Granblue Fantasy: Relink for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC, and Persona 3 Reload for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC are the highlights of this week’s Japanese video game releases.
16.01.2024 - 13:21 / gameinformer.com / Brian Shea / Takuya Yamaguchi
Ever since I got my hands on Persona 3 Reload over the summer, I've described it to folks as «Persona 3 redone in the form of Persona 5 Royal.» While that may be a gross oversimplification, it's also pretty high praise. Longtime fans of the Persona series point towards Persona 3 as the entry that changed the course of the series, pointing it down the path it's been on for nearly the last two decades. While Persona 3 may be the most important entry from a mechanical perspective, Persona 5 has the most mainstream relevance, particularly in 2024.
The mainline Persona series has since made the leap from being largely a PlayStation franchise to finding a home on multiple platforms, with Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal available now on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles. That opened the series to massive new audiences, but though the newer Persona 4 Golden still feels remarkably playable by modern standards, Persona 3 Portable – by far, the oldest of the trio – sticks out like a sore thumb amidst that collection of classic RPGs as having aged the worst.
While Persona 3 Portable is the PSP version of the title, even the other versions of the influential RPG would feel outdated in several ways by today's standards. "[Persona 3] came out 18 years ago; a lot has changed in 18 years in terms of how you make a game and how you make a game entertaining and increase its usability," Persona 3 Reload producer Ryota Niitsuma says. «Obviously, we've learned a lot over the years from making our other games; we picked up a lot of know-how and information on how to make a game more entertaining to play. We put all of that, without hesitation, into the game.»
«Persona 3 Reload is a title that takes all of the elements and things we've learned from [Persona 4] Golden and onwards and puts them into an accumulation of all of our knowledge to the title,» Persona 3 Reload director Takuya Yamaguchi adds. «I think in terms of playability and fun, this is a great place to get into the series.»
Fans made it known that a remake was highly sought after, and when the team wrapped up work on Persona 5 Royal, it heard these requests from players and decided it would be the studio's next project. It quickly began discussing what approach it should take. «There were people that said we should just make a one-to-one remake and there were some people who said we should make big changes and kind of redo everything,» Yamaguchi says. «After a lot of discussion, we decided to mainly go with a one-to-one approach to recreate the original game. However, that's for the major core of what makes the game it, and for small kinds of changes and powering the game up for a modern audience, that's what we decided to focus
Granblue Fantasy: Relink for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC, and Persona 3 Reload for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC are the highlights of this week’s Japanese video game releases.
With February fast approaching, many gamers will finally get their hands on Persona 3 Reload, the first true remake in Atlus’s beloved RPG franchise. The game is hyped for numerous reasons, the biggest being that this will be a huge upgrade compared to the original title. Said title, when it came out, was the game that saved not only the franchise but also Atlus as a studio! They used its success to make the equally beloved 4th and 5th entries, then circled around to give this game its due. If you look online right now, you’ll see how excited some gamers are for the title, as they’ve started posting gameplay and cutscenes “ahead of schedule.”
With the likes of Shin Megami Tensei 5, Persona 5 Reload, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable, Atlus has released a number of its major titles for the Nintendo Switch in recent years, so when the developer announced last year that its next two flagship releases in Persona 3 Reload and Metaphor: ReFantazio wouldn’t be coming to Nintendo’s platform, many were taken by surprise.
With all the big titles launching in the next few weeks, it’s almost easy to forget that Atlus’s Persona 3 Reload launches on February 2nd. To help remind you, a new live-action trailer is available, starring Aidan Gallagher of The Umbrella Academy fame as he ventures through the in-game worlds before crossing over into the Dark Hour to fight.
Easily, one of the biggest “problems” with certain media is their desire to “look cool” and try to bring in people to get their games. It’s not that they shouldn’t try and do this, but sometimes the look of what they show or the intent they’re trying to convey doesn’t quite line up. Ironically, the latest example of this comes from Persona 3 Reload, which isn’t even out yet. Atlus dropped a live-action trailer for the game starring Aidan Gallagher. Who’s that? He’s one of the stars of The Umbrella Academy, where he plays the time traveler called “Five.” He was in the trailer to remind players that within the game, “your time is limited.” So, the connections track, at least.
Atlus has at last respondend to the questions about a potential Persona 3 Reload Switch port by suggesting that a version of the game for Nintendo's hybrid console is not outside the realm of possibility. Its comments on the matter emerged mere weeks ahead of Persona 3 Reload's global release, which is scheduled for February 2.
Ahead of the launch of Atlus' upcoming Persona 3 Reload, a full list of trophies for the game has appeared online. Persona 3 Reload is a remake of the 2006 original, and players are tasked with defeating the Shadows that appear during a full moon. Atlus has been giving fans plenty of information before the game's release, such as details on Persona 3 Reload's day one DLC, gameplay trailers, and explanations of how some of the new mechanics work.
Atlus shared the complete list of Persona 3 Reload day-one DLC, revealing that the upcoming game will offer over half a dozen such pieces of paid downloadable content at launch. The developer's announcement was accompanied by an image gallery depicting the contents of the newly confirmed DLC packs, all of which are throwbacks to past games in the Persona franchise.
For many Persona fans, the absolute banger soundtracks are a make or break of the overall experience. Getting to listen to great music during the Dark Hour makes the time fly by. However, with the new remake on the horizon, we must ask the question: is the original P3 soundtrack in Persona 3 Reload?
APB Reloaded is being shut down on PS4 and Xbox consoles, Little Orbit and PLAION have announced, though the PC version will remain online. The Xbox version has been offline for a little while due to technical issues, and now there are no plans to bring those servers back. From February 1st, monetisation options will be taken offline for the PS4 version with the final shutdown taking place on August 2nd.
Atlus has revealed a host of new DLC for Persona 3 Reload. All of this DLC will be available Day One on the game’s launch.
Atlus has outlined all the DLC available when Persona 3 Reload launches on February 2nd, from costume sets to Persona for players. There’s the Persona 5 Royal Phantom Thieves Costume Set, which has the S.E.E.S. donning the Phantom Thieves outfits, and the Persona 5 Royal Shujin Academy Costume Set, which are school uniforms.