Persona 3 Reload shows there's still a novelty to balancing normal life and relationships with the duties of defeating shadows in the Dark Hour – a mysterious 25th hour where time stops as monstrous forces come out, humans turn into coffins, and your school transforms into a deranged 250-floor tower.

Persona 3 Reload has done a fantastic job reimagining Persona 3 for modern consoles. The revamped combat system is fun, the improved graphical presentation is a sight to behold, and the story and characters have been refined with new scenes that flesh them out more than the original game. If you’re a Persona fan or JRPGs, this game is a must-have for your collection.

[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]

The structure and progression within Tartarus has not been altered from the original game whatsoever, but has been expanded with more environmental variety to encourage exploration, and sports unique visual effects accomplished by the game's use of Unreal Engine 4, such as improved lighting. The fatigue mechanic has been completely removed to reflect subsequent entries, making it so that the party is unable to tire during exploration, thus pelo longer affecting their battle performance. Each floor within Tartarus also houses breakable objects in the form of fire effigies that can be swung at to obtain hidden treasure and items.

But as shallow or awkward as some of them may be, there are valuable little stories to be found in Social Links that either feed into the broader message about finding purpose or are just entertaining enough to see to their conclusion.

The video contains spoilers for the opening parts of the game, so it is recommended that those who wish to experience it for the first time in-game refrain from watching.

In July 2022, Atlus conducted a consumer-led survey in Japan gauging interest in potential remakes and re-releases of past games from the publisher, specifically in the Megami Tensei franchise.

Step into the shoes of a transfer student thrust into an unexpected fate when entering the hour "hidden" between one day and the next. Awaken an incredible power and chase the mysteries of the Dark Hour, fight for your friends, and leave a mark on their memories forever. Persona 3 Reload is a captivating reimagining of the genre-defining RPG, reborn for the modern era. Key Features Experience the pivotal game of the Persona series faithfully remade with cutting-edge graphics, modernized quality-of-life features, and signature stylish UI.

Persona 3 Reload follows the same gameplay loop as the original Persona 3. You will spend your days attending school and building up your Social Stats to forge friendships (or Social Links, as they’re called in this game) with various NPCs in town during the day.

While attending Gekkoukan High School, the in-class questions from the subject teachers have been redone from scratch, with none being repurposed from the original game. Exploration both around Tatsumi Port persona 3 reload gameplay Island and within Tartarus is now done from a third-person perspective with the camera now being positioned directly behind the protagonist, and now enables free camera control for the player to get better views of their surroundings. The overworld map is now fully rendered in 3D, and has an additional button prompt for displaying information on the protagonist's current location, or other areas they can visit. Expanding on Persona 3 Portable's fast travel function, the player is also able to immediately fast-travel to any specific location within the highlighted area directly from the map itself as opposed to within the location.

Additionally, for those who are looking for fearsome adversaries to reach an even greater glory, they can also look forward to player-versus-player battles that will go down in the history books if they so choose to wage them.

After completing the game, I am happy to report that this remake has exceeded my expectations and cemented itself as one of my new favorite Persona games of all time and one of Xbox’s best JRPGs.

I was so glad the Fatigue system had been removed for Persona 3 Reload. This meant that as long as I had enough healing supplies to keep my characters’ health and Spirit Points full, I could spend as much time as I wanted in Tartarus without worrying about arbitrary systems forcing me to leave.

A textbook example of how a remake should be done. It has an in-depth storyline and complex characters. Its unique gameplay blend of turn-based combat, dungeon crawling, and high school simulator is addictive. And it is packed with tons of improvements and new content which old and new fans alike will enjoy.