Persona Updates: Exploring Dorm Life, DLC & Replay in Persona 3 Reload & P5 Tactica!

Over the last two days, ATLUS has released more information about their upcoming games in the Persona franchise. Namely, Persona 3 Reload, a re-imagining of the classic JRPG Persona 3, and Persona 5 Tactica, a Tactical RPG featuring characters from the Persona 5 game. Both of them look fantastic, and the new information just makes us even more excited to get our hands on it!

Persona 3 Reload - Dorm Life, Socializing & DLC

The Persona series has often struck a nice balance between classic JRPG combat and a good social system where you can relax and get to know your friends. Persona 3 Reload is no different in this regard. You'll need to focus on your social stats, such as Courage, Charm, and Academics, which can be increased by studying or doing part-time jobs. Without these social skills, you won't be able to get the most out of your party in combat or experience all that the game has to offer, so make sure you pay attention to them!

When you're not fighting evil Shadow monsters wanting to bite your face off, you'll go and relax in the school's Dorm. Here, you can interact with your schoolmates, do activities to increase the stats mentioned above, and gain abilities that will prove useful in combat.

Speaking of your schoolmates, Persona 3 Reload has updated the social interactions with all the people you can build social links with. Social events now have new and improved illustrations and are fully voice-acted. We also got a nice Behind-The-Scenes video with some of the voice actors featured in these interactions:

On top of all of this, ATLUS has also revealed DLC plans for the game. Those pre-ordering the game will receive a Background Music Set from Persona 4 Golden, letting you listen to its music while you play. We also got a look at the physical Limited Edition, Digital Premium Edition, and Digital Deluxe Edition. Sadly, the physical edition is for Xbox and PlayStation only and isn't available for PC users, but it still looks neat:

Physical Limited Edition: Aigis Edition ($200)

• Base Game (physical version)​
• Collector's Box
• Aigis Figure​
• A gorgeous 64-page art book contains a variety of art from the game, including character illustrations, setting drawings, background art materials, and in-game visual materials!​
• A soundtrack that Includes music from the title by the ATLUS sound team. In addition to Reload versions of songs arranged from "Persona 3", there are also new songs with 60 songs in total, presented on 2 discs.
• Persona 3 Reload DLC Pack Voucher​, which includes all DLC available at launch.​
• Pre-order bonus: Persona 4 Golden BGM Set

Digital Premium Edition ($100):

• Base Game (Digital Version)
• Persona 3 Reload DLC Pack:​ Includes all purchasable additional content for the game. (P5R Phantom Thieves Costume Set, P5R Shujin Academy Costume Set, P5R Persona Set 1, P5R Persona Set 2, P5R BGM Set, P4G Yasogami High Costume Set, P4G Persona Set)​
• Digital Artbook​. Filled with 64 pages of character art, concept art, backgrounds and other illustrations from the game!​
• Digital Soundtrack​. Listen to newly arranged tracks from the original Persona 3 plus all new tracks from Persona 3 Reload, presented by the Atlus sound team for a total of 60 new songs.

Digital Deluxe Edition ($80):

• Base Game (Digital Version)
• Digital Artbook​. App filled with 64 pages of character art, concept art, backgrounds and other illustrations from the game!​
• Digital Soundtrack​ with newly arranged tracks from the original Persona 3 plus all new tracks from Persona 3 Reload, presented by the Atlus sound team for a total of 60 new songs.​

Persona 5 Tactica - Side Quests, Bonus Challenges & New Game+

We're not sure whether "Side" quests is the correct term for this, but we're rolling with it anyway! Throughout Persona 5 Tactica, you'll unlock special stages with unique challenges awaiting you. These might be defeating the enemy team in a single turn or fighting in a stage filled with explosives. These sound like the kind of stages that the developers thought up but couldn't incorporate into the main game due to their somewhat outlandish nature. It might just be a welcome change to the game's usual gameplay from time to time, and of course, you'll also be rewarded handsomely for completing these!

Persona 5 Tactica will also have a "Replay" feature, allowing you to go back and play any stage you've previously beaten. To make this more interesting, each stage will have 3 challenges to beat. These are secondary objectives beyond just winning the stage and will give you additional rewards if you achieve them.

And at the end of it all is New Game+. After clearing the game, you can enter New Game+ mode, which will keep your equipment, Personas, Money, etc., but start you at the beginning of the game. This is so you can replay the game in order to finish your Persona compendium and gain access to new art, such as character illustrations and concept art.

Don't forget that Persona 5 Tactica also has a Digital Deluxe version available for $80, which gives you access to additional weapons, a Persona, and a challenge pack.

Persona 3 Reload is hitting Steam on February 2, 2024, and can be pre-ordered now for $70, while Persona 5 Tactica launches November 17, 2023, and can be pre-ordered now on Steam for $60. Both of these titles are also launching on Xbox Game Pass Day 1. For Steam Deck users, both games have controller support and modest system requirements, making us think it will be very playable.

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