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Characters are what truly binds me to a story. The adventures we have together and the experiences I share with them compel me to care for their wellbeing. That connection is what made me begin to love Persona in the first place. It may sound a little sad, but I believe I share this sentiment with many other players when I say that the Persona characters filled in the missing space left by friends I didn’t have growing up. This also goes for the Persona 3 cast, of course, though admittedly, I felt as if I wasn’t able to spend as much time with them as compared to the Persona 4 and Persona 5 characters. However, what we know about Persona 3 Reload so far gives me hope.
The members of S.E.E.S. don’t really start off as seeming all that buddy-buddy between each other at first. Rather, it was the overarching story that brought them together by the end. Am I worried that Persona 3 Reload won’t be able to capture that journey? Not entirely.
Given Atlus’s dedication to putting out new, character-focused trailers each week, I get the impression that Persona 3 Reload will present this version of the story as being more dedicated to the cast than ever before. As someone who wanted to spend even more time with the Persona 3 characters (even though it’s already a very long game by average standards), that notion excites me. It doesn’t doom me like it does for those that are concerned about this game becoming too Persona 5-like.
The presentation also seems encouraging. We’ll see gorgeous versions of the cast. And not only are the graphics turning out visually impressive, but the music sounds beautiful as well. The remake versions of classic Persona 3 tracks like “Mass Destruction” and “Changing Seasons” don’t ruin the original songs for me. Additionally, the new tracks produced for Persona 3 Reload, like “Color Your Night,” don’t stray far from the original catchy, mesmerizing quality of the music from the original.
In addition, Atlus may have had more time for Persona 3 Reload to sit in the pot. After all, we don’t really know when development on this remake began. Adding in additional runtime, social links, and other Persona modernities to the original story would only add to the experience, as long as the additions were meaningful and not “schlock.”
I’m excited about the promise of quality of life improvements for this game, like the ability to control our party members through direct commands, for example. That, combined with the compelling storyline, will motivate me to want me to continue playing. Though to be honest, I won’t even need “motivation.” It’ll hopefully just be that magical intrinsic urge to play more Persona, as I’ve felt with the other titles in the franchise. Persona 3’s original “Memento Mori” theme is front and center on the website and promotions for the remake. So, I’m holding out hope that Persona 3’s original message will remain in-tact.
Also, I have to wonder if Atlus will decide to ride the Persona 3 Reload train with more Persona 3 spin-off games after all of this is said and done? The Persona franchise becomes curiouser and curiouser.
Persona 3 Reload will be released for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PCs via Steam on February 2, 2024.
