Persona 3 Reload is Good but.... (Merciless Review)

Focusing on its quality as a remake moreso than as a standalone.
First try at reviewing, love everyone who watches!
Big Atlus fan.
Tags: Anime, Persona 3 Reload, Merciless Review, Persona Series, Gaming, Video Games, JRPG, Atlus, Persona 3, Game Review, RPG, Gamer Community, Gameplay, Opinion Piece, Persona Fan, Gaming Community, Persona Discussion, Persona Fanbase, JRPG Fan, Persona 3 Review

[@panaghuyngadimadunggan]

The easy extra feature for the events would've been to freely call and ask people to hang out and not just wait for them. You basically have a pager instead of an actual phone in this game.

[@SaiyanElite-gp4vn]

Same with literally all Persona games. Like bruh, I have a phone, let me hangout with my friends whenever tf I want😭 can't even get a good holiday social link rank up. Which I have to say, I know now what to do in NG+.

[@Kraberrys]

i think they want to stick to the old feature for boosting the social link point, which is the shrine

[@yuribear4361]

Great review! God bless you as well! 😊

[@GRiznitDShiznit]

They definitely need a mode that’s balanced. Tired of 1-shotting every boss. Endgame I had 10 persona’s that covered all bases only to 1-shot the final boss every faze with morning star messiah, then armegeddin 1-shot his final faze… Persona 3 Portable Hard mode was way more intense. I plan on doing a challenge run where I nerf myself into the ground to artificially make this game balanced. Pretty much only single target attack moves and just your normal badic multi-buff debuff allowed PERIOD no thergies no almoghty no vorpal blade no op stuff period.

[@jmporkbob]

Good analysis. Having completed it a few days ago, I agree: it's completely impossible to try to do all the social links and party member events blind/without a guide. There were 5 I didn't max, being at a total of 15 ranks short. But I did manage to do all the party member events as well as Ryoji's. The biggest reason I didn't make it is because I decided to focus the old couple early on, with no way for me to predict how many s-links would be consolidated within the school without literally ANYONE being accessible around town on holidays. But even without this mistake, I don't see how I could manage a perfect run without meticulous spreadsheet planning and advanced knowledge.

[@notanerd6838]

I was a tad bit closer and I imagine I could have done it with any foreknowledge on how social links worked - by the end of my first run having been my first persona game ever I was 8 total off (I could have brought it down to 6 but decided to spend time with team to unlock their abilities because I knew my run was doomed at the end.) I was at rank 9 with Magician and rank 3 with temperance, but realistically the biggest constraint was the breaks - going weeks without being able to do school links sucked and hitting the last month gave a massive sense of dread knowing I was unable to complete the links. Atleast they weren't super necessary and the only major thing you miss out is some small dialogue & orpheus telos. What really sucked for me was missing the event where you save Chidori, I had no clue it was possible until I got a clip of it recommended to me after I finished the game. That was more upsetting than not completing the temperance & magician tree for me.

[@godaddy9837]

I missed aegis by one rank only that too using spreadsheet and stuff that too I went to tartarus once every cycle that too on a day when all the missing person were available to rescue. The biggest problem is ryoji I spent time with him thinking I will get some key to fuse a persona but I got nothing and days were wasted. And Aegis is weird during the last cycle because the game tells you she is available everyday in school but the game sometimes takes up your afternoon for story purposes and aegis is not in the classroom for the last few days and night time has nothing to do in this game by the end except spend time with the party or spending it on computer. I even used the right persona before spending time with everyone but still didn’t make it and even if I did I still couldn’t play as orpheus telos cause the game has already ended. For half the game all my social stats were max cause I always used the most expensive ones and still didn’t make it. I almost felt like crying by the end cause seriously all that work just to miss by one rank and you have to start over in ng+ and the damn rewind does not help much cause I feel atleast rewind upto 10 days should be able just 4-5 intervals isn’t enough.

[@cvolm7744]

i felt the exact same way, and i thought i could get orpheus telos if i got all the fusion unlocks which i did but later did me find out thats not how that works (i was very stupid) but i fell 9 ranks short​@notanerd6838

[@notanerd6838]

@@godaddy9837 okay but not having saves leading up to the previous like 15 days realistically is your fault i saved like every 3-5 days, also ryoji disappears before the end of the last month when aigis's social link is opened first opened. Aigis has her social link opened on january 8th and hanging out with ryoji is only available for the first weeks of december (?), he then disappears after telling you that you'll have until december 31st to kill him.

[@notanerd6838]

@@cvolm7744 I knew exactly how to get orpheus telos I was just picking to spend my days with non school people and that's where I failed. I honestly in the end only cared a little - I ended up caring more about not saving Chidori. My persona by the end was better than what I would have gotten if I actually fused Orpheus Telos as I had a Zeus maxed in all stats with godhand, deathbound, akada arts, crit amp, crit boost and apt pupil. I one shot each arcana phase of the final boss and then one shot his final phase with armageddon.

[@RealCGH]

The simple fix was to make hangouts not take up time lkke Elizabeth's

[@faustoelorteguimiguez7643]

Maybe make it you can only hang once per night?

[@RealCGH]

@@faustoelorteguimiguez7643 Yeah obvious choice

[@frogglen6350]

​@faustoelorteguimiguez7643 But most of the hang outs happen at night. Skill issue

[@faustoelorteguimiguez7643]

@@frogglen6350 what?

[@DEATH_ANGEL1178]

@@frogglen6350 wtf are you on? There is only devil and tower on nights

[@kenjifuse8599]

Was surprised to see you only had 112 subs when I finished the video. You've got something going. would love to see more.

[@crissepiroth]

for sure man, really nice analysis/essay

[@GinSan-e5i]

I find that the clock restore sp on merciless isnt the big issues here. The issue is Fuuka theurgy restore sp when the party sp is low. After getting theurgy, it's incredibly easy to blast through tatarus in a single night without worrying about sp management.

[@cimcim5844]

agreed.

