This was recorded and edited over the course of ~3 months, so please forgive some shifts in audio at certain points. The most notable being from ~2 hours 11 minute to 2 hr 16 minute mark (it just had to be for the music section lol rip)... also thanks for your patience with some sections seemingly containing "less energy," this is due to my health struggles all year. You can bet every. single. section. in this video was a passion project. **LINK TO ALL THE MUSIC/OSTS I USED IN THIS VIDEO CAN BE FOUND IN VID DESCRIPTION!** Regarding the focus section on Unavoidable Battle, I actually think there still is rim shot technique, it just seems that it's not always played on snare drum but tenor/tom drums (?), that's what it sounds like to me, but if you're a drummer or in percussion section, please feel free to correct & explain! Headphones recommended for the music breakdown section in particular btw! Also lol I kept referring to party member overworld optional dialogue & NPC dialogue as the same thing whoops lol. You get what I mean though haha (technically the dorm dialogue isn't from "NPCs," but extra/optional lines adding to worldbuilding) Huge thanks to my patrons & channel members in particular for supporting & sticking with me as I went ~4 months without a video!~ Thanks everyone for your patience in general and I hope this video is worth the wait 🌟PATREON: www.patreon.com/LadyVirgilia 🎮TWITCH: www.twitch.tv/ladyvirgilia 🐤TWITTER: @VirgiliaLady twitter.com/VirgiliaLady
They removed Margaret apparition.. It kinda removed the link between game and the fact that she tell p4 member that elizabeth try to save p3 protag like if she know him due to her fight with all the team kinda saddened me...
@@BabelEnkidu Nope, she knows the P3 protag cause Elizabeth tells her about it in P4 Arena, and you can listen to the same in P4 where she repeats it to the investigation team once you defeat her, the Portable optional boss battle was not the only connection.
@@maquinlol9673 well portable added interaction between Margaret and p3 team. So they knew her smh. But in reload there is no apparition of her, i know fes neither made her appear but that was bc that was before p4,in portable that was after so why not ? Bit reload made her not appear. However i put fes more canonic than portable before reload release so yeah... No Margaret. Still it is a bit lacky.
Might sound odd, but my favorite part of Reload was Junpei's new VA. Zeno did such an amazing job with the emotional scenes, literally everytime I cried was mostly Junpei's scenes. And not to mention Akihiko's VA, the fucking scene of him mourning Shinji broke me
Zeno Robinson absolutely blew me away, and this is from someone who liked Junpei's original performance. The cast replacement was worth it for him ALONE. But Fuuka and Mitsuru were also a lot better. I'm still slightly iffy on Akihiko, but he did do the Shinji scenes really well.
I really liked Reload in most regards, but I think the biggest narrative improvement to me was the addition of full voice acting for social links. A lot of P3's social links kinda struggled with keeping people interested in the original because they tend to be more of a slow burn than in the later games, and that led a lot of players to tune some of them out, especially when a handful are intentionally unpersonable at first. Having the voice acting goes a long way in making you slow down and invest in them and I've seen a lot more appreciation for them since Reload came out. Nozomi especially benefits from this because the fact that he does actually think of you as a friend comes through *way* more with VA than through text alone.
I agree! Having every single rank fully voiced added so much to the characters~ The VA performance in Nozomi's final rank was so well done. It's always been a very devastating yet cathartic reveal, but voice acted now...? Even better ...though I feel like an outlier given most people don't like the character. But his rank 10 has to be one of my favorite stand alone "rank-ups" now and it's because of what Paul Castro Jr. added
@@LadyVirgilia I really like Nozomi's Rank 10. The problem I, and my stream chat when I play it, have is I think it should've been Rank 6. It's one of the few good rank ups he has and you have to sit through so much bad to get to it. And I'm someone who doesn't mind Kenji's link. I normally like flawed social links, Nozomi just takes too long to develop.
Hey, I’m one of the artists and audio engineers who worked on the Kotone Cutscenes Project, and I just wanted to say thank you so much for the small shout-out! Funny enough, I had this video playing in the back while I was working on some clean-up animation. That last bit about how COVID-19 affected High School and College for the younger generation, really hit close to home. My generation entered High School right before the pandemic hit. So, while we did get to kinda experience what normal High School life was like, everyone kinda took it for granted since nobody could predict what would happen next year. Thankfully, we did go back to school in September 2020, but it was extremely restrictive, as one would expect - one-half of the students only being there for half of the day and the others a full day, with it being rotated for both sides every day. Thankfully, it did start to revert to normal around 12th Grade with events, prom (albeit a bit different), and even a normal graduation. There are still a lot of missed opportunities we couldn’t experience in-between our first and final years. Such as the new friendships we might've made, after-school clubs, theatre plays, or the trips the seniors and freshmen got to go on. Our Japanese class was supposed to have a student exchange, which my best friend was looking forward to before it got canceled. This is why Persona 3 connected with me when I first played it last year. It gave me a glimpse into what a normal High School life was like pre-COVID, or what it could’ve possibly been like to visit our sister school. And this video helped me appreciate the added hangouts and study sessions in Reload. So thank you for that:) By the way sorry if this was worded awkwardly or the punctuation was off. Dyslexia sucks lol
Thank you so much for your dedication to making cutscenes for Kotone a thing! (FemC so deserves it!) They look and sound fantastic so far and I'm so excited to see the final thing up & running! Best of luck with the rest~ I'm also so sorry to hear you & all your friends/peers had to experience high school life at such a crazy time in the world. I appreciate you going into detail about it as I love hearing perspectives I don't always get opportunities to hear personal accounts of. It reminds me of the great times in high school I was privileged to have pre-covid, and I only hope better times and opportunities are ahead for you all now! Love that a video game like Persona 3 could resonate you because of all that though! And no worries, everything was written out so clearly honestly! Thanks again for the really thoughtful comment & good luck again with Kotone project!~~
On the note of Aigis adopting human turns of phrase, it actually was present in the original, but only really in her battle dialogue changing after 12/31 when she awakens to Palladion. Off of the top of my head, there's "Let us commence with an All-Out Attack." -> "Let us strike while the iron's hot." and "Locking on." -> "Hasta la vista!" It was a nice call implementing that into the rest of the writing, it was always a fun touch. (I do wish they kept the more robotic delivery though since I feel like only having the dialogue changes is a lot less distinct and I doubt anyone would have a hard time buying that a robot made in 1998 would sound like that.)
I think the change of way Aigis talking before January might because it's more relatable to newer audiences? Idk for you but I find Aigis pre-January still sounds robotic/emotionless but in sense more like Google Assistant,/Alexa,/Siri
As someone who completed FES's main campaign and later on jumped into Reload? It was a HUGE breath of fresh air. Better use of controlling your party members, new stakes were involved, and I was able to max out nearly all the social links (Think I was missing 2 or 3) To me, Reload felt more... accessible. Don't get me wrong, FES did amazing things too, but to me I honestly am preferring Reload since it's much easier for me to be streamlined into the story and actually fight in combat! I just hope Reload's version of The Answer is more merciful.
@@KonEl17I have no reason too. I already watched a ton of FES reviews, and the gameplay isn't perfect. Also, FES is a long game to beat compared to Portable and reload, so that threw me off. Also, FES has a lot more BS moments(for the gameplay and sometimes the social stim), so I still won't ever play it. But I had fun playing Portable and Reload, probably because they had direct controls, and less BS moments than FES. Also, Portable and Reload just made a lot of quality of life stuff, and the game isn't super long, unlike FES 💀. And no, im not saying that FES is flawed, just more flawed than Portable and Reload(Imo). And yes, I prefer Reload overall, and nobody will change my mind. Anyways, it's the same reason why p4g is my least favorite persona game.
@@KonEl17I don't really like the gameplay, compared to every other persona game I played. Also, I find half of the OG dungeons to be trash to mediocre. It's funny, since I love basically everything else. Usually, I would love the gameplay more than anything else in a persona game(which is true for every other one I played, imo) For me, gameplay is the most important thing in a video game. Everything else can help enhance my experience, but the gameplay has to be good and fun imo. And while p4gs is good and fun enough, since physical is extremely strong(like in p3r, which I als have a problem with, but there, I was having fun all the way in Tartarus) but in p4g, those mentioned dungeons are just not the best, imo. Also, the investigations sections are just bad, imo. But p4g is still a great game! It's just that it's very flawed, imo.
I'm really glad how you tackled Akihiko's characterization in Reload because I honestly cannot understand for the life of me how some people call Reload!Akihiko "the worst take on the character" or how "Reload ruined Akihiko" for them. They either boil it down to voice actor change or... **sigh** the protein mentions. Which, from what I've heard, they were more prominent in the Japanese version of the og P3 but were trimmed down in the localization. I'm serious, people treat the word "protein" as if it was present in 95% of his script in Reload when it's only about 5%! I swear, that scene out of context from P4A (you know the one) that people keep circulating around... despite that being an illusory Akihiko and not the real one since the real Akihiko doesn't say anything of the sort himself, ruined everyone's perception of him in the mainline P3 storyline. Imo, the true botched version of Akihiko is the one from the PQ games, where he's not only flanderized but *infantilized.*
As much as I try to understand those people, I feel like I really can’t sometimes. Like after I finished p4a and p4au, I genuinely wondered if I was on something, because I felt his character progression made sense? Especially when you consider he’s apart of the shadow ops, like no shit he’s gonna train his ass off to get stronger, it’s to protect everyone. It ain’t like he’s still doing it to run from his responsibilities or to ignore what’s important lol
@@shinji2898 it's mostly because people found very jarring he'd go against wild bears for training and his overall character design, which is part of the course given how wacky characters are treated oftentimes in fighting games.
@@MaxusFox23 I feel that didn’t bother me because I could buy into it, especially since even with some of that goofiness, he’s still Aki through and through. Especially because, once again, I imagine him being apart of an entire operation like that is why he locked in the only way I could imagine him doing lol
The thing I love on Remakes is that I think they give the unique opportunity to experience a beloved game for the first time again rather than it being the same nostalgic thing but prettier like remasters. So I'm pretty open to changes myself.
You said that original P3 is impressionistic, but I think you mean Expressionistic, not impressionism. Expressionism (and more so it's sub Art movements) is to do with more abstract stuff, while impressionism is more about snapshotting a "moment" and the feeling of that moment, usually focusing on lighting and nature. Sorry, I have to use BA somewhere.
thanks for the correction! I admittedly don't know much about traditional art, so I appreciate comments like these! yes, gotta share your knowledge somewhere ^^
As others have said elsewhere, along with "making memories", Reload is no longer just about "Memento Mori", but also "Memento Vivere", or "remember you must live", which is definitely a good sentiment after the age of the big C-virus. On the gameplay differences between FES and Reload, particularly the Nyx fight, i've heard about how the party member RNG and Nyx having two actions per turn in FES made it too long, unfair, and unenjoyable, while the party control, Theurgies, amd Nyx only having one action per turn in Reload made it too easy, like some have said about P5 Royal... And it's been years since i've studied music theory, so i never would have noticed the subtle changes between the rearranged music tracks if they hadn't been shown one after the other.
Firstly, I completely agree with your thoughts on "art". I always viewed this game like another performance of a play or piece of music. Every group will put is own spin on things, and that's okay. Totally agree on Fuuka. She's one of my most improved characters in Reload, mainly due to her voice acting but also her expanded dialogue and scenes. I also feel Natsuki's news VA does a great job showing her remorse at how far her bulling went, when most og P3 fans never liked her. It's interesting that, playing later games first, Ikutsuki is a rare example of an "older male guardian" who betrays you. And I also get the point about OG Ikutsuki feeling irrelevant enough to be suspicious. In badly-written murder mysteries, it's often easier to narrow down the culprit to "the only character who has no other reason to exist in the story." Unfortunately, the first time I played FES, I'd been spoiled on Ikutsuki being a traitor. Your section on Akihiko was really, really interesting and it's made me want to give Alejandro Saab's performance more scrutiny. I get the added focus on his "fatherly" aspects in this version. I agree on Strega, and I think we have a similar hot take. OG Takaya I actually like more than Adachi as far as human antagonists go. A lot of modern media seems to have this idea that villains need to be more sympathetic and likable, and often emphasizes the "if things were different, we could have been friends" thing but... that doesn't always work. Sometimes you NEED an opposing group that just fundamentally will NEVER understand "the power of friendship". Part of why Takaya works is he's the anti-protag: everything he does wrong, the protag does right. I'll have to look more into the music angle, but I do agree the overworld themes are stronger than the battle ones. Also the Jojos insight is really interesting. I heard Jojo Part 4 compared to Persona 4 a lot, but didn't realize there'd be a P3 comparison. As always, thanks for the effort for this MASSIVE video, it was worth the wait.
Fukka got the most glow up, even more than ken. She improved in both voice acting, writing and gameplay. Fukka's new voice actor does the raspy and quiet voice better. Fukka also feels more there in reload. Also stuff like oracle/revelation is really good to point of broken. Seriously all party heat riser and charge ups are powerful. While it can be annoying when it doesn't do the heat riser or charging up, it is still going to be useful.
To further explore Akihiko's differences between FES and Reload, I'd like to talk about something not many point out: Akihiko's fighting style. FES: - Idle animation is the Southpaw boxing stance (right fist and foot up front), fist positioned for close/middle range fight. - Critical consists of 2 quick right straights, middle left hook, left uppercut and middle left hook. - Running animation features no guard. Reload: - Idle animation is the Hitman boxing stance (crossed arms with front fist in an L position), special for long range fighting. - Critical consists of 2 quick right flicker jabs, left straight, left uppercut and left straight. - Running animation features a peek-a-boo style guard (ideal for close range, in-fighting style). So, we could say FES!Akihiko's fighting style is aggresive and ready for a close/middle range clash, while Reload!Akihiko's feels more calculated by keeping the opponent at middle/long range. The former plays into charging in without measuring the risk ("Let's f*cking go!"), while the latter plays more into creating an opportunity to strike at the risk of leaving yourself wide open ("Come at me, bro"). It's fascinating to me how much those little things give off a completely different demeanor between versions.
One thing i really enjoy about your videos is that you're able to share a nuanced take along with have empathy for various view points. I also really enjoy you sharing your personal experiences in perspective to the various themes of games! As someone who also has their own chronic illness and who lives with others who have their own chronic illnesses its really inspiring seeing someone be able to share their experiences along with their passions.
To answer your question, as someone whose first P3 experience is reload, I strongly found Ikutsuki sus right away. But I am an older school gamer, so a meek, long-haired guy with glasses from a mid 00s JRPG instantly put up so many red flags. The other thing that was a massive red flag was how similar he looked to Takaya in appearnace. I had a suspicion that they might have even been the same person who just shifts into different forms/personalities. Basically, the only thing Ikutsuki had going for him was that I was mindful that his presence could have just been a red herring. But I was not shocked in the slightest when he was the primary antagonist.
