Persona 3 Reload has a new trailer, and it looks like it's giving the villains a bigger role this time around.
Atlus just debuted a new trailer for Persona 3 Reload earlier today, September 20, and it chiefly focuses on the villains and their goals for the remake. The three antagonists - Takaya, Chidori, and Jin - are (re)introduced here as the group Strega, which wants to stop our group of young heroes from eliminating the "Dark Hour" and vanquishing monsters.
My memory of the original Persona 3 is a little hazy, but this trailer sure implies Strega will have a bigger role in Persona 3 Reload. The villainous group were a little two-dimensional back in the original JRPG, with Chidori being the only memorable one due to her interactions with Junpei, but it looks like Takaya and Jin aren't constantly cackling maniacs this time.
Atlus does have a tendency to flesh out villains in re-releases. Persona 5 Royal gave Akechi a way bigger role than in the original game, to the point where it was actually crucial to hang out with the genius detective if you wanted to see the 'true' end of the 2020 re-release.
In the comments section of the YouTube video above, there's a lot of debate about Elizabeth's voice. Some people are convinced Tara Platt, who played both Mitsuru and Elizabeth in the original game, is back for Persona 3 Reload, while others reckon the character, just like the rest of the cast, has been recast for the new game. There's a lot of speculation, but no answer right now.
Fans have also picked up on a wealth of new cutscenes from the new trailer, not to mention updated combat tricks and animations. We already know Persona 3 Reload is making big changes to romance by making them optional this time around, so it's not unfeasible that its villain arcs could receive a revamp as well.
Persona 3 Reload is finally out next year on February 2 across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Good news if you didn't like the original game's most punishing feature - Social Link breaks aren't a thing in Persona 3 Reload, thank god.
Check out our new games 2023 guide for a look at how the rest of the year's releases are shaking out.
