2 reviews liked by Joakechi
Persona 3 Reload
2024
P3 being one of my favorite games of all time, my expectations were extremely high.. and.. well.. i'm speechless.
Persona 3 is unique. The story is fantastic, going through several phases, leading the characters to ups and downs, but above all very human reactions, leading to arguments and disagreements.
They're not all powerful, and they're not fearless; just teenagers facing a destiny they never asked for.
Reload is really good for readapting such a beautiful story.
The game is wonderfully beautiful, the graphics are mind-blowing and the UI design never failed us, as atlus never disappoints.
The new additions are really cool, like the boy's social events, the study sessions for the exam or the nighttime activities at the dorm.
Some notable scenes are more inspired by the film versions than the original game, which i find really great (cause a lot of them are way better) and that will make you really emotional.
For the battle, the gameplay is... STUNNING
I didn't even know it was possible for a turn based RPG to have fights so enjoyable and satisfying. It will make you want to do 72hours of tartartus straight, which is also amazing : the redesign of tartarus is gorgeous, and the exploration side which could seem a little repetitive has disappeared.
The additions of theurgy and redesign of all-out-attack are also fantastic, making the fights way more lively.
The soundtrack which was already a classic is still kicking. I was skeptical with the leave of Yumi Kawamura, but Azumi Takahashi did a great job anyway (even if some soundtracks lack a little punch compared to the old ones). Lotus Juice are still just as good after all this time.
Basically, my expectations were high, but Reload met them.
Despite everything, Reload changes a few elements, whether it's the way certain dialogues turn out, or its atmosphere can be too colorful, and I think that it is nevertheless impossible to reproduce the very essence of the original.
But anyway i think it's a great way today to discover the magnificence of Persona 3 and its SEES, which for me is one of the best protagonist groups in a video game.
Persona 3 is unique. The story is fantastic, going through several phases, leading the characters to ups and downs, but above all very human reactions, leading to arguments and disagreements.
They're not all powerful, and they're not fearless; just teenagers facing a destiny they never asked for.
Reload is really good for readapting such a beautiful story.
The game is wonderfully beautiful, the graphics are mind-blowing and the UI design never failed us, as atlus never disappoints.
The new additions are really cool, like the boy's social events, the study sessions for the exam or the nighttime activities at the dorm.
Some notable scenes are more inspired by the film versions than the original game, which i find really great (cause a lot of them are way better) and that will make you really emotional.
For the battle, the gameplay is... STUNNING
I didn't even know it was possible for a turn based RPG to have fights so enjoyable and satisfying. It will make you want to do 72hours of tartartus straight, which is also amazing : the redesign of tartarus is gorgeous, and the exploration side which could seem a little repetitive has disappeared.
The additions of theurgy and redesign of all-out-attack are also fantastic, making the fights way more lively.
The soundtrack which was already a classic is still kicking. I was skeptical with the leave of Yumi Kawamura, but Azumi Takahashi did a great job anyway (even if some soundtracks lack a little punch compared to the old ones). Lotus Juice are still just as good after all this time.
Basically, my expectations were high, but Reload met them.
Despite everything, Reload changes a few elements, whether it's the way certain dialogues turn out, or its atmosphere can be too colorful, and I think that it is nevertheless impossible to reproduce the very essence of the original.
But anyway i think it's a great way today to discover the magnificence of Persona 3 and its SEES, which for me is one of the best protagonist groups in a video game.
Persona 3 Reload
2024
Just to get this out of the way - the rating is for the experience as a game itself. I have some gripes with it as the third rerelease of this game, but on its own this has some of the strongest gameplay and story I’ve ever seen in a video game. This is a new all time favorite for me.
Persona 3 is a game I’ve had a very complicated relationship with over time. The first time I played it years ago, I was honestly quite disappointed with it. I felt the pacing was terrible, the gameplay mechanics were counterintuitive, and the story was underwhelming compared to 4 and 5 which had recently become two of my favorite games of all time. For years after my first playthrough I championed it as my dream remake, something with amazing ideas that needed the further refinement that would come in its sequels.
Over time, something strange has started to happen. As I’ve gotten older, my perspective on games has changed a lot. Aspects that I previously wrote off, such as the tactics system or Tartarus in general, I grew to appreciate as unique design decisions instead of just artifacts of the game’s age like I had initially assumed. In short, I realized that during my first playthrough, I wanted the game to be more like its successors and less like itself.
And so by the time Persona 3 Reload was finally announced, I found myself oddly unenthused, especially considering it had been a dream project of mine for years. The absence of the FeMC from Portable and the noticeably budgeted visuals only added to my lack of enthusiasm. Future trailers definitely started to look better, but I had finally arrived at a position internally that I would have scoffed at years ago: “why bother remaking Persona 3? FES is fine as is, it just needs a remaster.”