I gotta say you're one of, if not, the only few fans that truly went to extensive lengths as to explain why you don't like some of Reload's ost arrangements. Because to me, saying things like "it's not the same", "doesn't fit" or "it got destroyed" is... *basically saying nothing.* So thank you for actually *elaborating* on it by using comparison with applied musical theory, composition and instrumentation. Now I can finally see where the criticisms come from without getting a meaningless "IT SUCKS ASS" thrown into my face. My only problem with the og soundtrack in general was some pretty jarring volume mixing issues to the point of noise saturation in the more rock-centric pieces, but I can respect the original composition for what it is.
One thing I have not seen anyone do that you briefly touch upon is how the individual bonding moments between party members and the MC recontextualize everything introduced in The Answer, for the considerably better imo. One of that scenario's biggest issues was how seemingly devastated they all were over the MC's death to the point of barely being able to function. While this is hardly something that can't happen irl, narratively speaking it felt very forced and unnatural. I could not buy them being that distraught, especially Akihiko and Mitsuru, compared to Kenji's death. It made The Answer start off on a very awkward foot that I wasn't able to get passed in order to complete it (the insane difficulty didn't help either). Reload makes me appreciate the beginning of The Answer so much more. These additions almost feel like they were made specifically with The Answer in mind, even. It's yet to be determined how, if at all, they change that scenario with Episode Aigis but I suspect it will be with the Reload additions in mind as you say. I hope it isn't changed TOO much because, as I've said, the Reload additions do enough on their own to make the original telling of The Answer feel genuine. I even buy more into Yukari's decision near the end and Mitsuru coming to her defense. The Answer just WORKS now with the added context from Reload without needing much in the way of overtly addressing its initial issues. Here's to hoping they don't panic too hard about the Answer's reception back in the day and try to make it way too overtly referential to Reload specifically or try to spell everything out that's easily inferred like they do on occasion in Reload itself. Also the greenness of the Dark Hour in Reload really should be a meme. Idk what happened there even if there was a very subtle green tint to the original depiction. It just comes across very unintentionally comical as opposed to the dread the original made you feel.
To just talk about your point about the party members not having Social Links, I agree that it's not necessarily a bad thing. My problem lies in that you can only Social Link with the female party members, which makes them feel uniquely close to Hero in a way that the male party members don't. Which, like most questionable desicions in the original P3, is intentional. You're only really supposed to do one of the girl's Social Link because starting her Link means that you're trying to date her, and dating her means that she's an important character. Which then creates the problem of doing every Social Link makes ever girl the heroine. Which is shown with things like how the narration refers to people(in japanese/Reload): all the girls are referred to by their first name, but the only guys to are Junpei(the first thing he says is that Hero can call him Junpei) and Ryoji(who has a unique connection to Hero in the main story like Aigis and a Social Link as Pharos). And so, things like the movies which do none of the Social Links make every member of SEES equal in terms of their relationship with Hero, shown by Makoto calling the girls by their last names. Of course, this excludes Aigis. In the original P3, she doesn't have a Social Link: instead, she has a relationship with Hero in the main story. And then FES gave the only character who didn't need a Social Link a Social Link. Which just proves my previous point that the girls have Links just so they can be romanced. I think my feelings for Reload can be summarised with while it may deviate fron the original intention that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it's mostly a good thing.
For your point about Burn My Dread -Last Battle-, that's another thing FES changed. Burn My Dread only plays in that if you stay on the title screen - the first opening is P3F, which does have part of Burn My Dread in, but the verse - not the bit that plays in Last Battle. But, if you're counting that, then you have to count Full Moon Full Life having the Burn My Dread leitmotif that actually does play in Last Battle. Plus, the lyrics. I can't say how I felt playing the final boss and just catching 'it's more like a gift that I don't deserve, so I gotta give it back to you by all means'. Reload also gives the Memories of You leitmotif a lot more. In the original, it only played before January in Joy(which does play a lot to be fair) and the start of P3FES. However, in Reload, it also plays in the new Living With Determination version(which does play regular Living With Determination after the Memories of You bit), but also Color Your Night.
I only got around to playing Persona 3 a few months before the launch of 5,and despite some of the mechanics feeling a little dated by that point - the story and characters stunned me. I adore this cast, and I definitely felt a little bit of apprehension going into Reload. But after 100+ hours an ugly crying through the credits I think it may very well be my favourite JRPG of all time. The voice cast for everyone was flawless, the QOL changes made it so fun to play, and it’s personally one of the easiest GOTY decisions I’ve ever made. Maybe because I got to P3 quite late some of the critique from long time fans aren’t ones I feel as strongly about - but for what it’s worth, I picked up multiple copies for friends & family and they’ve all shared in my love for the game. If this gives us a new generation of P3 fans, I think Reload more than did its job. So glad to see you back Lady, I hope you’re well 🙏💜
This is the best Persona 3 FES/Portable/Reload comparison video on TH-cam. It is such a relief to see good sense and thoughtful analysis for this game in comparison to the OG ones. Most TH-cam videos about Reload are named “Lost Identity“ or “Worthless Remake“ with some very questionable takes. Amazing video, thank you
I finished P3FES 3 times past year, it was shocking how great it was even with the flaws, but some problems in it really pissed me off in FES, like nightime being empty after you finish the night social links, S.E.E.S interaction, i like how they interact more in the start of the game but that don't make them more friendly or close, it's something more like just a normal conversation you have with your Barber or something like that, nothing really intimate, and it keeps getting more and more intimate each interaction and i love it. The Nyx arena is something that i need to defend too, in the original it was a continuation error, in the ENTIRE GAME we saw the moon green and green lighting during the dark hour, but in Nyx's bossfight the moon is normal, i don't know if it was because of the budget problems p3 had, but Nyx's arena is just a copy and paste of Vergil's boss arena from DMC3, i enjoyed how they made it different, and that they really improved Nyx's design. In the soundtrack the only music that i prefers in the original is Unavoidable Battle, the rest i really really loved it, now some of the original's OST seens a bit flat after reload, mainly Deep Breath Deep Breath, Master of Shadow, Deep Mentality, Basement, and the tartarus themes, i think the originals are really inferior. And there's Battle Hymn of the soul that i really enjoy the reload version, i enjoy listening to the Guitar more clearly, and the Belladona part really hits harder, mainly cause the instrumental is way louder in the entire music. About the Cutscenes, i agree with that one where the random guy gets turned into a shadow, but the rest i liked, and touching on this cutscene direction stuff that are different in the remake and JOJO's part 3 direction diferences from the Manga and the OVA, the same thing that happens with anime remakes happens with reload, for example look at the HunterxHunter anime remake, the original where way more dark, and some gore was censored in the remake, for some reason remakes of anime tend to end up less darker and edgy, just like happens with reload, same with Jojo's part 3 "remake", same with Samurai X remake, same with the Evangelion rebuild, same with the HunterxHunter remake, and the list keeps going, but all these remakes are really great, they're different, but really really great, but i think the main thing that makes this remakes be more "soft" is that they're thinking of the new generation that will be the majority of people who will consume it, Like HunterxHunter manga and anime was made for teens and kids in the 90's, the anime remake was made for the kids and teens in the 2010's, Undeniably the new generation is much more sensitive to this stuff, you can see this in Reload's more horror movie cutscenes, in the HunterxHunter and Jojo's gore getting censored, but I think it's not a big of a problem, it's just adaptation to the public. I think I yapped too much here lol.
Fair enough! Music in particular usually boils down to personal preference in the end, so if you enjoy the greater emphasis on the guitars, more power to you! Huh, interesting you bring up Evangelion, HxH 1999, and the Rurouni Kenshin OVAs... it's a good point that the color palette of the older era was generally more muted. I wonder if it has to do with the switch from more hand drawn animation long ago to digital animation of modern times... I can't say I agree that there's more censorship on the gore, since there's definitely still quite a bit of it in the Rebuild movies and HxH 2011 (especially PT and Chimera Ant arcs). Can't comment on the brand new Rurouni Kenshin anime adaptation though since I haven't seen it. ...But maybe there is less gore in general and I just don't recall lol. I'm thinking perhaps it has more to do with the brighter/more saturated color palette making the gore appear less noticeable. Regardless, thanks for the thoughtful comment! it's good to yap sometimes, I clearly did that in this 3 hour video haha
@@LadyVirgilia I guess in the Ant's arc there's nothing you can do about the gore since there's a LOT in it, but in the first arcs they where reduced, there's that famous example where in the manga killua is shown holding a guy's heart but in the anime remake he's holding a little bag with some blood stains. I can't believe i got noticed by the goat herself!
I'm grateful to discover the ways in which Reload has reignited your passion for P3 in unique ways I spent much of my experience distraught by the changes, as I was unsure about how they would affect my friend's experience. In retrospect I may have gone too far :o
Hello Virgillia, I loved your phenomenal videos about the history and nuances of Persona 3. The game's iterations and its influence/building blocks from Japanese society or Japan's many eras, and I want to also send some money to hopefully encourage you to make that Jojo-Persona super video someday! Keep up the great work and see you in the next video!
oh my GOD. Thank you so much for your generosity!! I'm so glad all my Persona 3 content resonates & hopefully the eventual Jojo-Persona super video will too haha Thanks so much again for the huge tip and for watching!~
I actually ADORE the line referencing what every major Shadow says in P4 because it finally, and very subtlely, contextualizes what makes their method of having awaken so different from every other. Before it left you questioning just why their Persona's could go "berserk" and attack them. This one line confirms they were once, or perhaps still are, part Shadow. If they still have characteristics of Shadows - since these words are never uttered unless you are forced to confront your Shadow, which is not a prerequisite in lore as seen in other games - perhaps this line is persistently being whispered in their heads due to their Persona's being artificial. It would also make sense given they can be attacked by their Persona's, by themselves essentially, because they never accepted their Shadows. It's just subtle enough to provide candy for speculation, while also be nostalgia bait and perhaps foreshadowing of other remakes as you say. But it's an example of nostalgia done right, exceptional even. It isn't only an Easter egg, it's legitimately a method of lore building around Strega's unique circumstances. It confirms they have been confronted by their Shadows and again given their uniqueness, this is likely a somewhat frequent occurrence.
First, I would like to say, I definitely appreciate the section before last because I feel like that applies to people like me It is nice to feel sort of validated in that. Secondly, I’d like to say when it comes to the links, I don’t know if you’re aware I might’ve missed this in the video but there’s actually three versions of the links in reload with the females, one which is purely platonic because you didn’t trigger any romance flags ,one is the original route and one that is the original route with a platonic ending.
As a drummer (albeit out of practice for many years now; my parents' house had much more space for a drum kit than every place I've lived since), it sounds to me like the difference may simply come down to them using a real human drummer for Reload and just a MIDI drum machine for FES. Those rimshots are extremely fast and while they could have probably figured out a way to replicate the sound with humans (like just recording the rimshots separately and layering them together after, or using a drum machine for only the rimshots), they may have also not had the budget for human musicians AND the extra recording/editing time that would entail. Rimshots require a lot of extra force to get the POP, but the rebound is also much stronger than a normal drum hit (If you've ever seen a drummer launch a stick into air off their snare, they use a rimshot because it will go much higher). But that also means it's nearly impossible to hit many in rapid succession because you're fighting the upward momentum while also trying to slam it down to get that POP. I think they ended up settling on the final product in reload because it's not humanly possible but they still wanted a human drummer for the track. I disagree with the decision (especially when MIDI drum kits exist so they could record with a human and then simply add in the impossible rimshot rolls), but I think that's why. It could also just be that whoever was in charge of percussion just wasn't up to the task (which would also explain battle for everyone's souls as well) and took the simplest route to finishing the song rather than trying to live up to the originals.
As for the rest of the episode I have some thoughts as well: I was an OG Fuuka enjoyer but I agree that she is unequivocally better in Reload. I was a bit unsure of her voice pitch at first, thinking she sounded way too much like Haru, but Suzie Yeung is just fantastic. As for Yukari I do like that they went more for the "Girl Next Door" vibe rather than the "preppy mean girl" vibe for her this time, but I do wish she still had a little bit of the temper she did before. Not to the point of chewing everyone out all the time, but she almost seems... passive in reload and I don't think that's the right characterization for someone who's supposed to be the "cares way more than she lets on" party healer. The change from "stupei" in the monorail is a perfect change. She may call him Stupei in regular conversation when he's being stupid, but when he's in danger, even if it's because he did something stupid, he's still just her friend "Junpei." But like the beach runaway scene I think was perfect in FES. Her rage in that scene is so tangible and understandable and I think it would have fit perfectly in Reload. Getting rid of the "you think you know me?" just softens her character and the scene for the worse. Great video as always! I skipped around a bit to avoid learning too much about parts in reload I haven't gotten to yet, but that was still like 2 hours worth of video 😂.
The programmed drums do matter but the weak audio quality in Reload was clearly done from mixer engineer without much skill. Take the dorm music for example. Both versions use an identical audio sample for the intro drum fill. It sounds way more powerful in FES
I have been working through this video over a few days. I just wanted to take some time to thank you. I was worried as I heard you had a flare and went radio silent on YT/Twitter. I am genuinely glad you got to enjoy reload and make this passion project. Your og P3 Arcana series is when I discovered your channel. It was like randomly finding a kindred spirit who loved P3 like I did. We both wanted this remake to let the new fans experience this fantastic narrative. I am so happy we and they got to experience Reload. Here is hoping that episode Aigis is awesome. I look forward to your analysis. My one gripe? Give me more Burn my Dread.
Wow. Your analysis resonates so well with me, it's like you explained stuff I couldn't put my finger on, *especially* on the music. I could only say that the most iconic end game music lacked an "oomph", and that Memory of the City lacked a kind of lo-fi the OG had that enhanced it so well. Yet like, 90% of the remade tracks I prefer in Reload. It's just that the last 10% are kind of the most important, especially Battle for Everyone's Soul :(
Oof. Talking about the college experience hits me because half of my university experience was done at home. All that time lost, but it caused me and my friends to spend the remaining time to the fullest like the message of the persona 3. You're not alone in this 😭
This is an amazing video essay and thank you so much for putting so much work and thought into it! Also, I would LOVE to see your comparison for jjba and persona 3 (and also 4 and 5 too!) They have a TON in common and it's so fun comparing and contrasting the two.
