Atlus did it again! They reloaded the depression I felt after watching Persona's most melancholic ending ever. And I loved it all over again...
This might be one of the finest remakes I've ever played. Faithful to the core (too faithful, at times), and filled with accurate QOL improvements. Some of what I said about Persona 3 in my old review for the original still stands. But the whole game was refined.
You'll notice the difference right away. This game looks great! Not because its graphics are high-end, but because of how stylish and beautiful everything is. It contrasts a little to how FES looks, but it does its own thing. It feels like a very stunning saturated painting. Atlus is known for its stylish games, but this one, aesthetically, rivals P5.
After sorting through how good it looks, you'll get to how good it plays. And THANK GOD they polished it up! Did you play P3 or P4? Then you're home! But now you'll see how smoother it is. Grinding is not necessary, the challenge is more accessible, everything is faster, they filled Tartarus with new little details to make things a less sluggish, new small features to do while dungeon crawling, and even Shuffle Time is better.
ALSO, YOU CAN CONTROL ALL PARTY MEMBERS!!!!
And it's not just the meat of the gameplay that improved. The story got a small shine as well. The new translation sounds much better, writing flows well, there are new events with party members you couldn't interact much in the original, classic social links are all there and, plenty new stuff to do that helps the pacing and character motivation/backstory. They didn't change much, but improved upon it. I loved that characters like Aragaki, Chidori and even Aragaki gained a more screentime now. Made me appreciate the cast and story even more.
There are little things that FES did better, and some old flaws remain, but nothing terrible.
The tone, for example. Sure, the new artstyle is great, but the original feels much more moody and creepy. Even the anime scenes were more experimental then. It also took a bit of that mid-2000s feeling. Voice actors changed too. While they did a fantastic job, I still prefer how weird they most of them sounded back then. The music still sounds phenomenal, specially the new songs, like the new combat one, but some of the mixing in the original was better. It sounds cleaner now, which helps a few songs, like the school themes, but kinda takes the shine out of others, like the dorm theme.
And Tartarus is still... well, it still sucks. Much better now, for sure, since combat and traversing was improved. No more "fatigue", for example. But, like the original, just hurts the game's pacing. Even with everything new. But you'll get through that, for sure.
You'll get through because this game is fantastic! Feels like visiting old friends, but they all look better now. And if this is your first time here, well, lucky you! You'll get to experience my second favorite Persona game in its best shape.
Now they just HAVE to remake Persona 4...
This might be one of the finest remakes I've ever played. Faithful to the core (too faithful, at times), and filled with accurate QOL improvements. Some of what I said about Persona 3 in my old review for the original still stands. But the whole game was refined.
You'll notice the difference right away. This game looks great! Not because its graphics are high-end, but because of how stylish and beautiful everything is. It contrasts a little to how FES looks, but it does its own thing. It feels like a very stunning saturated painting. Atlus is known for its stylish games, but this one, aesthetically, rivals P5.
After sorting through how good it looks, you'll get to how good it plays. And THANK GOD they polished it up! Did you play P3 or P4? Then you're home! But now you'll see how smoother it is. Grinding is not necessary, the challenge is more accessible, everything is faster, they filled Tartarus with new little details to make things a less sluggish, new small features to do while dungeon crawling, and even Shuffle Time is better.
ALSO, YOU CAN CONTROL ALL PARTY MEMBERS!!!!
And it's not just the meat of the gameplay that improved. The story got a small shine as well. The new translation sounds much better, writing flows well, there are new events with party members you couldn't interact much in the original, classic social links are all there and, plenty new stuff to do that helps the pacing and character motivation/backstory. They didn't change much, but improved upon it. I loved that characters like Aragaki, Chidori and even Aragaki gained a more screentime now. Made me appreciate the cast and story even more.
There are little things that FES did better, and some old flaws remain, but nothing terrible.
The tone, for example. Sure, the new artstyle is great, but the original feels much more moody and creepy. Even the anime scenes were more experimental then. It also took a bit of that mid-2000s feeling. Voice actors changed too. While they did a fantastic job, I still prefer how weird they most of them sounded back then. The music still sounds phenomenal, specially the new songs, like the new combat one, but some of the mixing in the original was better. It sounds cleaner now, which helps a few songs, like the school themes, but kinda takes the shine out of others, like the dorm theme.
And Tartarus is still... well, it still sucks. Much better now, for sure, since combat and traversing was improved. No more "fatigue", for example. But, like the original, just hurts the game's pacing. Even with everything new. But you'll get through that, for sure.
You'll get through because this game is fantastic! Feels like visiting old friends, but they all look better now. And if this is your first time here, well, lucky you! You'll get to experience my second favorite Persona game in its best shape.
Now they just HAVE to remake Persona 4...