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For such an influential game, Persona 3 has a bit of a rocky release history. It was first released on the PS2 in 2006 and ushered in a completely new era for the franchise, combining an RPG with a life simulation, tasking players with balancing dungeon crawling with the day-to-day life of a normal high school student. That release was followed by a special edition, called FES, which added an epilogue that spanned a considerable 30 hours. The game was then remade for the PSP with Persona 3 laptop, which was re-released on PC and modern consoles last year.
While the base game is excellent, each version is slightly compromised. FES has the more complete story, but lacks the streamlined gameplay and option to play as a female character that are in Laptop. LaptopMeanwhile, it adds a playable character but reduces world exploration to a series of menus and removes most of the beautiful animated cutscenes. and now we have Persona 3 rechargea new complete version that is so close to be the definitive version of the game.
First, let’s back up a bit. Persona 3 takes place in a world that has something called the Dark Hour, a period of time after midnight where monsters called shadows roam and most people sleep blissfully unconscious in coffins. But some special people not only stay awake during this time, they also have the ability to summon beings called personas to help them fight in battle. The game follows a group of high school students who use this power to traverse a seemingly endless tower called Tartarus to learn more about the Dark Hour and its connection to an expanding affliction known as apathy syndrome.
It is a dark and gloomy game. Did I mention that teenagers summon characters by shooting themselves in the head with magical weapons? – but also balance that with the mundanity of normal life. You spend your nights cutting shadows in Tartarus, but during the day you go to school, hang out with friends, work part-time, and much more. These two sides feed off each other. Eating a mystery burger will increase your courage, while getting close to an MMO guildmate could strengthen your personality in battle.
It’s a strange and fascinating mix that became Person in a beloved franchise. Recharge don’t mess with that; refine things. The graphics and menus have been updated to be similar to the incredibly skilled Persona 5 (albeit with a noticeably darker edge), and things like combat have been simplified to be faster and more intuitive. In particular, I love the new “swap” mechanic that allows you to swap characters after performing a well-timed attack, adding an extra layer of strategy and allowing you to speed up regular battles. Recharge also reworkings one of the most questionable sequences in the gameand thankfully, it’s added more things to do and see within Tartarus so that dungeon crawling doesn’t become so monotonous.
In short: it takes the original game and improves it. But the key there is the word “original.” Recharge Only includes the original PS2 version of Persona 3, meaning there will be no FES expansion and no playable female protagonist. In every other way, it’s an improvement over Laptop, particularly as having 3D spaces to explore is a key part of building the game’s world, giving it a real sense of place. But it’s disappointing that this isn’t the definitive version of Persona 3 that may seem at first glance, even if, in general, it is the best.
Persona 3 recharge is available on Xbox, PlayStation and PC.
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