Also, if you’re not a fan of turn-based combat and prefer real-time combat, then this game won’t change your mind as it fully embraces the former.

[79] Dom Peppiatt of VG247 said the demo appeared to be "a remaster in the best sense".[77] In contrast, writing for Polygon, Chelsea Stark criticized the lack of environmental detail in the dungeons, which she described as faithful to the original game but not up to the standards set by Persona 5, and expressed uncertainty about how much would be updated in the final product.[80]

Of course, I speak as an experienced Persona fan who is used to the series’ eccentricities and obsessed with planning ahead to ensure my party is fully prepared. If you’re a casual JRPG fan who has never played a Persona game before and you don’t take the time to learn Persona 3 Reload’s complex mechanics, like planning your daily activities, this game can and will kick your butt without mercy. Thankfully, there are plenty of tutorials to help newcomers get up to speed on how to play the game.

A dog who awakens to the power of Persona after a tragic event. Since his original owner—the priest of the dorm's neighboring Naganaki Shrine—had passed away, the protagonist and friends take him in as a full-fledged member of SEES.

That often has to be balanced with managing a slew of devastating status ailments and hard-hitting attacks, so things can spiral out of control if you don't play it smart. The best examples of this come from Monad doors, which are all-new rooms within the Tartarus floors – specifically, the boss gauntlets found at progress checkpoints. These fights throw somewhat unconventional combat scenarios at you that bring out the best of these satisfying turn-based battles whether you line up a sequence of attacks perfectly or barely make it by the skin of your teeth.

Normally you cannot fuse Personas at higher levels than you, however there is an unlockable late in the game that will let you fuse higher level Personas.

Though it's based on Persona 5's Showtime, Theurgy attacks require heightened emotional states and have special conditions personalized to each character to activate, so it takes more strategy to pull off. I persona 3 reload gameplay didn't spend enough time grinding in Tartarus to get to everyone's moves, but from what I did see, the results are devastating for the enemy.

These additional content sets will allow you to change your appearance and BGM as you explore Tartarus,

And yet it's all so familiar at the same time; the normal attack animations are true to form, the battle portraits are identical, and how your crew blast themselves in the head with an Evoker remains the sickest and best in-lore way to summon a persona. The fresh aesthetics and stylings more akin to Persona 5 also make these characters cooler than I could've ever imagined them to be.

In addition, the original Persona 3’s turn-based combat system and dungeon crawling have been massively enhanced in the remake to be faster-paced and have new mechanics to make them more engaging.

Next up we have the addition of new combat mechanics such as Shift, which functions like the Baton Pass from Persona 5 Royal. After landing a critical hit or hitting an enemy’s weaknesses, you can activate the Shift mechanic to swap to another party member even if their turn has already passed to allow them to attack again.

Not to mention that spending time with party members in Linked Episodes will reward you with healing items to help you survive longer in battle.

Persona 3 Reload[c] is a 2024 role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus. Reload is a remake of Persona 3 (2006), the fourth main installment of the Persona series, itself a part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. As with the original game, the protagonist is a high school student returning to his home city a decade after his parents were killed in a fatal car crash.

It finally feels like I'm truly exploring, experiencing, and learning the geography of Tatsumi Port Island instead of merely hovering above it. I didn't feel the limitations of a small town in the same way I did prior, where moving from place to place felt more like data entry than a game as the hours wore on. And: I can get a part-time job at the movie theater!