Persona 3 Reload Review

Reloaded Years Later

HIGH Snappy combat, improvements in visuals and quality of life elements.

LOW Tartarus grinding.

WTF Miss FemMC, where art thou?

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Persona 3 Reload breathes new life into an already-beloved classic, offering both nostalgia for long-time fans and fresh experiences for newcomers.

Persona 3 is a Japanese role-playing game developed by Atlus. It follows the story of a high school student in a small Japanese city who discovers the ability to summon manifestations of his psyche (known as Personas) to battle creatures called Shadows during the mysterious “Dark Hour” — a hidden period of time between one day and the next.

The protagonist joins a group known as SEES (Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad) to investigate and eliminate the source of the Shadows, while also balancing the challenges of daily school life and forming bonds with classmates. P3 features a unique blend of social simulation elements, dungeon crawling, and turn-based combat, all set against the backdrop of a richly-crafted narrative exploring themes of identity, mortality, and the human psyche.

The original Persona 3 was the first of the series to hit the mainstream, originally stemming from the Shin Megami Tensei series. Since its release there have been many iterations, finally adding expansions and initial quality changes in Persona 3 FES, and later in Persona 3 Portable on the PSP. Building upon the solid foundation of the original, Reload introduces a host of enhancements, refining gameplay mechanics and presenting a visually stunning rendition of its captivating story. As a longtime fan of the series and someone who played Persona 3 FES in 2007, I was extremely eager to load up my evoker and dive back into the dark hour after all these years.

The most immediately noticeable improvement in Persona 3 Reload is the revamped graphics. Characters, environments, and personas are all beautifully reimagined, leveraging the power of modern hardware to deliver stunning visuals while preserving the distinct aesthetic. I’m able to see the expressions on my party member’s faces, and the flashy animations for attacks hit hard every time. Also, I can now pet the dog!

Gameplay and quality-of-life enhancements contribute to a more polished and streamlined experience thanks to things like a revamped user interface and smoother navigation. The combat navigation in menus is similar to that in Persona 5, with each button on the controller serving a different function which makes combat feel good and control even better.

Reload also offers more reasons to bond with teammates, increasing various skills based on their personalities after spending time with them. This helps to offset the stark lack of social links for the male party members.

In P3P the boys in the party had links, but much like in other versions, the male protagonist does not get to spend the same time with the boys as he does with the girls. However, the new systems did give me incentives to do extra scenes and hangouts with each character. For instance, the new “Theurgy” attacks. These are powerful, guaranteed hits that can only be performed when a character’s gauge builds up. These gauges build depending on the character’s personality, and the more I spent time with characters, the more perks unlocked as well. For instance Yukari was able to cast heal spells for a vastly reduced cost after I watched some movies with her and bonded a bit.

The central dungeon (named Tartarus) has always been the weakest point in Persona 3 for me, but now it’s improved in its design aesthetic, and with the addition of a few details here and there. That said, improved doesn’t mean it’s perfect, and I still found it to be one of the weaker aspects of the experience.

As one long dungeon that is randomly generated every time the player enters, it has a tendency to feel samey and grindy for my taste, especially when compared to the crafted dungeons of Persona 5 or even the unique environments of 4. However, the additions of “twilight fragments” to unlock special chests, and red doors that have more powerful enemies (and better rewards) to unlock helped break up some of the monotony.

With that said, the story-focused boss encounters were a highlight, propelling the plot forward while being accompanied by music composed by Atsushi Kitajoh, which will stick with me forever.

Another plus is the new “Rewind” system. P3R automatically keeps track of the past few segments I’d played, so I could “rewind” to any recent milestones for any reason. If I was underleveled for a boss fight, or if I accidentally said the wrong thing in a dialogue choice, I could simply dip into the settings and try again — it’s a huge stress reducer to know that it’s there!

What’s not so great, however, is that the sassier female protagonist introduced in P3 Portable is starkly missing in Reload. She had better dialogue options and social links for male party members, and even had some larger changes to one of the stories (which I can’t go into without massive spoilers.)

Also, the FES expansion to P3 included an epilogue DLC titled “The Answer” that is also absent in P3 Reload. The Answer has at least been announced in the form of a DLC pack coming out later in 2024, but this release will come as a $40 add-on to a game that was $70 at launch, so it’s hard to avoid seeing this as Sega wringing as much money as possible from this reboot. Perhaps we’ll get the female protagonist back when we get the missing Answer?

Of course, at its core, Reload retains the captivating storytelling and memorable characters that made the original a beloved classic. The story can be slow at first, but as one spends time with the characters and unveils the secret of the Dark Hour, themes of death and identity rise to the surface. Reload hits just as hard — if not harder — thanks to the improvements and refined presentation.

Persona 3 Reload is a retouched version of a modern classic, letting newcomers visit an experience that has always been unforgettable. For both longtime fans and newcomers alike, Persona 3 Reload is essential.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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Disclosures: This game is developed by Atlus and P Studio and published by Atlus and Sega. It is currently available on PS4/5, XBO/X/S, and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 95 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language and Violence. the official description reads: “This is a role-playing game in which players assume the roles of high-school students investigating a mysterious tower that only appears at midnight. During the day, players interact with classmates, teachers, and town characters, gaining social links to improve relationships and abilities. At night, players explore the tower and engage in battles against human and fantastical enemies (e.g., shadows, demons, spirits) in turn-based combat. Players select weapon and magic attacks from summoned persona creatures to kill enemies; battles are accompanied by impact sounds, gunfire, and cries of pain. Cutscenes also contain instances of violence and/or blood: a creature’s arm cut off and crushed, with blood-splatter effects; characters shot, also with blood-splatter effects; pools of blood on the ground; characters shooting themselves in the head to summon personas. The game contains some sexual material: female demons with partially exposed breasts and buttocks; a creature with a phallic-shaped head and torso. Some demons (e.g., succubus, incubus) have sexual characteristics that are described in the text (e.g., “They visit sleeping men/women and have sexual intercourse with them.”). The words “f**k” and “sh*t” appear in the game.”

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are not present.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. The game can be played entirely without sound, and everything important is conveyed via text and visual cues. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls are remappable.