Persona 3 Reload fixes one of the original’s biggest sins

There has been a lot of legitimate criticism Reload Persona 3The way for not implement Persona 3 portableis the route of the female protagonist in its floor plan New edition. However, we don’t talk enough about one of the few parts of the female protagonist route that has found its way into the modern revival of Atlus’ classic role-playing game: Finally we can spend time with the best boys Akihiko Sanada and Junpei Iori in a way that we haven’t been able to as a male player character.

The first (and only) time I played Persona 3I continued playing the male protagonist route Persona 3 portable. When I had an hour of free rein to play the remake in January, I fell into the same habits I did when playing the original. I go to school, stop by the shops at Paulownia Mall to stock up on supplies, then assemble my party and travel up the endless floors of Tartarus, where I and my friends fight against demonic shadows. But when I had some free time to just hang out with people in the town of Tatsumi Port Island, I was able to hang out with group members Akihiko and Junpei, learning more about their backstories and strengthening our relationship in and out of battle. These are not technically called social links like other relationships in Reload Persona 3

. They’re called “linked episodes” instead, but as far as character development goes, they’re functionally the same thing.

Read more: Practical: Reload Persona 3 Remakes of the only thing that didn’t need to be remade
Pre-order Reload Persona 3: Amazon | Best buy | Humble Bundle

Look back, Persona 3‘s lack of SThe social links for the male party members were confusing in the original game and have only become more ridiculous in hindsight. Even if persona wasn’t brave enough to have a male protagonist form a romantic relationship with its age-appropriate characters (we don’t recognize that). Ken romance The series is primarily about the bonds of friendship. Arbitrarily denying the player the chance to get to know their male cast better felt like heteronormative nonsense.

Fortunately, this senseless neglect of male camaraderie has not been repeated since. Persona 4 And 5 They have social contacts with the male party members, and these relationships feel more natural in terms of building an intimate relationship between close friends, to the point where it felt abruptly that they could not culminate in romantic relationships

. If Reload Persona 3 Had I recreated this oversight, it would have been confusing for newer fans who came after Persona 5And a disappointment for long-time fans like me who never understood why these relationships were exclusive to a female protagonist. We can talk about the visual update, the new voice actors, and the new music, but recognizing these decade-and-a-half-old blind spots is an equally significant update in the remake.

The men of the shadow fighting group SEES were full-fledged characters with no social connections, and I still consider Akihiko and Junpei to be my favorites persona Heroes from the entire series. Reload Take the opportunity to correct an injustice to the original Persona 3 shows how far the series has come… while also underscoring that there is still work to be done when it comes to broadening the view of relationships between men.

At the end of last year Persona 5 Tactics had a scene where the player played as Phantom Thieves leader Joker was capable of expressing romantic feelings for its male cast, even if it didn’t lead to a real romantic relationship. The persona The series hasn’t followed the queer love story route since then Persona 2but in retrospect Persona 3 and has been checking the social link dynamics ever since Reloadit is clear that the series is very slowly is making progress in viewing male intimacy. Persona 4 And 5 Let yourself be reached with your brothers and through the right vulnerability Reload Persona 3, the SEES boys can finally achieve the same closeness. But the natural next step persona I have to be willing to acknowledge that men can be more than just friends too.

personaThe best part is writing about relationships. It revels in everyday and powerful moments, and even though its protagonists are mostly silent, I find myself connecting with each friendship because there’s a seriousness in every social connection that runs through the parts of this series that leave me deeply exhausted. Reload Persona 3 Letting brothers be brothers is a nice acknowledgment that the team got it wrong the first time. I just hope that the way this series handles male relationships continues to evolve in the future persona games.

Reload Persona 3 will be released on February 2nd on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Pre-order Reload Persona 3: Amazon | Best buy | Humble Bundle

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