Persona 3 Reload

Persona 3 Reload (abbreviated to P3R or P3RE) is a role-playing video game published by Atlus, who also co-developed the game with P-Studio. It is a modern remake of Persona 3.

Persona 3 Reload has been remade from scratch to match the scale of Persona 5. The remake is specifically based on the original Persona 3, rather than the game's other enhanced ports, FES and Portable. Although it includes changes and additions from these games, it does not include the female protagonist or The Answer epilogue during its initial launch.^[2][3]

The game was officially announced in June 2023, and was released on February 2nd, 2024 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows via Steam and the Microsoft Store. It is also available from launch on Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

In March 6th, 2024, Atlus announced they would release an Expansion Pack which includes a remake of Persona 3 FES's The Answer, this time known as Episode Aigis - The Answer, soundtracks for Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal and Velvet Costumes.^[4]

Changes from the original Persona 3[]

Aesthetic Changes[]

• The game's aesthetics have been overhauled, including character designs and sprites, the GUI, the map models and their contents.
  • Specific additions include a minimap, an objectives bar below the date and moon phase, and NPCs that fill up areas in the world such as the halls of Gekkoukan High School and the dance floor of Club Escapade.
• The game includes newly arranged music and original compositions, with Atsushi Kitajoh as main composer.^[5]
  • Rapper Lotus Juice returned as a male vocalist, and Azumi Takahashi was introduced as a new female vocalist.
  • A new player advantage battle theme "It's Going Down Now" was composed. A rearranged version of the original theme, "Mass Destruction," is used for regular battles.
• The game features new animated cutscenes, but some original scenes have been remade in 3D.

• Combat aesthetics have been improved:
  • Cut-ins are animated and dynamic.
  • The protagonist and the party have different victory poses.
  • Every party member has their own Finishing Touch by ending a battle via All-out Attack.
    • Shuffle Time interrupts finishing touches mid-way.
  • Using a new party member's Persona for the first time plays a unique cinematic of them summoning their Persona.
• After June 13th, all members of S.E.E.S can wear customized equipment which includes new numbered armband designs. Although the gear is applied in animated and cinematic cutscenes, it is optional in combat.

Story and Gameplay Changes[]

• New side stories in the form of "Linked Episodes" have been added for certain characters, separate from the Social Link mechanic.^[2] These events are held with the male members of SEES, Takaya Sakaki and Ryoji Mochizuki.^[6] They are only available during certain periods in the story, and watching specific Linked Episodes will reward with combat and Social stat boosts and unlock special fusion recipes.^[7][6]
• New activities have been added:
  • The protagonist can use a computer to increase his Social Stats through bought, single-use software.
  • The protagonist can plant seedlings at a rooftop garden and harvest vegetables after several days.
  • The protagonist can perform certain activities at the dormitory together with his friends. They can cook, read, watch DVDs and tend the garden. Participating will reward the protagonist with Social Stat boosts or item yields depending on the activity.^[8]
    • If the protagonist spends time doing said activities with SEES enough times, they'll unlock their respective combat characteristics that comprise of passive and unique abilities.^[8]
  • The protagonist can join in study sessions with his dorm mates at certain dates. This activity is separate from the individual studying activity at the protagonist's room.
  • Visiting Be Blue V allows party members to remember old skills.^[9]
  • A third floor at the Iwatodai Strip Mall has been added, which includes a few shops: a Manga Net Café for computer software and Umiushi Beef Bowls for takeout.
  • At Club Escapade, a fortune teller can allow the protagonist to affect Tartarus in certain ways for a fee.^[9] Also, an informant sells notes that can be used when interacting with the computer.
• Pre-existing social mechanics have been tweaked:
  • Class questions have been changed.
    • Additionally, sleeping in class now increases the protagonist's Courage stat.
  • Social Links can no longer be Broken, and criteria for Reversing them have been mellowed.^[10]
    • Social links will no longer automatically reverse if they are neglected for an extended period of time. The mechanic where female social link characters get jealous if the protagonist spends time with other girls has also been removed.
  • Any available Social Links will now message the protagonist an invitation to hang out, rather than approach him during lunchtime at school.
  • Romanceable Social Links are now optional, and include friendship ending scenes if rejected.
  • The protagonist can no longer have a section choice to choose any club activities for Kazushi (Kendo, Swim) and Keisuke's (Photography, Music) Social Link. The only clubs the protagonist can join are the track and art clubs.
  • Tanaka's Amazing Commodities has had its product catalog changed.
  • Elizabeth's Requests have been revamped and reordered.
    • Additionally, requests no longer need to be accepted and are open from the beginning based on availability.
    • The amount of Requests that can be accepted at once is no longer limited
    • The amount of Quests with deadlines have been reduced
    • New requests have been added while others have been removed
  • Activities during Sunday mornings no longer take up the entire day's worth of time, and instead take up only the first half.
  • Returning to the dorm during the day will no longer automatically skip time to the evening.
• Miscellaneous quality-of-life additions:
  • An online network feature has been added, where the correct answers of class questions can be reviewed and statistics of players' actions for the day can be seen.

