Sega Atlus held the ‘Sega Atlus TGS 2023 Media Briefing’ event at Hurick Hall Tokyo today (20th). At the event, the latest information on Atlus’ new games ‘Persona 3 Reload’, ‘Unicorn Overlord’, and ‘Persona 5 Tactica’ was introduced.
Of the three new titles introduced that day, the most central one was, no matter what anyone said, ‘Persona 3 Reload’. The outside of the Hurick Hall Tokyo exhibition hall, where the event was held, was also decorated with life-size figures and goods of Persona 3 characters, and a private Moonlight Museum school uniform for costumes.
Persona 3 Reload, which has a release date confirmed as February 2, 2024, is a remake that maintains the basis of the game, such as the scenarios and characters that appeared in the original, while improving operability to match the latest hardware, revamping the graphics, and creating completely new visuals. am.
▲ Persona 3 Reload Producer Ryota Niitsuma
Persona 3 Reload producer Ryota Niitsuma, who attended the event, introduced the third PV, which provides a glimpse into the details of the game play, and new design settings for the main characters in the original work, ‘Strega Three’ and ‘Elizabeth’. did. In the original, the Strega trio were limited to the image of simple villains, but in the remake, Reload, they will be portrayed as characters with more depth than just villains. Producer Niitsuma explained that we will be able to learn more about why Strega did what he did, and that all three of Strega’s characters ‘Takaya’, ‘Jin’, and ‘Chidori’ have been reborn as more attractive characters. .
In Reload, a new episode focusing on ‘Strega’ itself, which was not seen in the original, was also added. Producer Niitsuma said that in addition to Chidori, who showed his own story, you will also be able to see the stories of the remaining members, and that he hopes that users who remember the original will also experience a deeper story.
▲ Beyond being a simple villain, ‘Strega’ has been reborn as a more three-dimensional character.
▲ New episodes not seen in the original will also be added.
Following Strega, ‘Elizabeth’, the most popular character in the series, was introduced. For Elizabeth, all illustrations and modeling have been reworked in line with the reload, and new related content will also be available.
▲ ‘Elizabeth’ was also remade with a more beautiful appearance.
After introducing the characters, Persona 3 Reload director Yamaguchi went on stage and played the game himself to talk about various changes that can be seen in the combat content. The one used on this day was a demonstration build scheduled to be unveiled at the TGS booth, and it starts on the first floor of Tartarus. Director Yamaguchi conducted a demonstration with a four-person party consisting of ‘Hero’, ‘Junpei’, ‘Sanada’, and ‘Mitsuru’.
The first change to the battle system is a more detailed Tartarus map. Objects move, changing shape when the player character approaches them, the camera view can now look around every corner up to the ceiling, and there are also objects such as lanterns that can be destroyed to obtain goods. This can be seen as a huge improvement compared to the original, which had to keep climbing the same maze with only the colors slightly changing each time.
▲ Tartarus has become a more elaborate and fun place to explore.
The battle basically maintains the basic structure of ‘exploit the weak point, take the power down, and then attack all out’. At this time, a new ‘Shift’ function was added to transfer the opportunity to attack again to another character. When you shift, characters that can attack weak points are displayed with a separate UI, so you can continue the battle more easily and conveniently without having to worry about which character you should give the attack opportunity to in order to score an effective hit.
‘Diamond Arcana’ has been added as a reward that can be obtained after the battle. If you choose it, it is a useful reward that allows you to receive additional permanent buffs while staying in Tartarus. There are various options for buffs that can be obtained, such as experience buffs and attack power buffs.
If you obtain Arcana rewards more than 7 times, the collection will be filled and ‘Arcana Burst’ will be activated. At this time, you can get more useful and powerful buffs. In this way, in Pathrona 3 Reload, the more you explore the dungeon, the more buffs you get, allowing you to enjoy a more comfortable battle.
▲ After battle, you can now obtain more powerful arcana rewards.
A new skill that can be used during battle, ‘Teurgia’, was also introduced. In the battle UI, you can see a flickering light next to the character’s portrait, and if you fill it up, you can use the powerful Teurgia skill. The Teurgia gauge is usually filled with each attack, but there are different actions that can effectively fill the gauge depending on the character. In the demonstration, Junpei’s Teurgia skill ‘Burst Swing’ was introduced. Burst Swing is a powerful attack skill that inflicts enormous damage ignoring attributes.
In addition, a new ‘rollback’ function has been added to system options. Rollback is a similar function to auto save, and is a function that allows you to return to the previous situation at once when you want to change your choice. Producer Niitsuma introduced that this function was added so that users can conveniently experience various choices without having to go through the hassle of saving and loading repeatedly.
Producer Niitsuma said that it was possible to explore Tartarus more comfortably by adding various user-friendly functions such as assist battles and shift functions while maintaining the essence of ‘punching weak points and defeating them’, and powerful new skills such as Teurgia were also added. Now that it has been added, he said, take advantage of it and experience more refreshing and strategic battles. Persona 3 Reload is scheduled to be officially released on February 2, 2024.
▲ Seeing completely new character illustrations is a fun experience not to be missed.
Meanwhile, at the event, the presentation of ‘Persona 5 Tactica’ was also held, attended by Atlus’ business producer Atsushi Nomura, composer Toshiki Konishi, and vocalist Rin Inaizumi. Producer Atsushi Nomura introduced that Persona 5 Tactica is the first simulation RPG made using the Persona IP, and that it is a truly Persona-like work that incorporates various characteristics of Persona 5.
Composer Toshiki Konishi, who appeared on stage with the producer, introduced the characteristics of the music reflected in Persona 5 Tactica, saying that he put a lot of thought into creating music that matches the deformed character visuals while also making sure it does not feel too light. Lastly, Rin Inaizumi, who has been working as an exclusive singer for the Persona series since Persona 5, said, ‘This is a work that takes on a new challenge,’ and asked people to look forward to the challenges included in Tactica. ‘Persona 5 Tactica’, a new simulation RPG using the Persona 5 IP, will be released on November 17th.
‘Sega Atlus TGS 2023 Media Briefing’ on-site photo
▲ ‘Hurick Hall Tokyo’ where the Sega Atlas media event was held
▲ A 1:1 life-size statue of Aegis greeted visitors.
▲ ‘Aigis Extreme Orgia Mode’ 1/6 scale figure
▲ In addition, you could find exhibits related to P3, such as Moongwanggwan Academy school uniforms.
▲ Various goods will be released to coincide with the release of Persona 3 Reload.
▲ On this day, the presentation included the ’13 Cavalry Defense’ string quartet concert,
▲ There was also a live performance by Rin Inaizumi, who sang the theme song from Persona 5 Tactica.
