4.5/5 ★ – Hootus900's review of Persona 3 Reload.

Only about 6 months after getting the platinum for p3p, here I am once again ready to dive back into my favorite game with yet another re-release. This one felt like what persona 3 has needed, a “definitive edition” that ties all of the best parts of the different releases together. It’s still not super complete, with more hopefully on the way, but all I need to be satisfied is the answer. I won’t be going into the basics of the game, since I already wrote that novel for my p3p review. Instead I’d like to focus on the changes. The biggest one I appreciated was the fully voiced social links. This made them a lot more engaging, and I feel they nailed the voice cast. The first time I heard Mutatsu’s voice, I physically said “holy shit that’s exactly what he should sound like”. That also goes for the main cast that was recasted for this version. I felt that they all did a good job sounding like the originals, and it didn’t take long for me to accept them into my brain. The next big change that I was really worried would be terrible was the music. The first time I heard mass destruction when the game was announced, I cringed and was super upset. Leading up to the game’s release, I gave it more of a chance, and after having played it I don’t have any issues. I actually loved it in its own way, and the new tracks were very awesome and I will not get them out of my head for some time. The changes to the battle mechanics were also a welcome and overall positive difference. The limit break esque theurgey attacks were a great comeback mechanic, and it was cool seeing them play out. I also originally rolled my eyes at the all out attack splash screens, as I felt they were just pandering to persona 5 fans, but in the end their charm won me over, and I was just excited to see my favorite characters given the same love and attention that the more popular game gets. Changes to Tartarus were also nice, but felt weird at the same time. I liked how they added special event floors similar to mementos, but towards the end of the game they got a bit annoying when I was just trying to rush between floors to rescue a missing person. By far the most welcome change was the clocks that would appear and let you bring a lower leveled team member more up to your own. This was awesome and made me more willing to try new team combinations rather than sticking to the 4 that I ended up using all the time, as well as actually giving Aigis a shot. Growing up is realizing that Aigis is a top tier team pick. Overall I don’t have any negatives to say about this game that weren’t already an issue in the original releases. I still think that while the end of the game has the most exciting parts of the story, it gets bogged down by the calendar system, especially the last month before you fight Nyx. I also feel that even though it was given more bells and whistles, Tartarus still feels like a clunkily implemented mechanic from a ps2 game, and I feel more likely to want to revisit it in FES rather than this game. That really sums up my opinion on this game as a whole. While I appreciate this updated version, it’s not enough to completely make me not want to revisit the older versions.