• New combat mechanics have been added:
  • A new system called Theurgy has been introduced, where combatants can perform special attacks, requiring a gauge that can be filled by performing actions depending on the party member's personality.^[6]
  • A new mechanic called "Shift," similar to Baton Passes of Persona 5, has been introduced.^[11] The mechanic on its own does not power up party members when used.
• The optional Elizabeth boss fight can now be accessed on a first playthrough instead of on New Game+ provided the protagonist has completed all of her other requests

• Combat details have been tweaked:
  • The combat system is based on the updated version from Portable, which includes the following changes from FES:
    • Party members can be directly controlled instead of being fully automated.
    • Recovering from Down no longer skips the downed characters turn.
    • The party can now Guard instead of simply skipping their turn.
    • Getting a One More with an AOE Skill no longer requires downing all enemies. A One More will be granted as long as at least one enemy is downed by the attack.
    • The ability to order low HP party members to retreat from battle has been removed.
  • Some skills' properties have been changed.^[3]
  • Damage-dealing Light and Dark skills, such as Kouha and Eiha, are included in the game.^[11]
  • The fatigue system has been removed.^[3]
  • When party members learn new skills, it is possible to choose which old skills to replace.^[9]
  • Costumes are now a separate cosmetic option from armor customization.^[12]
  • Analyzing enemy affinities has been modernized.
    • Fuuka's Full Analysis skill resembles how the analysis ability functions in the original game where she can reveal all affinities for one enemy after a turn has passed for all Party Members and Enemies, although this skill costs SP to use.
  • The Item menu will move useful items to the top of the list depending on the situation, such as Revival Beads if a party member is KO'd and Agilao Gems if a Shadow is weak to Fire.
  • Missing a Melee Attack will no longer cause the character to stumble and get downed.
• The skill pools of party members have been fleshed out and rebalanced.
  • Fuuka now has her own SP bar and can perform special Navigator skills such as rendering the party undetectable by Shadows on the current floor. ^[13]
  • Certain signature abilities for certain party members have become substitutes for their Theurgy skills. These include the protagonist's ability to perform Fusion Spells, Fuuka's Oracle skill (which can no longer fail or grant negative effects), as well as Aigis' Orgia Mode tactic.^[6][12]
  • Characters' melee attacks have been customized to have variety in the amount of hits and the power each blow can deal. All melee attacks are divided into three stages, and the final attack in the final stage always deals a Critical hit.

• Tartarus has a new map and significantly more details and parts.
  • Tartarus now has breakable objects.^[3]
  • Certain Treasure Chests in Tartarus are locked.^[14] They require "Twilight Fragments" to be unlocked.^[15]
    • Twilight Fragments can be collected by exploring town, given by Elizabeth for progressing Social Links, rewarded for completing certain Requests, or randomly found in breakable objects with a blue glow inside Tartarus.
    • Opening a locked chest in Tartarus grants a random chance of spawning a Great Clock Door. Using the Great Clock allows the protagonist to choose two party members below his level who will instantly level up to the same level as him after they participate in the next battle.
  • In addition to regular rare Shadows, huge rare Treasure Hands may be found. This follows a choice-based chasing sequence where the protagonist has to track down the target before initiating battle with them. These enemies have hoarded a majority of the treasure on the respective floor, and they'll drop all of it upon being defeated.^[12]
  • The Entrance Clock, which fully recovers the party's HP and SP, requires 7 Twilight Fragments to use.^[12]
    • Similar clocks can also spawn randomly on any floor inside Tartarus.
  • Tartarus has character events that occur at regular intervals.^[3]
  • Shadows roaming Tartarus can spawn with ailments which affect their roaming behavior.
  • The floor generation for Tartarus will now no longer reset until leaving Tartarus for the day, rather than upon leaving that floor.
    • Breakable objects will reset upon leaving the floor but opened chests will not.
• Traversal has been enhanced:
  • The protagonist can dash while exploring dungeons.^[2]
  • An auto-recovery feature is included.^[14]
  • Fast Travel has been added not only in the overworld, but Tartarus as well. This allows you to fast travel to the next floor if the stairs have been located or to Floor 1 if a teleporter has been located
  • The ability to order party members to split up to search the current floor has been removed and replaced with Scouting. There is now a chance for an ally to request to search the next floor up alone. If accepted, they will temporarily leave the party. The ally will hand over any items they've collected upon rejoining the party on the next floor. The map for that floor will also be partially filled out.
  • The Reaper can now follow the party up to the next floor if it is currently chasing them, only stopping at border floors.
  • Shadows can now climb the elevated platforms scattered throughout Tartarus if chasing the party.
• The behavior and resistances of nearly all Full Moon Operation bosses are altered to various degrees.
  • The countdown for Arcana Priestess will only start once the boss encounter is initiated instead of inside the train cabs, however Priestess can now reduce the countdown with its Invitation to Chaos ability. It also has a new Ice Storm ability that deals high Ice Damage to all targets
  • Arcana Lovers has two new abilities; Seductive Breath which increases the party's susceptibility to Charm and Heartbreaker, which does heavy damage to any characters inflicted with Charm.
  • Arcana Chariot and Arcana Justice now have Restore ability instead of Samarecarm.
  • Arcana Fortune no longer allows manual control over its Wheel of Fortune and the effects now hit both allies and enemies, instead of only effecting one side depending on where the wheel lands.
  • Arcana Hanged Man has an ability to summon a giant statue if its HP is reduced to 40% and the ability to increase its action count in a single turn. Also its ability to summon and sacrifice a Devious Maya is excluded.
  • Nyx Avatar's movesets are now completely revamped to resemble the twelve Arcana shadows and it gains new signature attacks in place of others.
• The battles against Strega are altered to various degrees.
  • During Jin and Takaya's battle, they can also coordinate their attacks after exploiting their enemy's weakness.
  • Chidori's battle has been changed; instead of defeating her, the battle will end after a set amount of turns.
  • During Jin's battle, Jin is given the ability Potent Stim Injection. This ability can be used if Jin's HP is low.
  • During Takya's battle, Takaya can use Theurgy. This only can be used if Takaya's HP is low.
• The Monad Depths have been repurposed:^[12]
  • The "Monad Door" can appear sporadically. It contains a Treasure Chest with valuable items and a powerful Shadow that protects it. Winning will also activate a special Shuffle Time that grants the opportunity to obtain Major Arcana cards.
  • The "Monad Passage" is instead a long hallway with several Shadows, and defeating them will reward weapons, costumes, and exclusive items.
• New Personas have been added.
  • Some of the Personas have been renamed, such as Pyro Jack being renamed to Jack-o'-Lantern.
  • Some of the Personas have updated models or colors, such as the Four Heavenly Kings and Shiva.
  • However, some of the Personas present from the original version of the game and the Personas who were added in FES and were able to reappear in Portable have been removed, such as Nandi, Ares, Taraka, and Ghoul.
• Personas have had their stats and skill pools altered.
  • Additionally, one of the Personas required to use Scarlet Havoc has changed from Ares to Mithras.
  • Certain Fusion Spells have been removed from the game, such as Justice and Last Judge.
• Velvet Room mechanics have been modernized. Quality of life changes, such as the ability to select inherited skills, have been added.^[16]
• Most bosses now have scripted events that trigger during a certain HP threshold. All attacks that would exceed the damage threshold are automatically blocked, preventing the party from instantly killing them in a single turn, even with attacks such as Armageddon.
• Shuffle Time's cards are manually selected.^[11]
  • In addition, accumulating Major Arcana cards will give the party lingering effects that last until leaving Tartarus. Reaching the maximum number of Major Arcana cards (which gradually increases to a capacity of 5) will result in an "Arcana Burst," causing the Minor Arcana cards to rank up and have their effects strengthened.^[12]
  • The Sword Minor Arcana card now gives a random Skill Card instead of a weapon for a party member.
  • Minor Arcana cards now have Jack, Queen and King tiers.
  • Picking a Persona Card that the protagonist already has in his stock will now give increased experience to all Personas with a matching Arcana in his stock.
• Incense Cards, Plumes of Dusks and Vision Quests have been removed from the game. Normal Incenses replace the Incense Cards in this game.
• The optional Margaret boss fight from Portable has been removed.

