Persona 3: Reload (light spoilers)

I just finished this game yesterday (10/2/2024), and it shocked me how obsessed I was with it after I hit the mid game. Everyone already knows that a true JRPG doesn't actually start until you are about 20-30 hours in. The updated music, fresh coat of paint, and the same gameplay loop that I know I love, and you have what is now one of my favorite entries. If you were to ask me to rank the games now, I would likely say: Persona 4 Golden > Persona 3: Reload > Persona 5 Royal. Maybe as time goes on, my recency bias will fade and Persona 5 will return to its spot at #2, but I think that this game's cast completely outshines Persona 5's overall flat cast. Let's start with what I love.

Soundtrack

This is something that during the first 20-30 hours, I really struggled to get into. When doing a remake, the music, I have to imagine, is one of the hardest tasks for the team to handle. You do not want to alienate your original fanbase by changing songs to such an extent that it ruins the original score. You also do not want to keep the songs exactly as they are as over time, sound fidelity continues to increase, and the original bgm files would simply not sound as good on a modern set of speakers. Some sort of rework has to be done.

At the beginning, I believed that the original soundtrack was unparalleled. Capturing the energy of an era is difficult, but when you make the music in that era itself, it simply has to exist. When you remake an old soundtrack, you have to recapture that feeling. After playing for a sufficient amount of time, I believe the composers handled the task well, and they created a soundtrack that can be enjoyed in combination with the original score. There are tracks that I prefer from each soundtrack, and I can say that I don't actually have a favorite between the 2. All I can say is that no matter how you cut it, this soundtrack is incredible. Mass Destruction is now my favorite persona battle theme (aside from Blooming Villain). There's too many good songs to highlight, so just know that if you play the game, crank the music.

Character Growth and Progression

So one of my biggest issues with Persona 5 is that the characters feel quite static. Persona 3's cast is incredible. The characters go through a lot that helps put their characters ideals to the test and therefore causes them to change. The characters at the beginning feel much different than at the beginning. My favorite example of growth definitely goes to Junpei. His arc with Chidori, where you realize that he truly is just a caring soul, is a large juxtaposition to his early game "player" lifestyle. Yusuke and Ryuji cannot hold a candle to Junpei.

Spoilers!

I'm gonna talk about the games ending, because I think that the ending of this game is easily what seals it my new number 2 in the series. During the final fight against Nyx, which is a great final fight by the way, the protagonist realizes that death itself cannot be killed. In realizing this, they realize that they can act as a sacrifice for humanity. During your last day at school, you get to talk with all the people you maxed out relationships with. This brings into perspective how muhc of an impact that the main character had on each of the characters lives and how they have actually changed. I think that with the theme that Persona always tries to drive home, it does it's best work here. At the end of it all, your friends rush to meet you on the roof, but before they make it, your characters sacrifice comes to fruition and his life is forfeit. Many people told me they cried at this ending, and I completely understand why.

Funny thing though is that when I beat the game, it was like 2 am, and the main character just looked so peaceful like they were falling asleep, and I was like "Same brother" and I also just went to sleep. I originally didn't realize that he died. When I woke up the next morning though, I instantly was like "wait...". So emotionally it didnt hit me as hard as it did others, but this ending is the best in the series by far, and in my opinion will be hard for the devs to beat.