To answer your question near the two-hour mark, my favourite character in P3R in terms of what Reload added to them is definitely Junpei - and my favourite moments of his is his outburst in December, and the aftermath/reconciliation that follows. I also wholeheartedly echo your sentiment that P3R adds so much dimension to SEES as a group, as a team bound by more than just duty / shared goal.
This is a FANTASTIC video and it 1000% deserves more attention. It covers an area of Reload that is very important but seemingly absent from the recent discourse (since it mostly surrounds the gameplay). It’s crazy how these small changes culminated in me falling in love with the cast of P3 all over again. Your analysis is very insightful as always!
I think Reload's focus on SEES creating memories as well as "memento mori" actually fits the game better. P3 has always had a message of: finding a reason to live, as well as: despite the inevitability of death and grief, you can move forward. Reload makes that more clear, which I like since it fits better with what happens in The Answer and the option to save Chidori. Both of those being previously polarising I think due to the "finding a reason to go on" theme not being clear enough to people.
Commenting before finishing the video because that's just how I roll and you really got the gears in my head turning :> Having only experienced Reload then femc route in Portable, I would have honestly really loved if, rather than lean away from the emphasis on Memento Mori in exchange for the theme of memories, they instead figured out an even balance of both. Personally, I vastly prefer Reload for how its linked episodes and other optional social events add to the entire cast's dynamic. Reload really feels like where the main characters are at their most fleshed out and fully realized because of it, but I also feel that it greatly lacked that sense of looming tragedy that Portable still retained in its beginning and end. I think that darker juxtaposition existing alongside Reload's more wholesome additions in one experience would have really elavated P3's storytelling into the best it could possibly be. One might even call it the truly definitive version 🤔 Edit: Answering your question about Ikutsuki! Honestly, the elephant in the room felt significant enough even in Reload that I was suspicious of him right from the start. I think the only service Reload did to his character by humanizing him more was that it made me think that the reasoning for his eventual betrayal would be a lot more...sound of mind. That being said, it did make the November event feel more disappointing when his intentions turned out to be that simple and quickly glossed over.
I’ll always love the original Persona 3 FES since it was the first one I played, but Persona 3 Reload definitely added onto it and became a masterpiece in its own way.
Fantastic video! ^_^ Your in-depth of the themes, plot elements and characters of P3R was so compelling! Your observations and takes on the characters especially - including how they've changed from P3 FES- gave me a lot of food for thought! As to your mid-vid question, my favorite character in Reload was undoubtedly Fuuka! I didn't pay much attention to her in FES/Portable, but here, I felt very drawn to her i because I could relate to so much of her character's struggles. Like her I have been self-conscious about my interests and have often been so focused on what others do well or better than me that I can ignore or diminish the value of my own strengths. So seeing her growth - both in the story, dorm scenes and her S. Link - into someone who both continues to lift others up while finding value in herself was inspiring to me ^_^ My favorite moment of hers from Reload is probably in her third reading session with the protagonist. Her realization that it's better to communicate what you love about something when recommending a piece of media rather than forewarning a person about all the things they might not like about it genuinely taught me something about sharing my interests with others.
Awesome analysis! I agree with a lot of your takes but i do have a few disagreements regarding Strega 1:35:14 i agree that this dialogue option wasn't necessary but i don't see how asking Jin to come along (and not stay behind to die) undermines their resolve. They're still about to fight Nyx. 1:36:05 in Portable this felt like a generic power of friendship speech but with the added Reload scenes i actually appreciated it more. Takaya especially tries to sever all attachments so at any time he's ready to die at the blink of an eye. This is portrayed positively by Takaya not needing an Evoker but Mitsuru argues that it also limits his power. This can also be taken literally if you contrast Takaya's lack of attachments with MC + social links and SEES second awakenings 1:38:20 Takaya mentioned Jin at the end of FES too. I think their dynamic was always meant to be one-sided (which Reload reinforces with the 10/31 scene) but deep down Takaya probably has some attachment to him 1:39:40 I'd say Junpei is jealous about MC having the wild card, not Takaya. Takaya wants to coexist with SEES and feels that they're showing ingratitude (to the Kirijo group orphans that didn't make it through the experiments) by erasing the Dark Hour and throwing away their power Overall the new scenes made me appreciate Takaya's role a lot more as the MC's foil and false prophet that they were probably going for in FES. And like you said it also emphasized Jin as Strega's emotional glue which also aligns with their og characterization
before i resume with this video (im at 2:40), i have to mention that im easly molded opinion-wise, when im told somethings worse/bad, even if i am enjoying that thing, those words will eat away at me, like im wasting my time with something inferior. im trying to get better with it , but its difficult to not think those things. this holds true for paper mario and ESPECALLY the persona series, specificaly reload. i want to enjoy it, but the internet is telling me not to, directly or indirectly. and i understand reloads flaws, i feel there was a bit of a mistranslation with the subtletey, but i still really like the game, and yet, i feel my time is best spent on the PS2, because the sea of souls compells me to. i will update this as the vid goes on, and when im finished with the video, hopefully, im able to get better durring this. edit: finished the video. if i were to guess why Reload was more obvious, and more modern from a gameplay point, i feel the devs wanted to "do away with the stuff that didnt age well" if i were to guess from what i herd from the interviews, and a lot of that was the gameplay, like non controllable party members getting the shove to the side, and the overall easier difficulty, or the more abstract stuff that would likley leave people who played P5 confused and lost. in fact, thats the main problem with reload and how it got the criticisms that it did. the devs were trying to "Persona-Five" persona 3. like what they did with P4 mechanics in P3P, the problem with that is that P3 is NOT P5, and P5 is NOT P3. there was always going to be artistic mistranslations, it was doomed to fail to live up to the original in the OG players before it even released. god, even if i spent money on a good game, P3 is better played on the PS2. why did i sell the more cohesivley put together P5R for an inferior remake. i just want to enjoy games again without some words marin karining my brain. i only have so long left here, i dont wanna waste it. thats what i tell myself. thats probably the reason why im so tourchured by this thinking style, because i only have so long left, and i want it to be the best it can be, and wasting my time and money with something thats better emulated on the PS2 hurts me. god, youtube and reviews certainly have changed me, better and worse. heh, how ironic that it all came back to the fleeting time i have left here. fitting for this game, really. im about halfway done with the game, 6 more full moon shadows to go. im going to meet the toaster soon. if anything, i wish i can cast patra on myself. before its too late.
I completely get what you feel. When I first discovered reviews, formus and criticism as a kid, it kind of broke me. "You're telling me the thing I liked was ACTUALLY BAD all along??" It was really easy to lose self-esteem over it, feeling "wrong" for liking something others didn't, or for not liking something the internet says is a masterpiece. That's why I usually avoid any online opinions on a game now until after I finish it.
It’s understandable, especially in this day and age of remakes and reboots of different types of media. Best solution I can give is, if you have the chance or means to, play both and form the opinion yourself. I will say, there is always a hint of rose tint when looking back on these types of things. I love FES, but there are definitely things about Reload that I personally prefer, and ultimately I do agree with another TH-camr that posted a review of Reload; Atlus/Sega should make FES itself available for purchase as well to give everyone the option of choosing to play their preferred version of the game. That way some who can only listen to or watch videos about the original games can actually have the opportunity to properly play it and decide for yourself which version they prefer. There is nothing wrong with loving Reload for P3 and I don’t think many of these critique videos are made to make you or anyone else feel like there is. They’re meant to explain the creators own love for the game, the reasons behind it, and their own opinions of the latest release in comparison. And the most important thing is OPINIONS CAN CHANGE OVER TIME. I think (I don’t remember for sure, so sorry if I’m wrong, but I do recall someone saying it) it was BubbleTea in the podcast Lady released before Reload dropped that admitted he originally hated the P3 battle system and grew to love it once he played it more and understood it. That’s hundreds of hours of playtime that he had to do to get there, years of replaying the same game (because of his love of it, don’t get me wrong) that turned what was originally thought of as a negative into a positive now. As people spend more time with the new media, they can find new things to love or hate about it and that’s ok too. If there’s a Persona 3: Re-Reloaded or something like that in 10 years made by someone else, someone that fell in love with Reload and had zero access to OGP3/FES likely be looking at that in comparison to Reload more and critiquing that while using videos like Lady’s here as their point of reference to P3/FES since those versions of the game aren’t easily available. Or barely bringing it up at all because to that person, Reload is their Persona! The one they connected with the best, enjoy playing, look back on fondly, and can understand its flaws while still loving it. It brought them into the series and will likely have them looking forward to the next one.
I understand that! But for me, I would much prefer to actually play a game, to form my own opinion on it, and confirm it, and usually look at reviews from the games I played, to see what they think. Especially if they really explain the strengths and weaknesses, and go in-depth! I love stuff like that.
@@hgmd3284 all good, just trying to provide a different perspective for you to look through for the future. Something to keep in mind in these types of situations. You’re likely not alone in feeling like that, I know sometimes I fall into the same thought process too and have to remind myself of these types of things. Like I love Persona, but I’m a bigger FF nerd and that’s going thru its own Remake conundrum right now. Found myself going thru too many review/lore videos after I finished Rebirth that also had me veering towards the negative on it more than the positive and had to remind myself of similar things 😂😅 Hope it helps for this and future games you find yourself enjoying!
As a first time P3R player, regarding the impactfulness of the music you mentioned I'll agree with you on Burn My Dread Last Battle. When that came up, I didn't really feel anything, especially since it was gone as quickly as it appeared. I did however build a connection with Living With Determination. In fact it's my favourite song in the entire game. I associate it with Akinari's social link, since it plays during almost all of them and his social link is one of my favorites partly because of the weight of the song. Plus I didn't like the original dorm theme all that much, so the living with determination arrangement came as a very nice surprise for me.
God the comparative Persona Jojo analysis would be amazing, I know my brother would be so excited to join me in watching that. Woyld absolutely love to see it
There's so much about this I really enjoyed and felt I wanted to interact with it's hard to know where to begin. Quality stuff! As someone who only fully played through Reload, the "Living With Determination Dorm Arrange" motif going into the last stretch to the final fight really did hit me. Finding it was called "Living With Determination" actually elevated it, because that Dorm Arrangement only plays after you have made the decision to fight against all odds. "Determination" has a really sorrowful feel, and got used so much for character death that I associated it with tragedy and connected it with characters having moments where they could not find their way forward. So when the Dorm Arrange leads with those familiar chords and then suddenly kicks in the percussion that first time, I felt in the music it was expressing everyone's resolve not to let this be the end. I agree with so many of your points, particularly how Reload seems to emphasize accessibility and narrative clarity. I've only read and heard secondhand about FES's more hardcore aspects, and while I definitely see what they accomplish from the ludo-narrative and immersive perspective, I understand they may not seem fun for everyone, so I appreciate there being a version allowing more people to enjoy the story. I was really impressed how thorough you were when it came to the music. The original tracks definitely seem more "raw". I do wonder how much has to do with general modern audio production trends, since I feel I've heard complaints about excessive normalization and less dynamism a lot.
I would absolutely kill for your trails analyses, but discussing recurring elements through the Japanese socioeconomic lens. You have a real knack for demonstrating the evolution of concepts in between games and generations. I was even wondering how anybody can have more to say about this game that hasn't been said already, and you cleared that bar so high
Weird, I thought Ikustuki sounded way more suspicious in reload. His voice just sounded like a Anime Villain though perhaps my previous experience warped my perception.
I feel like the statement of Chihiro being the most reliant on MC in FES being listed as a flaw is strange given, well, that's what she wants to grow out of after she really started making progress getting over her fear of men (her Rank 7 and 8 as well as Sunday dates she says that she wants to solve this herself as it is her problem, to the point where she won't even talk to her mother about it), and ultimately does by her Epilogue. I love tying her acquiring the manga art collection to whether she is romanced or not, as it shows how her mindset is affected by the thought of her being fully rewarded by giving it her all, but outside that the platonic rank 10 is showing similar growth to her Epilogue, just a version focused on giving back to others rather than what she sees as right and wrong. Meanwhile in her Romantic rank 10, her cute clingy side is her allowing herself to be a little selfish and have wants in a relationship, rather than worrying that spending time with her is a burden like in earlier ranks, while still acknowledging that he can't be physically there for her 24/7. I could go on about Chihiro for a very long time, but she absolutely grew out of her dependency by the end of the game all the way back in P3 where romance was mandatory.
I don’t know, I honestly felt like her “growing out of her dependence” was too explicitly tied to the MC in the original P3. She only did it because she was afraid of him (platonically) spending time alone with another girl, and she even says afterward that she’d had that side to her since she was little. I really appreciated the small tweaks in Reload with regard to her link (especially including a platonic route), and I feel like they were sorely needed, otherwise it felt like her clinginess was supposed to be her “selling point” rather than a challenge to overcome.
@@ViVi1159-d1 I mean if she's clingy, then the push she needed WAS something she saw as a threat to her relationship. It's also the only threat that would make sense, considering Mitsuru wouldn't know about the manga collection nor would Mitsuru say that she did it. Chihiro wanted to prove herself innocent, but she was too filled with doubt to dare to try, so she needed an active threat to do it. She doesn't want MC to do it for her since it's her problem and only clung to him for emotional support, in part because of her love and in part because she didn't want to bother anyone else with it, and I wonder if he wasn't there when she was first accused she would have even told him about it considering again she doesn't even tell her own mother.
@@PinClockFuntimeFair, tbh my issue with that link was less the characterization and more…how it was presented? Though it would have been nice to see her learning to interact with boys other than the protag, or for her to care that much about something else. In FES, with both Chihiro and Fuuka, I never quite shook the feeling that their insecurity and reliance on the protagonist was played for a sort of wish-fulfillment even as they were shown overcoming it, and I feel like later games played the “shy/doormat character” in a way that felt less fanservice-y
@@ViVi1159-d1 Chihiro isn't a doormat though, in Reload she's one of two social links that can reverse if you make the wrong decision. She stands up for herself pretty early on if you push her too far. Sure she forgives you no matter what in Reload because of how merciful the game is but is capable of breaking in previous versions like any other link.
@@PinClockFuntimeI mean FES Chihiro, to be clear. I found her a lot more likable in Reload because it didn’t feel as much like her world revolved around the protagonist from start to finish. It actually mentioned where her fear of men came from, and if I recall correctly went into at least a little more detail about her starting to comfortably interact more with people besides the MC. Those little details made her a lot more three-dimensional.
Great video, I very much enjoyed it! I just wanted to comment, as a very musically illiterate person, the entire section on the differences of the songs between FES and Reload went way over my head. There were times when you played the two versions back to back, and I had to listen to it several times to even notice a difference between them. Skill issue on my behalf, not your fault. I just wanted to say that when I did notice a difference, I actually preferred the Reload versions for the most part! Everyone enjoys things differently, I guess!
