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Here’s what will be in Persona 3 Reload, and what won’t be

Makoto Yuki in Persona 3 Reload

Classic JRPG Persona 3 is getting a total remake with Persona 3 Reload, and fans are excited to experience the game in a brand new way.

The Persona franchise became one of the biggest in gaming thanks to a spike in interest surrounding Persona 5 and its many spin-offs. That success has overshadowed the Persona games that came beforehand, despite the fact that they enjoyed critical acclaim upon release and retain sizable fandoms in their own right. Now, the title that transformed the series into what it is today will get its chance in the spotlight.

Persona 3 Reload will modernize the classic game while staying true to its roots, remaining a turn-based RPG even as titles like Final Fantasy 16 move in a more action-oriented direction. Here’s what will be in the game, and what bonus content will be returning.

What is in Persona 3 Reload?

Persona 3 Reload will be a remake of the original Persona 3 title with modernized gameplay and a few of the changes added from Persona 3 FES.

There have been three different versions of Persona 3 that have hit the market including the original PS2 release, the Persona 3 FES expansion, and the Persona 3 Portable remake. Each version has added additional content to make it worth replaying, but that content hasn’t been consistently carried over from one version to the next.

Persona 3 Reload won’t incorporate almost any of those changes, but will add some new features of its own. That includes a major overhaul of Tartarus as well as new ways to advance social link relationships.

Will Persona 3 Reload have FES’ “The Answer” chapter?

Persona 3 Reload will not include the FES chapter but will incorporate some of the other additions to the game made by Persona 3 FES.

Persona 3 FES started what has become a Persona tradition by adding an extra chapter to the game. This was seen in both Persona 4 Golden with the chapter focused on Marie, as well as Persona 5 Royal’s epilogue starring Kasumi and Maruki. Persona 3 FES’s extra chapter is an epilogue, which was particularly memorable for fans due to the intensity of the game’s ending.

Unfortunately that extra chapter is not going to return, at least in the launch version of the game. It’s possible it could be released separately as DLC but the development team has not confirmed whether this is in the works.

What has been confirmed is that some of the story tweaks to the main game that were made in FES will return, though it’s unclear what that specifically entails. The most notable addition made by FES to the main story was a social link for Aigis, and it would be a bit surprising if that didn’t return.

Will Persona 3 Reload have a FeMC option?

Persona 3 Reload will not bring back the “FeMC” female main character from Persona 3 Portable, but the PSP title will live on in other ways.

Persona 3 Portable protagonists Makoto Yuki and Kotone Shiomi

Persona 3 Portable stripped down some of the gameplay features of Persona 3, but made up for it by adding the option to play as Kotone Shiomi. Kotone replaces Makoto Yuki as the main character, which significantly changes the social links of the game by adding brand new characters and new stories for the established cast. Those will remain locked in Persona 3 Portable.

While this is disappointing, it’s not especially surprising. Given the fact that this is set to be a complete remake of Persona 3, doubling the amount of story content would be a major undertaking for the developers.

Persona 3 Portable will return to some degree through the modernized gameplay. While it’s taken for granted at this point, longtime Persona fans likely remember the frustration of AI-controlled party members. That infamous mechanic was axed on the PSP, and fans don’t have to worry about it coming back here.

Written by Steven Rondina X Twitter Logo

Steven Rondina has been playing video games since he was a toddler and appreciates every genre out there. He has earned the platinum trophy in every Soulsborne game, is regularly Master Ball-ranked on the competitive Pokemon ladder, and has spent thousands of hours missing shots on Dust 2. His work has previously been featured by Bleacher Report and The Washington Post, and he was an Assistant Editor at WIN.gg. You can follow him on Twitter / X at @srondina.

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