[@CallMeTy67]

She has never once given me sp, she has only given me the atk, def, agi up one

[@max1iq795]

​@@CallMeTy67 she usually only gives me SP when the whole party basically is running dry

[@frogglen6350]

Then don't use it. Persona 4 and 5 did the same. These games were never dar souls

[@dongxx]

Bullshit it's random so you don't always get it

[@thanatosonpluto5098]

I think it was worse on the FeMC route on portable because you had no time at night. Between having to grind your social stats and going into tartarus at night you had 5 social links you had to balance at night which made it even worse trying to get a perfect run-through. I'd prefer being bored rather than stressed out, especially because one of those social links you had to speak to them every chance you got in a month otherwise you would be locked out of it.

[@nopeyepp]

Interesting perspective, I think there's a better balance they could have reached and there still are a lot of vacation days where nothing happens tho

[@thanatosonpluto5098]

@nopeyepp I kinda like that cuz it makes the game quicker to get through so the dead space doesn't offend me. I can see how that would bother you though.

[@eyoshinthemaximum]

@@nopeyepp I spent most of christmas with nothing to do but the Moon SL, least favorite Christmas ever fuck that kid

[@dongxx]

​@@nopeyeppyou lost all credibility when you said they should have modernized the story wtf does that even mean lol

[@nopeyepp]

I literally said I think it's a good thing that it wasn't. If you have criticism for me I'm open to it, but we can't have a conversation if you're going to misrepresent me. @@dongxx

[@benjaminmajeski140]

I have a rebuttal, I don’t think the idea of a “perfect run” for social links is an inherently good idea. Part of the point of the game is that we all have limited time, and part of that time is making decisions tough decisions on how to spend your time, and sometimes that includes making tough sacrifices. I mean it’s not like it’s exactly easy or even possible in real life to become incredibly close with 23+ different people in less than a years time while doing school and battling at night. Plus for me personally, it always breaks the immersion for me when I feel like I have to look something up in a persona game, I mean it’s not like I can look things up about my friendships in real life:

[@floop1662]

That would make sense if the game didn't directly reward you with the locked personas behind each arcana and Orpheus Telos for maxing all S.Links

[@asafesseidonsapphire]

​@@floop1662I mean it's a reward, doesn't mean it's intended, like when a developer puts an Easter egg outside of bounds, Orpheus Telos always seemed like an Easter Egg to me, the fact that you can't save it in the compendium tells this also.

[@tristanraine]

​@@floop1662the original P3 gave you fuck all for maxing out social links, the only reason they gave you an award in FES onwards is that it WAS seemingly possible to do in one run Originally, it was never intended for you to do this.

[@pourygin9496]

I always use guides to max out all the social links, but I think it would be fun to decide what races of personae are better than others. A fun part of role-playing games is deciding what your character isn't going to be, so there might be strategic incentives to give more bonus fusion exp to a certain major acana and weigh pros and cons.

[@ModernMan12]

it’s the difference between completionism and role playing. i prefer to roleplay, too. sometimes i see completionists as weird robots, but then i remember i’m judging something i don’t fully understand

[@irvinspider54]

Honestly pretty spot on review! I originally played FES on my playstation 3 back in 2012 and I gotta say you pretty much nailed the gripes I have with the game! Keep at it! Got yourself a new sub

[@ryutak777]

I pretty much agree and I gotta say The Gourmet King is by far my favorite social link. He is just so interesting and entertaining.

[@notanerd6838]

That is the most unpopular take, most people absolutely abhor the guy. He was alright, my favorite link was easily the Sun. It was the only link that made me feel properly emotional, especially with talking to the mother in the end. It literally only set me up to be devestated a second time for the games ending.

[@notanerd6838]

@@manvelmsurian9712 Have you heard text doesn't convey tone? Or are you that dense? Here I'll write a sentence with a tonal indicator to help you understand: "manvelmsurian9712 is SO intelligent. He's absolutely the MOST rational and thoughtful commenter on the platform.", it's as simple as capitalizing emphasizing words to more clearly convey sarcasm. It irks me to have to have typed that, even sarcastically because you honestly seem like the type of degenerate who scrolls youtube specifically looking to pick fights to give meaning to your otherwise meaningless life.

[@noellenyx]

Yukari isn't a bitch! U guys are just mean! (i'm coping because lovers >>)

[@VictorArriaga239]

I really liked Maiko's social link. The Hanged Man arcana. Made me all emotional seeing a little girl be stuck in the middle of a not so great home life. Reminded me of my nephews and my own childhood growing up and not wanting to go home some days so I wouldn't hear my parents fighting. But I absolutely despised the moon social link (gourmet king) and fast forwarded a lot and waited until I had no other social links to complete to finish his.​@@notanerd6838

[@blackfrancis4926]

I loved The Gourmet King, he reminded me a bit of Lemongrab.

[@Coolio_Ash]

Really great analysis and critique. You got to the core or every mechanic you had a problem with instead of just going through broad strokes talking points like you're doing an ad read or something (like a lot of reviewers I see). It helps that you're obviously a huge fan of 3.

[@javi8905]

P3 was my first when i was a teenager lol u saying P5 was yours when you were a teenager made me feel old 😂. P3 is harder and more strict to me and not as flexible making it more challenging than P5. Reload is now my fav persona

[@oxygen3143]

Tbh I kinda wish I’d played on Merciless instead of Hard. I’ve essentially already broken the game in May by getting Spirit Drain from a sword card, which kills the sp management aspect of Tartarus. You can also fuse a reasonable crit build REALLY early on with Archangel learning Apt Pupil at level 15, and Zouchouten getting crit boost and auto-tarukaja essentially for free. With moves like Arrow Rain from sword cards it makes nearly every non-boss encounter from Arqa part 2 onwards a complete joke

[@KillerUnicorn586]

once I built Siegfried the game was basically done at that point

[@BelBelle468]

Yeah merciless isn’t that bad. It should probably say “for ppl who played FES” under the description. Merciless could be better tho. It gets unbalanced later on.

