Almost two decades after the original release on the PlayStation 2 in 2006, players will get a chance to revisit Gekkoukan High School with the 2024 remake Persona 3 Reload. To learn more about what fans can expect from the HD reimagining, Siliconera spoke with producer Ryota Niitsuma and Director Takuya Yamaguchi to discuss their approach to remaking a classic JRPG while sticking faithfully to the game’s original vision.
Brent Koepp: When did work on Persona 3 Reload begin?
Ryota Niitsuma, Takuya Yamaguchi: The development of Persona 3 Reload started at the end of 2019 and finished in 2023.
With Persona 3 Reload being a modern remake, how did the team determine what changes would be made to the story?
Niitsuma, Yamaguchi: In terms of story, we made sure to bring in the main story from the original Persona 3. So I think anybody who is worried that we have changed things around too much can feel safe to know that it’s the full main story.
Which new gameplay feature in Persona 3 Reload were you most excited to implement, and what measures did you take to ensure it fit in with the existing content?
Niitsuma, Yamaguchi: So, for Persona 3 Reload, we were able to flesh out the game in many ways. First of all, in terms of story, we didn’t change the main story, but we added in new side stories that will bring out the uniqueness of the game’s characters and really highlight the interesting parts of the story. In terms of gameplay, we added a feature called Theurgia, which is kind of like a special powerful technique for each character that they all have. And this makes battles feel completely new and extra fun. When making Persona 3 Reload, we used all the stuff we picked up from previous Persona games. For example, we put in something very similar to the Baton System from Persona 5 called the Shift System. So, in the end, we kind of added a lot from the different Persona games.
How much can fans expect Persona 5 to have influenced Persona 3 Reload?
Niitsuma, Yamaguchi: So with Persona 3 Reload, in a lot of ways we’ve basically taken all the know-how and things we learned since Persona 5. And we put those experiences into Reload. So, in that sense, we added a lot of input from Persona 5 when creating the remake.
Which Persona 3 character did you enjoy working on the most in Reload?
Niitsuma: For me, it’s really hard to pick because all the characters are so much fun to work on. They are all just really awesome. I think if I had to choose, it would be Koromaru the dog. I mean, it was a lot of fun to work on him, and I have a dog at home, too. I was able to use that experience of having a dog and talking to it, or being like a “dog would act this way or do this certain thing!” So, using that experience was great.
What was is it like working with Lotus Juice again to revisit his work on Persona 3?
Niitsuma, Yamaguchi: For me, Lotus Juice is a really important part of the Persona series as a whole. And so I think having him in Persona 3 Reload was important. It was really great having the chance to work with him.
Persona 3 Reload is a massive remake with many new features. What went behind the decision to not bring back Fem MC from the Persona 3 FES?
Niitsuma, Yamaguchi: So this is a question we’ve thought about a lot. And in the end, we kind of decided that the best thing we could do was to put all our efforts into making as perfect as we can a remake of the original game.
Persona 3 Reload will be released on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S starting February 2, 2024.
