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Through the fusion system, which allows your main character to wield different personas Pokemon style, you can unlock a bunch of unique Theurgy attacks, and some of them are as destructive as they are hilarious. Those who've played Persona 5 will recognize the Shift mechanic, too, which works just like the Baton Pass; when you hit an enemy weakness, you can pass the extra turn to a different party member who can keep the pain train rolling or hit remaining foes even harder.

I fully appreciate this improvement to the presentation, as the well-done voice acting made the Social Link interactions much more enjoyable to sit through and had me more invested in their stories than in the original version, where they were mostly unvoiced.

Embark on a one-of-a-kind adventure taking you from the tranquil countryside surrounded by majestic wilderness to lively cities flanked by mysterious caves and treacherous canyons.

The first Persona that awakens within him is Orpheus, but he turns out to be a special case who can swap between multiple Personas at will, giving the player great flexibility in battle strategy.

Status Aliments can be given to almost every character, except for some enemies and bosses. I created this section for a quick reference because I can never remember what these do accurately.

After awakening to his Persona abilities, he joins SEES of his own accord. While he strives to act mature with his mannerisms, deep down he is still a child with a passion for superhero TV shows.

In my playthrough that ran more than an hour, though, I didn't feel at all like Reload was covering the same ground, even if it basically is. The added gameplay elements, updated graphics, tweaked areas and social links compel me to sink another handful of months into getting to the bottom of Apathy Syndrome with the S.E.E.S. crew.

Although not loads had been seen in terms of Persona 3 Reload trailers since its Xbox Games Showcase announcement, new trailers unveiled during Gamescom 2023 both reintroduce us to the game's cast and story - as shown above - along with a BGM and gameplay trailer.

All in all, my doubts about diving back into Persona 3 territory were shattered from this demo. Persona 3 Reload isn't a remake with a few alterations here and there; it's a sincerely thought-through updated game that can seemingly stand on its own two legs in the competitive Persona lineup.

Beyond Tartarus, bespoke story-centric boss fights await you on each full moon throughout the story. Although they're relatively quick in how they unfold, all the new mechanics and visual flourishes of Reload give these battles a bit more gravity and spectacle, especially as you inch closer to Persona 3’s bold, daring, and moving conclusion.

And just like watching each of them take an Evoker shot straight to the dome to cast spells, I never got tired of seeing my party’s personas shatter their portrait cutouts when hitting a weakness.

Plus, the desktop computer that sits in the lobby is also usable to juice personality stats. Yamaguchi and Niitsuma acknowledged that the dorm was always a special environment for these games, and the effort they put into creating a home-y, persona 3 reload gameplay social space gives the S.E.E.S. HQ a welcome warmth against the game's largely bleak main narrative.

There's a timelessness to Persona 3 – its story of confronting death with imperfect courage and carrying on in the face of tragedy left an everlasting impact on me when I first played it on PS2, even as RPGs evolved and the Persona series continued to grow. As I've gotten older and experienced the very things it's about, I've grown to cherish the earnestness of its message, the way it's framed, and the characters who embody these struggles even more.