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[Mercador]

Better scores than expected. If I ever finish P4G or P5R (lol!), I might bite.

 

[Paltheos]

And I have to say it, sorry. These midi horn samples or whatever program they are using on the OST, are so bad that I am honestly kind of shocked. Just sounds like a default preset on a $100 casio keyboard from the 80s. My god. I cant not hear it.

Yeah, it's absolutely horrendous. Everything else is... fine, so far (I haven't formed strong opinions yet), but the horns are just shrill. I paused the game to compare "Iwatodai Dorm" between the original and the new iterations. The old horns sound distant but vibrant.

I think your description is better though. The new horns sound cheap. It's especially glaring with headphones when the rest of the sound is rich (even if I don't agree with it all) and the horns sound like a MIDI from vanilla Dragon Quest XI.

 

[TGO]

What does the game have in terms of actual new content? I don't really care about updated visuals.

Story Structure
Persona 3 Reload tells the same story as the original Persona 3, although it does expand on things, especially with regards to characters who didn't get much screentime in the PS2 release.

New story scenes have been added
Some story scenes have been rewritten
Optional story-related scenarios have been added, where you can spend time with key characters

Battle System
Persona 3 Reload makes fairly significant changes to the turn-based combat system found in the original game. Overall, the retuned system is much more in-line with Persona 5 Royal.

All party members can be given direct orders by the player, unlike in the original Persona 3
The command menu is now based on single button presses, like in Persona 5
The new Shift mechanic is basically like the Baton Pass from Persona 5 Royal, which lets you switch between party members after hitting an enemy's weakness or scoring a critical hit
The new Theurgy mechanic gives each party member their own unique ultimate move, which can be unleashed when the Theurgy bar is full
The Theurgy bar fills up as you fight, dealing and receiving damage
Characters gain a bigger Theurgy bar boost when they perform specific actions; Yukari, for example, charges her Theurgy faster when she uses healing skills
Light (Kouga) and Dark (Eiga) elements have been added from Persona 5
Because of the new elements, many enemies have new weaknesses and resistances
Many enemies have new skills
Numerous bosses have new skills, weaknesses, and resistances
Fuuka now has skills that can be used in combat at the cost of her own SP
Fuuka has her own Theurgy that grants the party various buffs
Party members have passive perks that can be unlocked through social events, which bolster their combat strengths
Completely new artwork cut-ins and character attack animations

Personas and Fusion
Persona 3 Reload doesn't make huge changes to its persona roster or how fusion works, but there are still some adjustments that are worth outlining.

Personas from Persona 5 have been added to Reload's roster
Many personas have had their weaknesses and resistances changed in order to accommodate the new light and dark elements
Many personas have new skills that they can learn
Numerous new persona skills have been added
It's possible to gain new key items from story-related events that let you fuse new personas
More personas have been added to Shuffle Time as rewards

Tartarus
Tartarus, the procedurally generated dungeon that's central to Persona 3's gameplay loop, has been added to in a number of ways in Reload.

The Fatigue mechanic from the original Persona 3 has been removed completely — party members no longer get tired after too much exploration in Tartarus
Teleporters are much more common throughout Tartarus, letting to return to the entrance to regroup
Tartarus now has breakable shadow objects that can be attacked by the player character, often yielding items
A new currency, called Twilight Fragments, can also be found via breakable objects
A large number of Twilight Fragments can be used to restore all of your party's HP and SP at clocks found throughout Tartarus, and at the tower's entrance
New, rare treasure chests can be found throughout Tartarus, but they require a small number of Twilight Fragments to open
Tartarus has a range of new, randomised gameplay elements that unlock as you progress through the game
Monad Doors are unlocked later on, which lead to optional boss encounters and rare rewards
Completing a Monad Door reveals the whole map of the floor that you're on, and the map of the next floor
Fuuka gains new abilities through levelling up that help with your exploration of Tartarus
Shuffle Time now shows you your potential rewards, like in Persona 4 Golden
Defeating main story bosses rewards you with Major Arcana cards, which are added to Shuffle Time
Major Arcana cards grant powerful bonuses during your stay in Tartarus
Collecting a full set of Major Arcana cards during Shuffle Time grants you significant bonuses to all Shuffle Time rewards until your leave Tartarus
Items and Equipment
New consumable items have been added
New crafting materials have been added (for use in the antiques shop)
New weapons have been added
New armour has been added
New accessories have been added
New skill cards have been added
More items have been added to Shuffle Time as rewards

Daily Life
Persona 3 Reload makes numerous adjustments to how daily life unfolds, as the main character attends school and explores Tatsumi Port Island during the day and at night.

