It’s been almost two decades since Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 was released for the original PlayStation 2 – and that game turned out to be a critical darling and hit that has spun off into its own franchise of games and spin-offs that have since become fan favorites for anyone who loves Japanese role-playing and adventure games. Thanks to its immersive storyline, cool aesthetic design, and absolutely stylish presentation and music, this game has stood the test of time and is commonly considered one of the best games ever made for that console generation. It comes as no surprise then that Atlus and SEGA have decided to bring that game back for a new audience – and the end result is the newly released Persona 3 Reload – a remake that combines the same story fans have loved about P3 and its update Persona 3 Portable along with the modern aesthetics and gameplay improvements first introduced in Persona 5.
Thanks to Atlus SEA and Sega Asia, I was able to attend the launch party of Persona 3 Reload over at TNC High Grounds Café over at Tomas Morato, Quezon City last February 2nd. Featuring tons of P3R posters, tarps, and standees alongside an impressively large gaming room with state of the art PCs, lucky fans and media who were invited to this event were treated to some fun and excitement to hype up the release of this highly anticipated remake of the 2006 Japanese role-playing game. With Key Opinion Leader guests and celebrities such as Myrtle Sarrossa, Gloco Gaming, Een Mercado, Cholo Tolentino, and Nyaati joining in and suited up as some of the characters from the game, there was plenty of good times and activities to engage in – with the most important one of course getting to play Persona 3 Reload itself and try out the game with any of the PC units inside the gaming room floor!
To accommodate the many guests invited to the cafe, the organizers split attendees according to sessions – with 12nn, 3pm, and finally 5:45pm divided among the number of people coming to the collaboration event. Besides playing the game first hand, KOLs had interactive sessions with the guests – engaging in a trivia quiz game and a Persona 3 Reload battle where prizes were given out to the winners who came out on top of each contest! There was also a lucky draw raffle – where participants of each session stood a chance to win either a PC Keyboard, PC Mouse, and an Xbox Series X console to take home!
Overall, I can genuinely say I enjoyed my time visiting the Persona 3 Reload café. It was fun to see friends and fellow media colleagues enjoying a very colorful event filled with activities and music selected from the very impressive funky jazz soundtrack, featuring songs like “Full Moon Full Life” and “Mass Destruction” blaring out in the speakers and getting gamers like myself into the mood and excited to play the game! Persona 3’s back and coming out better than ever!
Persona 3 Reload is now available for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.