It’s been 18 years since the premiere of “Persona 3”. In the meantime, we had the opportunity to play editions like “Persona 3 FES” and “Persona 3 Portable,” which differed to some extent from the original. How does the fourth version of the third part, which is a remake of the original game, present itself? This logical conundrum has been solved in her review by Anna Rogala.
Game review “Persona 3 Reload,” by Atlus, Sega
“Hour of Darkness” by: Anna Rogala
When I reviewed the remaster of the third part of “Persona” last year, I secretly hoped that sooner or later Atlus would wake up from a deep sleep and finally decide to refresh this Tartarusian epic. The actual announcement of the remake poured gallons of honey into my heart, but in the back of my mind, there was still a fear that the end result would leave much to be desired. You know, there were times once, now there are no times, and maybe it’s better not to touch certain things. Today, I can say with great relief that the creators have met the challenge and definitely have nothing to be ashamed of.
The hour of darkness will strike again on the clocks of the groups of students fighting for survival in Gekkoukan High School. Despite initial conflicts and apparent mismatches, second and third-year students will learn to rely on each other as the school year progresses, and then, with the help of other, often unconventional companions, they will face the spreading apathy around them. “Persona 3 Reload” does not change the dark tone of the original, so the warnings about addressing difficult or uncomfortable topics placed at the very beginning of the game didn’t particularly surprise me. Just a sign of the times and greater awareness of potential audiences.
The Tartarus filled with demons will still pose a challenge for the youth taking their first steps in getting acquainted with their Personas. One of the problems of the original was that each exploration of the dungeons led to the exhaustion of the team. In the worst case scenario, it turned out that the character we had been exploiting was unable to fight for several days. In addition, the protagonist would fall ill and become exhausted, which affected his combat abilities. The remake completely abandons this system, resulting in almost unrestricted freedom to roam Tartarus.
A partial consequence of the above is the number of activities available in school life. Illness meant that we often used the services of the school nurse, who, with the help of variations of a menthol syrup curing all illnesses, boosted our stats. Now the motivation to visit the school shaman has dropped to zero. However, nothing is lost because we cannot complain about boredom, as there will always be someone who needs our help.
You can read the full review of the game “Persona 3 Reload” on its card
