While some may be chomping at the bit for the much-anticipated Persona 6, or any official announcement as such, ATLUS has been spending time over the past few years not only remastering, but completely remaking their original PlayStation 2 era releases in the series. While in the future this will entail Persona 4 Revival, with expectations of a 2026 launch, these plans were realised for its predecessor last year with the release of Persona 3 Reload on PlayStation, Xbox and PC.
After a year and a half of waiting, those who favour Nintendo consoles finally have the opportunity to dive into the game, with Persona 3 Reload now available for the Nintendo Switch 2. While my full original review is available to read if you wish to learn whether the remake is worth your time (tl;dr: It is!), this mini-review aims to examine the performance on the Nintendo Switch 2 and whether this version is ultimately worth picking up.
The actual content on offer in Persona 3 Reload for Nintendo Switch 2 doesn’t differ much from the original console release last year. Upon purchase of the base edition, you get the core original experience featuring the members of S.E.E.S. scaling the tower of Tartarus and balancing that against the school life element, which has defined the ‘modern Persona’ experience. It should be noted that despite releasing well after the original release, this is not akin to a “GOTY” release or anything along those lines, so any DLC released for the game – including costumes, crossover Personas, and the epilogue chapter Episode Aigis: The Answer – all come at an additional cost. Sadly, they also decided to make the P4G BGM Set DLC a limited pre-order bonus, once again making iconic songs such as “Reach Out to the Truth” pretty much impossible to acquire now.
The prominent new inclusion with the release of Persona 3 Reload on the Nintendo Switch 2 is eight music tracks featuring the original vocalist of Persona 3, Yumi Kawamura. These are carry-over tracks from the original games, serving as an alternative musical option to the newly recorded tracks featuring Azumi Takahashi. The songs on offer include the two versions of Mass Destruction, Burn My Dread -Last Battle-, When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars and Brand New Days, among others, although they can only be applied as dungeon background music or battle themes. However, those on other consoles have also been able to obtain these tracks at no charge via a recent free update.
Graphically, the releases on other platforms are at least a smidgeon better, but of course, with the trade-off of not necessarily being portable experiences – something that the Nintendo Switch 2 offers. The FPS is also locked to a consistent 30fps, which makes the experience less smooth. Ultimately, though, Persona 3 Reload has always been a visually appealing game, with a strong 3D anime aesthetic, but it has never been particularly graphically intensive. Therefore, at the end of the day, if you have opted to play the Nintendo Switch 2 version, you won’t be receiving a substantially inferior experience.
After finally releasing Persona 3 Portable on the Nintendo Switch in 2023, it is good to see that ATLUS is now able to provide the remastered experience on a Nintendo console, albeit through a new console release. While it is still arguably not the definitive edition, even with DLC, the release still opted not to include the Female MC experience exclusive to Portable. If you haven’t dived into what Persona 3 Reload has to offer, this may now be your chance, as we continue our waiting game for a new instalment.
Playtesting for this review was conducted on a digital Nintendo Switch 2 copy of Persona 3 Reload, with a review code provided by Australian distributor Five Star Games.
Persona 3 Reload is now available to purchase on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2.
