Persona 3 Portable has always had my favourite story and characters of any Persona game, but unfortunately the various ways in which it's aged poorly have prevented me from naming it my favourite Persona game. After the remake was announced I was cautiously optimistic, with my excitement only growing with each new trailer. This is the third game I've ever been so excited about that I preordered it.
I'm going to start with the flaws because there are not many. The lack of FeMC is really disappointing, I thought that some of the music tracks are better in their original incarnation, and I think there are a few moments where the second-person narration is a bit more effective. That's it. Those are the only flaws I can think of as of writing.
I was a little nervous about the new voice cast, but I'm glad to say that they all knocked it out of the park. Although there are a few performances from Portable that I prefer, the new cast are great. The real star of the show for me was Zeno Robinson, who was able to turn Junpei from a character who I actively disliked in the original version of the game into one of my favourites. The fully-voiced Social Links were great too.
The reworks to combat and Tartarus have turned it from a chore I hate completing into something I regularly journeyed into for fun. The combat feels like the best the series has had so far, with Theurgy making me frequently adjust my strategies so that I could unlock the attacks.
The music is great too. Although a few songs are better in Portable, the new songs are some of my favourite in the franchise. I've been listening to Full Moon Full Life on repeat and I think it might be my favourite Persona intro?
Finally, the story of Persona 3 Reload is just as great as it was in the original, and arguably even better. The new Link Episodes were really good, both preventing the SEES boys from feeling out-of-focus and exploring different aspects of them to the Female Protagonist's Social Links. The expanded sequences with Strega make them feel more fleshed out. I was sobbing for basically the entire ending.
In short, this is easily my favourite game in the Persona franchise and one of my favourites ever. A 10/10 genuinely feels too low. I highly recommend it.
I'm going to start with the flaws because there are not many. The lack of FeMC is really disappointing, I thought that some of the music tracks are better in their original incarnation, and I think there are a few moments where the second-person narration is a bit more effective. That's it. Those are the only flaws I can think of as of writing.
I was a little nervous about the new voice cast, but I'm glad to say that they all knocked it out of the park. Although there are a few performances from Portable that I prefer, the new cast are great. The real star of the show for me was Zeno Robinson, who was able to turn Junpei from a character who I actively disliked in the original version of the game into one of my favourites. The fully-voiced Social Links were great too.
The reworks to combat and Tartarus have turned it from a chore I hate completing into something I regularly journeyed into for fun. The combat feels like the best the series has had so far, with Theurgy making me frequently adjust my strategies so that I could unlock the attacks.
The music is great too. Although a few songs are better in Portable, the new songs are some of my favourite in the franchise. I've been listening to Full Moon Full Life on repeat and I think it might be my favourite Persona intro?
Finally, the story of Persona 3 Reload is just as great as it was in the original, and arguably even better. The new Link Episodes were really good, both preventing the SEES boys from feeling out-of-focus and exploring different aspects of them to the Female Protagonist's Social Links. The expanded sequences with Strega make them feel more fleshed out. I was sobbing for basically the entire ending.
In short, this is easily my favourite game in the Persona franchise and one of my favourites ever. A 10/10 genuinely feels too low. I highly recommend it.
2 Comments
@brujavirtual
I can completely understand that, I was fully prepared not to like it as much as I did because of the lack of FeMC but I ended up being won over by everything else that it does well. I've also never played FES, so the Answer not being present wasn't as much of a problem for me. I'm very glad you liked my review and I hope you end up enjoying Reload.
I can completely understand that, I was fully prepared not to like it as much as I did because of the lack of FeMC but I ended up being won over by everything else that it does well. I've also never played FES, so the Answer not being present wasn't as much of a problem for me. I'm very glad you liked my review and I hope you end up enjoying Reload.
brujavirtual
3 months ago