And yet it's all so familiar at the same time; the normal attack animations are true to form, the battle portraits are identical, and how your crew blast themselves in the head with an Evoker remains the sickest and best in-lore way to summon a persona. The fresh aesthetics and stylings more akin to Persona 5 also make these characters cooler than I could've ever imagined them to be.

For me, the most potentially exciting changes to life outside of hunting Shadows were made inside the dorm that make it feel like the main character actually co-exists there with a half-dozen classmates. The rooftop, the kitchen, Fuuka's DVD player, and the bookshelf are all now available to use in one's free time for gardening, cooking, or watching movies, or reading with a friend or reading to improve your three character traits.

On top of all that, you also juggle your ordinary life as a high school student during the day and a monster hunter during the Dark Hour.

These new scenes and side stories add additional depth to the main plot and made me love the characters even more as they added further depth to their personal histories and psyches than the original game did.

After the credits upon beating the game, I was in awe of how much Persona 3 Reload improved the best aspects of Persona 3 while getting rid of aspects that held the original version back.

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The audio improvements in this remake are just as impressive as the graphical ones. The English and Japanese voice acting is superb, with every actor bringing their A-game to bring the characters to life with stellar performances.

The next major gameplay component of Persona 3 that Persona 3 Reload revamped was the dungeon crawling. I remember Tartarus in Persona 3 FES being a repetitive slog as every floor from top to bottom was a never-ending series of samey corridors with different colored wallpaper.

Azusa Shimada serves as Persona 3 Reload's main character designer, with original artist Shigenori Soejima taking on a supervisory role. The two collaborated to refine the existing designs, as well as update the S.E.E.S. equipment when entering Tartarus. This includes a new armband, which was teased by game director Takuya Yamaguchi to have ties to a new mechanic during Shadow encounters, and a combat attire unique to every party member.

The game's final logo went through multiple design iterations, with earlier concepts entirely reimagining the typeface to illustrate the intent of the game rebooting Persona 3 for a new audience. However, as it became increasingly clear to the development staff that Reload would retain the original game's core while only updating its presentation and accessibility, Kumagai and Azusa Shimada created a logo that largely resembled the original game's title treatment, but with the Reload moniker communicating its status as a remake with new elements as opposed to an HD remaster.[27][28]

In my playthrough that ran more than an hour, though, I didn't feel at all like Reload was covering the same ground, even if it basically is. The added gameplay elements, updated graphics, tweaked areas and social links compel me to sink another persona 3 reload gameplay handful of months into getting to the bottom of Apathy Syndrome with the S.E.E.S. crew.

In the input field, type a question that could be answered with "yes" or "pelo." You can ask up to 20 questions before the game is over

features ongoing updates which will keep bringing you more engaging content that will expand your legend as time marches on.

Since being officially unveiled at the Microsoft Games Showcase in June 2023, details on the Persona 3 Reload release date, platforms, trailers, and even gameplay have been on the minds of hungry fans eager for the P3 remake.