Reload was my first Persona 3 experience. I did definitely think he could see was a bit suspicious at first, but later I changed my mind thinking he was totally harmless. I have to assume that's what they were going for.
Thank you for making this. I've seen a Lot of breakdowns of Reload's changes discussing how it can't serve as a definitive version for all the conflicting changes compared to much more meaningful beats from the original down to single lines of dialogue -- which I still believe is true corroborating with your statement at the start -- but your highlighting of all the subtleties in the changes that Reload makes so additively and upliftingly were refreshing to see presented in such a balanced way alongside the more questionable choices. I walked away from this feeling a lot more positive and accepting of the game I still enjoyed a lot rather than conflicted over the details (though I have been using mods to correct some of the most unfortunate losses lol). Makes me want to play FES again with a goal of fine comparison rather than spurred by frustration.
I think the look into the old SEES trio was ABSOLUTELY necessary. I felt in FES/Portable there was only just not enough there to warrant an emotional response for his death. Reload however, actually shows us way more of Shinji/Aki/Mitsuru being friends as opposed to only showing a bond with Aki and the player having to headcanon the rest.
1:50:00 my favorite little detail on that fight was that your theurgies never charge since nobody really wants to fight her 2:13:40 I see how it would maybe hit less than it did in FES, but as someone who's first experience was reload, it did definitely hit. Even if living with determination didn't play in social links, it still played during some of the most impactful moments of the game. great video !!
37:39 in the Ikutsuki section with new to P3 via Reload and their impressions. I thought he was gonna be a traitor UNTIL the last month or two. I actually thought he was a Shadow since no mention of a Persona was mentioned, and he seemed so familiar with everything (due to prior work ofc and not BEING a shadow) The intro made me know there was a twist but I thought it was just “he’s in the shadows so he’s not a human” and wasn’t sure if he’d be helpful or not to the party. Hearing his OLD voice and the direction though I’d 100% think he was evil
As someone who had P3R as their first real experience with not just P3 but Persona in general, I’m really happy to see such an excellent video going into detail on the changes (and one that isn’t entirely negative). Great job! Honestly, I was disappointed even in Reload by Strega being imo underdeveloped/underutilized, which seems to be a common take. Their handling felt sort of bizarre to me in a way I can’t articulate very well. I guess we agree on them being unconventional but have different feelings about that. Personally I think if reload hadn’t hinted at their backstory throughout and just dumped it all on us at the end right before they die I would’ve been frustrated… And to my understanding Protag is the “true messiah” as opposed to Takaya being the “false messiah/antichrist” so them having more one-on-one scenes makes some sense. I experienced the game through a let’s-play over the course of like 4 months and the let’s-player acknowledged that certain scenes with Takaya were new additions so I went in pretty early on with the understanding that Strega hadn’t gotten that much screentime in the original, but I wonder if I would’ve been even more disappointed by them in the original without the additional scenes or if I would’ve accepted them as more intentionally mysterious than lacking (“less is more” with strega, as you said). Probably the former though, I think part of my disappointment was that I just got too attached to them and their jarring aesthetics… When I talk about them being underdeveloped I moreso mean Jin and Takaya than Chidori, though I still would’ve loved to see more of her. I really think that if revived she should’ve briefly appeared during the cutscene with all the non-party members reacting to Nyx and there should’ve been some sort of update on her during the segment at the end following up on all your completed social links, so it would feel like she actually came back to life outside of that one scene. Also, weird note about Takaya’s changed final line wishing for Jin to be there - that actually made me confused as to whether or not he died? Maybe it’s just that I wasn’t paying enough attention but since he calls attention to Jin not living to see the end rather than himself not living to see the end as he apparently says in the original, I wasn’t sure if he was dying. I mean, he managed to crawl up there, and I found it strange they would just have him succumb to his wounds after SEES explicitly left him alive even mentioning that he should live to see his goal fail and he just… didn’t. So I was wondering during the epilogue “it’d be weird if he didn’t die, but I don’t feel like we really saw him die, so…?” Sorry, really scatterbrained comment. Loved the video, you got a sub, excited to go back and watch your other stuff! (Also, I did not suspect Ikutsuki and found him funny but didn’t find his betrayal too impactful either. He died too quickly I think. His irrelevance pre-betrayal didn’t stick out too much to me because I also felt Fuuka wasn’t very relevant to the main story after her introduction)
I feel like a lot of the characterization that’s only implied in FES, as well as more mundane scenes with SEES interacting as normal humans, were made more explicit in the drama CDs, which is a shame for those of us who don’t live in Japan and aren’t nerdy enough to go look them up. Ryoji in particular really benefited from that extra characterization, which was very in line with his P3P Social Link.
2:20:34 While I agree with a lot of points so far in the video, i genuinely think the difference you’re hearing in the velvet room theme is just the result of this games audio being uncompressed and re-recorded with better/higher bitrate equipment. The old audio sounds fuller because it was so compressed. So much detail would get squeezed out of audio to fit onto a ps2 disc that mixes were often crushed down so a lot of detail of loudness and softness gets lost. Meanwhile the new version is allowed to be much more detailed like the P5 velvet room track and they took advantage of that. Same thing with the rest of the songs sounding cleaner. There’s better equipment going into a now AAA game and not a then reinvention of a spinoff. Source: I make music.
Note on ikutsuki, I was really honestly still reeling from aragaki's death to really think about it. In July I started to agree with yukari's questions about the kirijo group. And didn't trust mitsuru and her father....and then Mr kirijo died for these kids....think about that for a minute..wow a wealthy businessman who's stake is to fix the mistakes of the past he didn't HAVE to throw himself into danger there...but he did it for everyone I was SHOOK.
1:04:32 I feel the fact that shes more kinder in reload is the fact that, like you said, the Japanese direction for her VA was way more sweet and less brash. I’ve also heard that reload is more in-line with the original script, and her more rash moments were part of the U.S translation. Also I LOVE that you mentioned the dynamic between Junpei, Yukari and P3mc in reload. It really does give them the vibe of being great friends and low key makes them probably my favorite OG 3 out of modern trilogy.
For me, when January hit and the dorm got the new living with determination song, it gave me chills. Like just as you said it, it was a real emotional gut punch for me, and by the way this was my first time playing P3 Man I just really loved this game, honestly
I think you're the only one I've seen so far where you can describe why the music so lacking in such detail that most people complaining about it can't do. I really wanna see you deep dive on the persona soundtracks ngl, it's more interesting to hear from people like you that actually has more experience with playing music.
P3R might be my favorite Turn Based RPG imo. I love how this game is abke to take the original game while still doing it's own thing. Also this game made me bawl so hard by the end. God I love Reload sm
37:45 dont know if its mentioned later on as ive paused the video real quick but i noticed how shuji looked in the mc's awakening and i thought that was a subtle hint of his plans as he probably recognized thanatos a tiny bit as i know its different from the version in the 90s but is still similar
I played Persona 3 Dancing and P4AU in Japanese, Yukari has always been softie. I think the original English P3FES Yukari was just a localisation mistake that made her a bit assertive, that seems to have fixed with the English P3R but some devoted fans think it's ATLUS selling out but that was never meant to be her character.
Junpei is my favorite character of 2024 I really hope he gets best supporting character of the year or best voice acting of the year I. E. Zeno Robinson he really deserves it
I know Persona 3 Reload changed some aspects of the original but never expected it to be this much! I liked most changes not all of them of course but overall they still kept the original vision and story telling structure of P3FES. Like you I am also very interested to see if they will keep the answer (Episode Aigis) 1 to 1 the same or change it for the Remake.
I’d have to say on the topic of ikutsuki that I was suspicious of him at first but as the game went on, I kinda forgot about it because he didn’t do a whole lot, until the characters mentioned he was missing after the final shadow and I was like ‘oh yeah so he is evil lol’. Just my perspective of that whole twist. For a lil while I thought Takaya and ikutsuki were the same person but that didn’t last haha.
Little question: is the person who makes the PT-BR subtitles for the video a real person or just an AI? She's a little buggy. Ps: Google translate here. love your videos
What i loved about reload, is how they make Makoto have more personality than in FES In FES, whenever a dialogue box that explain mc condition or what did mc do appeared, it always starts with "You", which makes it more passive But in reload, it starts with "I", which... Idk how to explain it because my vocabulary is still limited, but that makes Makoto actually have self conscious..? ( Gahhh, i'm frustrated because of my limited vocabulary 😔 ) I know this is very minor things, but i really can't ignore it and really glad that Atlus rewrite it Even though this game may not be the "Definitive" version of Persona 3 in terms of gameplay and content ( for some people ), but i'd say that this is the definitive version to play Persona 3 as Makoto And for atmosphere, i actually like the colorful theme, because that makes the sudden atmoshpere change to more bleek and eerie hit more harder Some might say that the new atmosphere in Reload January is too bleek and eerie, but that's the point I think that's all i wanted to add, just a minor things that i liked about Reload ( Is that a bad take? Let me know if my broken English makes some of my line confusing or doesn't make any sense )
I'm gonna be honest, I've played P3 FES and P3P so many times, so I know this story inside and out. Despite that, I cried way harder than I ever have when Shinji, Mitsuru's dad, and Chidori died in P3R. I didn't even cry that much when I first played FES and everything was still fresh to me. I personally think this is a testament to how well P3R executes it's story telling
Okay I haven't complete persona reload, so here my thought so far. I will said persona 3 orginal did take advantage of ps2 limitations and some case actually help with persona 3 atmosphere. My only problem with persona reload is the lighting. Seriously I joke I sometimes need sunglasses for daytime and even parts of the dark hour. However they did give Tartarus a huge glow up. Seriously I actually kinda like the orignal Tartarus, however reload make Tartarus even better. For the new voice actors. So far they have done a good job. Some show practically the same like persona 3 hero, mitsuru, and at times junpei. Ken and fukka have munch better voice actors. While i do like micheal ruff take on yurkai, however i do like new version as well. The only one that I'm kinda iffy is Akihiko and Aigis and shinjiro. Akihiko should a little too old, however he did a excellent job with the ocobtor scence and the serious scenes. Aigis sound a little too orgnaic before her awakening, but i guess it to relfect how ai voices are getting better, but still. Shinjiro voice I like , but he weirdly has these time where has this lisp and once you notice it can be distracting. I do like lime how the social links are fully voice acted, it did help make persona 3 social links more memorable and likeable. Also the link episode they are a diet social link, they were nice addition to characters that the male couldn't social link. Gameplay wise, it munch better. I would have like how knocked down emenies work in the oringal where they lose a turn to get back up. However it made up woth directly controlling your party members. Reload music is somewhat hit or miss, but mostly a hit. The new tracks are great, especially color your night. Even some of the remix songs like "deep breathe" and "changing seasons". However some like "master of tartus" and "unadvioable battle" kinda loss their punch. However the really miss is the remix is "burn my dread" and "mass destruction". Seriously what the hell did they do to them? However I do like the extra scence of SEES for reload. It makes me like SEES more and they definitely my favorite group of persona series.
If i could put my stuff for Ikutsuki, I spoiled myself on his betrayal so I never got any feeling that he was cool or obviously the twist villian when playing p3p. This video is pretty good btw. Love how it respects both the original and the remake equally and talks about what reload did better or worse.
I usually like to wait to hear music tracks in the game first before seeking out the soundtrack, but I'm glad I gave into the temptation to listen to Reload's "Battle for Everyone's Souls" since it's so diminished from the original! I agree with everything you said about the drum track. The loss of the driving synth during the transition to the Velvet Room theme is what was most disappointing to me. I still haven't finished the game, but when I get to the final boss, I'm so tempted to turn the music off and pull up a loop of the original on youtube.
I've seen a bunch of streamers play P3 for the first time with Reload and many of them are actually really moved by the January music shift. I definitely agree though that the rock tracks were too clean in Reload 😢 I love your final point about P3's imperfections though. To me, P3 feels like the first draft of a talented author who wrote while they were drunk and just had a bad break up. Oozing with personality and emotion, even if it's filled with a lot of technical flaws. And even then, there's something beautiful about those flaws too. P3 IMO is the perfect example of being a perfect game that isn't exactly flawless. Things can be more than the sum of their parts.
Idk if I’m alone on this, but I’d be so down for a JJBA/Persona cross analysis. I’ve been a Jojo’s fan for a while and I’ve been recently getting into Persona, and both series have a lot of fascinating similarities besides stands/Persona comparisons, that I’d like to see covered.
This was recorded and edited over the course of ~3 months, so please forgive some shifts in audio at certain points. The most notable being from ~2 hours 11 minute to 2 hr 16 minute mark (it just had to be for the music section lol rip)... also thanks for your patience with some sections seemingly containing "less energy," this is due to my health struggles all year. You can bet every. single. section. in this video was a passion project.
**LINK TO ALL THE MUSIC/OSTS I USED IN THIS VIDEO CAN BE FOUND IN VID DESCRIPTION!**
Regarding the focus section on Unavoidable Battle, I actually think there still is rim shot technique, it just seems that it's not always played on snare drum but tenor/tom drums (?), that's what it sounds like to me, but if you're a drummer or in percussion section, please feel free to correct & explain!
Headphones recommended for the music breakdown section in particular btw!
Also lol I kept referring to party member overworld optional dialogue & NPC dialogue as the same thing whoops lol. You get what I mean though haha (technically the dorm dialogue isn't from "NPCs," but extra/optional lines adding to worldbuilding)
Huge thanks to my patrons & channel members in particular for supporting & sticking with me as I went ~4 months without a video!~ Thanks everyone for your patience in general and I hope this video is worth the wait
🌟PATREON: www.patreon.com/LadyVirgilia
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🐤TWITTER: @VirgiliaLady twitter.com/VirgiliaLady
They removed Margaret apparition.. It kinda removed the link between game and the fact that she tell p4 member that elizabeth try to save p3 protag like if she know him due to her fight with all the team kinda saddened me...
@@BabelEnkidu Nope, she knows the P3 protag cause Elizabeth tells her about it in P4 Arena, and you can listen to the same in P4 where she repeats it to the investigation team once you defeat her, the Portable optional boss battle was not the only connection.
@@maquinlol9673 yeah but it removed smt still. Like she encounter the p3 cast but in reload nope. It is a bit lacky
@@BabelEnkidu Can you explain? I don't understand what you mean.
@@maquinlol9673 well portable added interaction between Margaret and p3 team. So they knew her smh. But in reload there is no apparition of her, i know fes neither made her appear but that was bc that was before p4,in portable that was after so why not ? Bit reload made her not appear. However i put fes more canonic than portable before reload release so yeah... No Margaret. Still it is a bit lacky.