[@kauanjos3199]

Merciless is hard until you defeat the monorail boss, after that it's alright not that much difficult

[@docphil9602]

I find the linked episodes, while nice (especially for someone like me who has already experienced the p3p social links,) are great pieces of content that expand on the characters in a way that is endearing: they don't do enough to replace the p3p social links. Especially for someone like Shinji, who the base game tries to expand upon, but can't too much thanks to having such a short time to do so. Even characters that we had the entire runtime with, like Akihiko, while great, lack character building outside of their arcs. It just so happens that these characters, that don't get built up the same way they do in portable or in the movies, are my favorites and as such portable is (or was) my personal preference for p3. I will say, I MUCH prefer the ken linked episode to his social link from portable because despite being essentially the same story, it's not under cut by the decision to make him romanceable, it's just like taking care of an older sibling, which is what it should be. Regardless, with a new persona 3 comes more people talking down on portable and it's really annoying to hear the same 4 things repeated on why it's so much worse. Oh, and great video, btw.

[@MarcoD.Salvador]

P3P was my first experience to the Persona universe and I remember it fondly. Having said that, it had as many downsides as new additions and I never touched it again after getting FES and now Reload

[@nightwish1453]

hard to say as shinji's social link has the same problem as the twins in 5 where they do a lot of forshadowing but can't because of the plot. portable social links are mainly in the same quality more or less and something I don't see people bring up is how portable is very 180 to people either you really like it or really hate it not really a between and some of that applies more or less the same with the FEMC, there are good social links, ok social links but there are still some massive stinkers

[@Panda-es2zw]

I’ve done max s link runs multiple times across fes and portable, it’s janky as hell at times but it is hella rewarding to max everyone tbh. It’s still possible to max everyone in reload first playthrough even if you watch every linked episode assuming you play the game like the original (did it with 7 days to spare), but I do wish the half of the linked episodes were moved to nighttime.

[@fabiocetrulo4462]

Honestly the best review I´ve come across of the game, it really is a shame that just a bunch of smaller issues are what´s pulling the game down, still probably my favourite persona game though

[@Penbin123]

We might get the Answer as a DLC, then again I'm completely fine with not getting it, never liked the Answer, same as FMC, but the option should be there indeed

[@imprudentdev1503]

I'm a large fan of FeMC's writing in portable and I really hope it sees some light in P3R, just... without Ken's social link being so... worrying

[@kaidene573]

@@imprudentdev1503i hate to use the leaks, but as an smt v re release has just been confirmed, i think theyre true. The answer will most likely be coming, but FeMC wont. Im pretty sure the name kotone was apart of the datamine, but her dlc was never mentioned, and it would make no sense for atlus to not include her in the base game

[@imprudentdev1503]

@@kaidene573 They probably planned to add her during the development period and then realised they can just port P3P

[@noahswor]

Fantastic video. I just finished it yesterday, and for most of my playthrough I was being really critical and trepidatious, as I really care about the original. However, I ended the game being impressed, but still walking away with some issues. It was really frustrating during the game that for every 3 steps forward it would take, I couldn’t ignore the 1 it’d take back. It’s a weird release, but I’m happy it exists

[@steam-powereddolphin5449]

Persona 5/Royal has extra visual and sound cues that play alongside point notes *only* when you have enough points to rank up. Same with social stat ranks, plus a bit of sparkle when you earn stat points while close to ranking up a stat. My main gripe with the social system in P3R is that I'm not certain if there's anything like the indicators in 5, or if there's even any other rankup-ready indicator that appears _before_ the next time a given S. Link is available.

[@alenezi989a3]

It tells you when you talk to the npc that either you will get closer to that npc or not before spending time with them.

[@steam-powereddolphin5449]

​@@alenezi989a3 That's been a thing since 4 Golden. I was talking about knowing if a link is rankup-ready _before they're even available to hang out again._

[@corey2232]

Wait, can you use ailments against bosses? I'm 60 hours in, and any ailment I've tried always gets blocked, so I just stopped trying. I know you can crit bosses, but I'll be pissed if I somehow missed that you can use ailments on bosses in this game!

[@nopeyepp]

It's usually Tartarus gatekeeper bosses, and not full moon ones. But still cool that they have some utility.

[@asafesseidonsapphire]

​@@nopeyeppI remember charming the three intrepid knights in FES.

[@Donut153]

can you crit full moons?

[@JP_KI]

About the social links, they added a mechanic to basically guarantee you can max them all out unless you're really struggling with the time management aspect. The dude who sells URLs gets one that you can buy as many times as you want that gives you social points for whatever link you want and uses a night slot. It opens up around when the last full moon boss is I think. You can basically spend the last few months every night spamming the URLs to guarantee that every single time you talk with someone it's a social link level up, unless you utterly mess up and can't get a single point in the link events themselves.

[@demifolk8940]

yea exactly this, what i did for my playthrough was basically leave every social link that requires me to “spend time” instead of ranking up until i ran into them while walking koromaru or i literally could not do anything else that day (like in summer). i also left my non-school social links at the lowest i could, since summer and the week before exams locks you out of school SLs basically guaranteeing that i didn’t waste a single day in summer and i used the shrine for school SLs i knew needed points in days in dummer where i didn’t have anyone to meet finally, you do every SL equal towards the end of the game and use the URLs to pretty much guarantee you finish every one. i didn’t even use a guide, just an answer guide for social links. keeping them equal means you can meet someone pretty much every day and you dont waste any days. im only in late november but all SLs are 8+ rn, and ive done every linked episode. i hate to say this but its genuinely a skill issue. if you play persona enough you should know how to schedule your days. i like using answers guides for SLs when i play persona then i play at my own pace instead of following a 100% guide and almost always finish everything. p3fes is an exception tho…

[@JP_KI]

@@demifolk8940 It definitely pays off to save non school links for later. I'm sure most people in their first ever run max the old couple as their first or maybe second social link. They then lose out on so much time during summer when they could have had a link to hang out with, while also having a maxed out school friend like... Ugh... Kenji or one of the other first ones you get.

[@ninototo1]

​@@demifolk8940lmao "I didn't use a guide except I used a guide" and then you have the gall to say its a skill issue. bruh.

[@fel524]

There is speculation The Answer will be released as paid DLC later. I'm also hoping FemC would make it through like that as well. All personas are way overdue for a female protagonist, i think it's such a missed opportunity

[@Plexicraft]

Great analysis, honestly just wish we were given a better way to track link stories… When you brought up wishing Tartarus had more roguelike elements I was like “oh wow that could work so well in so many different ways”. Here’s to hoping we get a revamped DLC of The Answer that does something like that.

