Come see the S.E.E.S.
The Persona formula is screwed on pretty tight by now, and Persona 3 Reload doesn’t mess with it too much. We’re following superpowered high-schoolers who live normal lives during the day and then descend into an alternate realm to bash demons by night. Normal Scooby Doo shenanigans. Persona 3 Reload’s version of The Phantom Thieves have a much sillier name: S.E.E.S. (aka Special Extracurricular Execution Squad, though I doubt you could slap that on a university application).
Persona 3 Reload tells the same story as the original, but there are a number of notable changes between Reload and past versions, aside from the obvious visual touch-ups. Reload is replacing the English voice cast from the original PS2 release and is disappointingly leaving out the playable female protagonist, Kotone Shiomi, who was introduced in the PSP edition.
That’s a pretty blatant omission since Shiomi is still fresh in the fandom’s shared consciousness (imagine her face plastered across the Metaverse), sincePersona 3 Portablewas ported to PC earlier this year. Our Ed checked out that edition andwas delightedthat it didn’t feel as outdated as you imagine a 14-year-old RPG might: “Not only does it stand on its own as a fun high school mystery with an alarmingly dark undertone, it almost acts as a fun history lesson too,” he said. So you can always just play that one instead.
Otherwise, Persona 3 Reload comes out on February 2nd on PC (viaSteam), Xboxes, PlayStations and Game Pass. That’s not too long afterPersona 5 Tactica, the series’ XCOM-style spin-off, comes out on November 17th.