School exams and questions from the teacher are completely new and rewritten (you can find all the answers in our Persona 3 Reload: Exam Answers - All School and Test Questions Answered guide)
You can now buy software from the cyber cafe in Iwatodai Strip Mall, and make use of it via the PC in the dorm's downstairs lobby
PC software is one-use only, but different software increases different personality traits (Academics, Charm, Courage)
Some PC software grants new abilities for use in Tartarus, like a dashing attack for catching shadows by surprise
Visiting a restaurant or item shop now enables text notifications on your phone, letting you know when these locations have discounts, offers, or new things for sale
Taking on a part-time job now enables text notifications on your phone, which tell you when the jobs are available

Social Links and Character Events
Although Persona 3 Reload doesn't change the way Social Links work, it does introduce a range of additional scenarios and events.

Social Links remain the same as in the original game, but some are unlocked in slightly different ways (for more information, check out our Persona 3 Reload: All Social Links and How to Unlock Them guide)
Social Link characters will now message you on your phone to let you know when they're available
You can fast travel to a character's location directly after reading their message
New events have been added with Social Link characters when there's no school
Many new evening events with SEES members have been added, letting you hang out with your fellow persona users
These new events include activities such as gardening, cooking, and watching DVDs
Partaking in these events can increase your personality traits (Academics, Charm, Courage), get you unique items, and unlock new passive perks for your party members in combat
Spending time with SEES members who also have Social Links later in the game (Yukari, Fuuka, Mitsuru) increases their Social Link Rank by a small amount
Elizabeth rewards you with Twilight Fragments every time you increase a Social Link Rank

Romance
Just like in the original game, you can choose to enter a romantic relationship with a number of female characters through their Social Link. However, Reload adjusts the system quite significantly.

Romance now operates in a similar way to Persona 5, where you choose to enter a relationship through a key dialogue choice
You're no longer forced to enter a romantic relationship with a character in order to complete their Social Link
Rejecting a romantic relationship does not negatively impact the Social Link of that character
You can romance multiple characters at once, but there are consequences
Because of the changes to how romance works, new Social Link events have been added for all of the available girls
Some Social Link events have been rewritten
Some additional dialogue has been added based on your chosen girlfriend

 

[Sakura]

TGO
Most of that is just changes to systems etc from P3 rather than "new content" though.
I understand there are a few new events/scenes, but I was more thinking about how in P4G or P5R they added new social links entirely, endings etc. Is there anything of that scale done in Reload?

 

[TGO]

TGO
Most of that is just changes to systems etc from P3 rather than "new content" though.
I understand there are a few new events/scenes, but I was more thinking about how in P4G or P5R they added new social links entirely, endings etc. Is there anything of that scale done in Reload?

I don't think so to my knowledge.
To be fair even though I own & love them I never completed them as my experience with them was after release as they came out on PS2 after the PS3 was released and I was fully into that generation by then.
So this is my way to play them anew, despite knowing a fair bit about them as I did put a good amount of hours into them but never finished them because of newer games at the time.

 

[Punished Miku]

Yeah, it's absolutely horrendous. Everything else is... fine, so far (I haven't formed strong opinions yet), but the horns are just shrill. I paused the game to compare "Iwatodai Dorm" between the original and the new iterations. The old horns sound distant but vibrant.

I think your description is better though. The new horns sound cheap. It's especially glaring with headphones when the rest of the sound is rich (even if I don't agree with it all) and the horns sound like a MIDI from vanilla Dragon Quest XI.

Well Im glad its not just me lol. I just had to rant about that. Oh well. This one was just killing me lol. I can practically see the keys just being pressed as buttons instead of being horns. That goes for the fake clarinet thing as well.

 

[adamsapple]

TGO
Most of that is just changes to systems etc from P3 rather than "new content" though.
I understand there are a few new events/scenes, but I was more thinking about how in P4G or P5R they added new social links entirely, endings etc. Is there anything of that scale done in Reload?

No, they have not added new Social Links to the best of my knowledge. What they have added are various event scenes with the dudes in the SEES squad. Originally, you only had the new S.Links with them for the Portable game when playing as the FeMC, there were no additional scenes with them when playing as the MC.

