When I was in high school I fell in love with Persona 3. I would constantly watch trailers of the Japanese version and read anything I could find on Persona 3 just to bide my time. I mean come on! The idea of being a high schooler, fighting demons, summoning them in a rather odd way, and having relationships during school just made Persona 3 seem right up my alley and I can guarantee I wasn’t alone.

When Persona 3 finally released I played for days and when I beat it, I almost immediately went in again! Then when Persona 3: FES—an updated version of the original—was announced and finally came out and added an epilogue to one of my favorite JRPGs of all time…you can imagine my excitement. Decades later, we got Persona 3: Reload, and as a fan, on day one I was playing and was a bit saddened about one thing….the missing epilogue known as The Answer.

ATLUS must have heard the collective cries of the fans and calmed everyone down by quickly announcing it would be released but as a DLC. Well, folks, the wait is over, and our Persona 3: Reload’s DLC has come not as The Answer but as a more appropriately titled epilogue, Episode Aigis. Here’s our review of Persona 3: Reload- Episode Aigis! Grab your Evokers and armbands, shadows are coming once more!

Groundhog’s Day Revamped!

Persona 3: Reload takes place shortly after the events of Persona 3: Reload, which is why it’s an epilogue, after all. After the (BIG SPOILER) “death” of the protagonist, the SEES team has finally begun to move on and with the Dark Hour gone, their persona using days seems to be moving along as well.

Unfortunately, their struggles aren’t over yet when they realize March 31st seems to be looping, and worse yet, another robot like Aigis shows up calling herself Metis, the sister of Aigis. Add to the extreme craziness, a strange door opens in the dorm leading them to the “Abyss of Time” where they will soon learn what happened to their leader, what shadows really are, and why this is all happening in the first place!

Episode Aigis—or The Answer for those used to that title from FES—isn’t a necessary element to Persona 3: Reload but is one that, more or less, gives closure to the players via a true ending of sorts. It equally assumes you have played Person 3: Reload to its completion—since you oddly enough don’t need to in order to play—as this DLC doesn’t hold your hand.

Even if you export your clear data from the base game, you aren’t entering Episode Aigis with your level 99 characters and advanced gear. Fuuka quickly tells her team that they have all grown considerably weaker—back to level 25—and that makes Episode Aigis a true test of your Persona 3: Reload skills. You’ll need those skills too as some things have changed from the base game.

However, don’t expect many changes…

Enter the Abyss

The Abyss of Time is similar to Tartarus in its layout and designs. Players now take control of Aigis—who for story purposes has gained the ability to use multiple persona like the protagonist—and must take down shadows with her chosen SEES members.

Reminiscent of the base game, your team must survive various shadows—and bosses—but that doesn’t mean Episode Aigis isn’t without its surprises. You won’t be surviving school tests or quizzes like before but you’ll have to survive some rather tough enemies that aren’t a joke. You can always utilize the extremely overpowered DLC Persona but even they won’t be one hitting enemies on Hard, which is what we played Persona 3: Reload- Episode Aigis on.

Exploring will take a lot of micromanaging of your items and team, and not always taking risks as death is a lot faster to come in Episode Aigis.

Groundhog’s Day Revamped…Wait did I say that before?

The major weakness of Persona 3: Reload- Episode Aigis is that feeling of déjà vu you’ll get almost immediately. Maybe months have passed since the base game was released and I do miss hearing that incredible OST—which has been remixed in a great way—begin the moment I hit the shadow and start the battle. It only took three battles before I felt like I was doing the same thing I did only recently.

Again, Episode Aigis is a DLC that fleshes the story out but don’t expect an entirely new game. You’re still running around eliminating shadows, talking with your team, and dealing with the story but just with a new character and Aigis in the shoes—robot feet—of their former leader. You’ll also notice that while The Abyss of Time certainly has more designs than in FES, it repeats just like Tartarus does.

Episode Aigis is a bit shorter than The Answer from FES but you’ll be staying for the story not for the familiar level grinding you will need to do…especially to beat the final boss this time around.

Burn My Dread Baby!

While the gameplay hasn’t changed that much and the visuals are still incredible but also largely unaltered, the soundtrack has got a nice change with remixed battle themes and a new opening song! I won’t deny I liked the original FES opening a tad more than Episode Aigis’s OP, this new theme song fits the overall aesthetics of Episode Aigis.

The OST does throw a few tunes from the past but overall this remixed OST hits and made me use my headphones while playing!

Persona 3: Reload- Episode Aigis is one of those DLCs that you will either need in your life right this second or not, simple as that. I loved that ATLUS ensured fans got a proper epilogue and one that gave closure to the cast of Persona 3. Many of you might argue that the price tag—which is $34.99—could be a deal breaker, I assure Episode Aigis is a love letter to fans and worth the price tag. Even if the battles feel eerily similar and the exploration is even simpler than Persona 3: Reload, I still loved the revelations you learn playing through Aigis and her fellow friends. Don’t hesitate to buy Persona 3: Reload- Episode Aigis if you need more Persona 3 Reload and or just want an incredible DLC to pass the time till ATLUS’s Metaphor: ReFantazio releases in several weeks!

—Aaron