Full spoilers, read with caution.
I wasn't really interested in playing P3R when I heard that it retained the original tower climbing gameplay. But since I had Xbox Game Pass, I decided to give it a try. Surprisingly, I ended up enjoying it and managed to finish the game before the deadline, which brings me to this article.
Note: As a remake released in 2024, P3R inherits the flaws from the original game that are not suitable for the current era. Therefore, this article will not differentiate between the flaws that were present in the original P3 and the ones introduced in P3R. I haven't played P3 before, so I can't distinguish them, especially considering there are enhanced versions like P3F and P3P.
Outdated Gameplay Mechanics#
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Various Anti-Player Details#
Added this section after playing the second playthrough in March.
The game doesn't explain how to inherit attributes when fusing masks, which led me to waste a lot of time grinding for strength attributes by repeatedly visiting arcades. Later, I found out that attributes added through incense can be inherited, but those gained through other methods cannot. It was a waste of time and resources.
Also, although it's not a problem specific to P3R, I've always wanted to complain about one thing in the Persona series: why is it so difficult to add a search function to the Persona Compendium?
The performance of the scene where you chase after Aigis on Yakushima Island is exactly the same as in the original version, with a black screen appearing every three steps. It gives players an authentic experience of the game from over a decade ago. On the other hand, there's the constant white screen during all-out attacks and when entering and exiting Tartarus, which strains my eyes.
Speaking of Tartarus, I have to mention the special Tartarus doors at the floor transitions. The first floor after entering these doors is completely empty except for the door leading to the next floor. It feels like the only purpose of these doors is to make me open more doors and endure more flashy effects. And when you receive the request to return to the entrance from the Fortune Arcana, if you accidentally don't click confirm, you have to walk back and endure the flashy effects again.
The frame rate in this game is strange. When I fast-forwarded during my second playthrough, it felt laggy, which didn't make sense to me. Even if my 1660Ti graphics card may not be the latest, it should be able to handle P3R without any issues. Finally, when I changed the frame rate to 120, it became normal. It's the first time I've seen a game that is so laggy at 60 frames per second.
Endless Tower Climbing#
Climbing Tartarus itself is not difficult, but in the first playthrough, I had to fight shadows to collect masks, and some maps required detours, which made it more challenging. The third area, "Thebel Block," is the most frustrating. It's a straight path, but they decided to add a barrier, making the detour even more annoying. I heard that the remake reduced the size of each floor, and I can't even imagine how the original version players managed to complete it. I feel sorry for those who bought P3P last year.
The Arcana Shuffle system only adds to the repetitive grind. Except for the major Arcana that only appears once, you're left with only four cards to shuffle. Later on, when you can draw three cards, it should be a good thing, but most of the time, none of the four cards are what you want, and you have to watch the flipping animation again. If you draw a mask, you have to go to the menu to discard it, wasting even more time. The option to draw one to three cards should have been available. The new development team is to blame for this poor design choice.
Speaking of Tartarus, it reminds me of a Greek mythology-themed roguelike game called "Hades." Suddenly, I had an idea to solve the boredom of climbing the tower: increase the drop rate of major Arcana cards and reward players with special abilities related to battles. This would make drawing cards and fighting shadows more enjoyable. The current major Arcana cards are useless in battles, and there's no desire to draw them.
Unreasonable COOP Schedule and Rewards#
There are a total of 19 non-main story COOPs in the game, but 17 of them can only be progressed during the day, 11 of them can only be progressed at school, and 3 of them require maxed-out attributes for female teammates.
This extremely uneven COOP schedule leaves players with nothing to do at night and on holidays during the first playthrough. To address the issue of free time at night, the development team added the option to do household chores with your teammates. However, with 8 teammates and only 4 opportunities each, the balance between day and night is still heavily skewed. In the later stages, I either went out to walk the dog or visited the arcade to grind for mask attributes. The issue of free time on holidays could have been easily solved by allowing COOP activities at school. It doesn't make sense for students to have no activities during their break. I really can't understand why the new development team didn't make such a simple change.
The attribute requirements for maxing out the COOPs of the 3 female teammates seem to explain this schedule. The original plan was for players to grind their academics at night to unlock the COOPs with the female teammates. However, repeatedly studying academics is really boring, and what's worse is that the way to acquire academics is also uneven.
COOP levels only affect the level increase when fusing masks before reaching max level. Despite the presence of valuable rewards in COOPs, the new development team didn't add any. Moreover, the unique abilities of the teammates and the side rewards for male teammates are not integrated into the COOP system. In comparison, some COOPs lack the motivation to progress. Despite being a complete remake using a brand new engine, the new development team treated the COOP mechanism as a pile of messy code and only added new content without making any changes.
Minor Story Improvements#
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Strong EVA Vibes#
Let's compare the protagonist of this 2D work to Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion:
- They both like listening to music with their portable music players.
- They transfer to a new city and immediately awaken their abilities to fight monsters.
- In their first battle, the controlled entity goes berserk and kills the monster.
- They join an organization with a four-letter name and have a beautiful female superior.
