Persona 3 Reload Can Honor the Female Protagonist By Using…

Even if Persona 3 Reload doesn't bring back its female protagonist, it can pay tribute to her in the story in an important way. Persona 3 Reload should have the opportunity to upgrade Persona 3 into an even better version of itself, even with the game seeing multiple remakes already. Although the game does seem to be preparing a back to basics approach, that doesn't mean that the game shouldn't bring any new ideas to the table. There's one way that one of the best improvements P3P's female protagonist can return while helping the story in the process.

As soon as the announcement of Persona 3 Reload was first made, one of the first topics of discussion was how the game would differ from Persona 3's other remakes. Persona 3 FES: The Answer added some quality of life changes as well as a new campaign that takes place after the original, the titular Answer storyline. Meanwhile, Persona 3 Portable made even more dramatic changes, with the most notable one being a new female protagonist, complete with some unique Social Links that weren't in the original. Considering how many forms Persona 3 has taken on, it's fair to wonder what will be special about Reload, but paying special attention to the female protagonist would help.

Persona 3 Reload Could Use One of Persona 3 Portable's Storyline Touches

Due to the recent ports of Persona 3 Portable, that game and its female protagonist option are likely fresh in the minds of many fans. While Persona 3 Portable did sacrifice the Protagonist's ability to use any weapon type, it had its own set of upgrades. In Persona 3, the player strangely couldn't establish Social Links with the male party members with the male protagonist, while the female protagonist could do so with all of them. For this reason, the female protagonist's version of the story was seen as superior by many, since it made the party members feel more important.

Even if every change isn't reintroduced, there is one major difference unique to Persona 3 Portable that Persona 3 Reload could benefit from. The main story of Persona 3 ends with the main character on the verge of death after defeating the boss, going through their last day of school and seeing their party members and Social Links one last time. However, P3P has the extra feature of letting the player choose which character they spend their last moments with. It could be the protagonist's best friend, or even their lover, but the scene is heartbreaking no matter who is chosen.

This change to the story's end was an incredible improvement on the original, and it probably wouldn't take a big change for Persona 3 Reload in order to add it. It's already been shown that the game can handle this kind of choice, so there isn't much of a reason to ignore it aside from trying to be strict to the original. Even then, there are already some changes for Persona 3 Reload that have been announced that will differentiate it from the game's original form. Remakes are supposed to improve on the original, and Reload has the perfect opportunity to do so with the story.

Persona 3's ending is the saddest in the series, especially after such a hard final boss, but P3P's added touch made it feel more worthwhile. Persona 3 Reload's new gameplay details can add a lot to the original formula, but the little touch that Persona 3 Portable gave to the ending deserves to make a return as well. That way, players will be sure to finish the game alongside the character they bonded with the most, adding to the ending's sentimentality. Persona 3 Reload won't be Persona 3 Portable, but it can reuse one of its best ideas.