Atlus Producers Offer Details On ‘Persona 3 Reload,’ Say Original Title ‘Marked The Actual Turning Point’ In The Series
Ryan Pearson
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Atlus producers offer details on Persona 3 Reload and explain why original game was chosen to be remade over other titles in the series.
The protagonist walks through Iwatodai Station in Persona 3 Reload (2024), Atlus USA
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Producer Ryota Niitsuma and Atlus General Producer Kazuhisa Wada recently chatted with IGN’s Akeem Lawanson, discussing Persona 3: Reload. Lawanson opens by asking, “What was it about Persona 3 that led you all to choose it for a remake over its predecessors?”
Wada explains, “We believe that Persona 3 was the game that marked the actual turning point in the Persona franchise.” For reference, Persona began in 1996 with Revelations: Persona. It was then followed by Persona 2: Innocent Sin in 1999 and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment one year later.
“It’s a very important title for Atlus, as well for the development team who were involved in the original version of the game. That’s why we wanted to keep the appeal of Persona 3 to many more fans around the world as a modern gaming experience,” Wada emphasized.
“We wanted more people to know Persona as a series, not only just know Persona 5.”
Wada was also asked how long Atlus had been working on the game. “We started the research and development around 2019, and we started the actual development in late 2019. ”
Protagonist Makoto Yuki (Akira Ishida) in Persona 3 Reload (2024), Atlus USA
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Lawanson then asked, “What new content can fans expect from Persona 3: Reload, and how much content from P3 FES and Persona 3: Portable will carry over to the remake?”
“We can’t really go into details at this point, but we have remade basically everything from scratch as per the original version of Persona 3,” Niitsuma declared. “So we have newly recorded voices, we have new scenes in the events, and we also have both new and arranged music, and we’ll be kind of releasing that information following everything. So we’re asking to please look forward to that.”
The Arcana Magician backed by the full moon in Persona 3 Reload (2024), Atlus USA
While somewhat evading the question, it seems Persona 3: Reload won’t have content from the original’s expansions and ports. Persona 3 FES added a new playable epilogue, while Persona 3 Portable added the option for a female protagonist — changing some of the game’s “social links.” The latter also introduced additional difficulty modes, allowing the player to control all party members, and made changes to combat.
As recent Persona titles had revised versions with additional content (Persona 4 was followed by Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 with Persona 5 Royal) it may not be unreasonable to speculate similar could occur with Persona 3: Reload. The additional content from FES and Portable would seem to be the first choice to adapt, should gamers want it.
Yukari Takeba (Megumi Toyoguchi) in Persona 3 Reload (2024), Atlus USA
Regarding quality of life improvements implemented to the game’s combat system, akin to Persona 4 and 5, Wada explained, “The basic concept of recreating the Persona 3 story was that we wanted to keep everything from the original version, but update everything to the modern day — so at the same level as Persona 5 basically.”
“So we have the newest graphics, we’ve updated the systems to the newest usabilities to make the customizations that we need- and this isn’t just about the combat system — we have the voice lines in Japanese and in English. We also have the text available in 13 languages, so you should be able to have a similar experience to that of Persona 5,” Wada elaborated.
The gang fight Ill-Fated Maya in Persona 3 Reload (2024), Atlus USA
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Closing on a message for the fans, Wada ended, “The remake of Persona 3 — not speaking just of development but starting the project, planning, and everything — that was not an easy thing for us to do. So we’re really happy to be able to announce the game like this, and all of the staff have been really devoted to this project, and we’re proud of it as a Persona team.”
“So, please be excited about this, and one more thing, we’re so happy to be able to share this hype with everyone globally,” Wada’s outpouring continued. “So thank you so much and please look forward to more information in the future.”
Junpei Iori (Kôsuke Toriumi) in Persona 3 Reload (2024), Atlus USA
Niitsuma echoed those sentiments. “Again, we are so happy that we can finally announce this, we’ve been creating Persona 3 Reload with much love and respect to the original game, and of course somethings have changed and some things haven’t. So we think this has become a title that you’ll enjoy.”
“Of course the fans who love the Persona franchise will love this, as well as people who have never played Persona. We think this is a game that can be enjoyed by many players. So we’ll be following up with more information soon,” Niitsuma promised. “Thank you so much.”
Protagonist Makoto Yuki (Akira Ishida) summons his Persona in Persona 3 Reload (2024), Atlus USA
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