Persona followers have eaten nicely these previous couple of months. With Persona 5 Royal coming to PC and Persona 3 & 4 arriving on console fronts past PlayStation, it’s a nice time to be part of (or be a part of) the fandom. This push for older video games within the sequence (Persona 1 and a pair of when?) might be due partly to Persona 5’s huge success and position in launching the franchise for the mainstream consciousness, making a form of “renaissance” for all issues Persona. This resulted in spinoffs of the Musou and Rhythm-Dancing varieties. As such, it was not lengthy earlier than rumors of remakes joined and re-joined the dialogue, with a number of nameless on-line tipsters reporting on the alleged Persona 3 Remake, the sport within the in style pantheon that has aged the least gracefully.
Whatever the credibility of those rumors, a Persona 3 Remake will not be totally out of the realm of risk. Fashionable property for many of the Persona 3 solid exist (due to the dancing video games and P5R) and the groundwork for future Persona video games has been laid by Persona 5.
With that in thoughts, listed here are some issues we’d positively wish to see in a possible Persona 3 Remake.
Rebuilding Tartarus Exploration in Persona 3 Remake
Persona 3 is an OLD sport, and that is nowhere extra noticeable than in Persona 3’s dungeon-crawling spree all through Tartarus through the Darkish Hour. The closest trendy interpretation of Tartarus can be Persona 5’s Mementos, a sequence of randomly sorted and generated rooms that gamers should clear to achieve an eventual finish level per story chapter. Mementos was one of many weakest facets of Persona 5, and that was with the up to date fight suite Persona 5 touted. Persona 3 as compared is an entire and utter drag.
A part of this tedium is because of WHAT Tartarus is within the grand scheme of Persona 3’s story. Very like the distinction between Mementos and Palaces in Persona 5, Persona 3 has nothing exterior of the Full Moon Operations that provides a break from Tartarus. Tartarus is, merely put, a spot to grind the gamers’ SEES squad and Personas in prep for the aforementioned month-to-month missions, and character well-being, standing be prepared, which is a complete different can of worms that might be addressed.
In a possible remake, extra stakes and plot relevance ought to be given to Tartarus upfront, giving gamers an energetic motive and motivation to discover the large, lich-green tower exterior of “as a result of you must.” Palaces in Persona 5 labored nicely due to how intimately linked these dungeons have been to the burgeoning story; gamers are sometimes motivated to clear as a lot of the palaces as attainable in a single sitting to advance the story and perform their work because the Phantom Thieves.
The position Tartarus performs in Persona 3’s story is substantial, particularly in the direction of the tip when the thriller begins to unravel and the plot accelerates in the direction of a climax. This thriller ought to be actively spoonfed and sprinkled all through Tartarus to have gamers eager to discover additional and deeper (even when they’ll’t on the explicit story juncture they’re at). Additionally, having Tartarus be additional linked to the Full Moon Operations can be a great way to create a way of cohesion between the 2 actions (past Shadow slaying).
Motivation apart, traversal and exploration inside Tartarus additionally want an enormous change. Persona 5 spoiled gamers rotten with how dynamic, vibrant, and enjoyable palace exploration was in comparison with earlier Shadow-busting romps in older video games—which made exploring Mementos a drag by comparability. Tartarus is far the identical. Although Tartarus’ chamber randomization was most likely spectacular again within the day, it’s outdated now.
Traversal, exploration, and interplay ought to fluctuate per chamber past surface-level look as gamers progress. Some areas ought to have gimmicks and mechanics tailor-made to the realm’s theme that guarantee continuous exploration received’t be as stale because the final.
Overhaul of Fight System
Fight in Persona 3, for lack of a greater time period, sucks as a result of gamers wouldn’t have management of their occasion members for some archaic motive. This reliance on shoddy AI made fight a chore at instances, which, by extension, would severely hamper Tartarus’ exploration.
Persona 3 Transportable did the fight suite justice by forbidding the AI from ever overriding participant enter (until the gamers permit it to. Why would you do that?) and giving gamers direct management over all actions in fight, which ought to be business normal at the present time.
