Why is this what I wanted the base game to be?
The world feels like an actual mixture of Bionis, Mechonis and Alrest, that is fun to explore. Not only because there is a lot to find, but because every kind of progression feeds into each other, making exploration and building field crafting just as important as fighting enemies. Besides there are often really neeatly hidden places, that will give you a reward. and be it just another accessory slot or something.
The aspects of the previous lore actually matter and play a significant part in the plot and characters from the first game actually make a meaningful appearance. A and Alha were an interesting choice for the finale, but they actually paid of and rounded out the themes of every Xenoblade game into a single cohesive narrative.
On top of that is the battle syste which is just way quicker and snappier and didn't even make me miss the customization options from the class system at all. The cutscenes don't drag as much and just have a proper pace to them.
It almost feels like the main game shot itself in the foot by being approachable for newcomers to the series instead of actually tying everything together. The meaning of life being precious and living with hope into the future hits in Future Redeemed just as well and shows what the main game could have been.
The only blemish this expansion holds is how little time it has to actually tell us about its story. There is just no space and time to have us experience the city before it gets destroyed for example (meaning to say Future Redeemed would have deserved the run-time of Xenoblade 3).
I could even imagine the two being a single game. making feel Xenoblade 3 less empty and giving Future Redeemed's plotline more space to breathe. This way, this might have become my favourite Xenoblade game but it's a very fulfilling finale to the series nevertheless

So I had this dumb idea to do a No Sword permadeath run of this game, honestly one of the nerdier things I've done. It's exactly what it sounds like, you can't use your sword, you die for good if you die, and gotta put the game on Master Mode (partially for the extra damage but mostly so you can't recover from enviro hearts). Technically it's not possible, you need the sword a few different times throughout the game, like 7 times overall, I think.

So anyway, I did end up beating this challenge and it was some of the most fun I've had in this game. I don't really know it up and down, I just kinda played it when I was a kid, but losing my sword made me realize just how well utilized my favorite things about the game are.

The reason why I even decided to try this challenge at all was because Zelda has this system that encourages interacting with environments. There are like, a lot of other weapons you can use than a sword, lots of them temporary. Personally, my favorite weapon ended up being the Skull Hammer, which was basically like my replacement for a sword, and they gave it a surprisingly versatile moveset despite the fact that most people probably wouldn't use it that much outside of specific scenarios.

It was really fun because using the Hammer kinda felt like moving to a heavy sword build in Dark Souls, and the flow of the game kinda matched that. Lots of battles became about patience and awareness of surroundings, especially since I couldn't use counters, and this made some enemies that need to be defeated in specific ways a lot more stressful (especially darknuts, who if you didn't have a bomb for them, had a small weakness hitbox on their back that you had to hit with the hammer which wasn't easy). Potions and fairies felt a lot more valuable, every new weapon felt like weight off of your back, and getting to the end was INSANELY satisfying.

Never had a chance to talk about it before so talking about it here, and to be honest I'd recommend it, but the point is the fact that the game is so interactive and well made that this challenge feels more like a fun idea than a hindrance is a lot of why I like it so much.

Also them adding selfies to this game was the best decision and I miss the miiverse every single day.

Persona 3 Reload is a fantastic Remake of Persona 3.

I don't really need to go over the basics if you know Persona 3 but I will say Reload does a lot of great things by improving characters in terms of their depth, even making characters like Ken likable.

I think the game keeps the amazing story intact but it does lose the melancholic feel though I think that's do to ATLUS not wanting to animate all scenes in 2D again but in the new style and instead went for 3D animated scenes.

The music is hit and miss, the new tracts are all fantastic and great additions to Persona 3 and the franchise like "FULL MOON, FULL LIFE", "IT'S GOING DOWN," & "COLOR YOUR NIGHT." Some of the new remixed Tracks are also fantastic... all except 1, and I don't care the compium some Persona 3 fans want to have, MASS DESTRUCTION RELOAD is ASS Destruction. People who say this new version is better than the original are smoking heavy amounts of copium, that's not to say you can't enjoy the song, I don't I think it's a violation of the ears, but anyone who says it's better than the original MASS DESTRUCTION are high.

I think the new Uniforms for S.E.E.S are a great addition along with the Thuergy abilities added to gave the game uniqueness and differentiate it from say Persona 5 and the Original Persona 3 along with FES & Portable.
I do appreciate ATLUS featuring the original costumes from Persona 3 as many were worried ATLUS removed them over the original Armbands being Armbands do to... conspiracy morons (IE some people have messed up minds and think ARMBANDS = connection to evil moustache failed painter and his army of people angry at other people for their problems).


The game looks beautiful in the new engine, and its just so awesome seeing the these beloved characters and personas in a new remade style. It's exciting since remakes for 1, 2 Duology (My favorite), and 4 Remakes are in the works. I do hope ATLUS does these remakes with the same time and care as they did for Persona 3 Reload, while respecting the esthetics of said games as well.
Meaning respecting that Persona 1 and Persona 2 Duology can be updated in terms of dungeons and combat design, while not implementing the modern calendar system and maybe social links (Persona 1 can have it, but 2 Duology's story is so tightnit you literally can't).
Persona 4 Rerun (Remake) will just be a visual overhaul since Golden is the perfect version of Persona 4, so legit remake will just look nicer. Still regardless the level of effort they put in Reload gets me excited for Persona 1, 2 Duology, and 4 Remakes.

1 Thing i don't like is how ATLUS knew people were going to ask about FEMC/Kotone Shiomi and sort of gave a halfassed "budgetary reason" as to why they didn't add her.
Fans wanted a definitive version of Persona 3, and yet now we still only have 2 versions to choose from. What I mean is ATLUS announced that in SEPTEMBER of 2024 (as of writing), they're releasing EPISODE AIGIS which is a remake of the divisive epilogue story "THE ANSWER" from FES where you play as AIGIS. Well, most fans agree it's strange how ATLUS were able to do "EPISODE AIGIS" DLC but not KOTONE/FEMC DLC. Though call the PERSONA fanbase many things, they are dedicated since now there's a nearly completed mod for PC that let's you play as Kotone, talk about dedication!

Still going back to the main point, this game, is an amazing remake of Persona 3, it does have a couple of hiccups but if you've been asking for a remake... this is an amazing one to have received. Thanks for reading and remember!

THE ARCANA IS THE MEANS BY WHICH ALL IS REVEALED...