It may be a remake/remaster (Or whatever you'd like to persona-lly peg it as) of a game that originally came out in 2006/2007/2008 on the PS2 but please use spoiler tags regarding major events so new people can enjoy it without getting spoiled!
I played Persona 3 Portable about two years ago now and it's the most underwhelming game of the three modern Persona games that I've played. First of all, for a Persona game, the story felt very half-baked. It could be because I played Portable and I missed out on cut-scenes, but there just wasn't enough story. Furthermore, the social links were terrible. There were barely any ones for your party members and the ones that are there aren't available until late in the game. On top of the social aspect being awful, the dungeon crawling is terrible. Having one long dungeon was such a bad idea. The only redeeming part of the game was the soundtrack, which was great.
That's why I'm very excited to play the remake in order to see what improvements have been made and to give this game another chance. Granted, we already know that Tartarus hasn't gone away but maybe they've made it more fun to get through, who knows. I'm very sure that they've added more story events and more character interactions. A bit unsure about the social links, but hopefully they've made some of your party members available to interact with early on. Either way, this will most likely be the definitive way to experience Persona 3.
I've just pre-ordered it. I held off playing the PS4 version of Persona 3 Portable, so this will be a brand new game to me. Not sure if I'll manage to play it day one due to Granblue Fantasy: Relink and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth both being released a few days earlier. I don't really want to have 3 RPG's on the go at once!
I’m going to play it through gamepass and it will be my first Persona game so I’m pretty excited. If I like it I’ll probably pick up some physical copies of the series for PS. Any advice for a total noob?
I didn't plan it this way, but I picked up Persona 5 in like October last year I think for something to play after I was done with Baldur's Gate 3. Not knowing that I wouldn't have P5 and BG3 done until like four months later.
What this does mean though is I am now freshly obsessed with Persona and this is only like two weeks away.
I hear they borrowed heavily from Persona 5 for this remake, which I know has got some diehards upset, but this sounds great to me. I am currently playing 4 Golden right now and while it isn't a bad game, I feel like so far there hasn't really been an element P5 didn't improve upon in some way and it is kind of rough going backwards like that.
So the idea of a new Persona (at least to me personally) that has all the improvements of P5, makes me very excited indeed.
I will never emotionally recover from Phantom Liberty.
I'll say that portable's presentation is kinda terrible imo and the switch to a visual novel format loses quite a bit in my opinion @LtSarge but... Can't say I agree with your opinion otherwise! The plot maybe a slow burn before it shows it's hand but I wouldn't call it half baked at all.
As far as I know the only things it has from P5 is the batton pass mechanic @Pizzamorg?
What about P4G's rough to you?
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
I'm really curious @AgentCooper... What about Persona 3 Reload made you wanna try out the series (aside from the benefit of it being free with gamepass of course).
As for any advice? You do know it's part turn based rpg, part social sim and that the game takes place over a year right with you going to school and all that? It's quite the different experience compared to most rpg's with their even being exams you have to partake in
... I certainly don't envy you @Bentleyma with 3 massive JRPG's all releasing within a week of one another! Good luck with all those!
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
As far as I know the only things it has from P5 is the batton pass mechanic @Pizzamorg?
What about P4G's rough to you?
Battles in P4 feel way more arduous, the social sim side way more boring, the environments way less interesting and there is just way less to do in general. Almost every time I hit something in P4 I don't really like, I can see how P5 clearly felt the same, and went away and refined that aspect to the formula, without losing its core identity in the process.
I will never emotionally recover from Phantom Liberty.
As the resident Persona fangirl who doesn't actually think much of Persona 5 I guess I can see some of those points.
They did have 8 years and nearly 2 console generations to improve upon P4 of course for Persona 5...
Though with Inaba being a sleepy village in the countryside it makes sense there's not a tonne of activities to do.
Social link wise you just not a fan of the characters or is that you really like the additional gameplay benefits that you get with confidants? (I personally don't recall a lot of them being immensely useful aside from a certain maid helping you free up time)
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@HallowMoonshadow Nothing particularly earth shattering, I’ve admired the series from a distance and an old friend wouldn’t shut up about 5 so when I seen the new version of 3 was coming to gamepass I thought that would be the perfect jumping on point. It really should be right up my street from what I’ve seen.
Hmmm... I see @Pizzamorg.
As the resident Persona fangirl who doesn't actually think much of Persona 5 I guess I can see some of those points.
They did have 8 years and nearly 2 console generations to improve upon P4 of course for Persona 5...