Past this high quality of life change, shadows engaged in fight ought to be altered as nicely. Up till Persona 4, enemy shadows can be nothing greater than black lots with eerie masks, bearing particular affinities and weaknesses relying on the area of Tartarus the participant was exploring. Persona 5 modified up this formulation by having shadows encountered be the exact same because the personas gamers would fuse and discover all through their journey. Having enemies with recognized personas is intuitive as a result of the enemies are instantly recognizable. Due to this fact, they’re extra intuitive to combat towards in comparison with the rudimentary shadows of Persona 3 and 4. Persona 3’s remake ought to undertake this normal as nicely.
Additionally, the remake ought to alter the methods the SEES members strategy their enemies. Persona 5’s Phantom Thief motif had gamers slinking round, ambushing unwary foes, and fascinating in different nefarious, thieving hijinks. Since Persona 3’s solid consists of a literal Shadow Extermination Squad, they need to undertake a fashion, method, and technique that aligns with their mode of operation. As in comparison with their Phantom brethren, they might use extra aggressive strikes and mechanics to defeat their shadow foes. This ought to be mirrored in each the presentation of shadow extermination excursions and the skills gained.
Enlargement of Social Hyperlinks and Protagonist
As they have been launched in Persona 3, Social Hyperlinks (or Confidants in Persona 5) play an important position, built-in each into the sport’s story and gameplay. These “dating-sim-esque” segments allowed gamers to turn into extra concerned with the world round them and provided perception and character progress to the myriad faces that surrounded them.
On the similar time, social hyperlinks for occasion members would increase their talents throughout fight, permitting them to take sure actions that may assist gamers flip the tide of battle. Persona 5 mastered this idea, letting gamers reap the advantages of social hyperlinks past simply occasion members; each confidant had a job to play within the Phantom Thieves’ quest. This idea ought to be replicated, or at the very least emulated, within the potential Persona 3 Remake.
Having further nifty talents will make Tartarus exploration much more palatable and presumably extra enjoyable. These may vary from fight assists, accelerated EXP positive factors, entry to distinctive HP/SP restoration objects, and extra. Additionally, it might be a unbelievable motivator for gamers to exit and search as many Social Hyperlinks as they’ll.
Additionally, a revamp of the social hyperlink system will permit for extra dynamic storytelling. Persona 3 Transportable launched the feminine protagonist. She got here with a particular set of Social Hyperlinks that made her journey by means of the sport remarkably completely different from her male counterparts. She had entry to sure people, together with occasion members, that the male didn’t, and vice versa.
A remake ought to attempt to embody each female and male protagonists and provides them entry to the identical Social Hyperlinks, however fluctuate the way in which every relationship performs out. This fashion, the gamers’ understanding of their occasion and world may be extra well-rounded however nonetheless warrant a motive to replay the sport.
Mixture of The Journey and The Reply
Considered one of my largest gripes in regards to the current port selections of Persona 3 was that Atlus determined to port Persona 3 Transportable because the consultant of Persona 3. Whereas P3P has some worthwhile additions and fixes, I consider it’s an inferior expertise solely for one vital motive: P3P does NOT embody the epilogue to Persona 3’s story.
Shortly after Persona 3 was launched, Atlus repackaged the sport with a “director’s minimize” version titled Persona 3 FES that included an epilogue story titled “The Reply,” which performed out after the ending of the unique Persona 3’s story. It’s way more battle-intensive and difficult than the bottom sport, however enduring the gauntlet is value it for the climactic finale that neatly wraps up Persona 3’s story, one thing the unique Persona 3 and P3P can not do of their present state.
Very like how the up to date variations of Persona 4 and 5 expanded their endgame after their authentic respective endings, the Persona 3 Remake ought to search to do the similar, given the occasions that happen in The Reply. As an alternative of being a continuing battle fest, the epilogue ought to permit area for The Reply’s distinctive occasion interactions, occasions, and exploration that don’t solely depend on the Abyss of Time, The Reply’s equal of Tartarus.
That being mentioned, The Journey and The Reply ought to be packaged collectively within the remake to present Persona 3 and its followers the definitive expertise it deserves. This fashion, gamers can play this basic within the greatest manner attainable and followers can lastly cease arguing about what’s the right technique to expertise Persona 3—although this present day won’t ever come till the Persona 3 Remake is formally confirmed.
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