Persona 3 Reload

FES is probably the second-best PS2 RPG while the PSP version might be the best thing on that console, but somehow Reload manages to keep the mood and feel of the original intact while evolving into a much better-playing game. If it weren't for it getting slightly too hand-holdy and "hey, look here!" to the point that some of the original's mystery and intrigue is lost, it'd be an easy 10 for me, and either way, it's certainly one of the best games of 2024.

Persona 3 Reload hides the ultimate philosophical question inside a combat mechanic. Characters press guns—Evokers—to their heads not to die, but to rehearse annihilation and summon the will to live. Set against a city dying of "Apathy Syndrome"—a chilling mirror to our own era's doomscrolling—the game asks if life, facing its own absurdity, is worth living. Its answer is a profound, defiant humanism: we manufacture our own meaning, fighting the void through the everyday bonds we forge. - Full Review

Having played 5, 4, and 3 (in that order), this is definitely my least favorite of them, though to be fair, 4 and 5 are two of my favorite games ever. The devs were still clearly figuring things out at this point, as the characters aren't quite as appealing, the social links aren't quite as engaging, and the general morbidity of the proceedings can be a drag, but in the end the formula still works, and works well. Yuko best girl.

Its an okay "remake" and probably the best part for beginners to get into the franchise as it's ridiculously easy. The gameplay/combat has been well updated. But it's very repetitive like the whole dungeon exploration. The social links are in my opinion extremely uninteresting, not even close to the level of P4/5. I also think the remake has completely missed the tone in this very dark scenario compared to the original. Also the game is censored/updated for a modern audience -.-

I hadn't played any of the previous iterations of this title, so can't really say how it compares to previous versions. At first, I found myself struggling to get into this as much as with the sequels, which I put down to familiarity with the series and it being slow to pick up to the full speed I knew it could have. When it did get going, I very much enjoyed the main themes and its very solid gameplay systems. Social Links I found a bit hit-or-miss, with less fleshed-out happenings than eg 4&5.