Actually playing the game for myself though, while I was originally pessimistic, I was won over extremely quickly, sucked into the inescapable gameplay loop of Persona once again. I was loving the new combat, the more refined social mechanics, everything about it really. Jump to 80 hours later, and I’m staring at the credits through my tear stained glasses, realizing I’ve just experienced what is now one of my favorite games of all time.
And so my position on this project has changed one last time: Yes, Persona 3 was fine as is. But this is better.
But unfortunately, some parts of Reload are almost inarguably NOT better than the original, specifically regarding the game’s presentation. For some reason I will never understand, the entire soundtrack was re-recorded, and every single song is quite easily worse than the original. Atlus is clearly aware of how much these soundtracks mean to their fans, so their decision to overwrite it without an option to use the original is pretty baffling to me. The new songs are pretty great though!
In terms of visuals, nearly everything is overbrightened for seemingly no reason. Turning the in game brightness down definitely helps quite a bit, but it also makes certain sections that take place in dark areas nearly impossible to navigate. On top of that, the anime cutscenes are all noticeably less creatively directed than the original, some having been replaced entirely with in game cutscenes.
By far the two worst offenders come right at the start of the game, with the first Apathy Syndrome victim and Awakening being so much less striking that it’s impossible to ignore, and generally leaving a horrible first impression. The game is never this bad again, but it only makes the presentation of these scenes more perplexing.
For what it’s worth though, I found the key emotional moments of the game to hit harder here than they did in FES (I went back to rewatch to confirm I’m not misremembering, and I still feel this way). Specifically, the events on October 4th, November 22nd, and March 5th were all rendered with the game’s 3D assets, but despite this I found the overhauled presentation of these scenes to be quite effective and made the emotional punch hit harder for me personally.
In general, I found it pretty easy to ignore the presentation issues the further I got into the game. Partially because I just got used to them, but I think mostly because I was so engaged in everything else to care.
The gameplay here is a staggering improvement over the original. I feel like this remake generally strikes a great balance of keeping the mechanics that made the original P3 unique (split physical skills, three social stats, etc) while also cutting the fat in certain areas that were more annoying than anything (fatigue). It hasn’t been homogenized to play like 5 is basically what I’m trying to get at which I think was the right call, but it still takes some of the best cues from 5 (baton pass!!!).
Tartarus has been expanded a lot in a very good way, I love how different each block feels now, I love the monad doors, I love the reworked shuffle time mechanics, I love managing Twilight Fragments, basically everything. It all felt so much less monotonous than before and even by the very end of the game I was never bored of it.
The story is recreated extremely faithfully, beat by beat there will be no surprises here if you’re familiar with the original. Very refreshing seeing as how lots of recent remakes, even some of the best, don’t stick to the original script nearly as much as they should imo. That’s not to say the story hasn’t been altered at all though, as the new additions in the forms of link episodes are extremely strong and suit the story in a very natural way. Shinjiro’s was especially powerful to me.
But honestly, most of the reason I found myself so much more engrossed in the story this time around just comes down to me being a different person now than I was all those years ago. I think being in college now has helped me to connect with a story about dorming students with time in their hands and no overbearing parental figures. I think my revised expectations helped a lot, when I wasn’t expecting an episodic structure I didn’t find the pacing nearly as glacial. And I think the maturity and nuance of these characters appeals to me now a lot more than it used to, everyone here is exceptionally well written.
Another thing I came to appreciate much more this time is how Persona 3 has by far the most developed main theme in the series. As often as people make out P3 as the edgy one obsessed with death, it’s really all about life and appreciating the time that you have. For as sad as this game can be at points it’s so much more hopeful than anything else. When framed this way, it’s so obvious that this was the game in the series that invented the social link structure. Every day matters, and you won’t get to do everything you want to, but that only makes the time that you do spend with everyone all the more important and meaningful. Life can end at any moment, so don’t waste it.
I’m so happy to say that I unquestionably LOVE Persona 3 now. It was always an outlier in quality in my head but that couldn’t be further from the truth at this point, and while Reload is absolutely my favorite version, I really don’t think it would be all that different if I went back and replayed FES, which I intend to do someday. Absolute must play of a JRPG if you have the time to commit to it.
Persona 3 is a game I’ve had a very complicated relationship with over time. The first time I played it years ago, I was honestly quite disappointed with it. I felt the pacing was terrible, the gameplay mechanics were counterintuitive, and the story was underwhelming compared to 4 and 5 which had recently become two of my favorite games of all time. For years after my first playthrough I championed it as my dream remake, something with amazing ideas that needed the further refinement that would come in its sequels.
