--Memento Mori--
When I was young, I became aware of death pretty quickly. Growing up in various poor parts of Los Angeles, I was exposed to a lot of the harshest aspects of life. Many people I knew fell in with the wrong crowds—were at the wrong place at the wrong time—weren’t given a chance to live. Up until I was about 19, nearly all of my dreams at night were about my own end. Death was all around me. But being aware of death and understanding it are two very different things. Persona 3 acknowledges this and does its best to teach you the difference.

“The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate... Entrusting his future to the cards, he clings to a dim hope. Attaining one's dream requires a stern will and unfailing determination."

Originally released back in 2006, Persona 3 was the game to create and cement the modern Persona formula made more popular by Persona 4 and exploding into the mainstream with overnight acclaim in Persona 5. As an architect of its own genre, Persona 3 lacked many elements that later fans would come to love and expect from the series. Far from as alienating as the three games preceding it, Persona 3 still found itself in this space of “outdated” design by many people. While I strongly disagree with that mentality, it is ultimately what lead to Persona 3 Reload—released only a month prior to this review.

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... The silent voice within one's heart whispers the most profound wisdom."

My journey into the realm of Persona, and by extension, the greater Megami Tensei franchise is a bit odd. Rather than starting with one of the more popular RPG titles, I was exposed to what would later become my favorite series through Persona 4 Arena—a 2D fighting game spin-off of Persona 3’s successor. After struggling to find a character I truly resonated with, I researched the series a bit and found Persona 3. I was immediately enticed by its protagonist’s design, the blue color scheme, and most notably—Thanatos.

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... Celebrate life's grandeur...It's brilliance...It's magnificence..."

I immediately found a way to… acquire the game and played it start to finish in a matter of days. I was hooked. The core gameplay, the music, the presentation was all right up my alley. But more than that, its theme and its characters resonated with me immensely. Persona 3 came to me at the perfect time. In 2012, I was in my final year of high school about to enter the real world at 17 with no sense of direction and no vision of the future. Completely aimless—lost, even.

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... Only courage in the face of doubt can lead one to the answer..."

Each of P Studios’ titles follow a theme based on a major arcana tarot card starting with Persona 3: Arcana XIII—Death. While each title under their belt carries their themes with conviction, Persona 3’s commitment to death stands out even amongst its brethren. Everyone will and must confront mortality in their life. Death will befall our friends, our family, our pets, and ourselves. There is no exception. Persona 3 highlights this with each core character (and most of its side cast) having experienced a major death in their life, leading them onto the path they currently walk. As a necessary hard stop in our lives, death changes us in different ways. Some lash out in anger, others may retreat into themselves, and some may sever all ties as a means to prevent that familiar pain from returning. But eventually, you will have to face it, one way or another.

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... It is indeed a precious gift to understand the forces that guide oneself..."

I was an apathetic teenager. I had no sense of self-worth, and I often found myself drifting off into daydreams about the end and how it would come. What the world would be like afterward. What would change. I wasn’t suicidal—far from it, really. I was simply carrying on each day without direction or meaning. I had friends, and I was relatively popular with most people… but I felt empty. People came and went from my life, and it was just something to be expected. Nothing to be mourned or understood—it simply was.

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... There is both joy and wonder in coming to understand the hearts of others..."

This all changed when I met the love of my life. As cliché as it may sound, she breathed life into me. And not in some quirky, fantasy woman way. Over time, on my own accord, I found myself wanting to do things. Wanting to be with people. Wanting to create memories and cherish them. Treating people with kindness over dismissive nonchalance. Opening up to people, and creating meaningful bonds. Understanding death means understanding life, and while I met her a few months prior… this was also 2012.

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... One of the greatest blessings attained from the gift of life is the freedom to pursue one's personal goals..."