So that's new. The bulk of the changes are bringing in the game play refinements that happened in games after P3, back to it.

 

[TGO]

Game looks great now anyway

 

[Hestar69]

to use the clock to heal in the tatrtus is it 7 fragments EVERY time or once I use the 7 there I Can just come back and heal anytime?

 

[Sakura]

I don't think so to my knowledge.
To be fair even though I own & love them I never completed them as my experience with them was after release as they came out on PS2 after the PS3 was released and I was fully into that generation by then.
So this is my way to play them anew, despite knowing a fair bit about them as I did put a good amount of hours into them but never finished them because of newer games at the time.

Yeah if you haven't played through it before, it sounds like a great version for that.
I'm sure there are also a lot of people who maybe got into Persona through 4 or 5 that haven't played Persona 3 yet.

 

[adamsapple]

to use the clock to heal in the tatrtus is it 7 fragments EVERY time or once I use the 7 there I Can just come back and heal anytime?

I'm gonna guess 7 every time (I haven't used it so can't confirm first hand)

 

[TGO]

The Tartarus looks so much better now

 

[Punished Miku]

The Stats menu looks so sick.

 

[TGO]

The Stats menu looks so sick.

Does indeed

 

[Danjin44]

The Stats menu looks so sick.

Does indeed

People can complain about Atlus’s games are not high tech but their art direction and UI designs on point.

 

[Punished Miku]

Bit redundant after the pics but I made a gif to show the slick face changes in the glass shard.

 

[TGO]

People can complain about Atlus’s games are not high tech but their art direction and UI designs on point.

They don't need to, the game character models look like the art profiles and the environments look nice and the ray tracing adds to that, and I also like the black feathers floating around the Tartarus that occasionally fall across the screen, is pure lush style that's a joy to see.
Can't wait to see what they do with Persona 4 if they ever remake it, which I can't see why they wouldn't.

 

[Danjin44]

They don't need to, the game character models look like the art profile and the environments look nice and the ray tracing adds to that, and I also like the black feathers floating around the Tartarus that occasionally fall across the screen, is pure lush style that's a joy to see.
Can't wait to see what they do with Persona 4 if they ever remake it, which I can't see why they wouldn't.

Exactly! In all honestly I admire the creativity in slick design like this over hight tech realism.

 

[amigastar]

How's the difficulty in this game? I'm a Persona newb and started playing at normal difficulty.

 

[TGO]

How's the difficulty in this game? I'm a Persona newb and started playing at normal difficulty.

That varys with the person, I generally think it's easy but it may get harder later.

 

[Ozzie666]

I purchased this on the PS3 not too long ago and was going to avoid this. Played the original with the AI party members. Felt like not enough time has passed, but now I am starting to cave, the more I see it. Feels like the perfect game to use with the portal. It really looks like they did a good job here, even if people aren't enitrely happy with some missing content. Not having an official Switch version seems criminal.

 

[Danjin44]

How's the difficulty in this game? I'm a Persona newb and started playing at normal difficulty.

Compare to mainline games (SMT) they are much easier games but if you are new to how the combat works then normal is good for that.

 

[TGO]

I purchased this on the PS3 not too long ago and was going to avoid this. Played the original with the AI party members. Felt like not enough time has passed, but now I am starting to cave, the more I see it. Feels like the perfect game to use with the portal. It really looks like they did a good job here, even if people aren't enitrely happy with some missing content. Not having an official Switch version seems criminal.

Jump in the water is lovely

 

[adamsapple]

I like seeing what other people did, on average, every day with the network function option. It's a neat little addition that gives a look into how most people tackle the game day-to-day.

 

[LordCBH]

Initial thoughts after a couple hours:

Seems like an excellent remake so far.
New cast mostly good. I really miss Michelle Ruff as Yukari though. But the new VA does a good job at least.

 

[saintjules]

Am I correct in saying that there's no There's no surround sound option? Didn't see that immediately anywhere in the options.

Edit: nevermind I hear it now.

 

[Ozzie666]

Jump in the water is lovely

I couldn't help myself, I've jumped in.

 

[Danjin44]

I like seeing what other people did, on average, every day with the network function option. It's a neat little addition that gives a look into how most people tackle the game day-to-day.

