Persona 3 Reload is under no circumstances a definitive remake of the 2006 unique. It’s lacking the Moveable launch’s feminine protagonist in addition to FES’s epilogue The Reply (though possibly not for lengthy). That mentioned, Reload has lots going for it. A graphical replace, new social hyperlink content material that fleshes out characters, and quality-of-life enhancements make it a good way to expertise Persona 3. One of many undeniably gorgeous options of Reload is its UI, or consumer interface, which is a few of the most stylistically spectacular items of design in any recreation. Although there’s one minor piece of UI design from the unique Persona 3 that’s absent in Reload—and I can’t assist however assume it’s a serious loss for the sport.
All through Persona 3, the theme of loss of life is continually hammered into the participant. This begins with the sport’s opening cinematic and by no means stops. It’s in every single place within the writing, artwork path, and even within the fight programs. This takes the type of an omnipresent use of pistols to symbolize this motif. Hell, P3 requires gamers to summon personas by placing a gun to every character’s head and pulling the set off. No person ever accused this recreation of being refined.
A lot of the participant’s time in Persona 3 is spent exploring the seemingly endless dungeon Tartarus. With a purpose to preserve the participant always enthusiastic about loss of life even within the midst of repetitive fight, the unique Persona 3 included a superb piece of UI design. In battle the participant may select the anticipated choices of Assault, Ability, Objects, and many others. However these have been laid out to the participant in a revolving circle the participant would rotate in an motion meant to recall to mind the revolving barrel of a pistol, with every motion its personal bullet. With a lot of fight together with the usage of the evoker (the persona-summoning pistol) the barrel-like design of the fight UI retains the participant always conscious of how imminent loss of life is for any and all the protagonist’s celebration. In distinction, Reload does away with this visible reference in favor of a way more simplistic interface that maps the controller’s face buttons to distinctive actions. It has a bit extra utility but it surely loses the unique’s thematic relevance. It’s one of many solely locations Reload’s UI looks like a step again.
However what’s even stranger is that the thought of a revolver barrel biking by way of its bullets is current in Reload’s UI, simply not throughout fight. The interface for purchasing and promoting gadgets on the Paulownia Mall Police Station in Reload makes use of a revolver barrel with cylinders representing armor and weapons that cycles by way of when switching between menus. It’s precisely what the fight UI of Persona 3 was, simply within the improper place. Divorcing the revolver motif from fight takes away from the sport’s fixed dread that loss of life is at all times close to. It’s a small tweak, however like lots of the seemingly inconsequential adjustments that Persona 3 Reload makes—be it the removing of the fatigue mechanic or introduction of a extra saturated shade palette—it too usually shies away from the overtly darkish tone that’s so very important to Persona 3 within the first place.