Voice Direction[]

• The voices of the Japanese dub were recorded from scratch.
• The English version features a mostly entirely new voice cast:^[17]
  • The protagonist, Pharos, Ryoji Mochizuki, and the Nyx Avatar are now voiced by Aleks Le.
  • Yukari Takeba is now voiced by Heather Gonzalez.
  • Junpei Iori is now voiced by Zeno Robinson.
  • Mitsuru Kirijo is now voiced by Allegra Clark.
  • Akihiko Sanada is now voiced by Alejandro Saab.
  • Fuuka Yamagishi is now voiced by Suzie Yeung.
  • Aigis is now voiced by Dawn M. Bennett.
  • Ken Amada is now voiced by Justine Lee.
  • Shinjiro Aragaki is now voiced by Justice Slocum.
  • Shuji Ikutsuki is now voiced by Jake Green.
  • Takaya Sakaki is now voiced by Daman Mills.
  • Jin Shirato is now voiced by Chris Hackney.
  • Chidori Yoshino is now voiced by Merit Leighton.
  • Igor is now voiced by Kirk Thornton, reprising his role from Persona 5.
  • Isako Toriumi is now voiced by Katelyn Gault.
  • Natsuki Moriyama is now voiced by Kayli Mills.
• With the exceptions of Vic Mignogna, the original voice of Junpei, as well as unknown voice actors from the original game, the original English voice actors for S.E.E.S now voice other characters in the game:^[18]
  • Yuri Lowenthal, the original voice of the protagonist, voices Eiichiro Takeba and other additional voices such as a Young Officer.
  • Michelle Ruff, the original voice of Yukari, voices the owner of Mayoido Antiques.
  • Liam O'Brien, the original voice of Akihiko, voices Kurosawa.
  • Tara Platt, the original voice of Mitsuru, reprises her role as Elizabeth from the original game, making her the only character whose English voice actor from the original game reprises their role.
  • Wendee Lee, the second voice actress for Fuuka, voices Mrs. Terauchi.
  • Grant George, the original voices of Shinjiro, Kurosawa, and Jin voices Takeharu Kirijo.
  • Karen Strassman, the original voice of Aigis and Natsuki, and Cindy Robinson, the second voice actress for Ken, provide additional voices.