Might sound odd, but my favorite part of Reload was Junpei's new VA. Zeno did such an amazing job with the emotional scenes, literally everytime I cried was mostly Junpei's scenes.
And not to mention Akihiko's VA, the fucking scene of him mourning Shinji broke me
Zeno Robinson encapsulates Junpei’s character perfectly.
Never forget the Trismegistus Evolution scene.
Jin: Medea?!
Junpei: (aims Persona at Takaya) BURN IN HELL!!!!
I just witnessed the scene, Zeno did that scene justice
Loved these VAs and what they brought to the table in Reload!
Zeno Robinson absolutely blew me away, and this is from someone who liked Junpei's original performance. The cast replacement was worth it for him ALONE. But Fuuka and Mitsuru were also a lot better. I'm still slightly iffy on Akihiko, but he did do the Shinji scenes really well.
I really liked Reload in most regards, but I think the biggest narrative improvement to me was the addition of full voice acting for social links. A lot of P3's social links kinda struggled with keeping people interested in the original because they tend to be more of a slow burn than in the later games, and that led a lot of players to tune some of them out, especially when a handful are intentionally unpersonable at first. Having the voice acting goes a long way in making you slow down and invest in them and I've seen a lot more appreciation for them since Reload came out. Nozomi especially benefits from this because the fact that he does actually think of you as a friend comes through *way* more with VA than through text alone.
Totally agree. Voice acting also made me like Yuko a LOT more than I used to, too. I hope this is standard for future Persona games.
I agree! Having every single rank fully voiced added so much to the characters~
The VA performance in Nozomi's final rank was so well done. It's always been a very devastating yet cathartic reveal, but voice acted now...? Even better ...though I feel like an outlier given most people don't like the character. But his rank 10 has to be one of my favorite stand alone "rank-ups" now and it's because of what Paul Castro Jr. added
@@LadyVirgilia I really like Nozomi's Rank 10. The problem I, and my stream chat when I play it, have is I think it should've been Rank 6. It's one of the few good rank ups he has and you have to sit through so much bad to get to it.
And I'm someone who doesn't mind Kenji's link. I normally like flawed social links, Nozomi just takes too long to develop.
It’s great hearing an analysis of Persona 3 Reload that compares it to older versions, without cynical talk about how Persona 3 lost its identity.
me when someone says anything other than the mainstream opinion of praising the new remake 😱
Me when someone disagrees with a content creator's opinion@@alpha_c.
Hey, I’m one of the artists and audio engineers who worked on the Kotone Cutscenes Project, and I just wanted to say thank you so much for the small shout-out! Funny enough, I had this video playing in the back while I was working on some clean-up animation.
That last bit about how COVID-19 affected High School and College for the younger generation, really hit close to home. My generation entered High School right before the pandemic hit. So, while we did get to kinda experience what normal High School life was like, everyone kinda took it for granted since nobody could predict what would happen next year.
Thankfully, we did go back to school in September 2020, but it was extremely restrictive, as one would expect - one-half of the students only being there for half of the day and the others a full day, with it being rotated for both sides every day. Thankfully, it did start to revert to normal around 12th Grade with events, prom (albeit a bit different), and even a normal graduation. There are still a lot of missed opportunities we couldn’t experience in-between our first and final years. Such as the new friendships we might've made, after-school clubs, theatre plays, or the trips the seniors and freshmen got to go on. Our Japanese class was supposed to have a student exchange, which my best friend was looking forward to before it got canceled.
This is why Persona 3 connected with me when I first played it last year. It gave me a glimpse into what a normal High School life was like pre-COVID, or what it could’ve possibly been like to visit our sister school. And this video helped me appreciate the added hangouts and study sessions in Reload. So thank you for that:)
By the way sorry if this was worded awkwardly or the punctuation was off. Dyslexia sucks lol
Thank you so much for your dedication to making cutscenes for Kotone a thing! (FemC so deserves it!)
They look and sound fantastic so far and I'm so excited to see the final thing up & running! Best of luck with the rest~
I'm also so sorry to hear you & all your friends/peers had to experience high school life at such a crazy time in the world. I appreciate you going into detail about it as I love hearing perspectives I don't always get opportunities to hear personal accounts of. It reminds me of the great times in high school I was privileged to have pre-covid, and I only hope better times and opportunities are ahead for you all now!
Love that a video game like Persona 3 could resonate you because of all that though!
And no worries, everything was written out so clearly honestly! Thanks again for the really thoughtful comment & good luck again with Kotone project!~~
On the note of Aigis adopting human turns of phrase, it actually was present in the original, but only really in her battle dialogue changing after 12/31 when she awakens to Palladion. Off of the top of my head, there's "Let us commence with an All-Out Attack." -> "Let us strike while the iron's hot." and "Locking on." -> "Hasta la vista!" It was a nice call implementing that into the rest of the writing, it was always a fun touch. (I do wish they kept the more robotic delivery though since I feel like only having the dialogue changes is a lot less distinct and I doubt anyone would have a hard time buying that a robot made in 1998 would sound like that.)
I think the change of way Aigis talking before January might because it's more relatable to newer audiences?
Idk for you but I find Aigis pre-January still sounds robotic/emotionless but in sense more like Google Assistant,/Alexa,/Siri
Okay everyone, let´s say it:
I´VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS.
I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! LET'S GET IN THERE!
Didja see that Shinji?
We can’t slow down now!
*_I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!_*
As someone who completed FES's main campaign and later on jumped into Reload? It was a HUGE breath of fresh air.
Better use of controlling your party members, new stakes were involved, and I was able to max out nearly all the social links (Think I was missing 2 or 3)
To me, Reload felt more... accessible.
Don't get me wrong, FES did amazing things too, but to me I honestly am preferring Reload since it's much easier for me to be streamlined into the story and actually fight in combat!
I just hope Reload's version of The Answer is more merciful.
Agree!!! But I didnt play FES, and probably won't ever.
@@Hyp3rSonicwhy won't you?
@@KonEl17I have no reason too. I already watched a ton of FES reviews, and the gameplay isn't perfect. Also, FES is a long game to beat compared to Portable and reload, so that threw me off. Also, FES has a lot more BS moments(for the gameplay and sometimes the social stim), so I still won't ever play it. But I had fun playing Portable and Reload, probably because they had direct controls, and less BS moments than FES. Also, Portable and Reload just made a lot of quality of life stuff, and the game isn't super long, unlike FES 💀. And no, im not saying that FES is flawed, just more flawed than Portable and Reload(Imo). And yes, I prefer Reload overall, and nobody will change my mind. Anyways, it's the same reason why p4g is my least favorite persona game.
@@Hyp3rSonic why is p4g your least favorite? I don't wanna ask to many questions but nmi have so many now lol
@@KonEl17I don't really like the gameplay, compared to every other persona game I played. Also, I find half of the OG dungeons to be trash to mediocre. It's funny, since I love basically everything else. Usually, I would love the gameplay more than anything else in a persona game(which is true for every other one I played, imo) For me, gameplay is the most important thing in a video game. Everything else can help enhance my experience, but the gameplay has to be good and fun imo. And while p4gs is good and fun enough, since physical is extremely strong(like in p3r, which I als have a problem with, but there, I was having fun all the way in Tartarus) but in p4g, those mentioned dungeons are just not the best, imo. Also, the investigations sections are just bad, imo. But p4g is still a great game! It's just that it's very flawed, imo.
I'm really glad how you tackled Akihiko's characterization in Reload because I honestly cannot understand for the life of me how some people call Reload!Akihiko "the worst take on the character" or how "Reload ruined Akihiko" for them.
They either boil it down to voice actor change or... **sigh** the protein mentions. Which, from what I've heard, they were more prominent in the Japanese version of the og P3 but were trimmed down in the localization. I'm serious, people treat the word "protein" as if it was present in 95% of his script in Reload when it's only about 5%!
I swear, that scene out of context from P4A (you know the one) that people keep circulating around... despite that being an illusory Akihiko and not the real one since the real Akihiko doesn't say anything of the sort himself, ruined everyone's perception of him in the mainline P3 storyline.
Imo, the true botched version of Akihiko is the one from the PQ games, where he's not only flanderized but *infantilized.*
Seriously I saw more "getting more stronger" than him talking about protein.
@@starmaker75
It made more sense to me when Akihiko was a power junkie than his P4 Arena nickname would have us believe.
As much as I try to understand those people, I feel like I really can’t sometimes. Like after I finished p4a and p4au, I genuinely wondered if I was on something, because I felt his character progression made sense? Especially when you consider he’s apart of the shadow ops, like no shit he’s gonna train his ass off to get stronger, it’s to protect everyone. It ain’t like he’s still doing it to run from his responsibilities or to ignore what’s important lol
@@shinji2898 it's mostly because people found very jarring he'd go against wild bears for training and his overall character design, which is part of the course given how wacky characters are treated oftentimes in fighting games.
@@MaxusFox23 I feel that didn’t bother me because I could buy into it, especially since even with some of that goofiness, he’s still Aki through and through. Especially because, once again, I imagine him being apart of an entire operation like that is why he locked in the only way I could imagine him doing lol
The thing I love on Remakes is that I think they give the unique opportunity to experience a beloved game for the first time again rather than it being the same nostalgic thing but prettier like remasters. So I'm pretty open to changes myself.
You said that original P3 is impressionistic, but I think you mean Expressionistic, not impressionism. Expressionism (and more so it's sub Art movements) is to do with more abstract stuff, while impressionism is more about snapshotting a "moment" and the feeling of that moment, usually focusing on lighting and nature. Sorry, I have to use BA somewhere.
thanks for the correction! I admittedly don't know much about traditional art, so I appreciate comments like these!
yes, gotta share your knowledge somewhere ^^
@@LadyVirgilia It's all good. Great vid, by the by. Interesting insights. P3 is not my fav, but I can definitely appreciate it
As others have said elsewhere, along with "making memories", Reload is no longer just about "Memento Mori", but also "Memento Vivere", or "remember you must live", which is definitely a good sentiment after the age of the big C-virus.
On the gameplay differences between FES and Reload, particularly the Nyx fight, i've heard about how the party member RNG and Nyx having two actions per turn in FES made it too long, unfair, and unenjoyable, while the party control, Theurgies, amd Nyx only having one action per turn in Reload made it too easy, like some have said about P5 Royal...
And it's been years since i've studied music theory, so i never would have noticed the subtle changes between the rearranged music tracks if they hadn't been shown one after the other.
Firstly, I completely agree with your thoughts on "art". I always viewed this game like another performance of a play or piece of music. Every group will put is own spin on things, and that's okay.
Totally agree on Fuuka. She's one of my most improved characters in Reload, mainly due to her voice acting but also her expanded dialogue and scenes. I also feel Natsuki's news VA does a great job showing her remorse at how far her bulling went, when most og P3 fans never liked her.
It's interesting that, playing later games first, Ikutsuki is a rare example of an "older male guardian" who betrays you. And I also get the point about OG Ikutsuki feeling irrelevant enough to be suspicious. In badly-written murder mysteries, it's often easier to narrow down the culprit to "the only character who has no other reason to exist in the story." Unfortunately, the first time I played FES, I'd been spoiled on Ikutsuki being a traitor.
Your section on Akihiko was really, really interesting and it's made me want to give Alejandro Saab's performance more scrutiny. I get the added focus on his "fatherly" aspects in this version.
I agree on Strega, and I think we have a similar hot take. OG Takaya I actually like more than Adachi as far as human antagonists go. A lot of modern media seems to have this idea that villains need to be more sympathetic and likable, and often emphasizes the "if things were different, we could have been friends" thing but... that doesn't always work. Sometimes you NEED an opposing group that just fundamentally will NEVER understand "the power of friendship". Part of why Takaya works is he's the anti-protag: everything he does wrong, the protag does right.
I'll have to look more into the music angle, but I do agree the overworld themes are stronger than the battle ones.
Also the Jojos insight is really interesting. I heard Jojo Part 4 compared to Persona 4 a lot, but didn't realize there'd be a P3 comparison.
As always, thanks for the effort for this MASSIVE video, it was worth the wait.
Fukka got the most glow up, even more than ken. She improved in both voice acting, writing and gameplay. Fukka's new voice actor does the raspy and quiet voice better. Fukka also feels more there in reload. Also stuff like oracle/revelation is really good to point of broken. Seriously all party heat riser and charge ups are powerful. While it can be annoying when it doesn't do the heat riser or charging up, it is still going to be useful.
Every Persona game can be compared to the corresponding Jojo part.
To further explore Akihiko's differences between FES and Reload, I'd like to talk about something not many point out: Akihiko's fighting style.
FES:
- Idle animation is the Southpaw boxing stance (right fist and foot up front), fist positioned for close/middle range fight.
- Critical consists of 2 quick right straights, middle left hook, left uppercut and middle left hook.
- Running animation features no guard.
Reload:
- Idle animation is the Hitman boxing stance (crossed arms with front fist in an L position), special for long range fighting.
- Critical consists of 2 quick right flicker jabs, left straight, left uppercut and left straight.
- Running animation features a peek-a-boo style guard (ideal for close range, in-fighting style).
So, we could say FES!Akihiko's fighting style is aggresive and ready for a close/middle range clash, while Reload!Akihiko's feels more calculated by keeping the opponent at middle/long range. The former plays into charging in without measuring the risk ("Let's f*cking go!"), while the latter plays more into creating an opportunity to strike at the risk of leaving yourself wide open ("Come at me, bro").
It's fascinating to me how much those little things give off a completely different demeanor between versions.
One thing i really enjoy about your videos is that you're able to share a nuanced take along with have empathy for various view points. I also really enjoy you sharing your personal experiences in perspective to the various themes of games! As someone who also has their own chronic illness and who lives with others who have their own chronic illnesses its really inspiring seeing someone be able to share their experiences along with their passions.
To answer your question, as someone whose first P3 experience is reload, I strongly found Ikutsuki sus right away. But I am an older school gamer, so a meek, long-haired guy with glasses from a mid 00s JRPG instantly put up so many red flags.
The other thing that was a massive red flag was how similar he looked to Takaya in appearnace. I had a suspicion that they might have even been the same person who just shifts into different forms/personalities.
Basically, the only thing Ikutsuki had going for him was that I was mindful that his presence could have just been a red herring. But I was not shocked in the slightest when he was the primary antagonist.
I gotta say you're one of, if not, the only few fans that truly went to extensive lengths as to explain why you don't like some of Reload's ost arrangements.