Over time, something strange has started to happen. As I’ve gotten older, my perspective on games has changed a lot. Aspects that I previously wrote off, such as the tactics system or Tartarus in general, I grew to appreciate as unique design decisions instead of just artifacts of the game’s age like I had initially assumed. In short, I realized that during my first playthrough, I wanted the game to be more like its successors and less like itself.
And so by the time Persona 3 Reload was finally announced, I found myself oddly unenthused, especially considering it had been a dream project of mine for years. The absence of the FeMC from Portable and the noticeably budgeted visuals only added to my lack of enthusiasm. Future trailers definitely started to look better, but I had finally arrived at a position internally that I would have scoffed at years ago: “why bother remaking Persona 3? FES is fine as is, it just needs a remaster.”
Actually playing the game for myself though, while I was originally pessimistic, I was won over extremely quickly, sucked into the inescapable gameplay loop of Persona once again. I was loving the new combat, the more refined social mechanics, everything about it really. Jump to 80 hours later, and I’m staring at the credits through my tear stained glasses, realizing I’ve just experienced what is now one of my favorite games of all time.
And so my position on this project has changed one last time: Yes, Persona 3 was fine as is. But this is better.
But unfortunately, some parts of Reload are almost inarguably NOT better than the original, specifically regarding the game’s presentation. For some reason I will never understand, the entire soundtrack was re-recorded, and every single song is quite easily worse than the original. Atlus is clearly aware of how much these soundtracks mean to their fans, so their decision to overwrite it without an option to use the original is pretty baffling to me. The new songs are pretty great though!
In terms of visuals, nearly everything is overbrightened for seemingly no reason. Turning the in game brightness down definitely helps quite a bit, but it also makes certain sections that take place in dark areas nearly impossible to navigate. On top of that, the anime cutscenes are all noticeably less creatively directed than the original, some having been replaced entirely with in game cutscenes.
By far the two worst offenders come right at the start of the game, with the first Apathy Syndrome victim and Awakening being so much less striking that it’s impossible to ignore, and generally leaving a horrible first impression. The game is never this bad again, but it only makes the presentation of these scenes more perplexing.
For what it’s worth though, I found the key emotional moments of the game to hit harder here than they did in FES (I went back to rewatch to confirm I’m not misremembering, and I still feel this way). Specifically, the events on October 4th, November 22nd, and March 5th were all rendered with the game’s 3D assets, but despite this I found the overhauled presentation of these scenes to be quite effective and made the emotional punch hit harder for me personally.
In general, I found it pretty easy to ignore the presentation issues the further I got into the game. Partially because I just got used to them, but I think mostly because I was so engaged in everything else to care.
The gameplay here is a staggering improvement over the original. I feel like this remake generally strikes a great balance of keeping the mechanics that made the original P3 unique (split physical skills, three social stats, etc) while also cutting the fat in certain areas that were more annoying than anything (fatigue). It hasn’t been homogenized to play like 5 is basically what I’m trying to get at which I think was the right call, but it still takes some of the best cues from 5 (baton pass!!!).
Tartarus has been expanded a lot in a very good way, I love how different each block feels now, I love the monad doors, I love the reworked shuffle time mechanics, I love managing Twilight Fragments, basically everything. It all felt so much less monotonous than before and even by the very end of the game I was never bored of it.
The story is recreated extremely faithfully, beat by beat there will be no surprises here if you’re familiar with the original. Very refreshing seeing as how lots of recent remakes, even some of the best, don’t stick to the original script nearly as much as they should imo. That’s not to say the story hasn’t been altered at all though, as the new additions in the forms of link episodes are extremely strong and suit the story in a very natural way. Shinjiro’s was especially powerful to me.
But honestly, most of the reason I found myself so much more engrossed in the story this time around just comes down to me being a different person now than I was all those years ago. I think being in college now has helped me to connect with a story about dorming students with time in their hands and no overbearing parental figures. I think my revised expectations helped a lot, when I wasn’t expecting an episodic structure I didn’t find the pacing nearly as glacial. And I think the maturity and nuance of these characters appeals to me now a lot more than it used to, everyone here is exceptionally well written.
Another thing I came to appreciate much more this time is how Persona 3 has by far the most developed main theme in the series. As often as people make out P3 as the edgy one obsessed with death, it’s really all about life and appreciating the time that you have. For as sad as this game can be at points it’s so much more hopeful than anything else. When framed this way, it’s so obvious that this was the game in the series that invented the social link structure. Every day matters, and you won’t get to do everything you want to, but that only makes the time that you do spend with everyone all the more important and meaningful. Life can end at any moment, so don’t waste it.
I’m so happy to say that I unquestionably LOVE Persona 3 now. It was always an outlier in quality in my head but that couldn’t be further from the truth at this point, and while Reload is absolutely my favorite version, I really don’t think it would be all that different if I went back and replayed FES, which I intend to do someday. Absolute must play of a JRPG if you have the time to commit to it.