What is there new to say about the Persona formula known the world over through Persona 5? Not much, I imagine, so I’ll keep it brief. As Makoto Yuki, you return to Tatsumi Port Island ten years after a world-changing incident that brought about the Dark Hour—a hidden 25th hour in each day unbeknownst to those without Potential—the ability to manifest your inner psyche as a weapon known as Persona. Together with your comrades, you battle Shadows—amalgamations of the darkness within people given form—in an attempt to return the world to a state of normalcy. The game follows a hybrid formula of dungeon-crawling with turn-based JRPG battles and life simulation visual novel-type character moments. The two aspects support one another brilliantly and flow together in a cocktail of satisfying gameplay and memorable writing.

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... To find the one true path, one must seek guidance amidst uncertainty..."

So, what’s different in Reload? Besides the visual updates, many quality of life changes have been made for modern audiences to get into and not get so filtered. Tartarus by nature will continue to do that to some degree, but the pain newcomers will feel has been heavily subdued. Battles are lightning quick now and every minor aspect has a neat little flourish to it not present in the original. The game’s balancing has had tweaks to make boss fights less of a pushover as well.

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... It requires great courage to look within oneself, and forge one's own path..."

While that’s all well and good, the real meat of Reload for me are the story additions and full voice acting for all Social Links. In the original Persona 3, Makoto could not spend time with male party members outside of combat. They did not have Social Links in any form, and as such, did not get fleshed out to the same degree as the female cast members. This has been rectified with the addition of new Link Episodes—optional events with each character that provide just as much if not more memorable scenes for these characters than Social Links ever have. Without exaggeration, these are my favorite moments of Persona 3 Reload outside of its main story.

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... Ever-present alongside time is fortune, cruel and unflinching."

In addition to the party member Link Episodes are new scenes involving Strega that make them feel more like people inhabiting the same world and less like laughable obstacles to trounce with a single auto-attack. Ryoji Mochizuki—a prominent character in the late game—also receives this treatment and the game shines brilliantly when these moments arise.

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... One needs strength to endure, and rise above suffering and torment."

The voice acting in Reload is superb nearly all around. While I have some issues with Yukari’s new voice actress, she’s far from detrimental. The rest of the cast really crush it the whole way through with extra shout outs to Zeno Robinson as Junpei Iori and Alejandro Saab as Akihiko Sanada. The former was perfect in every moment, happy and sad, and the latter proved me wrong after my first impressions. That said, the music is unfortunately a mixed bag. Many of the remixes fall short compared to the original (“Burn My Dread -Final Battle-“) but all of the original tracks made for this title are incredible. Special mentions to “Color Your Night” and “It’s Going Down” for two of my new favorites in the series.

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... In the face of unavoidable disaster lies the opportunity to search for redemption."

Persona 3 Reload is by no means a perfect game. Hell, if you asked me, it doesn’t need to exist in the first place. But even through all my doubts, I am glad it does. While at the time of writing this review, it does not have The Answer in any capacity, there have been rumors and leaks aplenty pointing to that inevitability. Even without that, however, I feel confident in saying that Reload is the best way to experience The Journey, and I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys this series, JRPGs, or memorable storytelling.

"The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate... Entrusting his future to the cards, man clings to a dim hope. Yet, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... Beyond the journey you have taken lies the absolute end. It matters not who you are... One thing is always certain: Death awaits all."

FINAL FANTASY VII is my childhood game—the one that shaped who I would become through my adolescence. Similarly, Persona 3 was the game that began my adulthood. It was a game that came to me at just the right time and showed me why life is important and why we should get out there and live it. Persona 3 Reload is a fantastic, faithful remake that I now cherish alongside the original. Playing Reload was like revisiting an old friend that you’ve longed to see again after all these years. As soon as I picked it up, and even know after clearing it 100% through two playthroughs, I still feel sad to let it go. This game—whether it’s the original release, FES, or Reload—will forever have a place with me.

"No one can escape time; it delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes."

