It can be difficult to experience some games at their peak due to accessibility issues. Companies update and remaster titles only to accidentally forget critical features or content that makes said releases far from definitive.

For example, Persona 3 has several releases, yet none of them act as a definitive version of the critically acclaimed yet hard to access title.) Ignoring emulation as an option, one can either spend a ludicrous amount of money for the original game or contend with Persona 3 Portable’s PSP(portable)-complacent sacrifices. 

This tumultuous history places incredible weight on the remaster Persona 3 Reload, as fans eagerly awaited a version of this classic with no sacrifices for performance and every bit of content from the prior editions.  

Confusingly enough, Persona 3 Reload decided to not do any of that. Instead of bringing together all of the features from every version, it favors overall gameplay improvements that make its already fantastic content even better. 

Persona 3 Reload features the franchise’s quintessential turn-based gameplay. Mechanics like the One More system and Persona Fusion are as enjoyable as they’ve always been, but they stand alongside new additions like limit breaks and unfettered access to the Baton Pass ability from Persona 5. 

Unfortunately, these new mechanics make some normal enemy encounters too easy. Mini-boss fights become significantly less menacing when one can eradicate them with overly powerful attacks, and early-game enemy encounters feel lifeless as the gameplay initially lacks variability. 

Thankfully, these issues are mitigated excellently due to the exemplary design of the game’s various encounters. A decent handful of foes feature enough tricks up their sleeve that targeting weaknesses—or hoarding limit break—doesn’t guarantee success, and bosses prevent the player from settling into a repetitive strategy due to their gimmicks. 

Some of these mechanics inevitably feel cheap—charm-inflicting enemies are a constant pain, for example—but it hardly ever feels unfair. 

Giving the player immediate access to the baton pass mechanic—unlike how Persona 5 handles it—also makes the gameplay incredibly engaging. By the time one reaches July, every fight will have developed into a fast and frantic puzzle of sorts. Combat becomes akin to a knot that falls apart when untied in just the right way, as the player picks apart enemy weakness. 

The entire gameplay is punctuated by a fantastic aesthetic and user interface. The Persona series knows how to imbue its games with style, and Persona 3 Reload is no exception. Every menu features tons of visual flair but not to the point that the player must visually parse through them to find things. 

However, Persona 3 Reload’s best achievement comes from its exemplary writing. The game can take all sorts of people—from the kind-hearted to the awful and everyone in between—and give them an emotional background and story that could make even the most stone-hearted person teary-eyed. 

The side content features enough material that it causes some of the party members to not get fully realized character arcs, but this helps the narrative more than it hinders. It forces the story to address every character’s storyline throughout the overarching narrative rather than forcing it to be optional content. This makes their character arcs more impactful as they intertwine with the engaging main plot. 

As for the story itself, I appreciated the angle it approached Persona’s trademark concepts from. The plot’s origins are incredibly engaging and raise interesting questions regarding the lore of the franchise. Additionally, events that seem like they’re just going to waste the player’s time for the next 20 minutes surprisingly end up progressing the plot. Some moments do still end up wasting time with cringe-worthy scenarios, but the game is often very respectful of the player’s patience. 

Persona 3 Reload is also commendable for having a nearly-perfect ending. Not a single part of the experience—from the gameplay to the music to the voice acting and even the visuals—falters in any way. It’s one of those perfectly executed moments in fiction that will stick in your mind for years, like the climax of the third Lord of the Rings movie. 

All in all, I give Persona 3 Reload a 8/10.