[@loserinasuit7880]

Merciless has always changed crit values for both sides.

[@Skyumi-Vk]

Guaranteed they are going to re-release it as another game, this time having the answer and the female protagonist. I guaran-fucking-tee it. They have done it with every single persona game and it makes no sense for them not to do it with this one. Especially with the female character not in the game and THE ENDING!!!!! I am skipping this one and if a remake never comes out then I guess I will never play it. They already got my money for 5 and royal with that sly move and they only get one. As much as I love these games their business practices are toxic as fuck so I'm counting this as "They owe me" and if they have a problem with it they can send the complaints to my ass.

[@VoidPaul97]

How do you only have 935 subs? With the quality of the video, the script and how clearly you made your point, one would expect this to be a 5mil sub channel. Keep up the good work! You can only get better from here!

[@madmarvcr]

I should have started on merciless, hard mode eventually gets too easy. Also, the Reaper can break the game, your team gets too much EXP when you beat him. For fun, I thought, let’s go try the Reaper. MC was level 70, teammates were in high 60’s level. Too my surprise we beat the Reaper and the team shot up to levels in the 90’s. Now I could fuse any persona I wanted and Hard mode even got easy with scrub persona’s. The game gives you too much EXP, if you manage to beat Reaper early.

[@nopeyepp]

To be fair outside of the superboss, if you can beat the reaper even without the exp you can prob still wash the game

[@Soooooooooooonicable]

Huh, when I chose Ken over Akihiko's final night event, it let me do Akihiko's a few nights later 🤔

[@nopeyepp]

Like I said I could have missed seeing it, but it's still crazy that if you don't check the phone every day you can just reverse a lot of progress

[@XstickbuddyX]

The sound mixing in reloaded is some of the worst i've ever seen.

[@alterego5550]

This review is spot on 🤙🏽. I got the game for half off when target was doing a buy 1 get the other 50% off. Definitely glad I did because 70$ PLUS TAX was not worth it.

[@Mikx100]

Yeah they did not do enough for extra asking price (and this is before selling answers separetly)

[@yasmineaubrey8255]

Love your thoughts on this. My first play through of p3 was p3p portable on the Fem Mc route. Even after playing the male route I truly believe her version was the best version. Her social links were better than his and I feel like her perspective of the story was just more fluid than his. His story wasn’t bad I just feel like hers was told better. I like how reload tried to expand on the males party members but still pales in comparison to actually having a social link like in p3p. Not to mention it being so strict on how you have to already manage your time with other things in game. Not that p3p didn’t have its own issues but compare to the other versions it’s issue were to a lesser degree. While i think reload is a good remaster I wouldn’t call it a definitive version of p3 since it fail to include the answer/fem mc which each of those has a big fan base that loves them both. Hopefully Atlus release dlc to include those content but will have to see.

[@nightwish1453]

i personally disagree with the FEMC being better, the social links are pretty much the same quality as the male's with some good ones but also some bad ones and that includes some of the male party members namely shinji and ken being kind of iffy. aki's and the hermit girl are the big highlights

[@Iceblade269]

I think there should be optional difficulty options to help keep the feeling of FES. Add in a tired mechanic, make your crits deal less damage, make socual stats harder to raise, and other features that could help address the time management issues

[@unicorntomboy9736]

A tired mechanic sounds awful. Besides, we have the SP system, which acts as stamina, and makes that whole usea pointless and redundant anyway

[@Iceblade269]

@@unicorntomboy97361. I said OPTIONAL. That means you can choose to add it in or leave it. 2. Adding the tired mechanic makes finishing a block of tartarus in one night more challenging, adding a layer of strategy to how you use your nights. 3. I was referring to the feel of FES. Tartarus ib that game genuinely felt deadly and an arduous climb, rather than a one night speedrun to the next level. Adding features that bring back some FES mechanic could appeal to older fans looking for a way to challenge themselves

[@unicorntomboy9736]

@@Iceblade269 The majority of current persona fans started with Persona 5, or Persona 4 Golden if you want to be really generous. Atlus should be catering to those fans and prioritise them above all else I.am sure the developers removed Tiredness mechanic for a good reason during development

[@funninoriginal6054]

​@@unicorntomboy9736 Sp restoration becomes a joke as soon as Theurgy becomes an option, and before that you're not exactly hurting for sp either if you're finishing battles early. The original tired mechanic (not the one from portable) acted as a much better deterrent against you cheesing tartarus in one night.

[@NintendoFan7141]

@@unicorntomboy9736 Except running out of SP becomes a non-existent issue past the first month of the game, because you can farm soul drops infinitely in the 2nd block by breaking objects, and once you get a decent physical skill to just mop all encounters, you end up using way less SP anyways. Tired makes it so all your stats are lowered, it was a very effective system to make you pace yourself in Tartarus, and if you went against the system, you'd end up getting sick, which would further reduce your stats and force you to rest because you'd basically be useless in battle.

[@2ballisticgaming846]

I’m convinced that femc and the answer are going to be dlc I doubt they would make another whole game just to add those but I guess who knows

[@nightwish1453]

@@vesi7993which alledgedly seems like what they were doing with portable's re-release where it exxists to experience just the FEMC route but just made more acessible

[@Lemmestarve]

coming here after the expansion announcement lol. and still no Femc LMAO. wouldnt be surprised if they dropped another version just for that tho.

[@BillJohn-jg2fg]

Nice review dude. Very thorough and earned a sub.

[@StarFighter748]

After playing and enjoying the hell out of P1 and 2 i was excited to play reloaded. Then my friend who has plsyed through all the games, showed me comparisons between Fes and the Remake. I did a fair bit of thinking and can say im glad i went with Fes over the remake.

[@BelBelle468]

Both are worth it I think. Even tho FES is more interesting from a game design perspective and better cutscenes in early game, reload also adds cool content that FES desperately needed.

[@followertheleader]

The town needed more mini games and fishing.

[@MarcoD.Salvador]

Good stuff man. I agree on the amount of new events being overwhelming at times but now the game throws something at you almost all the time, which it´s fun. I never do everything the first run or even try to do it, so I´m going at my own pace enjoying it immensely so far.