• Social Link events (except for Maya's) are fully voiced and almost all of them have been given new voice actors:^{[3][19][20][12][21]}
  • Kenji Tomochika is voiced by Wataru Hatano & Joe Zieja.
  • Nozomi Suemitsu is voiced by Fukushi Ochiai & Paul Castro Jr.
  • Kazushi Miyamoto is voiced by Eiji Miyashita & Mark Whitten.
  • Yuko Nishiwaki is voiced by Emiri Kato & Shelby Young.
  • Hidetoshi Odagiri is voiced by Masaya Matsukaze & Austin Lee Matthews.
  • Chihiro Fushimi is voiced by Aya Endo & Kelly Baskin.
  • Keisuke Hiraga is voiced by Yuichi Iguchi & Griffin Burns.
  • Bebe is voiced by Mitsuhiro Ichiki & Jeff Berg.
  • President Tanaka is voiced by Bin Shimada & Patrick Seitz, the former of whom reprises his role from appearances as early as Persona 3's 1st Drama CD.
  • Mutatsu is voiced by Shin Aomori & Aaron LaPlante.
  • Mamoru Hayase is voiced by Yūichirō Umehara & Yong Yea.
  • Maiko Oohashi is voiced by Hiyori Kono & Grace Lu.
  • Akinari Kamiki is voiced by Hirofumi Nojima & Lucien Dodge.
  • Bunkichi Kitamura is voiced by Naoki Tatsuta & Andre Sogliuzzo.
  • Mitsuko Kitamura is voiced by Sanae Takagi & Susanne Blakeslee.
  • Maya communicates purely through text and has no voice actor.
• Several Japanese voice actors from Persona 3 The Movie reprise their role, replacing the original game's voice actors:
  • Koromaru is now voiced by Shinya Takahashi, who was uncredited in the films.^[5]
  • Natsuki Moriyama is now voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki.^[22]
  • Eiichiro Takeba is now voiced by Kanehira Yamamoto.^{[citation needed]}
• Igor is now voiced by Bin Shimada in Japanese, making this the first instance of archived recordings by the late Isamu Tanonaka from the original game not being used for Igor's Japanese voice.

Other Changes[]

• Additional story and roaming events have been added. Some events involve fleshing out Strega and non-hostile encounters with Takaya Sakaki.
• The dialogue is specifically based on the revised version of Persona 3 Portable.^[23]
• The English version's dialogue was slightly changed.^[24][25]
  • However, the English version preserves the original game's naming conventions: for example, the name of the skill Bash is kept as is instead of being changed to "Lunge."
• Parts of Operation Babe Hunt event at Yakushima have been rewritten in Japanese and translated accordingly.
• The protagonist's narration is now in first-person, rather than second-person.
• Barring the members of Strega, as well as characters without a surname, the English version refers to the characters by their full name in their dialogue boxes, like in the Japanese version, instead of just their first name.
• Most of the characters are now referred to by their last names instead of their first names like in the original English version of previous remake games and spin-off games. For example, Ken is no longer addressed by his first name except in-gameplay.
• All stores have had their names changed in the English localization to better reflect the Japanese names. Game Panic is now Game Parade, Shinshoudo Antiques is now Mayoido Antiques, Power Records is now Kenneth Arnold, and Wild-duck Burger is now Wilduck Burger.
• Both the English and Japanese versions of the game include lip syncing in both the dialogue portraits and character models.
• Musical presentation has been slightly changed: the exam theme now persists when days pass instead of resetting each time, the Persona leitmotif from Megami Ibunroku Persona that originally played during an animated cutscene on November 4 is no longer present, and the bad ending option on December 31 is now followed by a proper bad ending credits instead of simply using the same credits sequence as the true ending.
• The game has been localized in 13 languages, only in subtitle form. New languages include Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian and Turkish.
• The frame rate has been improved from the original's 30FPS to a stable 60FPS, and the resolution has been increased to support 4K.
• The characters from Persona 4 and Catherine who made a cameo from the Portable version have been adapted out.

Special Editions and Downloadable Content[]

In Japan[]

The Persona 3 Reload Limited Box edition is sold for 17,380 yen, including:

• New S.E.E.S Armband replica
• P3RE Artbook (64 pages, A4 Hardcover)
• P3RE Limited Box Original Soundtrack (60 songs, 2 CDs)
• Persona 4 Golden Costume and Persona DLC: the cast can wear the school uniforms of Yasogami High School from Persona 4 Golden. Also, the Personas Izanagi, Magatsu-Izanagi and Kaguya can be summoned.

In addition, an Aigis figurine, as part of the Aigis D-Shop Limited Edition, can be bought alongside the Limited Box Edition (22,800 yen) or separately with a physical copy of the game only (15,180 yen)

Alternate offers include the Digital Premium (15,730 yen) and the Digital Deluxe (12,408 yen) edition, both omitting the S.E.E.S armband and the Aigis figure. The Digital Deluxe also excludes the DLC pack.

A pre-order bonus includes the Persona 4 Golden BGM Set, only available as a pre-order bonus: includes "Reach Out To The Truth," "Time To Make History," "I'll Face Myself -Battle-", "A New World Fool," "The Fog" and "Results."

