Persona 3 Reload Review (so far)!

For the past 2 weeks, I've been grinding out Persona 3 Reload and I've finished 3/4ths of the game so far, according to my past knowledge of playing the portable version and I can say, it is so amazing in terms of every aspect including graphics, gameplay, music, etc. I wouldn't say its the definitive edition (will talk abt later) but really close to!

Let's first talk about the story (no spoilers!). P3 has one of the best stories within a JRPG and Reload keeps most of the key concepts except changes the dialogue slightly, which isn't bad at all. The only changes that are noticeable are the new interaction dialogues with characters.

For graphics, comparing the three (P3FES for the PS2, P3P for PSP/Modern Consoles and P3R) are like night to day! P3FES had full 3D environments and P3P only had 3D environments for the dungeon elements (rest were like a visual novel-esque environment) while P3R shines with modern graphics and advanced techniques such as animated facial features and model physics.

For the gameplay, they have kept the core dungeon and daily life mechanics and the freedom to choose on certain days, as the game runs on a calendar. For the dungeon, they have added FF limit-like moves to your party members that you unlock at around 1/4th of the game and new sellables you are able to collect around the floors, like in Persona 5. Another mechanic that was added is the arcana spread, which will activate when collected enough arcana cards during a run that will boost the power of cards in Shuffle Time. As for Daily Life, you are able to spend free time with your party members that can help gain new abilities for them and increase your social stats!

As for the music, most of the soundtrack had been teased in trailers but most of the remade OST sounds great! Persona 3's music is already good but some of the remade tracks are... alright. I'm mostly referring to the new Mass Destruction as it sounds good, but not as impactful as the original. Otherwise, the new tracks such as "It's Going Down Now" and "Color Your Night" are so catchy and fitting for when they play!

As I would gladly take more of Persona 3 Reload if they released it, people somewhat have a grudge with not adding a Female Main Character (FeMC) route as they did with Portable and not adding an Epilogue like they did with FES (The Answer); I did hear rumors about some sort of epilogue being confirmed by a famous informer, but not FeMC. While it wouldn't be the definitive edition (yet), Persona 3 Reload is a faithful remake to the well-acclaimed (and old now!) original, I highly recommend it!