Summary
Although Atlus said shortly after its announcement thatPersona 3 Reloadis intended to be largely faithful to the originalPersona 3, the developer has also revealed several changes that the game will undergo. The game has vastly more voice acting than before, the story will receive some updates to better showcase certain character arcs, and Tartarus looks different in a lot of ways too. Recent demo previews ofPersona 3 Reloadhave also shone light on a combat mechanic called Shifting, which lets players pass turns to a teammate after knocking down an enemy by targeting its weakness and getting the usual One More.
Shifting is obviously inspired by theBaton Pass from thePersona 5family of games, which strongly encouraged players to tactically knock down enemies and pass turns to allies, ramping up each party member’s damage over time and getting more access to elemental affinities in any one turn. At the moment, details on Shift are scarce; it’s unclear if it’s quite as flexible as Baton Pass, or if Atlus has imposed new limits on it. Regardless, though, thisPersona 3 Reloadfeature is great news for fans of the IP’s style of combat, since it may be a clue that turn-based battles are here to stay forPersona 6and beyond.
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Given the recent move away from turn-based combat in major JRPG franchises likeFinal Fantasy,Personafans have cause to wonder if Atlus is at all interested in going action-RPG as well. Themusou-style spinoffPersona 5 Strikerswas a success, after all, so Atlus could seize on its formula to makePersona 6a similar hack-and-slash title or some other type of action RPG. However,Persona 3 Reloadis sticking to its turn-based roots, and what’s more, Atlus is clearly intent on innovating within that space.
Atlus' reuse of Baton Pass as Shift inPersona 3 Reloadseems to point to an effort to make the turn-based system better across the franchise, rather than an effort to move towards a different genre. On top of that, Atlus is introducing crucial quality of life features toPersona 3 Reloadthat the original game didn’t have, like the ability to control party members. Rather than a perfectly faithful revival ofP3’s combat,Persona 3 Reloadseems like an attempt from Atlus to combine the classic, relatively basiccombat loop ofPersona 3will some of the franchise’s best modern conventions. Doing so could give the developer the perfect foundation to innovate upon inPersona 6.
UsingPersona 3 Reload’s combat rather thanP5’s as the basis forP6would make sense due toP5’s emphasis on style. Combat inPersona 5is great, but it’s also filled with mechanics like gun attacks and Hold Ups that are specifically designed for its picaresque aesthetic and therefore might not hold up inP6.Persona 3 Reload’s combat, on the other hand, looks like a relatively blank slate that isn’t reliant onP3’s themes. OnceP3Restablishes a more neutral version ofPersona’s modern combat model, Atlus can iterate on it onPersona 6and its successors. In this way,Persona 3 Reloadmight be the new standard forPersonacombat moving forward, cementing turn-based fights as a core facet ofPersonaand providing Atlus a good baseline to experiment with.
Shift may need a little bit of work as the successor to Baton Pass. The flexibility and depth of strategy granted by Baton Pass arguably madePersona 5far less difficult than pastPersonagames, so Atlus may need to place limits on Shift or rebalance enemies to account for this. Still, it’s great to see one ofPersona 5’s most creative mechanicsseemingly become a franchise mainstay, and even better, thatPersonaseems intent on remaining turn-based, given Atlus' continued efforts to improve turn-based combat in each mainline entry.
Persona 3 Reloadreleases June 03, 2025 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
