Recent leaks, however, have claimed that at least Persona 3 FES’ The Answer – which was an additional story chapter focused on the character Aigis that was roughly 30 hours long – will be coming to the remake as post-launch DLC, and a new datamining leak seems to be corroborating that.

As shared on Twitter by @ruinedsteg0, files found in Persona 3 Reload contain references to “Episode Aigis” and “Episode Aigis BGM Set”, suggesting that some work has been done on Persona 3 FES content for the remake.

As per the datamine leak, Persona 3 Reload will have a full Expansion Pass, entailing six DLC pieces. In addition to the two aforementioned FES DLC pieces, the rest will include new items, costumes, and music, including costumes and music from Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal.

If this is indeed the post-launch plan Atlus has in place for Persona 3 Reload, it will be a notable shift for the series, which has, in the past, traditionally chosen to add new content through entirely new and full-priced re-releases of games, rather than as downloadable additions for released titles. Recently, Atlus also confirmed that it isn’t planning on releasing a Persona 5 Royal-style expanded version of Persona 3 Reload.

Persona 3 Reload is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Leaks have claimed that Atlus also intends to bring it to Nintendo’s rumoured next-gen console.

There will be 6 new pieces of DLC for #P3R #Persona3Reload
*Exploration Item Set
*P4G EX BGM Set
*P5R EX BGM Set
*Velvet Room Costume Set
*Velvet Room BGM Set
*Episode Aigis / The Answer
*Episode Aigis BGM Set

All seemingly under the name "P3R Expansion Pass" pic.twitter.com/g6F6Q1uO3a

— ruinedsteg0 (@ruinedstego) February 3, 2024

As it turns out, according to a prominent Atlus leaker, at least some of that content will be making its way over to the remake in the relatively near future. Over on Twitter, @MbKKssTBhz5 – who has accurately leaked several Atlus announcements in the past, including Persona 3 Reload and Metaphor: ReFantazio – Persona 3 FES’ exclusive story episode, titled The Answer, will be added to Persona 3 Reload as post-launch DLC.

According to the leaker, Atlus has multiple DLC releases planned for the remake, and is planning on releasing it within the 2024/25 fiscal year (i.e. before April 2025). However, though the multiple DLC releases will also include new music and cosmetic, Persona 3 Portable’s most significant piece of exclusive content – a route that lets players play as a female protagonist and adds new story elements – is allegedly not going to be remade for Reload.

Traditionally, when adding significant new content to Persona games, Atlus has chosen to opt for entirely new and separate expanded re-releases rather than simply releasing expansions, from Persona 3 FES to Persona 4 Golden to Persona 5 Royal, so if the company is indeed deciding to change its approach with Reload, that should come as a pleasant surprise to everyone.

@MbKKssTBhz5 has also previously claimed that though Persona 3 Reload isn’t coming to the Nintendo Switch, Atlus intends to bring it to the rumoured Switch 2. Could that release be paired with the game receiving The Answer as an expansion? We’re going to have to wait and see.

Persona 3 Reload launches on February 2 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Multiple DLC is planned and will release within the fiscal year.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) January 31, 2024

The DLC is copying the business model, but not the contents of Lost Judgment DLC. This is an initiative from Sega to expand the longevity of their games.

And there is no FeMC in any of the DLC, this includes cosmetics and music that will be added in part of this DLC.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) January 31, 2024

Speaking to Famitsu, producer Ryota Niitsuma clarified his previous response, discussing which features from the remake would take from the other versions. He said (translation by NoisyPixel), “I want to make sure there are no misunderstandings here.

“Persona 3 Reload was a project meant to recreate the very first Persona 3 for modern platforms. So this means that we will not include the latter story added in Persona 3 FES or the female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable. However, this does not mean that certain elements in the main story added in FES are not included in Reload at all.”

While Ryota didn’t outline “certain elements”, it’s possible that the Social Link for Aigis is included. We could also see various quality-of-life features and improvements from later versions. For instance, being able to select commands for your party members, a feature introduced in Persona 3 Portable, could be seen in the gameplay for Reload.