[@anthonyortiz4448]

PRETTY NEW TO MAKING VIDEOS THIS VIDEO WAS AMAZING???

[@MikeMovesPLK]

Man i wanted to buy this for PS5 but now i know its on Gamepass i prolly will not lol

[@SatchelStreams]

While I don’t agree with everything you said, I have to say this was very well written and put together. Great review man! Much respect

[@NoDusty-nl1re]

Crits are so op in this game that they destroyed all the challange for me in the game. You said you got your crit biuld late game, I got mine in the mid game with siegfried and man.... from block 3 to nyx I was one shoting tartarus bosses lmao, the party devolved to being a buffer for the mc. To make things worse I defeated the reaper with the rest of my party dead witch made the already bain dead end game, a over leveled massacre. (Played on merciless to). Also suffered with the lack of time, and althou I did not do a perfect run of the social links, it is my first time having to still complete 4 after my first playthrough with the original. Great review man, keep it going!

[@BelBelle468]

This. It also makes Junpei really viable. And it’s not a bad thing but it IS a problem when it makes Akihiko look bad in comparison. For a character who’s supposed to be strong, it does kind of suck that the gameplay undermines it a bit Also, it sucks the game is a bit too easy. I guess the trade off is the time management but still

[@NoDusty-nl1re]

@@BelBelle468 well even aki not looking so good in comparison with other party mambers, the game is easy enough for you to just use whoever you want as your party, nyx is such a joke that using the mc just for heals is viable.

[@nightwish1453]

@@BelBelle468 actually aki is still really good in reload, you just want to get those strike passives on his equipment so his physical damage is up to speed

[@LSYagami]

I absolutely loved this game but I will say. I agree with every point stated in this video, especially the night time portion of this game. The last 2 months felt empty since there was nothing to do. That was probably my biggest complaint. Still love this game though Great video man

[@floop1662]

Hey that was a great video! I just finished Reload myself and I loved it a lot, which says quite a bit since I thought FES was meh when I had first played it a couple years ago after P5. While you could definitely argue that Atlus could/should've done more, I firmly believe that this is the best iteration of P3, especially for getting new people into it nowadays.

[@pressfinchat]

I really do agree on the fact that there’s little to do in the Evening if you've maxed out your social stats and the 2 measly social links that are present. You could basically just go to Tartarus as many times as you want like just before late game.

[@Ghoats]

game was very easy for the most part on hard. didnt want to play merciless though cause i thought merciless was easier then hard in 5

[@briansuper315]

My biggest complaint is that they didn’t update Moon, and Magician social link and didn’t include Akihiko, Junpei and Ken as social link. Moon and magician is just so horrible and they were so unlikeable. Magician arcana is such a weak social link compared to Persona 4 with Yosuke

[@tomasfernandez5862]

I got Persona 3 FES on my PS3 and for some reason I find the cutscenes and the overall aesthetic of the original game way more appealing however I’m currently playing P5R and I’m really liking the gameplay I don’t wanna feel like it’s barebones in comparison Do you think I should play FES or Reload for an overall better experience? 🤔🤔

[@nopeyepp]

It's up to your discretion, if the combat and new coat of paint are worth 70 bones for you, get Reload. Otherwise, you already have FES which is still great.

[@falconlover5322]

seriously man, stick with FES. I know reload just came out, but it was the better overall experience. It feels like they actually took balancing into consideration with it, and their ai party control system is not found in any persona game going forward. you will have a much more challenging, but rewarding time with FES in my humble opinion (and wont lose 70 bucks!)

[@falconlover5322]

I will say, you fuse certain persona toward the middle/end there are still some easy moments... but tartarus really was legit perfect up until mid way for me

[@christianc1120]

I actually maxed out every social link first play through and every single episode link except for junpei! It is very possible i don’t know why people are saying it’s not, I got game day one as well so no guide, I didn’t know junpei was gonna be a one day thing so I missed it and I was unable to fuse surt but aside from that I was rocking Orpheus telos in the final boss and I beat it on merciless first go

[@jorgefrade8900]

There were guides on day one

[@realmshifter9102]

I must've had some really dumb luck then because I just barely managed to squeak out, maxing out the SEES hangouts. And I only missed out on like 3 S. links. Tbh, if I focused more on the school S. links rather than the ones you do outside of that time frame or can do at almost any time, then I think I would've gotten it. That aside, I think the lack of the answer or FemC is very disappointing here. I understand we would've had to wait longer to get such content on a full release, but it really is a missed opportunity for that content. And at least knowing Atlus' track record of full priced re-releases, I'm not very hopeful.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

You could have just used a 100% walkthrough guide

[@realmshifter9102]

@unicorntomboy9736 I used the old FES guide as a rule of thumb. But as I progressed, the differences became more apparent, I stopped using it. But if I followed its general strategy to prioritize the school links I would've gotten it.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

@@realmshifter9102 There is a 100% walkthrough guide on PowerPyx. I used it and it helped me get the platinum trophy

[@Ty_Jac]

It would not have existed on release as I assume many didn't have the pleasure of using.​@@unicorntomboy9736

[@nopeyepp]

I think it's very hard to argue a mechanic is well-designed, if a guide is required to make the most of it.

[@CKing97]

I probably shouldn't be talking about this since I'm only in November, but Reload feels like it's on the side of "too faithful" in so many aspects, which makes me worried that Atlus will try to pull a Royal/Golden style upgrade in the future 💀 I know it'll piss alot of nerds off to hear this but P5 (and by extension, Royal) is much better in how it handles its social sim aspects, Confidants vs P3's Social Links and art direction

[@unicorntomboy9736]

I love this game, and it is superior to Persona 5 Royal, which is something i never thought i would say That said, i wish the Moon social link, Nozumi, was replaced with the Femc exclusive girl from P3 Portable, which was a vastly superior social link

[@xxkalado]

Wait, wasn't the moon on the FeMc campaign Shinji?

