In this review, I am reviewing the PS5 version of the game. I have played the game twice on Normal mode and 1.002 – 1.003 patches with 263:43 hours of playtime.
Pros:
1.) Just like its predecessors, the presentation is amazing. While it may not be as flashy as Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal, I do commend the game for its own type of presentation. The main color is blue with water and sky (i.e., the moon) being the main imagery. All you have to do is look at the pause menu to see how far the developers go with it.
The music is amazing as well. While most of it is the same music as the original but more refined, a few new additions are greatly appreciated and entertaining.
There is even one song I hated in the original, but I like it now in this remake.
I can go on with the presentation and the music, but you get the idea. The remake looks visually amazing, and it is no surprise that the developers were dedicated to making it look great.
2.) The gameplay is also great, especially with new additions. Like in the original, the gameplay is a turn-based system where you determine the moves your characters will make, however, unlike the original, you have full control of your entire party instead of the main character (voiced by Aleks Le). There are plenty of ways to get stronger, but one big way is you can befriend people to help strengthen your Persona and gain stronger ones (this is called Social Links).
There are many additions and subtractions from the original, so here are some that I can list: your entire party no longer gets tired, but you should still keep your eye on their SP (or spirit points). A new battle system called a Theurgy is a special move for the party that offers extreme damage to the enemies or assists the party from their HP (or health points) to their strength and magic. Your main character is only limited to a sword rather than using all different types of weapons from your party. You can save civilians and cats after a certain point in the game, and receive rewards for doing so. Instead of all the female Social Links falling in love with your character regardless of what you do, you can choose any or all of them. There are new areas in Tartarus (the main dungeon in the game) called Monad doors/passages that make you face slightly harder versions of typical Shadows (the main enemies) that give you some rewards if you beat them.
There are probably a few that I missed, but the gameplay is more refined than its original and the new additions are well implemented.
3.) The story and writing are just as good as the original, but it has been improved with many extensive additions. While the main plot (getting rid of the Dark Hour and Tartarus that produces Shadows that could destroy the world) is excellent, the subplots focusing on the main members of SEES and other Social Links are great (I also appreciate that the Social Links are fully voiced this time). What makes it better is that the remake added semi-Social Links called Link Episodes for the male members of SEES (since the female members have their own Social Links) which helps explore their characters further and assists the players in receiving rewards like receiving more HP/SP for the main character. Back to the main plot, the main theme is about life and death which is explored deeply by many of the characters from Akihiko Sanada (voiced by Alejandro Saab) with his duty to protect people after a tragic incident to Akinari Kamiki (voiced by Lucien Dodge) who struggles with his purpose in life despite his short lifespan. Due to how well-explored the story and the characters are, the emotional moments hit well and I would not be surprised if some people cry at the end of the game. If you loved the original Persona 3‘s story, you will love its remake and many of its additions that explore its theme even further.
Cons:
1.) The English audio is not consistent in its normalization audio. This means that while the English voice acting does sound great and consistent for the most part, there is one area where it is not: when the characters are shouting and screaming. It is most noticeable in the more emotional moments in the story; a character is shouting/screaming at an emotional point, but those shouts and screams sound a little muted. It takes me out of the scene for a while, and I do not know why the audio team did that; it feels like they are repeating the same mistake in Persona 5 Strikers (to be fair, the voice actors had to do it in their homes during the pandemic). Maybe the team did not know how to balance or normalize the audio properly, or they made a mistake and this is the best they have got. This is a minor issue, but it does bother me.
2.) All the new voice actors (and some of the old voice actors from the original returning in this remake one way or another) are fantastic in their roles, although there is one that I think is the weakest of the bunch: Heather Gonzalez as Yukari Takeba. She is not terrible in her role, but for the first half of the game, her performance is generic, to say the least. Compare her to Yukari’s original voice actress: Michelle Ruff, who put some flair and energy into her character like when she says good morning to the main character on the first day of school (and this was where so many popular voice actors in that video game were not that great back then). The worst read from Heather Gonzalez is when SEES meets Strega for the first time, and when they mention that they knew Tartarus, her read of saying, “You know…?” sounds like she is disinterested and slightly insulted instead of surprised and shocked. I do not know if she received a bad direction or if an editor made a mistake and put in the wrong read, but that was egregiously bad. Heather does get better by the second half of the game, but I wish she had a better impression in the first half, and it is the only case where I still prefer the original voice actress over the new one.
3.) The main dungeon is Tartarus which has several floors with different varieties. The problem is that it gets tiresome to see these environmental designs (despite there being a reason why) after a while. You go through several floors seeing the same design repeatedly only for it to change occasionally after certain parts of the story. While the design differences are nice, it is easy to get tired of it again after going through several floors. I miss Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal with their environmental designs because you go through different dungeons from the Palaces to Mementos. This was a problem with the original game, and despite better graphics and visuals, it is still a problem in the remake.
Overall:
I apologize if this review took a long time, but I did take my sweet time with this. The original Persona 3 was one of the greatest JRPGs of all time, and after a poll by Atlus itself, a remake was made. Persona 3: FES was the first Persona RPG I played (the actual first Persona game I played was Persona 4 Arena, a fighting game), so I was excited for the remake to come out. After pouring over 250 hours into this game, I am happy that this remake is better than the original. From its improved gameplay mechanics to enhanced presentation to refined writing, Persona 3 Reload surpasses the original in almost every way. There are a couple of issues (one was not improved from the original), but this game makes me fall in love with the story and its characters again.
If you have played the original or never even heard of the Persona series, this video game will surprise you in the right ways. I cannot wait for the upcoming The Answer DLC, although I hope the game developers improve it from the original (it was so tedious that I did not even bother to finish it; I just watched the story on YouTube instead). Regardless, Persona 3 Reload will make you appreciate life like the main character has.
9/10
Now excuse me while I am going to play another popular video game that just came out recently that is probably just as long as this one, especially considering how I took my time with Persona 3 Reload. Expect a review of that game soon, especially if it may lead to a rebirth of another remake.
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