I never played the original Persona 3 back in 2006. Around that time, I never played any RPGs, for that matter. I was using cheat codes in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for a tank and missing all my jumps on Pac-Man World 2. It wasn’t until I became much older and started to enjoy more methodical experiences in games, games that required me to think about my next move, that I gave the genre a chance. So the new remake Persona 3 Reload is all unfamiliar territory to me. All I knew going in was that kids were shooting themselves in the head for power? I never would have given a game like that a second look when I was younger, but now that I’m older and can appreciate the deeper meaning behind creative decisions, I kept an open mind diving in. I was surprised with just how attached I became to these characters. I am fascinated not just by the appearance of it all but with the meaning it all contains, and discovering more of that story became my chief incentive as I dove deeper into Persona 3 Reload. The magic within this world subverted my initial expectations and left me with an ever-growing hunger for more.
Persona 3 Reload is on the longer side, as it will take roughly 70-80 hours to finish, and maybe longer if you feel the need to complete everything. Let’s focus on the first 15 hours, though, because if you aren’t enjoying it at first then you might not be inclined to see it through to the end, even if it is ultimately worth the investment.
In Persona 3 Reload you are a transfer student greeted with floating coffins and splashes of blood upon your arrival at your new school. You come to learn that this is the Dark Hour, an hour hidden between the end of the current day and the start of the next. It is only within the Dark Hour you see Tartarus, a large tower swarming with Shadows that feed on the minds of humans. You join a group at school called SEES, the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, who serves to fight the Shadows from within. However, in order to fight you must summon your Persona, the manifestation of your psyche. It’s a fascinating premise, and it’s elevated by the game’s art style. Persona as a franchise has continuity within its mechanics, but every game sticks out simply because of its presentation. The user interface is just gushing with personality, with everything having this underwater-esque aesthetic to it. Just the simple action of opening up the menu to use a healing item is bristling with a charm I can only describe as alluring.
That commitment to presentation extends throughout the game. The school and city environments are full of people with a commotion that makes it all feel alive. Inside of Tartarus, there’s this colorful veil of ambiguity that makes every step feel more daunting and mysterious than the last. Everywhere in Persona 3 Reload feels unique from a visual standpoint. From the people spoken to, to the stores where items or weapons can be bought, not enough can be said for how much care was put into creating such visually fascinating atmospheres.
Play is broken up into two aspects: living the student life and fighting Shadows as SEES’ leader. Combat is turn based, which admittedly isn’t a system I am a fan of. I prefer to be in the action as opposed to just pressing a button and watching a preset animation. However, I decided to be a bit more open-minded and I found myself enjoying the combat loop more than I initially expected. What changed my mind was the strategy involved. Everybody in the party is a Persona user, and since all Personas differ from each individual that also ties into their abilities. Each Persona wields different elemental powers, and as the leader you are given access to possess up to eight Personas at a time. The key is to use those assorted elements on the various Shadows to find out what they are weak to so that it may be exploited. Figuring out a Shadow’s weakness and turning a three minute battle into 30 seconds is just gratifying.
While fighting turns out to be a surprising joy, it also introduces an element of annoyance in the form of repetition. As you explore Tartarus, the layouts of each map may change but the components within do not. That means it doesn’t take long before all the Shadows on the surrounding floors are revealed along with their weaknesses. That excitement over figuring out their weakness wears off once you fight the same Shadow a couple dozen times over. At that point, the constant encounters become more of a hindrance than a joy. It is not until more of Tartarus is unraveled that that feeling of revelation comes all over again, only to be brought back into the same loop as before. Thankfully, fighting isn’t all you do in Persona 3 Reload.
Outside of Tartarus, you are a student. That means there is a focus on getting good grades, as well as being social. The more social bonds created, the more it helps inside of Tartarus. Those bonds, referred to as “Social Links,” open the opportunity to create more powerful Personas for fighting Shadows within Tartarus. What helped me to incentivise going after these bonds is how strong the character writing is. The closer you become with someone, the more they reveal to you about who they are deep down, thus creating a stronger link. Since I found myself personally caring about these characters and their stories, it became such a joy to spend time with them. I just wish there were more dialogue options. When given the chance to interject, the options only appear to be neutral or positive. I’m not asking for the option to be a jerk, but I wish that I could offer more than “I’m sorry you went through that” when I could find myself relating to their stories.
However, student life is a grounded experience. Meaning there isn’t much ‘gameplay’ outside of reading dialogue and just choosing where to go. To put it bluntly, it’s monotonous. How time is spent in school is a crucial element to your success, but it does not equate to those moment to moment experiences being the most exciting. It’s understandable why the game is designed this way, and ultimately I came around to enjoying the calm before the storm. It does not change the fact that instead of studying for a midterm I would much rather take a sword to a Shadow’s throat. There is a lot of downtime involved, especially when reaching a point in Tartarus where progression isn’t allowed until after a certain point in the calendar year. That time is meant to be forging those Social Links and stocking up before the next big fight. Once I started to understand this system better, it became much more enjoyable, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a bit difficult to keep my attention at first.
As someone new to this world, I found Persona 3 Reload to be rewarding once I was able to give it the time it needs and to accept it on its own terms. You may have noticed I never mentioned the plot, and that’s on purpose. There is a captivating story here, one about learning the meaning of life itself. But as I said, discovery is the real magic of Persona 3 Reload, and you need to do that on your own. Although this is the third titled entry in the series, prior knowledge of past Persona games isn’t a requirement to enjoy this one, nor is familiarity with the installments released since one originally came out. Progression is felt not by leveling up, but by having your world develop beyond your initial perception. Once I got myself deeply involved in my part time job as a barista, making sure I don’t miss track meetings, and ensuring my team has the best gear I could afford, it made for an immersive experience unlike other games I am used to playing. Even if you don’t think you’re into big RPGs with a lot of social business attached, it’s worth taking a look into Persona 3 Reload, especially if you’re subscribed to Game Pass; still, though, you should prepare yourself for the long journey ahead. And remember, you will die. Now it’s time for me to play this dancing game I’ve heard so much about.
Persona 3 Reload was developed by P-Studio and published by Sega. Our review is based on the Xbox Series X|S version. It is also available for PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
Matthew Reyes is an intern at Paste.