Because to me, saying things like "it's not the same", "doesn't fit" or "it got destroyed" is... *basically saying nothing.*
So thank you for actually *elaborating* on it by using comparison with applied musical theory, composition and instrumentation. Now I can finally see where the criticisms come from without getting a meaningless "IT SUCKS ASS" thrown into my face.
My only problem with the og soundtrack in general was some pretty jarring volume mixing issues to the point of noise saturation in the more rock-centric pieces, but I can respect the original composition for what it is.
It helps to have a background in music, but I fully agree that explaining WHY you don't like the new arrangements is important.
One thing I have not seen anyone do that you briefly touch upon is how the individual bonding moments between party members and the MC recontextualize everything introduced in The Answer, for the considerably better imo. One of that scenario's biggest issues was how seemingly devastated they all were over the MC's death to the point of barely being able to function. While this is hardly something that can't happen irl, narratively speaking it felt very forced and unnatural. I could not buy them being that distraught, especially Akihiko and Mitsuru, compared to Kenji's death. It made The Answer start off on a very awkward foot that I wasn't able to get passed in order to complete it (the insane difficulty didn't help either).
Reload makes me appreciate the beginning of The Answer so much more. These additions almost feel like they were made specifically with The Answer in mind, even. It's yet to be determined how, if at all, they change that scenario with Episode Aigis but I suspect it will be with the Reload additions in mind as you say. I hope it isn't changed TOO much because, as I've said, the Reload additions do enough on their own to make the original telling of The Answer feel genuine. I even buy more into Yukari's decision near the end and Mitsuru coming to her defense. The Answer just WORKS now with the added context from Reload without needing much in the way of overtly addressing its initial issues.
Here's to hoping they don't panic too hard about the Answer's reception back in the day and try to make it way too overtly referential to Reload specifically or try to spell everything out that's easily inferred like they do on occasion in Reload itself.
Also the greenness of the Dark Hour in Reload really should be a meme. Idk what happened there even if there was a very subtle green tint to the original depiction. It just comes across very unintentionally comical as opposed to the dread the original made you feel.
To just talk about your point about the party members not having Social Links, I agree that it's not necessarily a bad thing. My problem lies in that you can only Social Link with the female party members, which makes them feel uniquely close to Hero in a way that the male party members don't. Which, like most questionable desicions in the original P3, is intentional. You're only really supposed to do one of the girl's Social Link because starting her Link means that you're trying to date her, and dating her means that she's an important character. Which then creates the problem of doing every Social Link makes ever girl the heroine. Which is shown with things like how the narration refers to people(in japanese/Reload): all the girls are referred to by their first name, but the only guys to are Junpei(the first thing he says is that Hero can call him Junpei) and Ryoji(who has a unique connection to Hero in the main story like Aigis and a Social Link as Pharos). And so, things like the movies which do none of the Social Links make every member of SEES equal in terms of their relationship with Hero, shown by Makoto calling the girls by their last names. Of course, this excludes Aigis. In the original P3, she doesn't have a Social Link: instead, she has a relationship with Hero in the main story. And then FES gave the only character who didn't need a Social Link a Social Link. Which just proves my previous point that the girls have Links just so they can be romanced.
I think my feelings for Reload can be summarised with while it may deviate fron the original intention that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it's mostly a good thing.
For your point about Burn My Dread -Last Battle-, that's another thing FES changed. Burn My Dread only plays in that if you stay on the title screen - the first opening is P3F, which does have part of Burn My Dread in, but the verse - not the bit that plays in Last Battle. But, if you're counting that, then you have to count Full Moon Full Life having the Burn My Dread leitmotif that actually does play in Last Battle. Plus, the lyrics. I can't say how I felt playing the final boss and just catching 'it's more like a gift that I don't deserve, so I gotta give it back to you by all means'.
Reload also gives the Memories of You leitmotif a lot more. In the original, it only played before January in Joy(which does play a lot to be fair) and the start of P3FES. However, in Reload, it also plays in the new Living With Determination version(which does play regular Living With Determination after the Memories of You bit), but also Color Your Night.
Yeah even with the linked eps it just isn’t the same
Is this video nearly 3hrs long? Yes.
Am I gonna see it all the way through? ABSOLUTELY.
I only got around to playing Persona 3 a few months before the launch of 5,and despite some of the mechanics feeling a little dated by that point - the story and characters stunned me. I adore this cast, and I definitely felt a little bit of apprehension going into Reload. But after 100+ hours an ugly crying through the credits I think it may very well be my favourite JRPG of all time. The voice cast for everyone was flawless, the QOL changes made it so fun to play, and it’s personally one of the easiest GOTY decisions I’ve ever made. Maybe because I got to P3 quite late some of the critique from long time fans aren’t ones I feel as strongly about - but for what it’s worth, I picked up multiple copies for friends & family and they’ve all shared in my love for the game. If this gives us a new generation of P3 fans, I think Reload more than did its job. So glad to see you back Lady, I hope you’re well 🙏💜
This is the best Persona 3 FES/Portable/Reload comparison video on TH-cam. It is such a relief to see good sense and thoughtful analysis for this game in comparison to the OG ones. Most TH-cam videos about Reload are named “Lost Identity“ or “Worthless Remake“ with some very questionable takes.
Amazing video, thank you
I finished P3FES 3 times past year, it was shocking how great it was even with the flaws, but some problems in it really pissed me off in FES, like nightime being empty after you finish the night social links, S.E.E.S interaction, i like how they interact more in the start of the game but that don't make them more friendly or close, it's something more like just a normal conversation you have with your Barber or something like that, nothing really intimate, and it keeps getting more and more intimate each interaction and i love it. The Nyx arena is something that i need to defend too, in the original it was a continuation error, in the ENTIRE GAME we saw the moon green and green lighting during the dark hour, but in Nyx's bossfight the moon is normal, i don't know if it was because of the budget problems p3 had, but Nyx's arena is just a copy and paste of Vergil's boss arena from DMC3, i enjoyed how they made it different, and that they really improved Nyx's design. In the soundtrack the only music that i prefers in the original is Unavoidable Battle, the rest i really really loved it, now some of the original's OST seens a bit flat after reload, mainly Deep Breath Deep Breath, Master of Shadow, Deep Mentality, Basement, and the tartarus themes, i think the originals are really inferior. And there's Battle Hymn of the soul that i really enjoy the reload version, i enjoy listening to the Guitar more clearly, and the Belladona part really hits harder, mainly cause the instrumental is way louder in the entire music. About the Cutscenes, i agree with that one where the random guy gets turned into a shadow, but the rest i liked, and touching on this cutscene direction stuff that are different in the remake and JOJO's part 3 direction diferences from the Manga and the OVA, the same thing that happens with anime remakes happens with reload, for example look at the HunterxHunter anime remake, the original where way more dark, and some gore was censored in the remake, for some reason remakes of anime tend to end up less darker and edgy, just like happens with reload, same with Jojo's part 3 "remake", same with Samurai X remake, same with the Evangelion rebuild, same with the HunterxHunter remake, and the list keeps going, but all these remakes are really great, they're different, but really really great, but i think the main thing that makes this remakes be more "soft" is that they're thinking of the new generation that will be the majority of people who will consume it, Like HunterxHunter manga and anime was made for teens and kids in the 90's, the anime remake was made for the kids and teens in the 2010's, Undeniably the new generation is much more sensitive to this stuff, you can see this in Reload's more horror movie cutscenes, in the HunterxHunter and Jojo's gore getting censored, but I think it's not a big of a problem, it's just adaptation to the public. I think I yapped too much here lol.
Fair enough! Music in particular usually boils down to personal preference in the end, so if you enjoy the greater emphasis on the guitars, more power to you!
Huh, interesting you bring up Evangelion, HxH 1999, and the Rurouni Kenshin OVAs... it's a good point that the color palette of the older era was generally more muted. I wonder if it has to do with the switch from more hand drawn animation long ago to digital animation of modern times...
I can't say I agree that there's more censorship on the gore, since there's definitely still quite a bit of it in the Rebuild movies and HxH 2011 (especially PT and Chimera Ant arcs). Can't comment on the brand new Rurouni Kenshin anime adaptation though since I haven't seen it. ...But maybe there is less gore in general and I just don't recall lol. I'm thinking perhaps it has more to do with the brighter/more saturated color palette making the gore appear less noticeable.
Regardless, thanks for the thoughtful comment! it's good to yap sometimes, I clearly did that in this 3 hour video haha
@@LadyVirgilia I guess in the Ant's arc there's nothing you can do about the gore since there's a LOT in it, but in the first arcs they where reduced, there's that famous example where in the manga killua is shown holding a guy's heart but in the anime remake he's holding a little bag with some blood stains. I can't believe i got noticed by the goat herself!
I'm grateful to discover the ways in which Reload has reignited your passion for P3 in unique ways
I spent much of my experience distraught by the changes, as I was unsure about how they would affect my friend's experience.
In retrospect I may have gone too far :o
Hello Virgillia, I loved your phenomenal videos about the history and nuances of Persona 3. The game's iterations and its influence/building blocks from Japanese society or Japan's many eras, and I want to also send some money to hopefully encourage you to make that Jojo-Persona super video someday! Keep up the great work and see you in the next video!
oh my GOD. Thank you so much for your generosity!!
I'm so glad all my Persona 3 content resonates & hopefully the eventual Jojo-Persona super video will too haha
Thanks so much again for the huge tip and for watching!~
I actually ADORE the line referencing what every major Shadow says in P4 because it finally, and very subtlely, contextualizes what makes their method of having awaken so different from every other. Before it left you questioning just why their Persona's could go "berserk" and attack them. This one line confirms they were once, or perhaps still are, part Shadow. If they still have characteristics of Shadows - since these words are never uttered unless you are forced to confront your Shadow, which is not a prerequisite in lore as seen in other games - perhaps this line is persistently being whispered in their heads due to their Persona's being artificial. It would also make sense given they can be attacked by their Persona's, by themselves essentially, because they never accepted their Shadows.
It's just subtle enough to provide candy for speculation, while also be nostalgia bait and perhaps foreshadowing of other remakes as you say. But it's an example of nostalgia done right, exceptional even. It isn't only an Easter egg, it's legitimately a method of lore building around Strega's unique circumstances. It confirms they have been confronted by their Shadows and again given their uniqueness, this is likely a somewhat frequent occurrence.
First, I would like to say, I definitely appreciate the section before last because I feel like that applies to people like me It is nice to feel sort of validated in that. Secondly, I’d like to say when it comes to the links, I don’t know if you’re aware I might’ve missed this in the video but there’s actually three versions of the links in reload with the females, one which is purely platonic because you didn’t trigger any romance flags ,one is the original route and one that is the original route with a platonic ending.
As a drummer (albeit out of practice for many years now; my parents' house had much more space for a drum kit than every place I've lived since), it sounds to me like the difference may simply come down to them using a real human drummer for Reload and just a MIDI drum machine for FES.
Those rimshots are extremely fast and while they could have probably figured out a way to replicate the sound with humans (like just recording the rimshots separately and layering them together after, or using a drum machine for only the rimshots), they may have also not had the budget for human musicians AND the extra recording/editing time that would entail.
Rimshots require a lot of extra force to get the POP, but the rebound is also much stronger than a normal drum hit (If you've ever seen a drummer launch a stick into air off their snare, they use a rimshot because it will go much higher). But that also means it's nearly impossible to hit many in rapid succession because you're fighting the upward momentum while also trying to slam it down to get that POP.
I think they ended up settling on the final product in reload because it's not humanly possible but they still wanted a human drummer for the track. I disagree with the decision (especially when MIDI drum kits exist so they could record with a human and then simply add in the impossible rimshot rolls), but I think that's why.
It could also just be that whoever was in charge of percussion just wasn't up to the task (which would also explain battle for everyone's souls as well) and took the simplest route to finishing the song rather than trying to live up to the originals.
As for the rest of the episode I have some thoughts as well:
I was an OG Fuuka enjoyer but I agree that she is unequivocally better in Reload. I was a bit unsure of her voice pitch at first, thinking she sounded way too much like Haru, but Suzie Yeung is just fantastic.
As for Yukari I do like that they went more for the "Girl Next Door" vibe rather than the "preppy mean girl" vibe for her this time, but I do wish she still had a little bit of the temper she did before. Not to the point of chewing everyone out all the time, but she almost seems... passive in reload and I don't think that's the right characterization for someone who's supposed to be the "cares way more than she lets on" party healer.
The change from "stupei" in the monorail is a perfect change. She may call him Stupei in regular conversation when he's being stupid, but when he's in danger, even if it's because he did something stupid, he's still just her friend "Junpei." But like the beach runaway scene I think was perfect in FES. Her rage in that scene is so tangible and understandable and I think it would have fit perfectly in Reload. Getting rid of the "you think you know me?" just softens her character and the scene for the worse.
Great video as always! I skipped around a bit to avoid learning too much about parts in reload I haven't gotten to yet, but that was still like 2 hours worth of video 😂.
The programmed drums do matter but the weak audio quality in Reload was clearly done from mixer engineer without much skill.
Take the dorm music for example. Both versions use an identical audio sample for the intro drum fill. It sounds way more powerful in FES
I have been working through this video over a few days. I just wanted to take some time to thank you.
I was worried as I heard you had a flare and went radio silent on YT/Twitter. I am genuinely glad you got to enjoy reload and make this passion project.
Your og P3 Arcana series is when I discovered your channel. It was like randomly finding a kindred spirit who loved P3 like I did.
We both wanted this remake to let the new fans experience this fantastic narrative. I am so happy we and they got to experience Reload.
Here is hoping that episode Aigis is awesome. I look forward to your analysis. My one gripe? Give me more Burn my Dread.
Wow. Your analysis resonates so well with me, it's like you explained stuff I couldn't put my finger on, *especially* on the music. I could only say that the most iconic end game music lacked an "oomph", and that Memory of the City lacked a kind of lo-fi the OG had that enhanced it so well. Yet like, 90% of the remade tracks I prefer in Reload. It's just that the last 10% are kind of the most important, especially Battle for Everyone's Soul :(
Also, I enjoyed the new voice cast, but Zeno Robinson, Allegra Clark, Alejandro Saab, and Justine Lee were especially top tier.
Thought something happened not seeing a P3Reload video sooner. But I will take the 2h + vid
Oof. Talking about the college experience hits me because half of my university experience was done at home. All that time lost, but it caused me and my friends to spend the remaining time to the fullest like the message of the persona 3. You're not alone in this 😭
This is an amazing video essay and thank you so much for putting so much work and thought into it! Also, I would LOVE to see your comparison for jjba and persona 3 (and also 4 and 5 too!) They have a TON in common and it's so fun comparing and contrasting the two.