[@unicorntomboy9736]

@@xxkalado I meant Saori, I think

[@kemosonicfan123lbp]

I read somewhere that the social links you meet are intended to be people a teenage boy like the MC wouldn't want to hang out with, for one reason or another So idk, looking back at it, I do see why he's the moon social link, but he could've been done better

[@unicorntomboy9736]

@@kemosonicfan123lbp Are you sure? Are you saying he Wouldn't want to hang out with the little girl Maiko, or the old couple in the bookstore The protagonist, and by extension the player, is choosing to spend time with these people of their own free will, albeit with some pushing by Igor and Elizabeth, so I am not sure how much I agree with that

[@gleam6370]

This is my 1st persona game and I’ve beat it on merciless. It felt like a manageable hard difficulty I recommend everyone to play on merciless cause I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed it as much if the game was a breeze and I didn’t have to analyze my decisions and stats

[@nightwish1453]

idk, I've been playing it on hard and have had a pretty fair experience, tried normal for a bit and was easy but I had some occasions in hard that do come very close. the dlc personas mainly the likes of johanna, cendrillon and vandis do make the game a bit too ridiculous and for my first playthoguh I just decided not to get the dlc to like whenever i do a new game+

[@ninototo1]

thanks for the rec. I was a bit scared of merciless but now I will try it.

[@lulu_TheWitchBoy]

Umm you think the clock should be removed? Why? Without it, it would be impossible to do every social link in merciless. You’re forgetting we need to farm money, which you need sp for.

[@FirstPlace97]

Why did they auto-import your level to NG+, while also restricting the carry over of the compendium et al for merciless? If you play NG on merciless, it's pretty disappointing that you can't save your progress to NG+. The only possible reason for this was they assumed you wouldn't do merciless until NG+, in some attempt to preserve the challenge, but if you start with Merciless, you lose it all for NG+ which misses the point of what this extra mode is for. They should have gone the P5 or P4G (or even P5S) route of letting you customize the difficulty and choose which features to save in NG+.

[@stefanz8364]

I am currently really on the fence on buying this game. I have watched multiple reviews and yours is one of them. I understand you wish to express yourself and want to say what you yourself would have liked more, but now I am really confused. I have only played P5 when it came out and played it like 40hrs since it was just too much for me. Your review seems really negative on how I catch it. The first 2 mins you are talking abt the first releases of the game and then 6 more mins you only complain, say your negatives and mention almost nothing positive. And if there was some positivity sprinkled in between they were really "fattened down" almost like they were just said "on the side". And suddenly on the last minute you say its a good game and suddenly list a ton of positive points but dont get into what makes it good and why. After rewatching it I understood that this is not a normal review and more like a "what they could have done better". I would really change the wording on it since this isnt really a very balanced review. Just telling you how I understood and took it and maybe you can take some into consideration (except if that was your plan to balance the review out as it was). Don't stop the grind my man and thanks for the vid.

[@nopeyepp]

Yeah, I planned it as a comparison focusing on how it changed compared to the original since it's a remake. I can try to focus more on the positive as well in the future. I actually cut segments talking about the music and story because I felt it detracted from the overall message.

[@stefanz8364]

@@nopeyepp Ah alright I see now. If thats the case then I understand it. But I would recommend mentioning it in the video or just clear it up in the title/info box ^^ I am not trying to bash you or anything. Just a small thing I noticed. I mean you even began the vid with the words:" Persona 3 Reload is my new fav Persona game" . So I knew it had to be good anyways xD

[@AirMage50]

Tbh your obession with perfect runs is weird

[@williamcomer690]

Just started last week. On floor 20. It’s feeling kinda boring and no story, also the music is meh. Thinking of just going back to Golden.

[@diegomireles]

Persona 5 was good then became great with Royal, same thing will happen with P3Reload, especially since it became the best selling launch of Atlus. For me Persona 5 became irrelevant once we got the superior in all aspects Royal version, same happened with the original P3 version and then FES, also with P4 and then P4G. Personally I don't care to wait to the superior version, anyway I don't have money right now to buy it on PS5, so I just finished on gamepass for Xbox, in one year when the "definitive" version came out I will buy it. If they would have chaged the social links to include male members, like in P4 and P5, also making the Tartarus not procedural, but more than P5 the game could be perfect and the best Persona to date IMO. Some people thinks it's the best Persona for the ending, but for me P5,P4 and P3 are equally good in regard to story and characters (in three games are annoying characters and very cliché)

[@victorhf9804]

Wow, i disagree completely with your criticism about the social links and city being empty. I think the social links in the original game added to Makoto's personality as a loner. He didn't hang up with his besties, he would spend time with other people he really didn't had a connection to in search of purpose and motivation. The monk link still one of my favourite of the series. And about the city, it really didn't felt lonely for me. It felt like a real small city with everyone doing their daily stuff. Are you a extrovert or something? I think the protagonist and this setting didnt click with you. Also, i disagree with your criticism of linked events in Reload. "The perfect run" forget about this bullshit when you play persona, play according to your feelings then watch the extras on youtube like everyone else. I can't even understand why would someone ruin their Persona game with minmaxing instead of playing the game as it is intended, following your heart. Fixing this would just make the game even more linear, which I think is the opposite direction to what Persona needs to evolve to now that the franchise is so huge.

[@O_Obsidious]

this being my first full playthrough of p3, i really really loved this game. i played fes back in the day and really just couldnt get into it :( the story had me absorbed but just subjecting yourself to the graphics of that era for 60+ hours seemed too big of an ask lmfao

[@Rajin90]

I like that you can't max out all the social links in one go. That way, instead of stressing yourself out, you can just relax and spend the time the way you want. And with the characters you find the most interesting. They should continue that in Persona 6. In 5R - where it's pretty easy to max out everything in one go - you don't really have "personalized" playthroughs, if that makes sense. Except the love interests of course - unless you're a filthy cheater. Because of that, a second/third playthrough isn't really appealing. And it's also more stressful.

[@G3neric_User]

Honestly, outside of the visuals, I prefer Tartarus from the original P3 as it to me in Reload it feels smaller which kinda removes the aspect of it being an ever-changing labyrinth.

