3 was Atlus' first try at making this kind of calendar-based social sim visual novel jrpg and they leaned very heavily into those elements and it was something that was very unique and enjoyable. The themes of time and death in the story also tied into these mechanics and made the game feel like a very cohesive and immersive experience. Things like tiredness and sickness made it so you had to plan which days you would go to Tartarus carefully and (tried) to prevent you from getting to a border floor in one night which added a nice layer of immersion. The AI controlled party members made you feel like you're the leader of SEES and it was cool to see your teammates learn and improve and learn new tactics as the team's relationship improved. Reload removes some these "annoying" things to make it more palatable, and I feel like it ends up losing some of its charm and feels more like a homogenized persona game, not too distinct from 4 or 5.

Also isn't it absolutely baffling that this game lets you rewind days? The entire point of Persona 3 is that time only marches forward, death is inevitable, your time is limited and you can't get it back so you need to embrace living with purpose, reject apathy, use your time wisely on things that are meaningful and important to you and make the most out of the time you have, etc. And this message is so perfectly woven into all of the gameplay mechanics and systems. And then Reload just says screw all that and lets you rewind to previous days anyway? Like what??? Sure you could just reload a save like in the original and in any other game but this is a brand new mechanic made for this remake.

Shadows are now extremely easy to avoid and get first strike on which removes a lot of fear and tension I felt exploring Tartarus in FES. (maybe this is a good thing since you don't have to hear the Mass Destruction remix) The Tartarus overhaul is visually great and a lot of fun to explore. The UI while exploring tartarus is just too much. The map takes up too way much space, I don't need to see all of the controls spelled out for me, I don't need a pseudo quest log in the top right telling me what my next objective is. It might seem nitpicky and maybe it is but I find it harms the game's atmosphere and makes Tartarus feel less immersive and scary and threatening. Theurgy is a fun new mechanic that doesn't feel broken so far. I really like how they tied the character's personalities into how they charge their gauge. I'm playing on merciless and the difficulty has been good. Hard but not too hard. I recommend it if you're familiar with persona or smt games.

The remixed music I've heard so far ranges from decent to bad. I do like the remixes of When the Moon Reaches for the Stars (shame they removed the "your love came all over me" line) and Want to be Close. Not perfect or better than the original tracks but still enjoyable. The Mass Destruction remix is mostly good but is held back by some weird mixing. I honestly like the new singer/vocals and the instrumentation mostly sounds great, but who's idea was it to make the farting frog synth so high in the mix? Did someone with ears actually listen to this and think it was ok? Unavoidable battle also has some weird mixing. Why is the bass so loud for those first 4 notes? The guitar and drums sound way too flat and clean. The intensity and chaos of the original is lost completely. Thankfully the new tracks so far are pretty good. Color Your Night is great and its nice change of pace to hear lotus juice sing, although I think the Persona 5-y keyboard intro is a bit out of place. Also why is there no option to just use the original soundtrack?

The game on a technical graphical level looks really good. The character models look great and its cool to see them lip-syncing with the dialogue. The in game cutscenes look good but do end up replacing some anime scenes from the original like the protagonists awakening and the introduction to the dark hour. The in game stuff just doesn't hit the same but hopefully they can improve on it for future persona titles or go back to doing more anime cutscenes. The game is a bit too saturated and bright at times. I don't think its as bad as some other people say but it is odd in places like the lounge. The new animated opening is great. I couldn't help but crack a smile at the Burn My Dread fakeout. The persona models are sadly blurry and jaggy and I'm not sure why. Reload also has a kind of unreal enginey "nintendo hire this man" overuse of motion blur when you sprint around. Thankfully is can be turned off on PC by editing a text file. (there's a guide on steam) The menu UI is stunning and fun to look at. Social links are now fully voiced which is great. The new voice work for the main cast is nice but I'm too attached to the original to judge it fairly. Junpei sounds slightly off at times and delivers certain lines weirdly. Yukari sounds way too timid and generic. Akihiko's VA gives the character a different more aggressive vibe at times. Mitsuru sounds almost exactly the same and Fuuka sounds great. The new link events with male party members are nice. I've only seen the first one for Junpei so far but he was characterized well in it.

Sadly neither The Answer nor the femc were included in Reload which is a shame. People have found files in the game suggesting the Answer will be released later as paid DLC which is depressing. The $70 price tag and $30 day 1 DLC for this game is also depressing but not surprising. Reload could have been the ultimate version of Persona 3 at least in terms of features and content changed/lost between FES and portable but unfortunately it is not.

This review probably comes off as very whiny and overly critical or nostalgic but its just because I have so much love for FES. I am still very much enjoying Reload and can see myself enjoying it the more I play. I just think some of the charm and atmosphere was lost along the way and it ultimately could've been something more.