The battle system uses the tried and true turn-based Shin Megami Tensei from every Persona game. You need to use attacks enemies are weak against to enable your team to dogpile in and beat them to a pulp with an all-out attack.

The structure and progression within Tartarus has not been altered from the original game whatsoever, but has been expanded with more environmental variety to encourage exploration, and sports unique visual effects accomplished by the game's use of Unreal Engine 4, such as improved lighting. The fatigue mechanic has been completely removed to reflect subsequent entries, making it so that the party is unable to tire during exploration, thus no longer affecting their battle performance. Each floor within Tartarus also houses breakable objects in the form of fire effigies that can be swung at to obtain hidden treasure and items.

The Velvet Room is what connects daily life and dungeon life together. This section gives a brief introduction to its services. The Velvet Room offers the following resources to use during the game.

A dog who awakens to the power of Persona after a tragic event. Since his original owner—the priest of the dorm's neighboring Naganaki Shrine—had passed away, the protagonist and friends take him in as a full-fledged member of SEES.

Also, the Fatigue system from the original game is now completely gone in Persona 3 Reload. Fatigue was a mechanic from the original Persona 3, which inflicted debilitating status effects that severely weakened party members in battle.

On a side note, if you grew up playing the original Persona 3’s English dub version, you may recognize some familiar voices making nostalgic cameos in the remake amidst the NPCs.

Of course, I can’t talk about Persona 3 Reload’s presentation without giving a shout-out to the soundtrack. Persona 3’s beloved hip-hop and rap-rock soundtrack has been remastered for Persona 3 Reload and even features a couple of new songs.

The last major gameplay component to receive a revamp in Persona 3 Reload is the turn-based combat system. For starters, it has incorporated the quality-of-life improvements from Persona 3 Portable, which allow you to directly control all of your party members instead of being driven by incompetent AI like in the PlayStation 2 version of Persona 3, making combat much less frustrating to sit through.

The story was more captivating thanks to the improved writing and new scenes and the characters were more endearing. Also, the combat system and dungeon crawling were faster-paced and more fun to play.

Big heartfelt scenes, intense battle cries, and moments of levity have a newfound enthusiasm while sounding so familiar, as if these were their voices all along. I’d crack a smile at all their little quips and feel my stomach knot when they pour their hearts out. Although the main story hasn’t really changed, the portrayal of characters I’ve known for so long gave me a new persona 3 reload gameplay love and appreciation for my favorite Persona crew.

In addition, while the standard version will just have the game, the Digital Deluxe Edition will include a digital artbook and a digital soundtrack for this remake.

Not to mention that spending time with party members in Linked Episodes will reward you with healing items to help you survive longer in battle.

There are three Status Parameters that are exclusive to Joker. They have six ranks each, and they need to be at a specific rank to take certain actions or to rank up certain Social Links. They can be ranked up in a variety of ways.

As the calendar year progresses, you’ll also fight against tough bosses on set days, progressing the story and potentially unlocking new party members.