[@Lordxzamasu]

The Sp Scarcity in this remake is completely unnecessary and annoying I feel it completely bogs the game down in every way you can’t grind effectively because of it you can’t fight the enemies you want to or collect all the personas on a floor or beat Tartarus in one night with out it running low constantly let alone attempting to beat every monad door it feels counterintuitive especially since the game wants you to exsplore and do all these things but only very rare sp items give you Sp instead of blue cups in the original or you have to waste twilight shards on clocks instead of money which are damn near impossible to get to get sp back it feels like your forced out of Tartarus way to quick because of these issues

[@overrated2975]

Above all, focus on in-school social links above outside of school social links and social stats. Even if it takes longer to get the stats needed for the female main cast, this insures you can get a majority of the day time confidants done, and then worry about the out of school confidants on the huge school breaks you’re given, especially the often empty end game winter break.

[@abdulrahmanmohammed6778]

That is true, persona 3 royal lacks night activities, persona fusion needs a guide which is hard to find, and need a guide to play the game in general. I have played the game without a guide and that didn’t go well. I wasn’t hooked in the story and tarturas was just a place where I grind for XP. Although, I enjoyed the variety of mini bosses between the floor since each one of them has a unique way to fight them. At the end, I did enjoy of some parts of the game, but disappointed at some parts.

[@bludclone]

Whats with mc shooting himself? Really turning me off trying this game tbh

[@joaochanoca3317]

I think that if they managed to do a version with the same problems then they actually did well... it's the core of persona 3... it wouldn't be loyal, it wouldn't be the exact same game if they did all of these changes, might as well call it persona 3.5... the director said he wouldn't change too much about the game and it's problems so that the so called remake can be as closest to what the original persona 3 game was. It ain't a perfect game and look, everyone will have different opinions about the game, some will dislike certain features but some others will absolutely love them... it's the beauty of humans and society, there are persons with every kind of taste. So in general we have to be reasonable here, you can't satisfy everyone and this is their way to make the game. And in general is good. Also, you can manage to see the evolution in terms of playability and story between persona 3 and persona 5. Maybe that is also something to be aware of and that they wanted to made it visible. And I will settle for that.

[@Amanojaku8]

Less than a month later dataminers have found flags in the code for the For Answer episode. Atlus strikes again...

[@koi3755]

i somewhat disagree on the social links part, it's true that there's a distinct lack of nighttime links or other such activities however there are quite a few links that you can -- and should -- do on only off days (such as the Sun, Hermit, Star, Hanged Man, Hierophant and Moon). I myself made a mistake of doing one of these at the wrong time and ended with 2 social links on rank 9 ready to rank up by the end of the game. Reload also added a way to use the shrine to raise points with social links at night through the public PC (that you can get at the club).

[@nopeyepp]

You're right that there are off day events, but I did all of them exclusively on Sundays and during exam prep weeks, etc and had none left to do for most of the game.

[@Elsuya_Milo]

The problem with the public PC is that you get it so late in the game that it mostly doesn't matter tbh. Still feels like there's little to do during night, especially in November-December-January. I maxed out my party's personalities and was just fumbling around.

[@highwind9984]

Now this is the review video that we want, with much constructive opinion together with community feedback to improve the game, unlike some other channel which is just downright nitpicking and called it worthless and doing the baiting

[@theblackswordsman813]

While I always intended to romance Aigis I must say that I find the lack of social links for the guys in SEES to be a real bummer imo

[@jschannel6319]

Absolutely agree with this video. I’m not ashamed to say I used a guide on my first play through, because sometimes there was too much stuff to do, and other times, nothing to do. The school links not being available on holidays with as many as there are in this game, or Sundays was a bit of a pain, as well. The Linked episodes, while enjoyable were pretty easy to miss, and I had to rewind a few times to finish them all. I was fortunately able to 100% the game my first play through, so I don’t absolutely have to do everything. Sucks that absolutely nothing gets passed to NG+ as well, (minus play time) especially the Social Stats, because maxing out Knowledge was a bit of a slog. I would have been fine if just the play time, outfits, compendium and social stats got passed down to NG+ and not the money, items, skill cards, equipment, and especially your level (I have no idea why they kept my level. I’m still at level 99, while everyone else got reset.) not coming to NG+, so that you couldn’t just cheese the game with broken, overleveled Personas at the beginning. P5R handled this better, with resetting me to lvl 1, with any stat buffs that you got from prior play throughs, and adjusting appropriately (unless you’re 10+ play throughs in, like I am, and my HP and SP are still 999 at lvl 1.)

[@uroboloss]

I loved the linked events but yeah, kinda messes with the planning. I did all of them and missed the achievement for maxing all the social links, if I had 2 more days at the last month I would probably be able to max them out.

[@apggamer8738]

Weird I missed maxing all social links and the extra links by 7 days and I know exactly where I screwed up and could have easily hit it with out a guide Edit: the rewind feature was huge help with this Over all pretty good review

[@minh7177]

the only thing i see if they do like golden or royal is that it take place after the answer or p4 area to save makoto yuki with elizabeth

[@bboyExia]

I agree with the time mgmt. i was able max out everyone and extra social link episodes. But time mgmt was a lot more stressful. Esp the last month. Or with characters ik i had limited time/interaction with. One month i planned this then all of sudden junpei hits me up. Or an extra event takes my day off in janurary

[@bboyExia]

I do really wish they changed the social links. Either making the schools ones easier to lvl up early game.

[@hcook1023]

Shift Translation: thank god MC can finally save some SP

[@gravyhero1]

I definitely agree, it is an improvement on the original, but for a 70 dollar game I wish they fixed alot more.

[@collinknowles5333]

But I do love reload specifically. This game sold me on the persona formula more than 4 golden or persona 5 royal. I've been a long time big fan of JRPGS, but the problem with both of those games was either, and call me a graphics loser, but p4 golden felt too outdated to get attached to and persona 5's characters/social links just didn't do it for me. Persona 3 reload brought a modern, gripping feel to a narrative and gameplay design that's more impactful. All the reasons people talk about the original P3's story being the best is amplified here with consistent high quality voice acting. Honestly, the fully voiced confidant lines do a lot more for the game than I think people end up mentioning. And holy shit man, the ending is still the best in the series without a doubt and brought so much more to life here. All that to say this game had a profound impact on me personally that other personas failed to achieve and, while some of your criticisms are valid, I disagree Persona 3 Reload doesn't have enough merit as a stellar game to be loved specifically.

