It has been seven months since the game’s release, and now players can finally experience The Answer courtesy of the Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis DLC. This is a big deal as the original version of The Answer has never gotten an official release after its initial launch as part of the PS2’s Persona 3 FES.
While the base game tells a complete story, The Answer features a meaty new campaign that aims to enhance the overall story thanks to how it grapples with Persona 3’s bittersweet ending. On the flip side, its gameplay is quite different from the core loop of a Persona game as it’s pretty much focused on the dungeon exploration and combat aspect without the social elements.
The previous release of The Answer was well-received by fans, though many noted how difficult and grind-y the gameplay got. So, is the remake of The Answer a better overall experience than the original? And is it worth playing for those who haven’t played the original FES version? Here’s what we think.
What has Changed
If Reload is your first time experiencing The Answer, here’s a quick history lesson. Persona 3 was originally released for the PS2, and soon after, Persona 3 FES was released. FES is essentially an enhanced version of Persona 3, much like Golden and Royal are to Persona 4 and 5, respectively.
It had some changes for the main game, though its biggest addition is the epilogue titled “The Answer.” Here players take on the role of Aigis as she and the rest of SEES grapple with the emotional ending of Persona 3.
Since FES was released in 2008 (at least in North America and Europe), FES and The Answer have not gotten a re-release. Persona 3 Portable did not include The Answer, meaning those who wanted to experience this epilogue had to look for a PS2 copy of FES, or at least watch playthroughs of it online.
I’ll admit that I’m one of those. As I played Persona 3 Portable, I did not experience The Answer, though I did watch playthroughs of it to at least experience the story. While I thought the story was a strong entry, the gameplay seemed rather dull and monotonous given that it’s basically just the Tartarus experience that goes on and on.
With the release of Episode Aigis (as the third wave of the Persona 3 Reload Expansion Pass), I was both excited to finally play it, but also worried that it would feel like a slog. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
To start, the enhanced graphics of Persona 3 Reload helped give more life to The Answer, both in terms of the world and the characters. The story beats also landed more strongly for me thanks to the voice acting in the cutscenes.
What’s also new here are the additional character interactions that are unlocked by finding chests in the Abyss of Time (The Answer’s version of Tartarus). Note that these are just small interactions that aren’t really voiced, but they do make the experience better as these moments between SEES members are a nice change of pace from the combat.
Speaking of combat, the game plays very much like Persona 3 Reload, meaning you’ll enjoy the remake’s quality-of-life features which help exploring the Abyss of Time feel much better. For instance, you can retry bosses if you fail, and you can also access more teleporters compared to the original. If you liked Persona 3 Reload’s combat, you should be able to enjoy the experience even if there are no social links to break up the gameplay loop.
There’s also the fact that you can freely switch the difficulty while playing Episode Aigis, meaning if you simply want to breeze through parts of the Abyss of Time, you can set the difficulty to Easy. Though if you want a more challenging yet still fair experience, we recommend playing on Hard mode (note that there are some difficulty spikes to watch out for).
What Hasn’t
Episode Aigis features the enhanced gameplay and graphics of Reload, along with the new character moments. Aside from these and some smaller details, Reload’s version of The Answer remains mostly unchanged.
Because of this, there are still moments throughout the playthrough that can feel dull, especially if you’re someone who considers the social aspect an essential part of the Persona experience. Even if you’re a player who likes dungeon crawlers, there might still be moments when exploring the Abyss of Time is a bit of a slog.
Still, if you’re invested in Persona 3’s story, these moments won’t take away from the fact that The Answer’s story packs a big emotional punch. In fact, I’d even say that thanks to the story, Episode Aigis is very much worth experiencing for those who fell in love with the base game’s story and want more time with the characters, along with a more fleshed-out resolution.
It’s hard to explain what’s great about the story without getting into spoiler territory. What is safe to say is that it tackles themes of grief in a moving and poignant way. If you fell in love with the main game’s cast, prepare some tissues as there are many emotional moments here. But don’t worry as there is a satisfying conclusion in The Answer that makes the 20+ hours of going through the Abyss of Time worth it.
Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis -The Answer- Verdict – 8/10
The verdict for Episode Aigis is simple. If you enjoyed Persona 3 Reload and want to experience a story that both explores the base game’s bittersweet ending and adds even more thematic layers and moving character moments, this epilogue is a worthy experience.
This version of The Answer also features lots of improvements compared to the original in terms of quality-of-life and visuals. Still, you should note that Episode Aigis’ gameplay is basically just the Tartarus half of Persona 3 Reload, meaning that it can feel monotonous at times even with the enhancements. Overall though, the positives still outweigh the negatives here.
[This review was made via a Persona 3 Reload Expansion Pass code provided by the publisher]