Summoning Your Inner Hero: 'Persona 3 Reload'

VIDEO GAME REVIEW

By Michaela Givens
Spectrum Staff Writer

“Persona 3” Reload is the 2024 remake of the smash hit Japanese role-play video game of a similar title, “Persona 3.” This video game is about the main character who acts as a blank slate (considering he is the only character whose lines are not voiced aside from combat) so that he can be a self-insert for players. This gives players the chance to name him whatever they please for both his first name and last. While he is supposed to act as a blank slate, his canon name is Makoto Yuki (so I will refer to him as such).

The story of this game takes place in 2009 as a boy named Makoto recently moved to a new town called Iwatodai where he will begin school at Gekkoukan High School, which is technically also an elementary and middle school since it includes those lower grades. Makoto resides at the Iwatodai dorms with his fellow classmates Yukari Takeba, Junpei Iori and upperclassmen Akihiko Sanada and Mitsuru Kirijo.

There are also future members who all join their group who go by the name of Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, or S.E.E.S for short, which is led by the group’s founder Shuji Ikutsuki. The additional members who are added as the game progresses are Fuuka Yamagishi, Aigis, Koromaru (who is a dog) and Ken Amada.

What S.E.E.S (except for Shuji) all have in common is that they all possess "potential," which means that they are all able to summon a persona. A persona is essentially described as an entity that appears when the user unleashes their potential. The appearance of a persona is unique to each persona user as its visual identity is dependent on the user. Makoto compared to the rest has a special gift referred to as the wild card where he is able to use more than one persona while everyone else can only use one.

The crew all have a common goal, which is to find out the cause of the Dark Hour and to end it. The Dark Hour is a time period that occurs every day at midnight and only people who possess the potential are aware of this time period. When the Dark Hour is active, the gang heads over to a tower called Tartarus where they must fight monsters referred to as Shadows and work their way further up to uncover the truth behind this mysterious time period. A regular person cannot experience the Dark Hour as they are turned into coffins and have no recollection of the simple existence of the Dark Hour.

I have only recently begun to play this game and managed to get more than nine in-game hours for my first day playing as of this writing, therefore my review will be based on what I have seen so far. What I love about this game is the original soundtrack and I expected this because "Persona" games always deliver in the music department. I always have “When The Moon Is Reaching Out Stars” on repeat these days.

Another quality I love about the game is how the creators were able to improve the graphics so much, which drove me to play the game in the first place. It’s really as if “Persona 3” and “Persona 5” had a child together and birthed this game. While the graphics are "Persona 5" core, the overall aesthetic is still very “Persona 3."

As for what I dislike about this game, I have no complaints, except for the fact that the female version of the protagonist so far will not be making an appearance in this remake. In one of the earlier versions of “Persona 3,” “Persona 3 Portable,” gamers are able to choose whether to be the male protagonist (Makoto Yuki) or female protagonist (Kotone Shiomi), respectively. I was really hoping the developers would bring that option in the remake, but as of right now it seems there are no plans for that.

However, there are currently DLCs (downloadable content) that could be in the works so maybe one could be made for Kotone, and I’d be able to play as her. But regardless of this one flaw, this game is really fun and I’m excited to see what mysteries unfold as I continue playing.