Persona 3 Reload shows there's still a novelty to balancing normal life and relationships with the duties of defeating shadows in the Dark Hour – a mysterious 25th hour where time stops as monstrous forces come out, humans turn into coffins, and your school transforms into a deranged 250-floor tower.

For me, the most potentially exciting changes to life outside of hunting Shadows were made inside the dorm that make it feel like the main character actually co-exists there with a half-dozen classmates. The rooftop, the kitchen, Fuuka's DVD player, and the bookshelf are all now available to use in one's free time for gardening, cooking, or watching movies, or reading with a friend or reading to improve your three character traits.

Alas, it was not meant to be. So, for all you newcomers out there, make sure to keep the main character at all costs to prevent yourself from an unnecessary ‘game over’.

For the most part, the story of Persona 3 Reload is very faithful to the original game. However, without going into spoiler territory, the remake has included many new scenes that provide new world-building lore details to the world of Persona 3 and new side stories focused on your party members called Linked Episodes.

But as shallow or awkward as some of them may be, there are valuable little stories to be found in Social Links that either feed into the broader message about finding purpose or are just entertaining enough to see to their conclusion.

Each of these can help boost your social links with your fellow dorm-mates but also increase stats such as Academics and Charm. This is all in addition to the social links from previous versions.

, you choose who you are, how you fight and what you do to write a tale of your own, through and through.

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Some floors are linear corridors like in the original, while others are now labyrinthine-like mazes in which you could become lost if you’re not using the map persona 3 reload gameplay correctly. 

You will receive a variety of messages throughout the game. Some of these will be story related, while others will post reminders on when certain Social Links, Linked Episodes and jobs are available. You can use these messages to teleport directly to that location.

One of the biggest reasons why everything comes together so powerfully in Reload, specifically, is the way the new voice cast brings its characters to life. I cannot overstate how the fantastic voice performances perfectly capture the original spirit of each party member, then elevate them to become even better versions of themselves. It’s impressive considering how distinct each voice was to begin with, but right from the jump, I knew this cast had nailed each role.

So, let's jump right into everything there is to know about Persona 3 Reload - covering the release date, what platforms you can play it on, the latest trailers showing off its gameplay, and more for the remake. 

By pressing the Touch Pad, you can bring up Network Functions. Network Functions show what other players have spent time on that day, as well as what they answered for classroom questions.

Even the side characters you interact with through the game’s Social Link events get this treatment, as every major Social Link event is now fully voiced for the first time in the Persona series.