[@nopeyepp]

Fair enough, my review wasn't made with the intention of dominating the conversation or to take away your enjoyment. I'm glad that you like the game!

[@Fretfulglaze]

great criticism and review, like someone said in the comments, if linked episodes didn’t take time like elizabeth, it would’ve been fine, also like you said, moving some social links to night time, i missed on the justice social link being rank 7 with her and koromaru linked episodes unfortunately, however i’ve always intended to do new game plus so im fine, still absolutely love this game tho

[@guruthosamarthruin4459]

@8:45 I still haven't played Persona 5 Royal. I had just played the original not too long before that came out. I have WAY too many games to play to replay something so quickly. I might play it someday, but it's a big maybe.

[@Toro_.]

I somehow got done with all social links and link episodes in one playthrough

[@CrimsonSpikeFlash]

im very happy the answer isnt in here it was horrendous

[@nopeyepp]

I'm not the biggest fan of it either, but reselling it separately is pretty anti consumer, and predictable for Atlus

[@frogglen6350]

​@nopeyepp They literally did that with FES. There are literally 2 versions of persona 3 on ps2 that people back then had ti buy full price.

[@CertifiedAdachiLover]

The story is really good and shouldve been in reload. It was mostly hated because of its extremely tedious gameplay( almostEvery boss having a dodge passive of the element theyre weak against) but the tedious gameplay is an easy fix

[@CrimsonSpikeFlash]

@@CertifiedAdachiLover have to disagree the story had some interesting elements, sure but imo too much character regression from all sides tbh

[@CertifiedAdachiLover]

@@CrimsonSpikeFlash It makes sense though with the situation theyre in

[@Vinigomez]

Amazing video. Would you ever consider doing a review of the story of the game as well or are you mostly focused on the gameplay aspects only?

[@nopeyepp]

If I cover Portable or a different version (thinking about it) i'd be willing to cover the story in the future. I appreciate the interest :)

[@wrapsnap3044]

It looks good but i hate the ending of it

[@trevor245]

I actually completely agree with you.

[@shymira]

I said the game looks too easy for me, no fatigue, new moves, control all party members.... and people said, play on hard... and I completed the game yesterday, on merciless, and only lost 2 fucking battles... It's great for new players but for fans, not a great experience

[@TeamSakurasou]

I personally did not even bother trying all in one run, and decided since its been so long since I played p3, go blind with this one and wait for the second playthrough.

[@busgusfus]

PC stats? Can't run this game with 70+ fps on laptop 3070

[@nopeyepp]

Mine's a desktop 3070, with a wd black ssd, msi pro z-690, intel i7 12700k, evga supernova 1000 g6 power supply. I was recording the game the entire time while I was running it too. I think your issues with the laptop might have to do more with heating or the cpu than the graphics card, but I'm not a pc expert.

[@JP_KI]

Turn off reflections if you haven't.

[@supercres3794]

Excellent review, thanks for making this

[@johntumahab323]

I just finished it. In all honesty...I was so ready for it to be over by the time I reached the final boss I skipped every cutscene, which should give some indication of how engaging I found the plot and its characters. Now I'm sitting here debating whether or not it's worth playing through a New Game Plus to get every bond. When I did that for Persona 5 I actually felt I added something to the experience. Here? I feel like all I'm going to add is another few hours having to endlessly repeat the same upper floors of Tartarus trying to level up new Personas to get their components to make equipment...which I already wasted a good 20+ hours of my life doing I'm never getting back.

[@JayRdgz94]

It’s impossible to focus on social stats & then maxing out all social links. New game plus SUCKS found myself in an endless loop of just waking up, going to school, work on a social link & then go straight to bed. Fast fwd option 95% of the time. Reached 11/3 & realized I skipped over saving Bunkichi the old couple dementia guy. Immediately regretted my mistake & kissed goodbye all my effort to max out all social links AKA receiving the last trophy I need & achieving platinum trophy. Rewind feature is nice but it only goes back like 5 mins smh… felt so frustrated I didn’t play all day yesterday but I HAVE TO GET THAT PLATINUM. Going to start New Game Plus All Over Again… 😓

[@frogglen6350]

4:00 Huh? But they're not real social links and you can skip them besides one with Ryoji. Ryoji doesn't even have a social link.Did....did we play the same game?

[@hcook1023]

My biggest problem with these fames is the expectation of a second playthrough. I feel the vast majority of the audience is 18-35, tbh probably on the older. Im 28 now so I don't have that huge amount of free time as a teenager.anymore. I cant really replay a 100 video game when I already have a huge backlog with new games releasing every other month. I just burn everything into my memory

[@imoutocompalex]

What a fantastic no bullshit, straight to the point review. No emotional intro, no long drawn out "youtuber-speak." Not feeling any pressure to say what fans might only want to hear. Backing up your praise and also criticisms with strong examples. Just cold hard facts, balanced arguments and truth. I wish more KZbinrs did this style of review for games.

[@sereneei3614]

I watched another criticism on persona 3 reload stating that, unlike the original, it doesn’t feel like tartarus challenges you more than it does everything in its power to help you, and I agree with it a lot. You can run past enemies with ease, and with events like greedy shadow and dark zone (which I see as more helpful) you can skip floors entirely while gaining the same exp buffs. There are other events like only strong shadows on a floor or enemies with inflicted status effects, but they barely pop up for it to be a problem plus your ambush upgrades diminish it even further I’m currently on my second playthrough playing on merciless and, other than the first two months, it doesn’t feel difficult progressing through tartarus

[@stevenclubb7718]

I don't think you give P3 credit for just how tight those social links have been in all versions. I've gone through both PSP campaigns with walkthroughs and had minor mistakes lock me out of full completion. Even on second playthroughs with max stats, you have to be fairly vigilant as there's nights with nothing to do and days with everything popping at once and it's easy to get locked out of a completion because of limited availability and so many social links being in the day.

[@imhangryforpizza9053]

I love this game and its my first persona game. My only complaint is that you can’t do a merciless new game plus run. Like what’s the point of getting the compendium to 100 if you can’t even use it in the new game plus run.