Time will tell what else has changed, but one thing is for sure: there’s a new cast of voice actors. Persona 3 Reload is out in early 2024 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It’s also launching day one on Game Pass.

IGN spoke to producer Ryota Niitsuma and chief director Kazuhisa Wada about Reload, with the former stating, “So first, I’d like to mention that since the basic concept of the Persona 3 remake was to remake the Persona 3, we don’t have the FES and Portable contents included. We wanted to really genuinely work on recreating the Persona 3 experience.”

While the team couldn’t get into the details yet, Niitsuma said, “We have remade basically everything from scratch as for Persona 3, the original version. So we have newly recorded voices, we have new scenes and events. We also have both new and arranged music. We’ll be kind of releasing that information, following everything. So please look forward to that.”

Of course, Atlus could remake or re-release Persona 3 FES. Persona 3 Portable was re-released for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch last year, after all. Time will tell. As for Persona 3 Reload, the development team wants to update the original game to bring it up to the “same level” as Persona 5.

“So the basic concept of recreating the Persona story was that we wanted to keep everything from the original version, but update everything to the modern day. So at the same level as Persona 5, basically. So we have the newest graphics. We have updated the system to the newest usability… We have the voice lines in [both Japanese and English.] We also have the text available in 13 languages. So you should be able to have similar experiences to that of Persona 5,” said Wada.

Persona 3 Reload launches in early 2024 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It’s also out on day one for Game Pass.

The Persona series has always had its following, but with the release of Persona 5 and its enhanced re-release, Persona 5 Royal, it seems things have been taken to the next level. More people are discovering the franchise, it seems, including its music. Persona has always had some great beats, and now you can get them on select streaming services, though they may be a pain to swift through at the moment.

Seemingly out of nowhere, soundtracks for the various Persona titles appeared on Spotify and Apple Music. It’s not just music for Persona 3-5, either, but many of the various spinoffs such as the Dancing games, Persona Q and Persona 4 Arena. What’s maybe even more surprising is there is also the OST for Persona 2 (if you’re unaware, the style of the series changed significantly with Persona 3, and the first two games are largely ignored), though the first game is still absent.

Unfortunately, as you’ll notice in the links above, despite being available on English storefronts many albums and songs are still in Japanese and are somewhat terribly organized, especially on Spotify. Something similar happened when Square added the Final Fantasy tracks a few years back, which was fixed eventually to make it more manageable, so hopefully this will happen here, too. Still, though, it’s all here even if you have to do some parsing through. It’s unclear at this time if the soundtracks will come to other streaming services such as YouTube Music and Tidal. The next game in the series, Persona 5 Strikers, is set to release on February 23rd on PS4 and Switch.

Atlus has announced that it will hold a super important event for Persona this Friday, May 2, which will also be livestreamed. It will be streamed on Japanese streaming service Niconico, and it is titled Dark Hour TV: Persona Hour, which hints heavily that the announcement will have something to do with Persona 3.

Atlus have already confirmed that they will cover the upcoming Persona 3 movie in this stream, but that they will also be announcing a ‘new project;’ it is not too much of a stretch to assume that the new game will also be related to Persona 3, and that it is probably the definitive edition of the game that until now hasn’t existed (unlike Persona 4, where the definitive edition is Persona 4 Golden on the Vita, Persona 3 has two ‘definitive’ variations- FES, which adds more than 20 hours of additional content to Persona 3, and Portable, which includes nothing that FES adds, but does add a female character with all new Social Links, as well as manual control for your party).

The name ‘Persona 3 Velvet’ has long been rumored on Persona fan sites (which would imply a Vita game- P3V), and it is probably a likely announcement for this event (although it might be something completely unexpected and anti climactic, like a new manga or anime). Whatever it is, we will see. But for now, my fingers are crossed and I am very excited.

[Anime News Network]