I am a much different person now than I was when I first played persona 3. I was a clueless freshman in high school, just going about my days, chilling with my friends, and being the massive nerd that I was, not knowing a pandemic was a month away from fucking everything up. Now I'm a freshman in college, and while I'm still a massive nerd, I've started feeling a little more detached from the persona series since graduating high school. I don't know, maybe I can't relate to it as much any more, or something like that. But no matter what happens to my opinions over time about the rest of the series, my feelings on Persona 3, and now Persona 3 Reload will never change.
Back then, it made me realize that, well, death is inevitable. Doesn't matter who you are, you will die. I mean, I knew that before I played the game, sorta, but Persona 3 just made me realize the full extent of it. It fucked me up, but in the best way possible. And now here I am, 4 years later, coming away with an entirely different message than before. It's kind of hard to even put into words really, especially with tears streaming down my face, but it goes something like this: I am so damn lucky to be where I am in life. All my friends, my family, all the memories I've made in high school and am making now in college. This game was sort of a wake up call for me to just stop for a second, stop worrying about the future, or the past, for just a moment and just look back at everything that's happened to me and appreciate it. Honestly, this might be the most I've ever emotionally connected to a video game, ever. I've gotten more invested in better stories that have gotten me more emotional over said stories and their characters, but I've never had a game just sit me down, slap me upside the head and tell me to just stop fucking worrying for a second, just a single damn second and realize what you have, and cherish it. So, thank you, Atlus. Thank you for creating this masterpiece.
OK. CHEESY STUFF DONE. So how's the actual game?
Yeah, the game itself is amazing too, though I do have my gripes. First of all, I need Atlus to please stop it with the oversexualization. Using it as a plot point, like with Ann in Persona 5, can work, but it gets really annoying having the characters show up to a hot spring and knowing that the next 5 minutes are about the be the cringiest thing you will ever witness. Got that? Thank you.
The gameplay here is easily the best in the series. Tartarus is actually fun to explore now, what with the monad doors and the switching up of the layouts of floors, and the actual turn based combat is the best one more style combat has ever been. Theurgies are awesome, and getting to oneshot the reaper with armageddon was immensely satisfying. The visual overhaul here is also unbelievable. Every new floor of tartarus I visited had my jaw on the floor from how good it looked, and of course the every day stuff is still very, very good looking. The social links here I think are at their best too. Everyone deserves to experience Akinari's social link at least once in their life. Also, of course, the soundtrack is still one of the best in gaming, and the new versions mostly do it justice, with some being insane improvements (CHANGING SEASONS -RELOAD- MY BELOVED)
Really, my gripes about this game are really minor stuff, like the pacing can be a bit slow at times, and this one shot after the final boss from the original wasn't in reload, or like, three of the new remixes are a little worse than their originals, and I do wish the script was altered less, but none of that is really enough to change my overall opinion on the game. It's good. It's really good. 105 hours to beat the game is a lot, though... maybe I should start saving games this long for summer. In high school I could blast through a game this long in a couple weeks, but this time it took me two full months. I just have way less time now than I did then. but eh, it is what it is.
anyways, yeah, my point is, if you have the time, play this game. It's one of the best dungeon crawlers out there, and just might change your life, like it has mine, twice over.
Back then, it made me realize that, well, death is inevitable. Doesn't matter who you are, you will die. I mean, I knew that before I played the game, sorta, but Persona 3 just made me realize the full extent of it. It fucked me up, but in the best way possible. And now here I am, 4 years later, coming away with an entirely different message than before. It's kind of hard to even put into words really, especially with tears streaming down my face, but it goes something like this: I am so damn lucky to be where I am in life. All my friends, my family, all the memories I've made in high school and am making now in college. This game was sort of a wake up call for me to just stop for a second, stop worrying about the future, or the past, for just a moment and just look back at everything that's happened to me and appreciate it. Honestly, this might be the most I've ever emotionally connected to a video game, ever. I've gotten more invested in better stories that have gotten me more emotional over said stories and their characters, but I've never had a game just sit me down, slap me upside the head and tell me to just stop fucking worrying for a second, just a single damn second and realize what you have, and cherish it. So, thank you, Atlus. Thank you for creating this masterpiece.
OK. CHEESY STUFF DONE. So how's the actual game?
Yeah, the game itself is amazing too, though I do have my gripes. First of all, I need Atlus to please stop it with the oversexualization. Using it as a plot point, like with Ann in Persona 5, can work, but it gets really annoying having the characters show up to a hot spring and knowing that the next 5 minutes are about the be the cringiest thing you will ever witness. Got that? Thank you.
The gameplay here is easily the best in the series. Tartarus is actually fun to explore now, what with the monad doors and the switching up of the layouts of floors, and the actual turn based combat is the best one more style combat has ever been. Theurgies are awesome, and getting to oneshot the reaper with armageddon was immensely satisfying. The visual overhaul here is also unbelievable. Every new floor of tartarus I visited had my jaw on the floor from how good it looked, and of course the every day stuff is still very, very good looking. The social links here I think are at their best too. Everyone deserves to experience Akinari's social link at least once in their life. Also, of course, the soundtrack is still one of the best in gaming, and the new versions mostly do it justice, with some being insane improvements (CHANGING SEASONS -RELOAD- MY BELOVED)
Really, my gripes about this game are really minor stuff, like the pacing can be a bit slow at times, and this one shot after the final boss from the original wasn't in reload, or like, three of the new remixes are a little worse than their originals, and I do wish the script was altered less, but none of that is really enough to change my overall opinion on the game. It's good. It's really good. 105 hours to beat the game is a lot, though... maybe I should start saving games this long for summer. In high school I could blast through a game this long in a couple weeks, but this time it took me two full months. I just have way less time now than I did then. but eh, it is what it is.
anyways, yeah, my point is, if you have the time, play this game. It's one of the best dungeon crawlers out there, and just might change your life, like it has mine, twice over.