To answer your question near the two-hour mark, my favourite character in P3R in terms of what Reload added to them is definitely Junpei - and my favourite moments of his is his outburst in December, and the aftermath/reconciliation that follows. I also wholeheartedly echo your sentiment that P3R adds so much dimension to SEES as a group, as a team bound by more than just duty / shared goal.
I've been waiting for this video.
This is a FANTASTIC video and it 1000% deserves more attention. It covers an area of Reload that is very important but seemingly absent from the recent discourse (since it mostly surrounds the gameplay). It’s crazy how these small changes culminated in me falling in love with the cast of P3 all over again. Your analysis is very insightful as always!
Thank you so much for this video, it really resonated with me, especially the last 2 chapters
Agree!
I think Reload's focus on SEES creating memories as well as "memento mori" actually fits the game better. P3 has always had a message of: finding a reason to live, as well as: despite the inevitability of death and grief, you can move forward. Reload makes that more clear, which I like since it fits better with what happens in The Answer and the option to save Chidori. Both of those being previously polarising I think due to the "finding a reason to go on" theme not being clear enough to people.
I loved Reload. It is not perfect, far from it, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
Commenting before finishing the video because that's just how I roll and you really got the gears in my head turning :>
Having only experienced Reload then femc route in Portable, I would have honestly really loved if, rather than lean away from the emphasis on Memento Mori in exchange for the theme of memories, they instead figured out an even balance of both.
Personally, I vastly prefer Reload for how its linked episodes and other optional social events add to the entire cast's dynamic. Reload really feels like where the main characters are at their most fleshed out and fully realized because of it, but I also feel that it greatly lacked that sense of looming tragedy that Portable still retained in its beginning and end. I think that darker juxtaposition existing alongside Reload's more wholesome additions in one experience would have really elavated P3's storytelling into the best it could possibly be. One might even call it the truly definitive version 🤔
Edit: Answering your question about Ikutsuki!
Honestly, the elephant in the room felt significant enough even in Reload that I was suspicious of him right from the start. I think the only service Reload did to his character by humanizing him more was that it made me think that the reasoning for his eventual betrayal would be a lot more...sound of mind. That being said, it did make the November event feel more disappointing when his intentions turned out to be that simple and quickly glossed over.
Man I'm so excited to watch this video
Your analysis of these games is second to none. Great work.
Thanks for the video and the english subs ❤
I found the chairman extremely like Adachi and was suspicious really quick. Especially because I finished my 2nd persona 4 run 4 weeks prior.
I’ll always love the original Persona 3 FES since it was the first one I played, but Persona 3 Reload definitely added onto it and became a masterpiece in its own way.
Fantastic video! ^_^ Your in-depth of the themes, plot elements and characters of P3R was so compelling! Your observations and takes on the characters especially - including how they've changed from P3 FES- gave me a lot of food for thought!
As to your mid-vid question, my favorite character in Reload was undoubtedly Fuuka! I didn't pay much attention to her in FES/Portable, but here, I felt very drawn to her i because I could relate to so much of her character's struggles. Like her I have been self-conscious about my interests and have often been so focused on what others do well or better than me that I can ignore or diminish the value of my own strengths. So seeing her growth - both in the story, dorm scenes and her S. Link - into someone who both continues to lift others up while finding value in herself was inspiring to me ^_^
My favorite moment of hers from Reload is probably in her third reading session with the protagonist. Her realization that it's better to communicate what you love about something when recommending a piece of media rather than forewarning a person about all the things they might not like about it genuinely taught me something about sharing my interests with others.
Having finally experienced P3 through Reload, I can say it is my favorite one (of the 3 games that exist anyway 😉)
Awesome analysis! I agree with a lot of your takes but i do have a few disagreements regarding Strega
1:35:14 i agree that this dialogue option wasn't necessary but i don't see how asking Jin to come along (and not stay behind to die) undermines their resolve. They're still about to fight Nyx.
1:36:05 in Portable this felt like a generic power of friendship speech but with the added Reload scenes i actually appreciated it more. Takaya especially tries to sever all attachments so at any time he's ready to die at the blink of an eye. This is portrayed positively by Takaya not needing an Evoker but Mitsuru argues that it also limits his power. This can also be taken literally if you contrast Takaya's lack of attachments with MC + social links and SEES second awakenings
1:38:20 Takaya mentioned Jin at the end of FES too. I think their dynamic was always meant to be one-sided (which Reload reinforces with the 10/31 scene) but deep down Takaya probably has some attachment to him
1:39:40 I'd say Junpei is jealous about MC having the wild card, not Takaya. Takaya wants to coexist with SEES and feels that they're showing ingratitude (to the Kirijo group orphans that didn't make it through the experiments) by erasing the Dark Hour and throwing away their power
Overall the new scenes made me appreciate Takaya's role a lot more as the MC's foil and false prophet that they were probably going for in FES. And like you said it also emphasized Jin as Strega's emotional glue which also aligns with their og characterization
before i resume with this video (im at 2:40), i have to mention that im easly molded opinion-wise, when im told somethings worse/bad, even if i am enjoying that thing, those words will eat away at me, like im wasting my time with something inferior. im trying to get better with it , but its difficult to not think those things. this holds true for paper mario and ESPECALLY the persona series, specificaly reload. i want to enjoy it, but the internet is telling me not to, directly or indirectly. and i understand reloads flaws, i feel there was a bit of a mistranslation with the subtletey, but i still really like the game, and yet, i feel my time is best spent on the PS2, because the sea of souls compells me to.
i will update this as the vid goes on, and when im finished with the video, hopefully, im able to get better durring this.
edit: finished the video. if i were to guess why Reload was more obvious, and more modern from a gameplay point, i feel the devs wanted to "do away with the stuff that didnt age well" if i were to guess from what i herd from the interviews, and a lot of that was the gameplay, like non controllable party members getting the shove to the side, and the overall easier difficulty, or the more abstract stuff that would likley leave people who played P5 confused and lost. in fact, thats the main problem with reload and how it got the criticisms that it did. the devs were trying to "Persona-Five" persona 3. like what they did with P4 mechanics in P3P, the problem with that is that P3 is NOT P5, and P5 is NOT P3. there was always going to be artistic mistranslations, it was doomed to fail to live up to the original in the OG players before it even released.
god, even if i spent money on a good game, P3 is better played on the PS2. why did i sell the more cohesivley put together P5R for an inferior remake.
i just want to enjoy games again without some words marin karining my brain. i only have so long left here, i dont wanna waste it. thats what i tell myself. thats probably the reason why im so tourchured by this thinking style, because i only have so long left, and i want it to be the best it can be, and wasting my time and money with something thats better emulated on the PS2 hurts me. god, youtube and reviews certainly have changed me, better and worse. heh, how ironic that it all came back to the fleeting time i have left here. fitting for this game, really.
im about halfway done with the game, 6 more full moon shadows to go. im going to meet the toaster soon. if anything, i wish i can cast patra on myself. before its too late.
I completely get what you feel. When I first discovered reviews, formus and criticism as a kid, it kind of broke me. "You're telling me the thing I liked was ACTUALLY BAD all along??" It was really easy to lose self-esteem over it, feeling "wrong" for liking something others didn't, or for not liking something the internet says is a masterpiece. That's why I usually avoid any online opinions on a game now until after I finish it.
It’s understandable, especially in this day and age of remakes and reboots of different types of media. Best solution I can give is, if you have the chance or means to, play both and form the opinion yourself. I will say, there is always a hint of rose tint when looking back on these types of things. I love FES, but there are definitely things about Reload that I personally prefer, and ultimately I do agree with another TH-camr that posted a review of Reload; Atlus/Sega should make FES itself available for purchase as well to give everyone the option of choosing to play their preferred version of the game. That way some who can only listen to or watch videos about the original games can actually have the opportunity to properly play it and decide for yourself which version they prefer.
There is nothing wrong with loving Reload for P3 and I don’t think many of these critique videos are made to make you or anyone else feel like there is. They’re meant to explain the creators own love for the game, the reasons behind it, and their own opinions of the latest release in comparison. And the most important thing is OPINIONS CAN CHANGE OVER TIME. I think (I don’t remember for sure, so sorry if I’m wrong, but I do recall someone saying it) it was BubbleTea in the podcast Lady released before Reload dropped that admitted he originally hated the P3 battle system and grew to love it once he played it more and understood it. That’s hundreds of hours of playtime that he had to do to get there, years of replaying the same game (because of his love of it, don’t get me wrong) that turned what was originally thought of as a negative into a positive now.
As people spend more time with the new media, they can find new things to love or hate about it and that’s ok too. If there’s a Persona 3: Re-Reloaded or something like that in 10 years made by someone else, someone that fell in love with Reload and had zero access to OGP3/FES likely be looking at that in comparison to Reload more and critiquing that while using videos like Lady’s here as their point of reference to P3/FES since those versions of the game aren’t easily available. Or barely bringing it up at all because to that person, Reload is their Persona! The one they connected with the best, enjoy playing, look back on fondly, and can understand its flaws while still loving it. It brought them into the series and will likely have them looking forward to the next one.
@@patriotsfan122480 thank you so much for this comment!i should mention is that a lot of it is likley indirect. no thanks to my autistic ass.
I understand that! But for me, I would much prefer to actually play a game, to form my own opinion on it, and confirm it, and usually look at reviews from the games I played, to see what they think. Especially if they really explain the strengths and weaknesses, and go in-depth! I love stuff like that.
@@hgmd3284 all good, just trying to provide a different perspective for you to look through for the future. Something to keep in mind in these types of situations. You’re likely not alone in feeling like that, I know sometimes I fall into the same thought process too and have to remind myself of these types of things. Like I love Persona, but I’m a bigger FF nerd and that’s going thru its own Remake conundrum right now. Found myself going thru too many review/lore videos after I finished Rebirth that also had me veering towards the negative on it more than the positive and had to remind myself of similar things 😂😅 Hope it helps for this and future games you find yourself enjoying!
As a first time P3R player, regarding the impactfulness of the music you mentioned I'll agree with you on Burn My Dread Last Battle. When that came up, I didn't really feel anything, especially since it was gone as quickly as it appeared. I did however build a connection with Living With Determination. In fact it's my favourite song in the entire game. I associate it with Akinari's social link, since it plays during almost all of them and his social link is one of my favorites partly because of the weight of the song. Plus I didn't like the original dorm theme all that much, so the living with determination arrangement came as a very nice surprise for me.
God the comparative Persona Jojo analysis would be amazing, I know my brother would be so excited to join me in watching that. Woyld absolutely love to see it
I’ve been waiting for this!!
im gonna enjoy this A LOT
There's so much about this I really enjoyed and felt I wanted to interact with it's hard to know where to begin. Quality stuff!
As someone who only fully played through Reload, the "Living With Determination Dorm Arrange" motif going into the last stretch to the final fight really did hit me. Finding it was called "Living With Determination" actually elevated it, because that Dorm Arrangement only plays after you have made the decision to fight against all odds. "Determination" has a really sorrowful feel, and got used so much for character death that I associated it with tragedy and connected it with characters having moments where they could not find their way forward. So when the Dorm Arrange leads with those familiar chords and then suddenly kicks in the percussion that first time, I felt in the music it was expressing everyone's resolve not to let this be the end.
I agree with so many of your points, particularly how Reload seems to emphasize accessibility and narrative clarity. I've only read and heard secondhand about FES's more hardcore aspects, and while I definitely see what they accomplish from the ludo-narrative and immersive perspective, I understand they may not seem fun for everyone, so I appreciate there being a version allowing more people to enjoy the story.
I was really impressed how thorough you were when it came to the music. The original tracks definitely seem more "raw". I do wonder how much has to do with general modern audio production trends, since I feel I've heard complaints about excessive normalization and less dynamism a lot.
*apologies for abbreviating "Living With Determination" to just "Determination", which I didn't realize immediately was a separate track's title.
Good to see you back
I would absolutely kill for your trails analyses, but discussing recurring elements through the Japanese socioeconomic lens. You have a real knack for demonstrating the evolution of concepts in between games and generations. I was even wondering how anybody can have more to say about this game that hasn't been said already, and you cleared that bar so high
THANK GOD YOU NOTICED THE BONGOS TOO!? WHY DID THEY ADD BONGOS?
Weird, I thought Ikustuki sounded way more suspicious in reload. His voice just sounded like a Anime Villain though perhaps my previous experience warped my perception.
1:04:02
akihiko, mitsuru...are you okey?
I feel like the statement of Chihiro being the most reliant on MC in FES being listed as a flaw is strange given, well, that's what she wants to grow out of after she really started making progress getting over her fear of men (her Rank 7 and 8 as well as Sunday dates she says that she wants to solve this herself as it is her problem, to the point where she won't even talk to her mother about it), and ultimately does by her Epilogue. I love tying her acquiring the manga art collection to whether she is romanced or not, as it shows how her mindset is affected by the thought of her being fully rewarded by giving it her all, but outside that the platonic rank 10 is showing similar growth to her Epilogue, just a version focused on giving back to others rather than what she sees as right and wrong. Meanwhile in her Romantic rank 10, her cute clingy side is her allowing herself to be a little selfish and have wants in a relationship, rather than worrying that spending time with her is a burden like in earlier ranks, while still acknowledging that he can't be physically there for her 24/7.
I could go on about Chihiro for a very long time, but she absolutely grew out of her dependency by the end of the game all the way back in P3 where romance was mandatory.
I don’t know, I honestly felt like her “growing out of her dependence” was too explicitly tied to the MC in the original P3. She only did it because she was afraid of him (platonically) spending time alone with another girl, and she even says afterward that she’d had that side to her since she was little. I really appreciated the small tweaks in Reload with regard to her link (especially including a platonic route), and I feel like they were sorely needed, otherwise it felt like her clinginess was supposed to be her “selling point” rather than a challenge to overcome.
@@ViVi1159-d1 I mean if she's clingy, then the push she needed WAS something she saw as a threat to her relationship. It's also the only threat that would make sense, considering Mitsuru wouldn't know about the manga collection nor would Mitsuru say that she did it. Chihiro wanted to prove herself innocent, but she was too filled with doubt to dare to try, so she needed an active threat to do it.
She doesn't want MC to do it for her since it's her problem and only clung to him for emotional support, in part because of her love and in part because she didn't want to bother anyone else with it, and I wonder if he wasn't there when she was first accused she would have even told him about it considering again she doesn't even tell her own mother.