- The organization fights against monsters that attack at regular intervals and follow certain mysterious rules.
- The monster attacks are actually part of the organization's plan, which will lead to the extinction of humanity.
- The leader of the organization wears glasses and wants to be the central figure in carrying out the plan but ultimately fails.
- The final enemy appears in human form and integrates into the protagonist's group. His voice actor is Akira Ishida, and his name hints at his true identity. He can play the piano and has a special affection for the protagonist. He can fly and hopes the protagonist will kill him after his true identity is revealed.
- The protagonist's abilities are the result of an incident that happened many years ago.
- The entity that causes the extinction of humanity is a female deity from mythology, associated with the moon.
Riddles, Bento Boxes, and Answers#
During the period from April to July, players are left in the dark, just like Shinji Ikari. All they know is that they have to fight and not run away. If the battles were enjoyable, it would be fine, but your teammates are all enigmatic individuals: the Chairman and the Student Council President are clearly hiding something, Yukari is burdened with her father's mystery, and Junpei always goes to meet Chidori, hoping to reunite with her. The arrival of Aigis doesn't change the tormenting atmosphere, and the cycle of climbing the tower and fighting shadows continues day after day...
By the end of July, the revelation of the Kirijo Group's experiment, the addition of Aigis, and the confrontation with the Full Moon Shadow give players a new perspective on the main story. Then, the addition of the elementary school student and Kenji as new members signals that something big is about to happen. However, Shinji suddenly appears in September and shoots himself—wait, isn't that a real gun? Why doesn't the police do anything about it? The final Full Moon in November, with the addition of Kenji, the Chairman, and Shinji, leaves behind a bunch of riddles. It seems like Mitsuru knows what will happen if they defeat the Shadows, but she doesn't explain why. The Chairman, who was initially thought to have a grand plan, turns out to be a cult leader who didn't even know the true meaning of Nyx.
Finally, the appearance of Ryoji Mochizuki explains the mysteries, and the main story actually concludes on New Year's Eve. What follows is just the "Great Seal" drawn by the protagonist.
Various Interpretations of the Theme of Death#
In my opinion, the main theme of P3 is "how to face death." It is mainly explored through the protagonist, main characters, COOPs, and NPCs. I didn't pay much attention to the conversations with NPCs, so I won't discuss them in detail. Let's focus on the first three.
Let's start with the COOPs. Among the 15 non-main story COOPs, the following are related to the theme:
- The "Hierophant" COOP with the old couple who run the used bookstore. They are obsessed with the death of their son, who was a teacher, and see the persimmon tree he planted as his embodiment. In the end, they let go of their obsession.
It's a common story of "the white-haired person sends off the black-haired person." - The "Moon" COOP with the Gourmet King, who caused his younger brother to get food poisoning from the meat bun he bought. He feels nauseous whenever his brother is mentioned. He tries to live on behalf of his brother but ends up indulging in excessive eating to escape reality. Eventually, he realizes that he can't become his brother and decides to live as himself.
It's a story that doesn't quite fit with the Gourmet King being involved in a cult pyramid scheme and wanting to live as his deceased brother. - The "Sun" COOP with the terminally ill boy who has an incurable disease. He enjoys reading and writing. In his last year of life, he wants to create a story about a pink crocodile and finds the meaning of life through this endeavor.
This character can be considered the most successful social link in P3. The pink crocodile represents both Shinjiro himself and the time spent with the protagonist.
Of course, if we extend the theme of P3 to "the meaning of life," most of the social link characters have their own answers. However, that would be too broad of a topic to discuss here.
Now let's talk about the main characters.
Within the protagonist's group, there's the revenge of Akihiko and Shinjiro, Shinjiro sacrificing himself to save Kenji, Yukari's father being a researcher, Junpei and Chidori's love story, and Koromaru guarding the shrine. Despite the different death scenarios, they all converge into the endpoint of "turning grief and anger into motivation." It can only be said that it was necessary for the plot. The post-story of P3F reflects their attitudes more, but unfortunately, it's not available at the moment.
The attitudes of Ryoji Mochizuki and Aigis are also worth mentioning. Chidori is used to self-harm because her persona can heal any injury, and she sacrifices herself for Junpei. Initially, Ryoji wants to live his last days to the fullest, but after jumping off the bridge, he changes his mind and wants the whole world to join him in embracing the end. However, there isn't much development to showcase their attitude changes, and they are mostly remembered as mentally ill and terminally ill characters. Aigis, on the other hand, resembles end-of-life care. She believes that before the predetermined end of life arrives, people have the right to live happily and cherish every moment.
Lastly, let's talk about the protagonist. Unfortunately, we can only discuss their attitude towards "death" based on their final actions, which is sacrificing themselves for others. Fortunately, the events of March 3rd and March 4th successfully elevate their sacrifice, and the ending leaves enough time for players to reflect.
Conclusion#
Persona 3 Reload reheats the leftovers of the original game without fully cooking them, but it also doesn't burn them. However, I hope that the upcoming DLC for the epilogue will polish the script before serving it, as it is the true final chapter of Persona 3.
Do you want to close your eyes?
... Close your eyes