Summary

  • Persona 3 Reload offers a plethora of romantic options with rewards for investing time in Social Stats and Links.
  • Romancing characters becomes more accessible as the game progresses, providing ample time for Social Stat improvements.
  • The backloaded romance options in Persona 3 Reload may create pacing issues, but players can prioritize relationships.

Persona 3 Reload relishes in what makes modern Persona tremendously immersive: loads of activities throughout different times of the day across a calendar year. Part of these activities is optionally choosing to engage in romantic relationships, whether players wish to pursue one character or multiple, and the way Persona 3 Reload decides to dole out romance is a bit of a slog until it all comes to a head with a lot of choices to be made.

Persona 3 Reload is a faithful remake and therefore has a lot intact from its predecessor. This time around, Persona 3 maintains some modern sensibilities from Persona 5. That said, there are a few advantages and disadvantages regarding Persona 3 Reload’s romances as it’s spread thin at times, while also being highly accommodating and rewarding depending on how players have decided to spend their free time between story beats.

Persona-3-Reload-Best-Gifts-For-Every-Character
Persona 3 Reload: Best Gifts For Every Character

Players wishing to impress their favorite Persona 3 Reload character will need to choose the right gift. Here's what's best to offer per character.

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Persona 3 Reload Likes to Play Hard to Get

Anyone diving coldly into Persona 3 Reload may not presume that more characters become available to romance later on. Specifically, Persona 3 Reload only allows two potential romance options in the beginning with present female party members excluded.

The fact of the matter is that many players will be aware of the ins and outs of Persona 3 Reload thanks to the original coming out in 2006, but the remake is now being introduced to many players who may not have gotten into the series before Persona 5 made as big of a splash as it did. Because players might be going into it believing that close party members can’t be romanced, there’s a ton of catching up to do with characters who only become available as romance options further into the game, which can have positive and negative effects on an oblivious and unguided first playthrough:

Pros:

  • There are no consequences for romancing as many partners as possible. The only real parameter to this still seems to be that a partner should be increased to rank 10 on their Social Link before players attempt to date another character to avoid jealousy and resentment.
  • This is terrific because so many romance options are indeed scattered throughout the calendar year and can’t be courted for a while; Aigis isn’t a viable option until the final month of Persona 3 Reload, for instance, but players don’t need to worry about only pursuing her if they happen to find someone else endearing earlier or find that increasing someone else’s Social Link is rewarding and opportunistic (Aigis also doesn’t have any stat requirements and can be pursued hastily as soon as her Social Link becomes available in January, wherein she’s open to hanging out Monday through Saturday).
  • Even though players aren’t necessarily able to pursue a romantic interest exclusively and as soon as they may prefer, this offers ample time for players to increase their Social Stats or other Social Links in the meantime, which is perfect because there’s always a lot to do at any given time of the day.

Cons:

  • Yukari and Fuuka aren’t available for players to begin courting until nearly the end of summer, while Mitsuru only becomes available near the end of November, and each requires players to have maxed out a respective Social Stat: maxed-out Charm for Yukari, maxed-out Courage for Fuuka, and maxed-out Academics for Mitsuru.

This can obviously be problematic if players were unknowingly under-leveled in a stat that corresponds with a particular character they were hoping to romance—Persona 3 Reload does offer more than enough time for Social Stats to be earned, however, and all romantic Links being available earlier could’ve made that more difficult to achieve.

  • Elizabeth is arguably a romance option, though courting Elizabeth is nontraditional and requires completing requests in exchange for dates instead of Social Link ranks. Still, this occurs over quite a lengthy period of time, too, and is ultimately a transactional relationship due to her catalog of checklist side quests rather than a budding romance.
  • There aren’t many romance options throughout the first half of Persona 3 Reload, leaving Yuko and Chihiro as the only viable choices. Moreover, Yuko and Chihiro are the only romance options available in the game outside of playable party members whom players share a dorm with (with Elizabeth as an exception, though again in a nontraditional way that doesn’t explicitly verge on romance).
  • Depending on how important romance paths are for players to experience, the back half of the game is saturated with them and any non-romantic Social Links can easily fall by the wayside.
  • Aigis doesn’t become a viable romance option before the final playable month, January, which is locked behind the ‘Good’ ending of the game. Therefore, anyone who chooses the ‘Bad’ ending misses out on the final month and consequently a chance to romance Aigis.

Persona 3 Reload Backloads Its Romances at a Cost

Now, since nearly all of the romances are dogpiled in the back half of Persona 3 Reload, it can create an odd pacing issue if that’s a huge draw of the game for players. Essentially the front half of the game then seems like when players needed to be leveling up and increasing other Social Links. Of course, Persona 3 has had more than enough time to marinate and many more players were likely going into Reload knowing that party members Yukari, Mitsuru, Fuuka, and Aigis would all be viable options eventually.

Working toward Charm, Courage, and Academics stats with that in mind instead makes those endgame relationships far more fulfilling, so long as players have the time to spare. Thankfully, though, players don’t need to choose between one romance or another. All that’s left for them to do is decide who they wish to make a priority when they’re given the choice of who to hang out with and when.

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Persona 3 Reload
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9 /10
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Released
February 2, 2024
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Step into the shoes of a transfer student thrust into an unexpected fate when entering the hour "hidden" between one day and the next. Awaken an incredible power and chase the mysteries of the Dark Hour, fight for your friends, and leave a mark on their memories forever.

Persona 3 Reload is a captivating reimagining of the genre-defining RPG, reborn for the modern era.

Experience the pivotal game of the Persona series faithfully remade with cutting-edge graphics, modernized quality-of-life features, and signature stylish UI.

Fully immerse yourself in an emotional, gripping journey with new scenes, character interactions, and additional voiceover.

Choose how to meaningfully spend each day through various activities from exploring the Port Island to forging genuine bonds with beloved characters.

Build and command your optimal team to take down otherworldly Shadows and climb closer to the truth.

ESRB
Mature 17 / Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
Developer(s)
P-Studio
Publisher(s)
Atlus, Sega
Franchise
Persona
Genre(s)
JRPG, RPG, Life Simulation, Strategy
How Long To Beat
65 hours
Persona 3 Reload Press Image 1
10 Images