@@PinClockFuntimeFair, tbh my issue with that link was less the characterization and more…how it was presented? Though it would have been nice to see her learning to interact with boys other than the protag, or for her to care that much about something else. In FES, with both Chihiro and Fuuka, I never quite shook the feeling that their insecurity and reliance on the protagonist was played for a sort of wish-fulfillment even as they were shown overcoming it, and I feel like later games played the “shy/doormat character” in a way that felt less fanservice-y
@@ViVi1159-d1 Chihiro isn't a doormat though, in Reload she's one of two social links that can reverse if you make the wrong decision. She stands up for herself pretty early on if you push her too far.
Sure she forgives you no matter what in Reload because of how merciful the game is but is capable of breaking in previous versions like any other link.
@@PinClockFuntimeI mean FES Chihiro, to be clear. I found her a lot more likable in Reload because it didn’t feel as much like her world revolved around the protagonist from start to finish. It actually mentioned where her fear of men came from, and if I recall correctly went into at least a little more detail about her starting to comfortably interact more with people besides the MC. Those little details made her a lot more three-dimensional.
Great video, I very much enjoyed it! I just wanted to comment, as a very musically illiterate person, the entire section on the differences of the songs between FES and Reload went way over my head. There were times when you played the two versions back to back, and I had to listen to it several times to even notice a difference between them. Skill issue on my behalf, not your fault. I just wanted to say that when I did notice a difference, I actually preferred the Reload versions for the most part! Everyone enjoys things differently, I guess!
I never suspected ikutsuki in my playthrough of Persona 3 so him being evil definitely caught me off guard.
Reload was my first Persona 3 experience. I did definitely think he could see was a bit suspicious at first, but later I changed my mind thinking he was totally harmless. I have to assume that's what they were going for.
Thank you for making this. I've seen a Lot of breakdowns of Reload's changes discussing how it can't serve as a definitive version for all the conflicting changes compared to much more meaningful beats from the original down to single lines of dialogue -- which I still believe is true corroborating with your statement at the start -- but your highlighting of all the subtleties in the changes that Reload makes so additively and upliftingly were refreshing to see presented in such a balanced way alongside the more questionable choices. I walked away from this feeling a lot more positive and accepting of the game I still enjoyed a lot rather than conflicted over the details (though I have been using mods to correct some of the most unfortunate losses lol). Makes me want to play FES again with a goal of fine comparison rather than spurred by frustration.
I think the look into the old SEES trio was ABSOLUTELY necessary. I felt in FES/Portable there was only just not enough there to warrant an emotional response for his death. Reload however, actually shows us way more of Shinji/Aki/Mitsuru being friends as opposed to only showing a bond with Aki and the player having to headcanon the rest.
1:50:00 my favorite little detail on that fight was that your theurgies never charge since nobody really wants to fight her
2:13:40 I see how it would maybe hit less than it did in FES, but as someone who's first experience was reload, it did definitely hit. Even if living with determination didn't play in social links, it still played during some of the most impactful moments of the game.
great video !!
In every JRPG that I play, I prefer having all the party members under my complete control, so that's one thing I'm happy the remake did
37:39 in the Ikutsuki section with new to P3 via Reload and their impressions. I thought he was gonna be a traitor UNTIL the last month or two. I actually thought he was a Shadow since no mention of a Persona was mentioned, and he seemed so familiar with everything (due to prior work ofc and not BEING a shadow)
The intro made me know there was a twist but I thought it was just “he’s in the shadows so he’s not a human” and wasn’t sure if he’d be helpful or not to the party. Hearing his OLD voice and the direction though I’d 100% think he was evil
As someone who had P3R as their first real experience with not just P3 but Persona in general, I’m really happy to see such an excellent video going into detail on the changes (and one that isn’t entirely negative). Great job!
Honestly, I was disappointed even in Reload by Strega being imo underdeveloped/underutilized, which seems to be a common take. Their handling felt sort of bizarre to me in a way I can’t articulate very well. I guess we agree on them being unconventional but have different feelings about that. Personally I think if reload hadn’t hinted at their backstory throughout and just dumped it all on us at the end right before they die I would’ve been frustrated… And to my understanding Protag is the “true messiah” as opposed to Takaya being the “false messiah/antichrist” so them having more one-on-one scenes makes some sense. I experienced the game through a let’s-play over the course of like 4 months and the let’s-player acknowledged that certain scenes with Takaya were new additions so I went in pretty early on with the understanding that Strega hadn’t gotten that much screentime in the original, but I wonder if I would’ve been even more disappointed by them in the original without the additional scenes or if I would’ve accepted them as more intentionally mysterious than lacking (“less is more” with strega, as you said). Probably the former though, I think part of my disappointment was that I just got too attached to them and their jarring aesthetics…
When I talk about them being underdeveloped I moreso mean Jin and Takaya than Chidori, though I still would’ve loved to see more of her. I really think that if revived she should’ve briefly appeared during the cutscene with all the non-party members reacting to Nyx and there should’ve been some sort of update on her during the segment at the end following up on all your completed social links, so it would feel like she actually came back to life outside of that one scene.
Also, weird note about Takaya’s changed final line wishing for Jin to be there - that actually made me confused as to whether or not he died? Maybe it’s just that I wasn’t paying enough attention but since he calls attention to Jin not living to see the end rather than himself not living to see the end as he apparently says in the original, I wasn’t sure if he was dying. I mean, he managed to crawl up there, and I found it strange they would just have him succumb to his wounds after SEES explicitly left him alive even mentioning that he should live to see his goal fail and he just… didn’t. So I was wondering during the epilogue “it’d be weird if he didn’t die, but I don’t feel like we really saw him die, so…?”
Sorry, really scatterbrained comment. Loved the video, you got a sub, excited to go back and watch your other stuff!
(Also, I did not suspect Ikutsuki and found him funny but didn’t find his betrayal too impactful either. He died too quickly I think. His irrelevance pre-betrayal didn’t stick out too much to me because I also felt Fuuka wasn’t very relevant to the main story after her introduction)
If possible, seeing you do a look at of P1 and 2 would be cool.
I feel like a lot of the characterization that’s only implied in FES, as well as more mundane scenes with SEES interacting as normal humans, were made more explicit in the drama CDs, which is a shame for those of us who don’t live in Japan and aren’t nerdy enough to go look them up. Ryoji in particular really benefited from that extra characterization, which was very in line with his P3P Social Link.
I can not wait the Persona/Jojo video. It's gonna be epic
2:20:34 While I agree with a lot of points so far in the video, i genuinely think the difference you’re hearing in the velvet room theme is just the result of this games audio being uncompressed and re-recorded with better/higher bitrate equipment. The old audio sounds fuller because it was so compressed. So much detail would get squeezed out of audio to fit onto a ps2 disc that mixes were often crushed down so a lot of detail of loudness and softness gets lost. Meanwhile the new version is allowed to be much more detailed like the P5 velvet room track and they took advantage of that. Same thing with the rest of the songs sounding cleaner. There’s better equipment going into a now AAA game and not a then reinvention of a spinoff. Source: I make music.
Note on ikutsuki, I was really honestly still reeling from aragaki's death to really think about it. In July I started to agree with yukari's questions about the kirijo group. And didn't trust mitsuru and her father....and then Mr kirijo died for these kids....think about that for a minute..wow a wealthy businessman who's stake is to fix the mistakes of the past he didn't HAVE to throw himself into danger there...but he did it for everyone I was SHOOK.
1:04:32 I feel the fact that shes more kinder in reload is the fact that, like you said, the Japanese direction for her VA was way more sweet and less brash. I’ve also heard that reload is more in-line with the original script, and her more rash moments were part of the U.S translation.
Also I LOVE that you mentioned the dynamic between Junpei, Yukari and P3mc in reload. It really does give them the vibe of being great friends and low key makes them probably my favorite OG 3 out of modern trilogy.
Oh. My God. LET'S GO!!
For me, when January hit and the dorm got the new living with determination song, it gave me chills. Like just as you said it, it was a real emotional gut punch for me, and by the way this was my first time playing P3
Man I just really loved this game, honestly
Please do a comparison video between JoJos and Persona
nice to see that there's some interest in one haha :P
I think you're the only one I've seen so far where you can describe why the music so lacking in such detail that most people complaining about it can't do.
I really wanna see you deep dive on the persona soundtracks ngl, it's more interesting to hear from people like you that actually has more experience with playing music.
P3R might be my favorite Turn Based RPG imo. I love how this game is abke to take the original game while still doing it's own thing. Also this game made me bawl so hard by the end.
God I love Reload sm
37:45 dont know if its mentioned later on as ive paused the video real quick but i noticed how shuji looked in the mc's awakening and i thought that was a subtle hint of his plans as he probably recognized thanatos a tiny bit as i know its different from the version in the 90s but is still similar
Great thing about this drop is that we finally get merch of P3 characters, and It was worth it
I played Persona 3 Dancing and P4AU in Japanese, Yukari has always been softie. I think the original English P3FES Yukari was just a localisation mistake that made her a bit assertive, that seems to have fixed with the English P3R but some devoted fans think it's ATLUS selling out but that was never meant to be her character.
Junpei is my favorite character of 2024 I really hope he gets best supporting character of the year or best voice acting of the year I. E. Zeno Robinson he really deserves it
Ikutsuki really feels like the Geppeto twist in Lies of P for some reason, and I don't know why?
Heck yea Reload tactics gang represent
I know Persona 3 Reload changed some aspects of the original but never expected it to be this much! I liked most changes not all of them of course but overall they still kept the original vision and story telling structure of P3FES. Like you I am also very interested to see if they will keep the answer (Episode Aigis) 1 to 1 the same or change it for the Remake.
I’d have to say on the topic of ikutsuki that I was suspicious of him at first but as the game went on, I kinda forgot about it because he didn’t do a whole lot, until the characters mentioned he was missing after the final shadow and I was like ‘oh yeah so he is evil lol’. Just my perspective of that whole twist. For a lil while I thought Takaya and ikutsuki were the same person but that didn’t last haha.
Oh shit. We eating good when Lady posts. How come I didn’t see this in my sub feed????
I was able to use the shift mechanic fine.
Little question: is the person who makes the PT-BR subtitles for the video a real person or just an AI? She's a little buggy. Ps: Google translate here. love your videos
What i loved about reload, is how they make Makoto have more personality than in FES
In FES, whenever a dialogue box that explain mc condition or what did mc do appeared, it always starts with "You", which makes it more passive
But in reload, it starts with "I", which... Idk how to explain it because my vocabulary is still limited, but that makes Makoto actually have self conscious..? ( Gahhh, i'm frustrated because of my limited vocabulary 😔 )
I know this is very minor things, but i really can't ignore it and really glad that Atlus rewrite it
Even though this game may not be the "Definitive" version of Persona 3 in terms of gameplay and content ( for some people ), but i'd say that this is the definitive version to play Persona 3 as Makoto
And for atmosphere, i actually like the colorful theme, because that makes the sudden atmoshpere change to more bleek and eerie hit more harder
Some might say that the new atmosphere in Reload January is too bleek and eerie, but that's the point
I think that's all i wanted to add, just a minor things that i liked about Reload
( Is that a bad take? Let me know if my broken English makes some of my line confusing or doesn't make any sense )
I'm gonna be honest, I've played P3 FES and P3P so many times, so I know this story inside and out. Despite that, I cried way harder than I ever have when Shinji, Mitsuru's dad, and Chidori died in P3R. I didn't even cry that much when I first played FES and everything was still fresh to me. I personally think this is a testament to how well P3R executes it's story telling
Okay I haven't complete persona reload, so here my thought so far.
I will said persona 3 orginal did take advantage of ps2 limitations and some case actually help with persona 3 atmosphere. My only problem with persona reload is the lighting. Seriously I joke I sometimes need sunglasses for daytime and even parts of the dark hour. However they did give Tartarus a huge glow up. Seriously I actually kinda like the orignal Tartarus, however reload make Tartarus even better.
For the new voice actors. So far they have done a good job. Some show practically the same like persona 3 hero, mitsuru, and at times junpei. Ken and fukka have munch better voice actors. While i do like micheal ruff take on yurkai, however i do like new version as well. The only one that I'm kinda iffy is Akihiko and Aigis and shinjiro. Akihiko should a little too old, however he did a excellent job with the ocobtor scence and the serious scenes. Aigis sound a little too orgnaic before her awakening, but i guess it to relfect how ai voices are getting better, but still. Shinjiro voice I like , but he weirdly has these time where has this lisp and once you notice it can be distracting.
I do like lime how the social links are fully voice acted, it did help make persona 3 social links more memorable and likeable. Also the link episode they are a diet social link, they were nice addition to characters that the male couldn't social link.
Gameplay wise, it munch better. I would have like how knocked down emenies work in the oringal where they lose a turn to get back up. However it made up woth directly controlling your party members.
Reload music is somewhat hit or miss, but mostly a hit. The new tracks are great, especially color your night. Even some of the remix songs like "deep breathe" and "changing seasons". However some like "master of tartus" and "unadvioable battle" kinda loss their punch. However the really miss is the remix is "burn my dread" and "mass destruction". Seriously what the hell did they do to them?
However I do like the extra scence of SEES for reload. It makes me like SEES more and they definitely my favorite group of persona series.
About the lighting, for some reason the standart ligh setting is a bit too high, just low it a little and the game will look WAY better.
Ryoji's additional scene is really nice.
If i could put my stuff for Ikutsuki, I spoiled myself on his betrayal so I never got any feeling that he was cool or obviously the twist villian when playing p3p.
This video is pretty good btw. Love how it respects both the original and the remake equally and talks about what reload did better or worse.
I usually like to wait to hear music tracks in the game first before seeking out the soundtrack, but I'm glad I gave into the temptation to listen to Reload's "Battle for Everyone's Souls" since it's so diminished from the original! I agree with everything you said about the drum track. The loss of the driving synth during the transition to the Velvet Room theme is what was most disappointing to me. I still haven't finished the game, but when I get to the final boss, I'm so tempted to turn the music off and pull up a loop of the original on youtube.
I've seen a bunch of streamers play P3 for the first time with Reload and many of them are actually really moved by the January music shift. I definitely agree though that the rock tracks were too clean in Reload 😢
I love your final point about P3's imperfections though. To me, P3 feels like the first draft of a talented author who wrote while they were drunk and just had a bad break up. Oozing with personality and emotion, even if it's filled with a lot of technical flaws. And even then, there's something beautiful about those flaws too. P3 IMO is the perfect example of being a perfect game that isn't exactly flawless. Things can be more than the sum of their parts.
Idk if I’m alone on this, but I’d be so down for a JJBA/Persona cross analysis. I’ve been a Jojo’s fan for a while and I’ve been recently getting into Persona, and both series have a lot of fascinating similarities besides stands/Persona comparisons, that I’d like to see covered.