Though with Inaba being a sleepy village in the countryside it makes sense there's not a tonne of activities to do.
Social link wise you just not a fan of the characters or is that you really like the additional gameplay benefits that you get with confidants? (I personally don't recall a lot of them being immensely useful aside from a certain maid helping you free up time)
I get part of your story is being a city boy moving to a sleepy country town, so it makes thematic sense, but they could make it a little less boring on the gameplay front. I can see why P5 inverted this and gave you a city and a nice selection of surrounding areas to spend your time in.
And yeah, maybe it is just cause I am fresh off of P5 and my heart isn't ready, but no character in P4 has grabbed me in the same way the characters did in P5 almost off the bat. I was always really excited to spend time with people in P5 I just haven't been yet in P4. I don't think it helps, that there are clearly archetypes used in P4 which then carry over into P5, and it is hard to not compare like for like characters together.
I will say in P4s defence, spending a lot less time at school is appreciated. Especially towards the end I was just fast forwarding through a lot of the school stuff in P5 as it was basically just a loading screen between two gameplay sections, my knowledge was maxed out and I was bored answering their pop quizzes. I also like how P4 has clubs as a way to improve your stats and get further confidant progression in. If P5 had this, I completely missed this. It kinda makes your student life feel more authentic and less disjointed, as going to clubs and then going home and studying is probably what you would do. I also feel like you progress faster through your social stats in P4.
I also do think it is cool how other characters will wander into your hangouts and you progress their social links as a collective, P5 didn't have that and I always found that strange, personally.
I will never emotionally recover from Phantom Liberty.
Well hopefully you have a great time with it @AgentCooper!
There isn't much I can really give you a heads up about upfront (Though I'll happily help you out if and whenever ya need it).
The main focus of Persona in combat is about hitting the enemy's weaknesses, giving you extra turns. Enemies can also do the same to you though so make sure you take note of that and try to cover your bases.
The skill/magic names will probably take a bit of getting used to even if they have descriptions so you know what they actually are.
Be vary wary of the Hama & Mudo magic lines in particular. They're the instant death attacks for light and curse magic respectively. Now P3R's no doubt been heavily rebalanced so you probably won't see them right away... But still you'll definitely wanna keep an eye out for those!
I get part of your story is being a city boy moving to a sleepy country town, so it makes thematic sense, but they could make it a little less boring on the gameplay front. I can see why P5 inverted this and gave you a city and a nice selection of surrounding areas to spend your time in.
Heh it was an invert of Persona 3 and it's city of Tatsumi Port island first
But I get you. Though Persona 4 Golden actually adds quite a few activities compared to the vanilla version of P4!
I don't think it helps, that there are clearly archetypes used in P4 which then carry over into P5, and it is hard to not compare like for like characters together.
Well I can't wait to hear what you say about P3's cast then. Especially about Mitsuru Kirijo in particular as I did go and look at your recent P5 post... 👀
I will say in P4s defence, spending a lot less time at school is appreciated...
Definitely put a pin in this for later in regards to P3. I will agree (Even if I only played P5 once with the vanilla version) that P5 really drags it's heels (The phone conversations especially) and for me personally has way too much handholding
I also like how P4 has clubs as a way to improve your stats and get further confidant progression in. If P5 had this, I completely missed this. It kinda makes your student life feel more authentic and less disjointed, as going to clubs and then going home and studying is probably what you would do. I also feel like you progress faster through your social stats in P4.
I really liked that myself with regards to Persona 4. Persona 3 only had 3 social stats (Intelligence, Charm & Courage) and I think Reload is keeping that so you probably won't see that in P3R as it wasn't in the original version either.
I also do think it is cool how other characters will wander into your hangouts and you progress their social links as a collective, P5 didn't have that and I always found that strange, personally.
I don't recall that you can do that in P3 myself. There's one activity that was introduced in P3 FES that's sorta like that at a stretch I guess
I’m really curious what the Reload adds or changes. It’s been quite some time since I played Persona 3. I always meant to go back and play the FES version, but just never got around to it. I remember P3 fondly, but I just don’t know if I’m ready to go back to it since my gaming plate is full elsewhere. As the hype for P3 ramps up though, I could be swayed.
@AgentCooper I’ll be interested in your thoughts as a Persona noob. As @HallowMoonshadow already mentioned, the key to combat lies in exploitation of elemental weaknesses, more so in the Persona series than in most other RPGs. Hitting (or being hit by) an attack against a weakness really gives an advantage, not only in extra damage but added turns. So it’s a double whammy either way, and can turn the tides quickly in battle. Fortunately the Persona games have a wide range of difficulty options and the lowest setting is laughably easy, so you’ll be fine with that even if you struggle getting the hang of it.
