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"It matters not who you are... One thing is always certain: death awaits us all."


Introduction

Persona 3 Reload is a remade party-based JRPG that tackles some intensely challenging themes, such as bullying and suicide and focuses heavily on death, in both understanding and courage in the face of it. But does it have what it takes to deep-dive into these topics, or does it simply become a victim of its lesson?


🟩 Positives
🟥 Negatives


🟩 A pretty engaging storyline that has been well-written and devised to provide a lot of impactful decisions and incredible story moments.
🟩 One of the cleanest and most intuitive UIs I've ever played with.
🟩 Persona 3 Reload is a remarkably complex adventure, with lots to do and see within a relatively short period.
🟩 Approximately 1/4 of the Persona 3 Reload story is told through anime cutscenes that present a moment to absorb the experience.
🟩 A beautifully orchestrated and remastered soundtrack couples an already robust experience and elevates every step of the journey.

🟥 As always appears to be the case with these games, this one is also on a timer of around one year. It is achievable to get everything done, although challenging if you don't want to venture into NG.



Story

You experience the story of P3R as a self-named hero (canonically Makoto Yuki) who gets transferred to a new school without any prior information about why. It is in this new town on the way to the dorm he will be living in for the next year, where he experiences his first Dark Hour, an eerie hour of the day hidden from normal humans and transforms the world into something akin to a horror story.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3163905105
It doesn't take long, but he arrives at the dorm safely and meets some fellow residents with whom he will become close friends over the next year.
The next few days pass by typically as life returns to its usual routine, that is until one night when the dorm's attacked by creatures known as Shadows, and it is there that he awakens to a power known as Persona, that responds to his courage in the face of death.
With this new power at his fingertips, you must guide him through the rapidly unfurling story, building his bonds and friendships and progressing his powers as the world of darkness seemingly rises to stop him.
Persona 3 Reload doesn't boast the best-written or most complex storyline, although it does an impressive job of investing you in the characters and the world rather rapidly. The friendships you will foster throughout the story are probably the best aspect of the game experience, as they are all vastly different individuals with unique tales to tell. Even with all that said, this game still has one of the most impactful endings in gaming.

Gameplay Analysis

Combat is the path to freedom.
One of the fundamentals of this journey is to master combat. You will spend an enormous amount of time venturing through the halls of Tartarus during the infamous Dark Hour. Here, you will face countless shadows that seek your doom as you fight against the entrenching darkness for the chance of freedom.
Fights take turns, where each person and creature within the arena will have a chance to attack. Each turn consists of using an attack of either melee or magic to damage the enemy until they have exhausted their life force or guarding against damage to protect your own. One of the main focuses in combat should always be to hit an enemy's weakness, as they will always try and hit yours. Hitting an enemy's weakness will knock them down and allow you to conduct a massive damage attack where all the party members join in to do damage.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3163906759
You will unlock new ways to attack and defend as the story progresses and new items and skills become available.
Every month or so, you will have to face an immense shadow that will take the form of a boss battle, and you must find gear and level up as much as possible before facing them, as they can provide significant challenges to the unprepared.
Open your heart and let in all that you SEES.
As with all Persona games, building bonds and friendships across the journey is imperative to your victory, and Persona 3 Reload is no exception to this rule.
Meeting people and learning their stories all considerably impact your own, so spend as much of your spare time developing these friendships to unveil your true potential and unlock powers you could only dream of at the start.
But as always, it's very rarely that simple, as the ever-present clock ticking down on your playtime will constantly remind you that you don't have long to get everything you want done. The days are pretty short, and during school weeks, you will have limited time to get much done in your free time, so ensure to plan out your schedule as best you can.

Audio and Visual

The graphics of P3R won't greatly impress you, and that's probably intentional, considering the theme and how the characters invoke their powers. The developers have done an impeccable job of designing the world and atmosphere to relay the emotion of the situation without the characters having to show it.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3163906384
The general audio is a bit hit-and-miss, but the voice acting is sensational, and the above is enormously assisted by the mindblowing soundtrack that encapsulates every moment of this game.

PC Performance and Specifications

Playing P3R at 2560 x 1440 and graphically as high as it goes gave me no problems. There were no graphical issues or problems to report in the slightest. It is a remarkably well-put-together game overall from a performance stance.
RAM: 32GB (Under Load Usage: 27%)
CPU: i9 10900KA 3.70GHz (Under Load Usage: 31.3%)
GPU: MSI Ventus RTX 3080 (Under Load Usage: 44%)

Final Thoughts - Very Good

Review chart here.
Persona 3 Reload isn't the best of the genre, but it's far from the worst. Tackling some of the most difficult-to-cover topics that I've ever personally seen in a video game while building a multifaceted plot and maintaining a fun gameplay loop aren't easy feats to pull off, and yet it somehow manages to do it well. This is a well-put-together experience that will continuously push you and even make you uncomfortable at times, but even with its shortcomings, It's still probably one of the better JRPGs on the market.
You won't need an invoker to awaken to true power, just head to Hell, Purgatory and Paradise where your Persona is waiting to meet you.
If you still seek to harness your destiny, awaken to the dark hour and head to Summit Reviews to unravel the knowledge of your Persona.