Persona 5 Tactica Sets One Precedent That Persona 3 Reload Should Follow

Highlights

• Persona 3 Reload is the first Persona remake, and it won’t include additional content at launch, but can still receive DLC later, like Persona 5 Tactica.
• Persona 5 Tactica is a spin-off with a unique art style and includes story DLC called “Repaint Your Heart” that is higher quality than any other DLC in the franchise.
• Persona 3 Reload needs a new approach to DLC and should consider adding content as paid DLC rather than releasing full-price re-releases, following the model set by Persona 5 Tactica.

Persona 3 Reload is the next game in the beloved JRPG franchise, hot off the heels of Persona 5 Tactica. P3R is something of an oddball in the series. It is the first Persona remake, so it has had several dilemmas to navigate. While the series is new to remakes, it has long featured enhanced re-releases, typically one for each entry. Persona 3 stands out from this because it received two separate re-releases, FES and Portable. Persona 3 Portable had a unique female protagonist, and Persona 3 FES contained an added epilogue called “The Answer.” P3 Reload will not include either of these additional pieces of content at launch, but it could follow an example set by Persona 5 Tactica and let fans get them later.

Persona 5 Tactica, unlike Persona 3 Reload, was not a mainline game, but it was still developed in-house by Atlus. Many things set P5T apart from mainline entries in the series and even other spin-offs. The game has a unique art style and translates the Phantom Thieves into the tactical strategy genre. Another thing that is unique to Persona 5 Tactica is its inclusion of story DLC. “Repaint Your Heart” is higher quality and more substantial than any other DLC for the Persona franchise.

Content Included in ‘Repaint Your Heart’

• The addition of Akechi and Kasumi as party members
• A new kingdom
• Additional story content
• Challenge stages

Perona 3 Reload Needs a New Approach to DLC

Persona has a DLC problem seen in multiple spin-offs and Persona 5. P5 Royal has over 40 DLC packs, but not a single one adds to the story. Most of these add personas from previous games, costumes for characters, and occasionally music. These packs are, at best, simple fan service. Many of the personas disrupt the game’s balance and are unusable for much of the experience as a result. The series’ lack of meaningful DLC is a real shame, especially when Atlus re-releases each game for full price with fixes and added story content. This isn’t inherently problematic, but it feels like a relic of past times, and P5T‘s story DLC stands out as a result.

Title Updates Are Outdated

Title updates, like the ones that Persona games receive, are largely outdated. The practice used to make sense in the pre-internet era, but now most gamers have their devices hooked up to the web. There is no reason for new content and enhancements to be repackaged and sold exclusively at full price. Street Fighter 5 was repackaged multiple times but allowed players to acquire the new content in updates and as DLC rather than buy a new game. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is being released as a new game but has an upgrade option for owners of the original to get it for a lower price. Both of these practices have become common, and Persona should adopt a similar approach to additional content before fans get tired of buying each game multiple times.

Persona 5 Tactica Could be a Model For Persona 3 Reload

“Repaint Your Heart” is more substantial than any previous Persona DLC. It adds new playable characters that do not disrupt balance as well as new story content. The availability of this content as paid DLC rather than as part of a new release sets it apart from other games in the franchise. Persona 3 Reload is already being questioned as the definitive version of P3 because of its lack of content from FES and the female protagonist. Reintroducing them as DLC rather than adding them in full-price re-release could help to resolve some of the disappointment around this content’s exclusion from the base game.

Persona 5 Tactica‘s approach to DLC is more modern and consumer-friendly than that of other games in the franchise, and it should serve as a turning point. Persona 3 Reload has additional content that fans are requesting before the game is even released and could serve as a platform for Atlus to show off a new philosophy for DLC. Other Atlus games have also suffered from a glut of frivolous DLC in the past, so hopefully, the change in pace set by P5T is adopted by other games from the company as well, such as the upcoming Metaphor: ReFantazio.