It was just about inevitable. Ever since Persona 3 Reload hit retailer cabinets, the hints that it will get The Reply—the epilogue Atlus bolted onto authentic Persona 3’s 2007 re-release—have been, properly, too direct to name “hints”.
First up, there was a datamine that prompt the sport had six upcoming DLC packages deliberate, after which individuals began beating the sport on its hardest problem, which gave you a particular merchandise whose description learn “The reply illuminates my path.” It was not delicate.
Properly, Atlus formally introduced The Reply is coming throughout yesterday’s Xbox Accomplice Preview, alongside further background music and costumes as a part of the brand new Persona 3 Reload: Growth Go.
Dive into the Persona 3 Reload: Growth Go with this particular message from Persona 3 Reload Producer, Kazuhisa Wada! 💙The ultimate chapter, Episode Aigis -The Reply-, arrives in September 2024!Purchase the Persona 3 Reload: Growth Go on March 12: https://t.co/tT1Kgbf3Fv pic.twitter.com/pQrrIW9P1YMarch 7, 2024
But it surely’s The Reply that issues. Within the authentic epilogue, you play as Aigis—your shadow-slaying android celebration member from the bottom recreation—as she makes an attempt to uncover the reality (“the reply,” geddit?) behind simply what the heck occurred on the finish of the principle story. It wasn’t particularly well-liked initially—there wasn’t a lot of the social sim stuff that makes Persona Persona—however it’s a key factor of the P3 story, and its exclusion made P3R really feel like a less-than-definitive remake.
Now it is coming this September, which is nice. P3R will formally develop into the definitive telling of protagonist Makoto Yuki’s story. There’s nonetheless one obvious absence, although: Persona 3’s different protagonist, the feminine participant character (FeMC) Kotone Shiomi. Shiomi was solely playable as a part of Persona 3 Moveable—the sport’s visible novel adaptation for the PSP—however she’s a fan favorite, and has even cropped up in different Persona stuff just like the 3DS recreation Persona Q2.
Alas, it appears increasingly more seemingly that Shiomi is doomed to remain the place she is, and that the discharge of P3P on trendy platforms final yr is all Atlus will do to maintain her alive. On some degree, I get it. Placing Shiomi in P3R would imply all-new animations, UI, voice performing, and fully new social hyperlinks: a complete different model of an already big recreation. It would be an enormous deal, in different phrases, and doubtless past the scope of a DLC.
I am unable to assist however really feel disenchanted, although. I appreciated enjoying as Shiomi so much, and a few of her social hyperlinks are straight-up higher than her male counterpart’s (some are, ah, decidedly worse, and sure I am speaking about Ken). I suppose I am going to need to content material myself with the truth that P3R’s PC launch means modders can at the very least do her justice.