It similar function in Catherine when you give your choice at end of nightmare stage, you can see what people chose.

 

[The Gamer Triple H]

So I'm on steam, and just realized that bonus exp simply doesn't count. Needed 56 exp for level up, got 70 including bonus exp from wand and arcana burst. Still need 30 exp to level up. Completely useless.

Checked to see if personas got the bonus, they don't. Must be broken

Actually the entire earned exp is broken. The amount it's says you get without bonuses is fucked up. Killed two shadows and said I got 30 exp. Checked my stats page and I only got 4 exp. I was wondering why I've been stuck on level 10. I'm getting no exp in battle.

Edit: some people have been saying that it's split between party members but the math doesn't add up. Unless it's split between party and personas?

84 exp divided by 3 is 28. But we only get 16 exp. Then is my persona getting the rest? This doesn't make sense at all.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Still on the first Block, but we're gonna change that. No fatigue system already makes this easier. Playing on the new Merciless difficulty. I am not sure how much harder it can get from a first playthrough of FES on Hard. Time to test nuts!

Edit: for PC players not in the know, I recommend going here:

Persona 3 Reload - PCGamingWiki PCGW - bugs, fixes, crashes, mods, guides and improvements for every PC game

www.pcgamingwiki.com

and Downloading this:

Releases · Lyall/P3RFix

A fix that adds custom resolutions, ultrawide support and more to Persona 3 Reload. - Lyall/P3RFix

github.com

Read the information on PCgamingwiki.

I hope this helps some people, trying to squeeze out the best from this fantastic release.

 

[DeVeAn]

Been trying to start this franchise for years and it’s never at a good time for me. Eventually I’ll get the series

 

[March Climber]

Yes, the rapping is fine and so is everything else but the female singer parts are just lacking and feels flat.
It's also like it was rerecord in 2020's.....oh wait

Seriously I see this with music artists that rerecord their music and it sounds just the same despite being the same artist.
I think they think it sounds better

My only issue with re-records is when they decide to overdo the instrumentation or add multiple small extra touches until it ultimately sounds much messier. I don't know why this keeps happening with remakes. It also happened with some iconic FF7 Remake tracks and to a lesser extent the FFX remaster and Mario RPG remake tracks. Most of them are good, but the bad ones are just way overdone.

Sometimes they make an improvement (usually when sticking close to the original or veering far away from it when the track wasn't good initially). Other times though, it's like the people who make these changes don't understand the main melody behind the original tracks. I wonder if anyone's actually taking time and writing down the music notes to make sure they make sense, or if they're actually considering the amount of layered tracks, or(when it's an orchestra) if they're just saying 'add more instruments!' or if they're simply just in the studio riffing over the original track thinking it sounds good.

 

[SantaC]

Any way to reduce bloom and fog? Looks terrible

 

[TGO]

My only issue with re-records is when they decide to overdo the instrumentation or add multiple small extra touches until it ultimately sounds much messier. I don't know why this keeps happening with remakes. It also happened with some iconic FF7 Remake tracks and to a lesser extent the FFX remaster and Mario RPG remake tracks. Most of them are good, but the bad ones are just way overdone.

Sometimes they make an improvement (usually when sticking close to the original or veering far away from it when the track wasn't good initially). Other times though, it's like the people who make these changes don't understand the main melody behind the original tracks. I wonder if anyone's actually taking time and writing down the music notes to make sure they make sense, or if they're actually considering the amount of layered tracks, or(when it's an orchestra) if they're just saying 'add more instruments!' or if they're simply just in the studio riffing over the original track thinking it sounds good.

That's what I noticed too, which is funny because when they did it in the 90's and 2000's those versions became the definitive version.
Now they are over produced and for some reason have less bass and if they have an artist they're trying to sound like Adele or some other new singer with some weird fake accents and thats even when it's the same artist.
It's annoying as fuck

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Made 2 gifs with Yukari and Mitsuru High Cut Armors

 

[Agent_4Seven]

There will be 6 new pieces of DLC for #P3R #Persona3Reload

*Exploration Item Set
*P4G EX BGM Set
*P5R EX BGM Set
*Velvet Room Costume Set
*Velvet Room BGM Set
*Episode Aigis / The Answer
*Episode Aigis BGM Set

All seemingly under the name "P3R Expansion Pass"

What's next, female character as overpriced DLC? All story stuff should be in the game at launch. I didn't expect anything else from ATLUS tbh.

