The biggest vibe shift was wandering the tower of Tartarus, which is now the creepiest of all the Persona dungeons. The aura is truly unsettling in the chunk of floors that I played, with the intent to closely emulate the themes of death in the game, producer Ryota Niitsuma and director Takuya Yamaguchi told me after the demo. Reworking Tartarus was a high priority for the team and it shows.

As stated by developer Atlus, Persona 3 Reload is intended to be a remake of its original version, which means the post-game campaign called "The Answer" from Persona 3 FES is not included. That’s disappointing considering the important story context it provided. It also means the optional female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable isn’t included either, which is also a shame since I consider her the best lead in the series thanks to her fun and distinct personality.

Of course, I speak as an experienced Persona fan who is used to the series’ eccentricities and obsessed with planning ahead to ensure my party is fully prepared. If you’re a casual JRPG fan who has never played a Persona game before and you don’t take the time to learn Persona 3 Reload’s complex mechanics, like planning your daily activities, this game can and will kick your butt without mercy. Thankfully, there are plenty of tutorials to help newcomers get up to speed on how to play the game.

Exp: Experience. Used to level up. There is no way to confirm how the Exp system works as of this version of the guide, but here is what is assumed to be the Exp system.

Persona 3 Reload follows the same gameplay loop as the original Persona 3. You will spend your days attending school and building up your Social Stats to forge friendships (or Social Links, as they’re called in this game) with various NPCs in town during the day.

Engage in various powerful ancient combat techniques using your fists, sword, spear, bow and spirit to overcome your foes. Embrace your destiny and forge your own path in a legendary tale of your making!

This takes places directly outside of the Velvet Room, but Elizabeth will offer requests to complete. These can range from Persona fusions to obtaining specific items. Elizabeth will provide new requests depending on story progress and completion of other requests.

A group called Strega takes advantage of this, using it to carry out requests for revenge on others.

You can save anywhere you like except for in dungeons. When in a dungeon, you can only save at the entrance or in certain areas. There are 15 save slots to use.

Fans of the Persona series will already be familiar with the style of gameplay that this title helped pioneer, including time management with your duties in the day, and turn-based combat that is influenced by those day-to-day social interactions.

He also envisioned slower animations and softer aesthetics in the menus, in order to contrast Persona 5's emphasis on aggressive movements and pop-punk influences, deriving inspiration from the sea surrounding Tatsumi Port Island, the game's primary setting. A special 3D character model of the protagonist was created by the animation team for use exclusively in the game's menus, with a large number of animation skeletons and polygons used to express the character's emotions, and the shimmering effect conveying the feeling of being submerged in water. Kumagai stressed that it was equally persona 3 reload gameplay important that the team retained the ease of navigation and responsiveness present in Persona 5's user interface.

A third-year at Gekkoukan High School and one of the founding members of SEES. He’s the captain of the boxing team and excels in academics as well, earning him a lot of fans around school. He’s got an effortlessly cool and stoic personality, but can be stubborn and even a bit naïve at times.

Fights come with a swift momentum that's effortlessly stylized to match the kinetic look and pace of combat. And that's key for a turn-based RPG, keeping things moving and never letting you get bogged down as you go through the motions of what could otherwise feel like pretty similar battles.

There's a timelessness to Persona 3 – its story of confronting death with imperfect courage and carrying on in the face of tragedy left an everlasting impact on me when I first played it on PS2, even as RPGs evolved and the Persona series continued to grow. As I've gotten older and experienced the very things it's about, I've grown to cherish the earnestness of its message, the way it's framed, and the characters who embody these struggles even more.