10 Best RPGs Of 2024
7. Persona 3 Reload
Yes, Persona 3: Reload wasn't quite the complete Persona 3 package, missing the female protagonist and 30-hour expansion pack of previous versions. But even with those features taken out, Persona 3: Reload still offers the best version of one of the greatest JRPGs ever made.
Developers ATLUS have come a long way in the seventeen years since the original Persona 3 released, and Reload injects the base game with nearly twenty years of game design evolution. The previously cumbersome combat is now a genuine delight to indulge in, the soundtrack has been remixed and added to with some genuine belters ("Color Your Night" in particular), and the new writing and voice acting do justice to P3's unforgettable story.
That last point is an important one, as Persona 3's story is what earns it a lofty position in the JRPG pantheon. Time has failed to dull the edges of the Persona series' most emotionally devastating entry, and the reworked script manages to make key scenes even more heartbreaking than they were in the original.
Persona 3 was the game that kickstarted ATLUS journey to the top of the JRPG food-chain, and P3: Reload does a great job showing modern audiences what they missed out on back in 2007. And for P3 veterans, it's like seeing an old friend who's aged brilliantly, and still tells the best stories (albeit ones you'll need a box of tissues for).