It's a bit melancholic for me to sit here airing my laundry list of everything I didn't like about this game, because it's been a part of me for a huge chunk of my life. I've played and replayed it countless times and every time I've enjoyed it thoroughly. But time marches on, our perspectives change, and now I think it's time to put this one to rest.

For the full experience, play this while reading the review, then let it run to the end. Then play it through once more.

In almost every aspect, Pokemon XD feels like a sanitised version of Colosseum. Edges are sanded down and smoothened out, but done so with no real regard for the quality of the end result, and Colosseum draws a lot of its appeal from those edges. That's not to say XD is a bad game, and it definitely deals with some of the more frustrating parts of its prequel, but the finished product isn't necessarily a better one; moreso just different.

Take, for one, the battle encounters. When I ask you to think of any encounter from Colosseum, what's the first one that comes to mind? Is it Dakim and his Protect/Earthquake spam? Evice Skill Swapping into his Slaking? Or maybe Miror. B, the first main boss of the game with a team of four Ludicolo? The regular trainers don't tend to have all that much going on (though sometimes they do!), but they put a lot of care into the main bosses and it shows. Now, what do you think of when you do the same for XD? Well, I saw a Mt. Battle trainer use Toxic on their other Pokemon earlier to boost Facade and honestly that was more interesting than anything the bosses did. If that thought experiment didn't work, we can make a more direct comparison between Dakim (Colosseum) and Gorigan (XD), since their teams revolve around the same gimmick. And we don't even need to dive deep to see the difference - Gorigan's Earthquake-spamming team doesn't even have any Ground types!! And his is the most interesting team! The other bosses explore a single neat idea, but never fully commit to anything; their teams are otherwise unfocused and lacking in identity, unlike their Colosseum counterparts.

But while XD leaves encounter design at the wayside, it focuses far more on your own teambuilding. The roster in XD is far richer, giving you access to a much stronger set of Pokemon with a much more diverse and interesting spread from each region. Poke Coupons can be earned without grinding Mt. Battle ad nauseum (though granted the alternative isn't great either), meaning those TMs are accessible with a bit less of a headache - and speaking of TMs, you can buy Protect reasonably early! Though these positives don't even come without a dark side, particularly the breadth of Pokemon - there's a great number of Pokemon to catch, but in a game where you're expected to catch every Pokemon put in front of you, it really starts to feel like bloat. Walking through Citadark going through wave after wave of trainers with multiple shadows, I can't help but think to myself - why am I bothering to catch them? And you obviously can choose not to - you can even get them again later in this game - but when one of the goals of the game is ostensibly to catch and purify all the Shadow Pokemon, it does a great job of making you not want to catch them.

It feels bad going in as hard as I did on this game; like I said, it's not even bad - it's even fun at times! - and it does have a fair few strong aspects, though most are shared with Colosseum. Double battles are still deeply enriching to an otherwise flavourless combat system, and the act of having to catch Shadow Pokemon mid-battle adds further decision-making in battle and even when putting a team together. But 30 hours in and staring down the final stretch of the game, thinking about how my Colosseum playthrough had a satisfying end in half the time - I just can't stop thinking about how much I want it to end.

Pretty much the definition of an average dating sim. Definitely not bad but not particularly special. Setting I guess sets it apart a little bit, but not too much. I will say having the "confession event" for this be a really contrived wedding photoshoot at an amusement park your company runs is very funny. "Oh no I messed up hiring the models, looks like you'll have to be the groom and uhh pick out someone to be the bride." (As you do?)

It seemed pretty low budget so I won't criticize it too much, it did well if it truly was made with little money, but man did it not feel like there was enough to do for 2 years even. By the end of the game I had almost maxed out everything without even trying. Also pretty much no variety for the date events, which also isn't surprising given it's all voice acted.

Managed to date the president of the company first run so I see no reason to play more, I'm married into money now I can just ｃｈｉｌｌｏｕｔ.