In addition to the Persona 4 Golden BGM (pre-order only), Costume & Persona DLC, the game has DLC based on Persona 5 Royal:

• Persona 5 Royal Persona Set 1: includes the primary Personas of all playable party members: Arsène, Captain Kidd, Zorro, Carmen, Goemon, Johanna, Milady, Robin Hood and Cendrillon.
• Persona 5 Royal Persona Set 2: includes the party members' second Personas: Satanael, Seiten Taisei, Mercurius, Hecate, Kamu Susano-o, Anat, Astarte, Loki and Vanadis.
• Persona 5 Royal BGM Set: includes "Last Surprise," "Take Over," "Rivers in the Desert," "Jaldabaoth," "Throw Away Your Mask" and "Victory."
• Persona 5 Royal Shujin Academy Costume Set: based on the uniform of Shujin Academy.
• Persona 5 Royal Phantom Thieves Costume Set: based on the Phantom Thieves attire of the Persona 5 Royal cast.

In North America[]

The special physical version of the game, Aigis Edition, is similar to the Limited Box Edition in Japan, but omits the S.E.E.S Armband: instead, the Aigis figure is sold by default. The Digital Premium and the Digital Deluxe packs function the same way as their Japanese equivalent: with the Digital Deluxe omitting all DLC.

Expansion Pass[]

On March 6th, 2024, an Expansion Pass for the game was announced. The pass will come in 3 waves.^[4]

• Wave 1: P5R BGM Set & P4G BGM set - Released on March 12, 2024.^[4]
• Wave 2: Velvet Costume and BGM Set - Released on May 31, 2024.^[4][26]
• Wave 3: Episode Aigis -The Answer- - Releases on September 10, 2024.^[4][1]

Development[]

Background & Premise[]

The development is headed by younger staff at Atlus, with Takuya Yamaguchi as the director and Ryota Niitsuma as producer, both taking over the prior roles of Katsura Hashino. Within their development process, they pursued "deepening" rather than evolution when defining their game.^[2] Research of the game started in 2019, and started the actual development late in the same year.^[27]

One of the key elements of their goals in developing the game was to have it be played on a similar scale as Persona 5, as it has become the standard for play for fans of the series at that time, both in local Japan and overseas.^[3]

The subtitle "Reload" was chosen for the abbreviation of "R" similarly to Persona 5 Royal, the definitive edition of the game. It also implies the meaning of a remake, but "Persona 3 Remake" was not chosen as it wasn't interesting. Aside from the abbreviation, Reload was specifically chosen as "RE" is commonly used in games, but to match the aesthetics of the Persona series, Reload was also picked due to the Evoker having the form of a gun. "Reloaded" would be grammatically correct as a title, but it would focus too much on the image of actually using a gun. According to developers, it took a lot of time to reach an official decision, but the team immediately agreed on the final idea.^[3]

According to Kazuhisa Wada, although staff are normally uncertain about whether fans will accept their work or if they could've improved on it after finishing a game, they instead found themselves satisfied with P3R and the final result they've produced.^[3]

Game Design[]

The purpose of the additional side stories was to flesh out certain characters as individuals better, as the main story based their roles around an "ensemble drama."^[2]

According to Yamaguchi, he felt like the 1 More! system has not been fully utilized in boss battles in the series in general as you cannot exploit their weaknesses, hence the introduction of the Theurgy system. Aside from that, the Showtimes of Persona 5 Royal have been well-received, and wanted to add a similar action to that. Additionally, Theurgy encourages variety in playstyle past simply exploiting weaknesses and performing melee attacks if impossible: the criteria for filling Theurgy faster is rewarded through actions that stray from the general routine of exploiting weaknesses. Because the requirements differ between party members, the mechanic also gives them a sense of individuality.^[7]

Art Direction[]

Azusa Shimada, the game's main character designer, explains the thought that was put into the box art of Reload. On the composition, she struggled with choosing whether to have the artwork consist of a group picture like with recent entries in the series, or whether to focus on the protagonist only like with the original Persona 3. After collecting various packages from the series, films included, and using them as reference to contemplate the direction of Reload, she focused on a composition that brought the main character to the forefront, but after that she needed to focus on distinguishing it from Persona 3's box art, which also comprises of just the protagonist and Thanatos. In finding a balance between being too ephemeral and being too cool, Shimada wanted to express the protagonist, who possesses a Persona, resolutely confronting his inevitable fate. The team, as they pursued a composition that stood out, they ended up with a form that was a homage to the original version.^[7]

Sprite work and overall art direction was improved, as Shimada wanted to express the clear impression that it's a new, improved work, and the final result was achieved by exploring various possibilities and pursuing the latest painting techniques. This time, realistic lighting was incorporated, such as changing the color of the sprites as well as the rim light depending on the environment.^[7]

The new uniforms were also designed by Shimada. When approaching the remaster, she wanted to incorporate accents that would visually lift the player's mood, consulting original designer Shigenori Soejima in the process. Compared to before, where the cast was only equipped with an armband and holster, Shimada aimed for a sense of realism by adding more equipment. Although the team at first considered having the cast wear their uniforms evenly, they've decided to accent their individuality through how they wear their uniforms, with Shimada consulting Soejima and the development team. As it takes a lot of courage to come up with new designs for a remake of a game everyone loves, there was a lot of trial and error.^[7]