 

[adamsapple]

What's next, female character as overpriced DLC? All story stuff should be in the game at launch. I didn't expect anything else from ATLUS tbh.

Better to have Episode Aegis as DLC instead of a complete game re-release being the only way to play it

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Better to have Episode Aegis as DLC instead of a complete game re-release being the only way to play it

If you look at it like that, it does sound better, but it should be in the game at release. I don't believe for a second that's it's not 100% done already (not to mention the rest of the package), they're just waiting to release it later (during summer for example) and to not piss people off that there's too much day one DLC and the only story related one that should be in the game is behind a paywall at launch.

 

[Punished Miku]

The assist shortcut is nice. Basically auto battle like FFXIII.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Loving the game, and everything seems to be an upgrade... with the exception of Junpei's voice. Sounds like Urkel: "did I do that?". lol

 

[Danjin44]

If you look at it like that, it does sound better, but it should be in the game at release. I don't believe for a second that's it's not 100% done already (not to mention the rest of the package) and they're just waiting to release it later (during summer for example) and to not piss people off that there's too much day one DLC and the only story related one that should be in the game is behind a paywall at launch

I believe they actually trying to make it better (The Answer was not good) and if they do like Capcom did with Separate ways DLC then I don’t mind paying for it.

 

[Punished Miku]

I'm enjoying it. I have some criticisms but this is the 1st time a Persona game clicked for me. Finally. Still early so I'm hoping my remaining issues get ironed out in time.

The battles arw better than I expected. It doesnt do anything rpgs havent done before, but everything you'd want is there and its all polished. Auto battle once you discover weaknesses, easy scan on enemies, turn switch during a combo, hit start to fast forward, hit enemies on the map for advantage. I do wish the all out attack looked a little more interesting or that it upgrades or has multiple types. We'll see what unlocks in the future.

My main areas of criticism are the story being pretty weak so far and the dungeon level design being super basic. Ive played Etrian Odyssey games and Wizardry games so I understand the old school influence, but its not great. The quality of the battle system does the heavy lifting there.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

I believe they actually trying to make it better (The Answer was not good) and if they do like Capcom did with Separate ways DLC then I don’t mind paying for it.

In FES they've made some good changes to make the base game and made it better, even though stupid fatigue system was still there. The bottom line is, the base game in FES was better than in original. As for the Answer... they could've made it better by integrating it into the base game just like they did with Royal content in P5, but it looks like it'll be separate thing again and whether it'll be good or not this time is a different question entirely, one can only hope.

 

[Danjin44]

In FES they've made some good changes to make the base game and made it better, even though stupid fatigue system was still there. The bottom line is, the base game in FES was better than in original. As for the Answer... they could've made it better by integrating it into the base game just like they did with Royal content in P5, but it looks like it'll be separate thing again and whether it'll be good or not this time is a different question entirely, one can only hope.

I played FES and so far Reload does everything better than FES.....combat, Tartarus, able to control your party members, visuals and no fatigue system the new system they added to the combat.

 

[March Climber]

What's next, female character as overpriced DLC? All story stuff should be in the game at launch. I didn't expect anything else from ATLUS tbh.

This is where you should decide to skip the launch and buy P3R+ edition next year.

The assist shortcut is nice. Basically auto battle like FFXIII.

Does it have a 2x speed option?

 

[JayK47]

What I disliked most in the original were the bland dungeons. Hopefully the dungeons are more in line with Persona 5 or better.

 

[Punished Miku]

Does it have a 2x speed option?

You can hit start to just fast forward with melee attacks only.

 

[Punished Miku]

Hate to say it, getting pretty boring. Got to a dungeon block so cant do that anymore. So just went through over a week of just talking to people. Virtually every conversation is about almost literally ... nothing. No minigames either. Just eat ramen and talk about nothing. Study. Etc. Etc. Waiting for something to happen at this point. Still zero lore or actual info about the main plot. At 9 hrs.

Unless Ive missed something it seems a lot of these school questions they ask cant be learned about through the actual gameplay. Are you just supposed to google it if you dont know? Not the best design for one of the only interactive parts of the dialogue. But I guess this is a PS2 game and guides were pretty common then.

 

[Big Baller]

Made 2 gifs with Yukari and Mitsuru High Cut Armors

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Bon appétit monsieur