Summary
WhilePersona 4and5are often cited as the entries that ushered the series into mainstream popularity,Persona 3is still an amazing game in its own right, so it’s great thatgame developer Atlushas made the decision to remake this hidden gem for new and longtime fans to enjoy. The dark and captivating story mixed with the lovable cast of characters madePersona 3one of the best JRPGS of its erain the eyes of many fans of the genre, but with that being said, there were still a few areas that were a little rough around the edges.
Luckily, Atlus has shown through the trailers released for the game that they are taking a lot of care to retain what made the original so special while giving ita much-needed new coat of paintthat will, no doubt, cover up a lot of the small issues people had when playing it all those years ago. There are still a few areas in particular, though, that fans have been especially vocal about wanting to beimproved, whether it’s in regard to the open environment, the Tartarus dungeons, or the Social Links.
7Opening The Album Shop
Much like all the other games in the series,Persona 3allows the player to travel around small areas ofthe open-world, where they can either talk to their friends and allies or buy weapons and equipment for when they next enter a dungeon. However, while there are plenty of shops players can walk into when traveling around the Paulownia Mall, the only one that cannot be accessed outside of Social Links is the album store, which is pretty bizarre considering the protagonist has a music player.
Atlus did play around with how players could usemusic inPersona 5 Royalewhere, depending on the outfit they were wearing, the battle music would change. It would be a real love letter to fans if this worked similarly inPerson 3 Reload, where players could head over to the album store and maybe buy a few tracks fromPersona 4or5to jam to during their time in Tartarus or even simply while exploring the world.
6Party Banter
This is a small addition in practice, but it would go a very long way in highlighting the tight friendship between the gang while also making them feel a lot more real as people. When running around Tartarus in the original game, while there was definitelya pretty creepy atmospherethanks to the music, there would also be long stretches of silence, and adding some banter between the party members would be an easy way to fill in these gaps.
This could work similarly to howthe Phantom Thieveswould always chat or bicker with each other when driving around Mementos, and it could also help expand on some of the character’s lives and backstories in the process. Considering that voice acting has been announced to be in the remake, this would also be the perfect opportunity to show it off in-game.
5Fatigue System
Probably the one mechanic thatPersona 3fans have the biggest issue with isthe fatigue system, which, in a way,does make the game more immersive, but it also does absolutely no favors for the pacing or enjoyment of the Tartarus sections. The way it works is characters will become tired after staying in Tartarus for too long, which will make them far less accurate and also open them up to taking a lot more damage from enemy attacks.
This, admittedly, is a lot more manageable later on in the game, but it can become a real nuisance in those first few hours since it essentially prevents any sort of grinding and feels incredibly restrictive on the player’s freedom. Removing the system entirely would probably be for the best; otherwise, it could end up irritating new players who might even think about dropping the game early on. If Atlus did want to keep it in the game though, then it would be much more forgiving if it took longer for characters to get tired or if taking damage didn’t increase the likelihood of them getting worn out, for example.
4Optional Romances
Striking up a romancewith characters inPersona 3didn’t work quite the way it did in future games, primarily because players weren’t actually given the choice to turn someone down iftheir Social Linkreached the end. For players who had come from those later games, it was all too easy to try and reach the final Social Link with the character to learn more about them, only to then be thrust into a relationship they otherwise didn’t want to be in.
Anyone who has played the original will be well aware of how easily this can lead to some very awkward scenes later on in the game if they have multiple partners, so to avoid this, it would be nice to have a quick option to confirm the relationship before anything is made official. This would also give players the opportunity to learn everything there is to know about their new allies without having to commit to anything in the process.
3Better Early-Game Pacing
While the actual story ofPersona 3is pretty incredible in presenting thedark themes and ideasthat the game focuses on, a big complaint many fans have had is how slow it can be to begin with,taking a while to truly kick into full gear. It doesn’t quite feel like the stakes are high enough to gauge the player’s interest early on, and the bosses don’t really feel all that important either, which can make it a little bit of a slog to get through.
A few new story beats and more engaging bosses could help negate this problem. Even a couple of extra scenes, which could set up later events in the game to keep the player guessing what’s going to happen further on in their playthrough would work wonders.
2More Meaningful Social Links
Persona 3was very much a mixed bag in terms of its Social Links. While there were some that did a fantastic job at highlighting themain themes of death and mortalitythat the game revolves around, such as the sick young man and old couple grieving their son’s death, on the other hand, there were plenty of non-party Social Links that felt dull, boring, and almost like a complete waste of time.
Kenji is the most infamous example of this, being a creepy guy who wants nothing more than to get intimate with his teacher, and then there’s the “Gourmet King,” who some fans have dubbed as beingthe worst Social Link in the entire series. These interactions don’t necessarily need to be removed entirely, but altering them a bit to make them a little more personal, meaningful, and relevant to the wider story and its themes would be a very welcome change.
1More Interesting Tartarus Dungeons
On paper, the idea ofa randomly generated dungeondoesn’t sound too bad since it could provide a different experience for each playthrough, but in the originalPersona 3, it wasn’t quite as exciting in actual practice. Since players would be spending many hours in the depths of Tartarus, the dungeons could easily become pretty tiring and bland in their presentation, primarily because of how little variety there actually was in terms of design, layout, and music.
Now, asking for dungeons that would be as detailed and creative asthe Palaces found inPersona 5might be asking a bit too much, but making it feel like less of a chore is by far the biggest improvement that this game needs. Potentially making Tartarus a little smaller and adding a lot more flare and interesting details will instantly make it far more engaging and dispel the biggest criticism many longtime fans had with the original.