The character models' head-to-body ratio has been raised to add to the realism, and Shimada supervised and cooperated with the modeling staff. That being said, rough image of the bust up of the characters has been drawn before modeling the characters in 3D.^[7]

While upgrading the visual expression of the game through the head-to-body ratio, one of their goals was to recreate the image of the original version in everyone's minds while under the feeling of an increased resolution. The developers were conscious with modifying the head-to-body ratio as to not take away from the atmosphere of the original. The concept for Tartarus' design was completed early on, as they had assumed they'd need to revamp it to fit the characters' redesigns. In addition, new locations were added, such as Strega's hideout: a lot of thought was put into depictions like this without having the original version as reference, so none of them were finished easily.^[28]

Menu & Logo Design[]

Art Director Tomohiro Kumadai formerly worked as a developer elsewhere, and as a player of Persona 3 was inspired by its UI and how it has the power to represent and symbolize the overall image of the work. During his work on Reload, he thought about how to capture the charm when he played the game using modern technology. The blue color of P3 left an impression on Kumagai, reminding him of water and bubbles, only to realize that the original developers had this exact image in mind in a recent discussion.^[28]

He not only enhanced the menu's water motifs for Reload, but would portray depth within the protagonist's psyche, evoking the feeling of "sinking into your own mind to check information and your relationships with others" when accessing the menu screen. Also, P3R combines the beauty of the sea seen in Tatsumi Port Island and Yakushima alongside the protagonist's sea of soul. Other conscious elements include the shimmering and gradation of water, and the sparkle and reflection of glass.^[28]

While cooperating with the motion team, who worked on the protagonist's movements on the screen. They produced a unique and detailed model for the menu, using made animation skeletons and polygons to portray the delicacy of his facial expressions, the shimmering music player and the feeling of floating underwater. Poses and expressions are changed to find the best way to show each item. They were careful with the shadows, the facial expression and the swaying of the hair. Kumadai humorously made demands on making the protagonist more ephemeral and so beautiful that he can hear the voice actor.^[28]

On the direction of the game's logo, the "Persona 3" part of it was kept as is to convey the message that the fundamentals of the game have not changed, but because it is not purely an "HD remaster," the look of "Reload" was made to look more modern to emphasize that there are new elements to the game. It is explained that even the Gothic font was a point they were particular about, incorporating both the modernity of Reload and the idea behind the original.^[28]

Around 50 logo ideas were made before finally settling on the current idea, all gradually with consideration rather than at once. Also, beforehand, the developers have considered updating the original P3 logo, but kept it as is after settling on the game's direction.^[28]

Gallery[]

Box Arts[]

In-Game Screenshots[]

Downloadable Content[]

Merchandise[]

Illustration[]

Collaboration[]

Videos[]

Trailers

The Answer

Character Trailers

Trivia[]

• Before it was officially announced, early footage of the game was originally leaked on April 4th, 2023. It featured footage of Yukari's first-tier Theurgy being used.
• With the addition of the side stories and fully voiced Social Links, Persona 3 Reload has the largest amount of voice lines in the Persona series.^[2][3]
• In all versions of the announcement trailer of Reload, there are several Latin phrases used, and they translate as follow:
  • Hora tenebrosa – The dark hour;
  • Dum spiro spero – While I breathe, I hope;
  • Renascere – To be reborn.
• The English versions of certain promotional material of Reload has been slightly censored:
  • Pools of blood seen during the Dark Hour, especially during introductory cutscenes, have had their colors muted to be a blacker shade.
  • In earlier trailers, scenes where Evokers were used were replaced with different footage.
  • In the third trailer, during Strega's work during the Dark Hour, Takaya's quote, which translates to "You squeal most magnificently!" has been cut alongside him raising and pointing his revolver at the teenager.
• This is the first Persona game to be remade in full 3D.
• Persona 3 Reload is the first game in the Megami Tensei series to be localized in Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian and Turkish.^[29]
• Promotional material of Reload uses the protagonist's canon name, Makoto Yuki, from Persona 3 The Movie under necessary circumstances such as when displaying his in-game name.
• As of most localized scripts of recent Persona games, it uses terms like "emoji" and "binge-watching", which were not commonplace until the early-to-mid 2010s, making it anachronistic with the game's 2009-2010 setting.

In Other Languages[]

Language	Title	Abbreviation
Japanese	ペルソナ3 リロード	P3R / P3RE
Korean	페르소나3 리로드	P3R
Traditional Chinese	女神異聞錄３ Reload	P3R
Simplified Chinese	女神异闻录３ Reload	P3R
French	Persona 3 Reload	P3R
Italian	Persona 3 Reload	P3R
German	Persona 3 Reload	P3R
Spanish	Persona 3 Reload	P3R
Brazilian Portuguese	Persona 3 Reload	P3R
Polish	Persona 3 Reload	P3R
Russian	Persona 3 Reload	P3R
Turkish	Persona 3 Reload	P3R

External Links[]

• Official Japanese Website
• Official Japanese Website (English)
• Official Western website
• Official Korean website
• Official Traditional Chinese website
• Official Simplified Chinese website
• Steam page

References[]

