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

Thank you Sega for deciding to release two incredible turn based JRPGs to start off this year with Infinite Wealth and now Persona 3 Reload. I’ve never played any previous version of Persona 3, so my only experience with the series is Persona 5 Royal. This being on game pass was a no brainer to try out. It took me around 90 hours to complete the game and an additional 20 or so hours on NG+ to earn every Xbox achievement. I also played the game in Japanese to avoid the cringey localization but some of it still made it through. Combat plays out almost exactly like P5’s but with a few differences. You can keep the same characters turn going if they’re striking weaknesses instead of having to pass the turn to someone else. There’s also only 1 combat dungeon this time around with 264 floors spaced apart throughout the game. It could be due to the original being a smaller scale PS2 game, but it gets going much quicker than 5 which felt like you were stuck in a tutorial for ages. This game also offers a much more consistent experience compared to 5 which I felt had higher highs and lower lows than 3. There were fewer characters I loved or loathed, but I probably prefer the main story of 3 overall. The finale especially was a wonderful payoff. *story spoilers ahead* There are a couple of problems I have with the story and the big one being the main casts complete ineptitude of how to deal with an armed lunatic. This shirtless villain flaunts a huge revolver on his hip for the entirety of the game, and the main cast takes zero precautions against it even after he murders several people with it. No one bothers to arm themselves, tell their police connection, or utilize their major corporate backing to stop him because the story needed that dork alive until the very end of the game. Then there’s the issue of inviting a new character to the party whose mother was accidentally murdered by another party member. Not once did the main characters think something was wrong with this until someone gets killed because of it. Some very unfortunate story decisions in an otherwise excellent game. *end of story spoilers* The very common bad English localization strikes again as translators decide to insert their personal beliefs where they don’t belong. Your character will be asked about the true meaning of Christmas and one of the responses is “consumerism” if you’d like to role play as a Redditor. Or another character will say something in Japanese along the lines of, “I’m surprised at the turnaround of this businessman’s decision,” meanwhile the English subtitles will say, “and that’s why capitalism is bad.” Taking money from one of the biggest gaming publishers in Japan while changing the dialogue to complain about the free market is the pinnacle of zero self awareness. TLDR; Persona 3 Reload is a fantastic game. Art style, characters, voice acting, story, soundtrack, & combat are all excellent. A much darker tone than P5, but with a hopeful message to not wallow in despair or depression because of the human connections we make in life. Anyone with a PC or Xbox should absolutely give this a shot if you have game pass, but I think it’s well worth full price regardless.