Persona 3 Reload chases Persona 5 and stumbles

Person 3 was always a bit of a black sheep. It laid the foundation for the RPG series we know today, but its oppressive atmosphere and bleak storylines were a far cry from the flash and enthusiasm of the games that followed. Of Person 3 Reload, Atlus returns to the past, but does so in the shadow of the most accessible game in the series: Person 5 still looms over its predecessors, and Reload makes that clearer than ever.

Reload begins with a high school student experiencing something called “the dark hour.” Every day during this 25th hour, the streets are filled with coffins and enemies called Shadows, while a towering structure called Tartarus looms over the island. When you’re not going to school and building bonds with people in a calendar-based structure, you’ll climb Tartarus with the help of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), which explores one floor at a time. During full moon nights you fight against all kinds of alien bosses.

Person 3 Reload is generally true to its roots. The events of the main story, as well as the characters and locations, are all present. It is important to note that his modern rendition builds on the original release and thus lacks the major additions of the newer versions. (Person 3 FESfor example, has a playable epilogue that expands the story beyond the original ending Persona 3 portable lets you choose a female protagonist, with her own dialogue options and relationships to nurture.)

However, Reload takes some freedom: New activities help break the calendar-based schedule Person 3, which can be monotonous or comforting depending on who you ask. Buying software programs at an Internet cafe and URLs from an informant makes for fun use of the new desktop computer in the dorm lounge, and I enjoyed watching a documentary about a wolf pack with Koromaru, the canine member of the pack. These activities are packed with charm and funny moments. If you’re like me and you only have the Portable version of Person 3 advance, in which a more hands-off structure makes it feel like a visual novel with occasional battles, Reload‘s better pace should feel like a night and day difference.

Because this is an RPG, and one at that Persona game, said social outings provide you with a range of rewards that nourish you Reload‘s new character synergies. It is here where the influence of Person 5 – And Person 5 Royal – permeates this remake. There is a makeshift garden on the roof of the dormitory where you can plant vegetables and craft items that you can use during battles. Moreover, tending the garden with different characters enhances the effects of the harvest. In the lounge you can prepare meals in the kitchen and earn similar improvements for upcoming battles. Aside from items and points for your social stats, subsequent encounters ultimately grant the characters passive abilities called Characteristics, which are related to the new Theurgy system.

As you battle through the floors of Tartarus, Person 3In the vast network of dungeons, Theurgy skills enable a special attack after certain criteria are gradually met: the enemy’s weaknesses are exploited with Koromaru, support skills are used with fellow high school student Yukari, and so on. Once the meter is full, you can activate this power, which plays out in a flashy cutscene a la Royal‘s Showtime Attacks.

Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

On paper, these additions are a testament to how far the Persona series has come, with past mechanics refined with each entry over the years. In an interview with 4Gamersaid director Takuya Yamaguchi Person 5 has become the standard for how the series plays for current fans. This influenced the design of Reload during development, but it can also be seen elsewhere in Atlus’ catalog. Soul hackers 2 follows a similar formula, but does not build sufficiently on the cult status of its predecessor. Shin Megami Tensei 5, instead, was updated for fans with modern RPG sensibilities to pick up and play. But it doesn’t shy away from tradition: it’s just as punishing and combat-oriented as the SMTs before it.

On the other hand, the influence of Person 5‘s conceit departs Person 3 Reload in a state of inner conflict. The story and themes do most of the heavy lifting in maintaining some semblance of unique identity. It’s striking yet memorable to explore such a bleak world, with high school students constantly shooting themselves in the head with (fake) guns, a police officer who serves as the main gun dealer, and character arcs that don’t exactly result in a happy life . -after outcomes. Unfortunately, the tone is continually compromised by a presentation that is too colorful, flashy and sophisticated for this material, demanding spectacle and fidelity over grit or atmosphere. It brings sophistication to an atmosphere originally known for its grim trappings.

This obsession with modernization also corrects the original’s lack of handholding, which created interesting friction that discouraged min-maxing. When you look at the overworld or your minimap, most social links and requests are automatically highlighted for you. If you’re not sure what to do after school, your phone will now behave like the one in your phone Person 5 or even Grand Theft Auto 5, with text messages from confidants inviting you to hang out or ads on restaurant mailing lists reminding you of part-time jobs and other activities. If interacting with more than one menu sounds tiring, you can just select a notification and quickly travel to the spot automatically. Sure, social outings were often obtuse originally, but there’s little sense of discovery now – Atlus has overcompensated and made things at simple. Like it Royaleverything becomes a checklist that must be immediately addressed and moved on.

Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

Tartarus dungeon crawling perhaps Person 3‘s most outdated aspect is now shinier, but just as empty and repetitive to navigate. Characters now talk to each other more often, and some artificial variety has been added with breakable items that sometimes yield loot. But everything else has been streamlined. The fatigue system is gone, meaning there’s nothing stopping you from tackling new sets of floors in the dungeon on the first day they’re unlocked. While your crew won’t gain experience unless they’re in your party, grinding is no longer as necessary. After spending new in-game currency to open special chests, there’s a chance to unlock an additional room where you can level up two characters at once to catch up with the rest.

In recent years, Atlus seems determined to remove much of the character from the series in its obsessive quest to profit from Person 5. The success of the fifth entry is highly regarded, but its popularity has resulted in a groundswell retroactively rippling through the line, with mixed results. No matter how many refinements are made, the fatigue of Person 5-likes are starting to hit. That’s too bad Person 3 is brought to attention under these new standardized criteria – after all these years it becomes just another sheep in the flock.

Person 3 Reload will be released on February 2 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. The game was reviewed on Xbox using a pre-release download code from Sega. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. You can find Additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy can be found here.