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.

To say that this remake’s presentation is an improvement over the original game would be the understatement of the century. Persona 3’s graphics have gone from looking like a PlayStation One game to a polished, next-gen HD anime visual fiesta in Persona 3 Reload.

For the most part, the story of Persona 3 Reload is very faithful to the original game. However, without going into spoiler territory, the remake has included many new scenes that provide new world-building lore details to the world of Persona 3 and new side stories focused on your party members called Linked Episodes.

This is where building Social Links becomes a crucial part of the gameplay loop. Social Links can provide bonuses allowing you to instantly level up Personas when fusing them in the Velvet Room or unlock new recipes to create powerful Personas you won’t find from destroying Shadows.

Though it's based on Persona 5's Showtime, Theurgy attacks require heightened emotional states and have special conditions personalized to each character to activate, so it takes more strategy to pull off. I didn't spend enough time grinding in Tartarus to get to everyone's moves, but from what I did see, the results are devastating for the enemy.

After the credits upon beating the game, I was in awe of how much Persona 3 Reload improved the best aspects of Persona 3 while getting rid of aspects that held the original version back.

After completing the game, I am happy to report that this remake has persona 3 reload gameplay exceeded my expectations and cemented itself as one of my new favorite Persona games of all time and one of Xbox’s best JRPGs.

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 Em excesso turn to a different party member who can keep the pain train rolling or hit remaining foes even harder.

If that doesn’t sound appealing, you’re better off looking for more traditional JRPGs with more grounded settings where you go off on a journey to explore the world and save it from evil villains.

New gameplay additions to the social simulation and role-playing portions of the game were introduced in Reload. The Iwatodai Dorm where the main party resides outside classes has been expanded upon with multiple activities to perform beyond the original game. The protagonist is now able to strike individual conversations with every dorm resident, cook food with resuscitative abilities in the dorm's kitchen, garden and tend plants on the dorm's roof by feeding them nutrients periodically, rent out films to watch using a DVD player, as well as borrow and read books provided to the dorm by the school.

Harness the lethal precision of a bow and arrow to take down enemies from afar. Even better, utilize stealth and deception tactics to disorient your foes in strategic ambushes.

Of course, I can’t talk about Persona 3 Reload’s presentation without giving a shout-out to the soundtrack. Persona 3’s beloved hip-hop and rap-rock soundtrack has been remastered for Persona 3 Reload and even features a couple of new songs.

A physical collector's edition, dubbed the "Aigis Edition", comes with unique packaging, physical versions of the artbook and soundtrack, a large bust of the character Aigis, and vouchers for the DLC pack.[45] The PlayStation 4 version of the game offers a free upgrade path to the PlayStation 5 version, and the physical Xbox release supports the Smart Delivery function between Xbox One and Xbox Series X depending on where the game is installed.[46][47]

These new side paths contain special, challenging mini-boss Shadows guarding special treasure chests containing rare crafting materials or powerful items that will make your future battles much easier.