Persona 3 Reload Playstation Review: A Rewarding Remaster

There’s hardly any game series that captures the teenage life as beautifully as the Persona franchise does. These games are all about hitting the books and building social circles. You kick off the school year in April, lonely as a dingo in the desert, but by the time you’re through, you’re as bold and popular as a surf legend with mates coming out your ears. And on top of that, you’re assembling a crew of rebel teens with nerves of steel, mystical powers, and the knack for shaking up society. Persona 3 Reload gives one of these classics a facelift for today’s consoles.

Persona 3 is undoubtedly the darkest chapter in this fantasy saga. While Persona 5 grooved on themes of liberation and Persona 4 dug deep into the pursuit of truth, from facing inner demons to exposing crooked cops, Persona 3 dives headfirst into morbid themes. Death, sacrifice, and the price of victory. In Persona 5, you tear off your mask to summon your Persona. Persona 4 forces you to confront your shadow self and embrace your flaws to reach your full potential. But Persona 3 Reload takes it up a notch. It makes you pull the trigger on yourself.

Staring down the barrel of a gun against your own head, facing imminent mortality, your determination to survive and fight transforms into your Persona—your alter ego with supernatural abilities, living out the power fantasy we all share. It’s about as bleakly poetic as it gets. Look past the grim theme, and you’ve got yourself a must-play Persona game. Persona 3 Reload isn’t flawless, especially in the cold light of February 2024, and it’s not even the definitive edition of the game. But it’s the closest Persona 3 has ever come to perfection.

Skipping the nitty-gritty of a storyline dating back to 2006, Persona 3 Reload sees S.E.E.S (Special Extracurricular Execution Squad, aka your squad) infiltrating and aiming to eradicate the Dark Hour. It’s that hidden time between one day and the next, known only to those awakened to its existence. It’s a realm of Shadows and endless possibilities, but also a twisted reality of existential peril. The world is doomed come the Dark Hour, unless you intervene.

But, being a Persona game, you’ve got to balance saving the world with school, exams, and friendships. Oh, and don’t forget to walk the dog, cook for your dorm buddies, and hold down a part-time job. Being a teenager is a tough gig…

Staying true to the Persona tradition of multiple releases (like the five different Persona 5 games), this is the third time Persona 3 has been revamped, following FES and Portable. Unfortunately, the option to play as a male or female protagonist from P3P didn’t make the cut in this remake. So, that being said, Reload falls just short of being the ultimate edition. Nevertheless, it’s the best version of the game so far, thanks to a heap of quality-of-life improvements and modern updates. Persona 3 Reload takes everything we love about Persona 5 and injects it into Persona 3, with spectacular results.

In addition to the spruced-up graphics, re-recorded dialogue, and revamped soundtrack (all top-notch), the game tweaks what you can do on certain dates, adds new classroom lectures and test answers, and completely overhauls the battle system. Combat now mirrors Persona 5’s smooth action, allowing you to zip around the battlefield and swap party members quickly after exploiting enemy weaknesses. The UI has also undergone a makeover.

And there’s more! New combat features like Theurgy, akin to Persona 5’s Showtime moves, are powerful individual abilities that grow stronger as you help your friends grow. Executed brilliantly, they can turn the tide of a boss battle if used wisely.

Then there are new challenges in Tartarus, like Monad Doors and Passages, housing super tough Shadows and rare loot; an updated Fusion system in the Velvet Room (to match Persona 5’s); network features so you can see what others did on the same day; and additional scenes fleshing out characters’ stories, including your adversaries, the Strega gang, who wield Personas and seek to preserve the Dark Hour and their power.

But there are still areas that haven’t seen improvement or change. It lacks the Dungeon and Palace aspects of later games, though Tartarus can still be gripping after a marathon session. The biggest gripe revolves around the sleazier characters who can’t seem to think beyond sex. It’s frustrating not being able to call them out on their immaturity. Sure, you can argue that this game reflects a different time and culture, but it doesn’t make Junpei’s beachside boob comparisons any less cringeworthy. Remember, it’s never cool to let friends creep on others.

Persona 3 Reload is a stellar remake, boasting some of the franchise’s finest graphics and presentation. The gameplay is just as addictive as ever, with the improved combat system seamlessly blending with the myriad student activities. It’s disappointing that this game doesn’t have content from FES and Portable, but it’s still a solid JRPG worth checking out.

This review utilised a key provided by Five Star Games and Persona 3 is out now on Playstation, Xbox and PC

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