Persona 3
Characters
Playable	Male protagonist - Female protagonist - Yukari Takeba - Junpei Iori - Akihiko Sanada - Mitsuru Kirijo - Fuuka Yamagishi - Aigis - Koromaru - Ken Amada - Shinjiro Aragaki - Metis
Social Link	Kenji Tomochika - Hidetoshi Odagiri - Bunkichi and Mitsuko - Kazushi Miyamoto - Chihiro Fushimi - Isako Toriumi - Keisuke Hiraga - Yuko Nishiwaki - Maiko Oohashi - Pharos - Bebe - President Tanaka - Mutatsu - Mamoru Hayase - Nozomi Suemitsu - Akinari Kamiki - Rio Iwasaki - Saori Hasegawa - Ryoji Mochizuki
Major	Igor - Elizabeth - Theodore - Shuji Ikutsuki - Officer Kurosawa - Takaya Sakaki - Jin Shirato - Chidori Yoshino - Takeharu Kirijo - Kouetsu Kirijo - Eiichiro Takeba - Natsuki Moriyama - Nyx - Erebus - Margaret
Minor	Maki - Kiyoshi Sakuma - Mr. Edogawa - Mr. Ekoda - Mr. Miyahara - Ms. Ounishi - Mrs. Terauchi - Kikuno Saikawa - Yuu Kimijima - Souta Aizawa - Kyouka Sayama
Cameo	Yukiko Amagi - Noriko Kashiwagi - Man Drinking Alone
Location
Port Island	Gekkoukan High School - Paulownia Mall - Iwatodai Station - Port Island Station - Naganaki Shrine - Dorm - Moonlight Bridge - Velvet Room
Tartarus	Blocks: Thebel - Arqa - Yabbashah - Tziah - Harabah - Adamah - Monad Depths
Abyss of Time	Malebolge - Cocytus - Caina - Antenora - Ptolomea - Judecca - Empyrean
Other	Kyoto - Great Seal
Music
Albums	Original Soundtrack (JP / US / FES / Portable) - Bonus CD - Burn My Dread -Reincarnation- - Spring of Birth OST - Midsummer Knight's Dream OST - Falling Down OST - Winter Of Rebirth OST - Persona 20th Anniversary All Time Best Album
Songs	"Burn My Dread" - "Aria of the Soul" - "Want To Be Close" - "When the Moon Reaches for the Stars" - "Iwatodai Dorm" - "Mass Destruction" - "Color Your Night" - "Deep Breath Deep Breath" - "The Meaning of Armbands" - "Deep Mentality" - "It's Going Down Now" - "Changing Seasons" - "Current Net Price Tanaka" - "Battle Hymn of the Soul" - "Kimi no Kioku" - "P3 FES" - "Mass Destruction -P3fes version-" - "Heartful Cry" - "Brand New Days" - "Soul Phrase" - "A Way of Life" - "Time" - "Wiping All Out" - "More Than One Heart" - "Fate is In Our Hands" - "One Single Word" - "One Hand, One Heartbeat" - "One Determination" - "Sound of the Beast" - "Storm for a Butterfly" - "Light in Starless Sky" - "My Testimony" - "Self Redemption" - "Full Moon Full Life"
Archives
Terminology	Persona (Initial / Prime / Ultimate) - Persona user - Shadow - Wild Card - Evoker - Attack Properties - Tactics - All-out Attack - Shuffle Time - Dark Hour - Moon Phase System - Full Moon Operations - SEES - Kirijo Group - Nanjo Group - Strega - Artificial Persona user - Suppressants - Apathy Syndrome - The Fall - Death - Who's Who - Phoenix Ranger Featherman R - Plume of Dusk P3RE: Shift - Theurgy - Combat Characteristics
Lists	Arcana - Personas (P3 - FES - P - R) - Shadows - Bosses (P3 - FES) - Skills - Items (Heart Items / Vending Machines) - Status Effects - Elizabeth's Requests - Activities - Calendar - Trophies (Portable / Reload) - Steam Profile Items - Patches and Updates
School Life	Daily Life - Seasons - Social Link - Social Stats - Yen - Class - Studying - Movie Theater - Bed - Part-time Jobs - Shrine - Tanaka's Amazing Commodities - Crane Machine - Chagall Café - School Club - Cooking - Walking Koromaru - Linked Episode - Computer - Refrigerator - Gardening - Books - DVDs - Studying - Fortune Telling
Other Media
Games	FES - Portable - Reload - Dancing in Moonlight
Productions	The Movie - The Movie: Escape from the Dark Hour - the Weird Masquerade: -Ao no Kakusei- / -Gunjou no Meikyuu- / -Souen no Kesshou- / -Ai no Seiyaku- / -Hekikuu no Kanata e- - Persona Stalker Club - 「PERSORA AWARDS」 - PERSORA AWARDS 2 - PERSORA AWARDS 3 - Persora -The Golden Best-
Drama CDs	A Certain Day of Summer - Daylight / Moonlight - Character Drama CD Vol. 1 / Vol. 2 / Vol. 3 / Vol. 4 / Vol. 5 - New Moon / Full Moon - Portable Vol. 1 / Vol. 2
Publications	Manga - Shadow Cry - Memento Mori - Owari no Kakera - Alternative Heart - Velvet Blue - Persona Magazine - Dear Girls Comic Anthology - Dengeki Comic Anthology - Tartarus Theater - Persona VS - Persona 3 Reload: Beginnings
Mobile Games	The Night Before - Persona Ain Soph - Social - Escape - Illust Puzzle - Broken Shadow - Aegis: The First Mission - Qix - Chaining Soul - Em
Events	Music Live 2008 - Music Live 2009 - Music Tour 2010 - Music Live 2012 - Music Fes 2013 - Music Box 2014 - Super Live 2015 - Livehouse Tour 2015 - Super Live 2017 - Super Live 2019- 25th Anniversary Symphonic Concert 20th Anniversary Festival - 25th Anniversary - 25th FES
