Persona 3 Reload – Episode Aigis: The Answer: The Kotaku Review
As a “definitive” edition of the phenomenal 2006 RPG, 2024’s Persona 3 Reload was lacking in a few key features like the 2009 PSP port’s female protagonist route. Still, perhaps the most egregious omission was the lack of The Answer, the meaty, playable epilogue that was included in the 2007 Persona 3 FES re-release. Though there’s been some controversy about Atlus making it a paid DLC as opposed to packaging it into the main game, I still find this approach to adding new characters, story, and dungeons at the end of a game I’ve already played preferable to how Atlus went about repackaging Persona 4 and 5. The sequels’ “definitive editions” were added new story and characters interwoven into the original plot, requiring you to rebuy and replay the game to see what was new. Back in the PS2 days, The Answer was a divisive addition to a stellar ending some still argue might not have needed an epilogue in the first place, and a lot of the misgivings I had with the original have been faithfully recreated in Reload. But as a coda to Persona 3, I’m still drawn in by how The Answer unpacks the less glamorous realities of what the original game had to say. Spoilers for the original game follow. — Kenneth Shepard
