The Lords were live at the Anime NYC Convention show floor. During the convention, Lord Sonic got a closer look at Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis, a DLC expansion coming to Persona 3 Reload.
What is Episode Aigis?
While remaking Persona 3 with Reload, the team at Atlus was looking into adding as much as possible for the remake. Despite having major quality-of-life refinements over the original Persona 3, including specific content from FES and Portable, among other additions, some content did not make the final release.
One such piece of content was the Persona 3 FES epilogue content The Answer. This epilogue to Persona 3 explored the aftermath of that title, giving closure to the S.E.E.S. team members, with Aigis being the focal character.
Speaking to the Atlus/SEGA rep at the Anime Expo booth, they told me the team behind Persona 3 Reload used this fan feedback to get additional support in funding this near-thirty-hour expansion to the early 2024 release.
The premise has the team at S.E.E.S. get trapped in a time loop, with Aigis awakening to not only abilities the prior protagonist had but also to a sister named Metis showing up and claiming to know a way out. As someone familiar with the original narrative of The Answer, I was assured by the Atlus/SEGA rep that the core narrative remained intact, just with the new voice cast from Reload adding their vocal talents to the script. Also worth noting, is the dialog for the core narrative is also, unchanged from the original The Answer.
Release Window
Episode Aigis is set for launch on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on September 10th. When asked about this release window, specifically in regards to the upcoming Metaphor ReFantazio, I was told an interesting answer.
The Atlus/SEGA rep told me that development overlapped and the decided release date is what worked best for both projects. In addition, I asked about a potential Switch version, or Switch 2 release for Persona 3: Reload, considering other titles in the series came to Nintendo platforms. I was given a non-commital answer but interest was expressed.
Considering the Switch 2 is rumored to be a good deal more powerful than the original Switch, a release on that for Reload and Episode Aigis is more likely.
Demo Impressions
The demo I played, which ran on high-end gaming PC’s using Hyte-Persona 3-themed casing, had me running through two floors of a dungeon, ending with a mini-boss fight leading to the Abyss of Time.
If you played Persona 3 Reload, much of the gameplay mechanics are familiar. The only major difference is not within the battles themselves, but dungeon exploration itself. Unlike Reload, where your character had a multi-hit slash attack that could break objects or ambush Shadows, Aigis is locked to using her mini-gun fingers.
When shooting, you are locked in place. Breaking objects or ambushing Shadows only is effective if a lock-on cursor appears. This presents a unique wrinkle into the dungeon crawling, as you could have an easier time ambushing Shadows from a distance. However, you are left open with little window to recover if another one is behind you.
Similar to the base Reload experience, I would imagine Aigis can get upgrades giving her more movement options when in dungeons but that isn’t confirmed. Something also worth noting was the difficulty, with the options present in Reload carrying over into Episode Aigis. This is important to bring up, with the difficulty in the original The Answer release infamously being very challenging, even when compared to the base release of Persona 3.
Closing Thoughts
My time with the demo was what I expected it to be, more quality Persona content to enjoy. But talking with the Atlus/SEGA rep, they showed a clear love for the cast and world of Persona. Giving back to the community was a big point they conveyed to me during my talk with them. When asked if that was a reason why they partnered with Xbox for Episode Aigis to be free content for Game Pass Ultimate users, they told me giving back to the loyal fans was part of the decision.
The love for the Persona series was felt all across the Anime Expo, with amazing cosplays of the series’ iconic characters all over, with some even being on the line with me while I waited to play the demo. If you want to learn more about Persona 3 Reload, check out our review of the game here.
In addition, the ambush battle theme ‘Don’t’ was released publically on music platforms. And if you want to get your PC ready for the expansion, check out all the Persona 3 Reload-themed products Hyte has with this link. Stay tuned for more Anime NYC 2024 coverage!
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[…] item missing from Reload that was included in FES that would have made it more complete was The Answer. An epilogue that deals with the aftermath of the story in Persona 3 and was recently given the […]
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