Miscellaneous	Merchandise
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The Megami Tensei Franchise
Megami Tensei	Megami Tensei (Telenet) - Megami Tensei (Atlus) - II - Kyūyaku
Shin Megami Tensei	Shin Megami Tensei - II / Gaiden: Ma To Houkai - if... / Hazama's Chapter - J - NINE - III: Nocturne / Maniax / Chronicle Edition / HD Remaster / Pachislot - 20XX / Devil's Colosseum - IMAGINE - Tokyo Requiem - Strange Journey (Redux) - Devil Hunter Zero - IV / Apocalypse - Devil Collection - Synchronicity Prologue - Liberation Dx2 - V / Vengeance
Last Bible	Last Bible - II - Another Bible - III - Special - New Testament / II: Hajimari no Fukuin / III: Mugen no Eiyuu
Majin Tensei	Majin Tensei - II: Spiral Nemesis - Ronde - Blind Thinker / II
Devil Summoner	Devil Summoner / Pinball: Judgment - Soul Hackers / Intruder / Soul Hackers New Generation - Soul Hackers 2 Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army - Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon
Persona	Megami Ibunroku Persona (PSP Remake) / Ikū no Tō Hen - 2: Innocent Sin / Eternal Punishment / Lost Memories / Infinity Mask - 3 (FES* / Portable* / Reload) / Dancing in Moonlight 4 (Golden*) / Arena / Ultimax / Dancing All Night 5 (Royal*) / Dancing in Starlight / Strikers / Tactica Q: Shadow of the Labryinth - Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Devil Children	Black Book / Red Book - White Book - DemiKids Light / Dark - Fire Book / Ice Book - Messiah Riser - Puzzle de Call! - Appli de Call! - Devil Children Mobile
Digital Devil Saga	Avatar Tuner - 2 - A's TEST Server
Devil Survivor	Devil Survivor (Overclocked) - 2 (Record Breaker) / The Extra World
Jack Series	Jack Bros. - Demonic Help Party
Other games	Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku - Card Summoner - Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE - Maken X - Catherine / Full Body - Metaphor: ReFantazio
Digital Devil Story (Novels)	Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei - 2: Warrior of the Demon City - 3: Demise of the Reincarnation
New Digital Devil Story	New Digital Devil Story: Goddess of Enchainment - 2: Queen of the Ice Fields - 3: Planet of the Devil - 4: Wrath of the Young Emperor - 5: Eternal Goddess - 6: Bonds of Reincarnation
Other Novels	Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou tai Shibito Ekishi - Giten Megami Tensei: Distant Flow ~EXILE~ - Megami Ibunroku Persona: Shadow Maze - Persona 3: Shadow Cry / Owari no Kakera / Alternative Heart / Velvet Blue - Persona x Detective Naoto - Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner - Devil Survivor 2 The Animation: Cetus's Prequel
Anime	Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei - Tokyo Revelation - Persona -trinity soul- - Persona 3 The Movie - Persona 4 The Animation / -The Factor of Hope- / The Golden Animation - Persona 5 The Animation The Day Breakers - Persona 5 The Animation - DeviChil - D-Children: Light & Dark - Devil Survivor 2 The Animation
Manga	Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Revelation - if... / Kahn - IV: DEMONIC GENE / -Prayers- - Gaiten: Hato no Senki - EDEN - CG Senki: Dante no Mon - Majin Tensei - Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Lone Marebito - Megami Ibunroku Persona - Persona: Tsumi to Batsu - Persona 3 / Portable Dengeki Comic Anthology / Portable Dear Girls Comic Anthology - Persona 4 / The Magician - Arena / Arena Ultimax / Dancing All Night - PQ: -Roundabout- / Side:P3 / Side:P4 - Tartarus Theater - Persona 5 / Dengeki Comic Anthology / Comic à La Carte / Comic Anthology (DNA Media Comics) / the Animation Dengeki Comic Anthology / Mementos Mission - Q2: Persona Q2: Roundabout Special - Devil Children / Light & Dark - Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner: Shinen no Matou - Devil Survivor - 2: -Show Your Free Will- / The Animation Manga
Mobile Apps	The Night Before - QIX - Chaining Soul - Aegis: The First Mission - Em - Illust Puzzle - Escape - Social - Ain Soph - Mobile Online - The Card Battle - Colors - Persona O.A. - Persona 5: The Phantom X - Mobile Phone Demon Collection - Atlus Casino - Devil Summoning Program - Digital Novel
Other	The Amala Multiverse - Earth - Expanse - Great Will Protagonists - Mascots - Navigators - Birthdays Patches and Updates - In popular culture - Jungian psychology - Arcana
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