The combat is pretty good in the series, but for me it can drag in some of the larger dungeons. I forget how P3 does the dungeon crawling aspects, but all the games I’ve played have had less than perfect save states, relying on making it far enough along to get to a save room or save spot. When you’re wandering around a dungeon not sure where your next save room might be it can cause some dreaded scenarios. Either dying before finding said save spot, or being forced to log off before you get there because of the real world calling for you. Suspend mode might be good for that though, which I employed a lot in P4G on Vita. And of course all this is moot if they update the game to use a quick save feature.
For me the Persona series has been more about the social sim aspects. That rpg aspect has really not been equaled in any other game that I’ve played. The freedom and ability to spend time with different companions and in different activities makes things interesting. The combat parts are sometimes a chore for me, honestly. If memory serves, I think P3 got the balance a little better than P5, but yet at the same time had less interesting dungeon spaces, so it was a wash. Either way, I often tried to rush through the dungeon bits so I could get back to the story and social sim parts.
The music of the series is phenomenal and P3 is no exception. P3 and P4 really nail the music and P5 is quite good too.
Also, just be ready for the quirky Japanese anime shenanigans. Anime is something I’ve cooled on the last couple years, so your mileage may vary. Japanese High School stories are going to have the requisite awkward moments, some of which are relatable, and some which are distinctly cultural. School uniforms, strict school schedules with a lot of studying, emphasis on cooking and fixation on a partners cooking skills, tropes of the classic anime characters, persistent aspects of the Asian social codes, etc, etc. They do a fantastic job with localization in the series, but some of the gags are just not quite there for Westerners. I’m sure you’re well-versed in JRPGs enough to not be put off by the slightly different tone these games bring, but as a newcomer to the series I thought I might mention it.
And lastly (and ironically, given the length of my post 😅) the games are quite long. I think for P3, P4, and P5, each I spent north of 100 hours on. For some reason I remember P3 being the shortest, but howlongtobeat has the completionist time estimate at around 120 hours which is on par for the other games. If you’re loving the game, then 120 hours might fly by, if not, it could drag at some sections.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Neither's mine as is my usual posts but I can restrain myself on occasion
Ha no insider information just looked up trailers and videos of people compiling all the info together. Not quite sure about ALL the info though so take it with a grain of salt. I'll spoiler tag most of them though.
So from what I've seen:
The music has been re-recorded as the original female singer Yumi Kawamura hasn't returned and there's a new female vocalist. Lotus Juice returns however with his funky fresh raps. There's even entirely new tracks made for reload.
Apparently all the social links are now fully voice acted.
Tara Platt (Mitsuru & Elizabeth's original VA) is one of the only VA's on the American side of things to return from the original cast, reprising her role as Elizabeth. Apparently Yuri Lowinthal is back too but playing the part of Yukari's dad instead of Ryoji & Pharos
Seeing as you didn't play FES I'll mention that you could take Elizabeth on dates in that version (But never got an actual social link) and Aigis got a social link and they're no doubt in Reload too.
There's "Link Episodes" I believe they're called which is basically more interactions with the cast and psuedo social links for the male cast members. But this also extends to some with Strega I believe?
Tartarus has destructable pillars for loot. There's new rooms and layouts. Tiredness is gone. If I recall correctly one of the videos said there's challenge rooms or something that allow you to fight high level shadows for alternate costumes? I'd assume just stuff like winter outfits, beach ones and so on
Obviously the cast can now be controlled like they could in P3P. Each character also a bar for a special move called a Theurgy. These go up via different methods for each character. The protags fusion spells are now tied to this as is Aigis' Orgia Mode
Shuffle time works similar to how it does in Persona 4 Golden. The Major arcana giving buffs that apparently last for the entire time that you're at Tartarus that day?
The dorm has a DVD player after Fuuka joins. There's now the kitchen for bonus interactions and such. You can also read books on the second floor, there's a garden on the roof.
... All I can remember off the top of my head that's changed or been updated.
@Th3solution@HallowMoonshadow By eck! Thank you both, I’ve taken the liberty of screenshotting the posts to study at my leisure, lots to digest. Rather quite excited now, all sounds really boss 😎
Amazon apparently shipped out some copies early (On monday apparently) so of course there's already been streams and videos popping up containing the first few hours or so of the game so be careful on youtube and social media and the likes if you're trying to go into this as blind as possible!
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
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Topic: Persona 3 Reload
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