Persona 3 Reload Exclusive Developer Interview. Aigis's Aeon Social Link confirmed! Now the ultimate way of experiencing Persona 3, we asked the development team a bunch of questions about Persona 3 Reload that we’re sure you’re curious about, too!

Today we’ll share an exclusive developer interview with the team behind Persona 3 Reload, available February 2nd, 2024! We go over some recently revealed information concerning Aigis, the character cast, and music―you don’t want to miss this!

※この記事は日本国外向けです。日本語版はこちら。(This article is for outside Japan. Click here for the Japanese version.)

New Key Art and Combat Uniforms

――The release date has been announced, and the official key art has been revealed. It depicts the Protagonist with Thanatos, a composition that we’re sure fans will be thrilled to see!

NiitsumaThe key art for this game actually went through several revisions before it was finished. Our lead character designer who handled the full-body portraits also worked on this key art, but it went through a pretty major revision well into production…

――At what point did he have to revise the artwork?

NiitsumaFrom the very beginning actually, as we were discussing composition. First, we discussed with the lead character designer, Soejima (Shigenori Soejima of the artwork team), and Yamaguchi (the director) whether we should make a composition with all the main characters, or only the Protagonist and his Persona. We decided to go with the latter, and we worked on it until the very last minute―just before the deadline allowed by our schedule. I apologize to everyone who was waiting for the project to be finished, but the result turned out to be very good.

――At first glance, it reminded me of the original Persona 3 key art. Since the placement and poses of the main character and his Persona are slightly different, I imagine the intent was to create a “reloaded” look.

NiitsumaYes, that's right. We thought it would be appropriate for the title’s key art to showcase this combination of old and new in its own way.

――The design of the Protagonist's armband is different from the original game. Does it have some functional significance…?

YamaguchiAs you may have guessed, it is not just an armband, but also has battle-related features. You’ll have to wait a little bit longer to find out more information, though.

――Ahh… I was just about to ask, but it appears I’m getting preemptively shut down, haha. The gun-shaped Evoker that the Protagonist uses also looks a bit different from the original―could you share more about that?

YamaguchiThe design of the Evoker itself has not changed much, but a small gimmick has been added. In this title, the pistol slide of the Evoker blows back and emits a red light during a battle. This is moment we’ve captured in the key art.

Koromaru has a voice actor…!?

――In the latest update, you’ve reintroduced us to four characters. First, let's start with Koromaru. Since he’s a dog, there must have been certain challenges in depicting him, especially compared to human characters.

YamaguchiThat's right. Personally, I had a dog when I was a kid, so I was very particular about depicting dog-like behavior. I made a lot of detailed notes like, "this is how a dog relaxes at home," "dogs don't go to places like this," and "dogs don't pose like this,” haha.

WadaYes, you were very particular about it, haha.

YamaguchiI think we were able to capture the puppy-like charm of Koromaru, which I hope dog owners can relate to. You can also see Koromaru's heroic and cool personality during battle, which I think will make people love him even more.

――In the PS2 version, you could go on a walk with Koromaru, but how about in P3R?

YamaguchiWe’ve included that. Even in planning meetings, I made it very clear that this was absolutely necessary, haha. In this game, you can earn several types of rewards. For example, you can earn Social Link points by having conversations with characters during the walk, or you can find items along the way.

――While looking over the latest press materials, I noticed Koromaru has a voice actor assigned to him…

YamaguchiYes! This is actually the first time that Koromaru has a dedicated voice actor in the game. In the past, we used barking noises from a preexisting library, so variations were limited. With this project, however, the actor performed each and every line of dialogue, so what was previously the same bark is now more expressive, capturing the specific emotions of each scene.

WadaShinya Takahashi, who played the role of Koromaru, also played the same role in the theatrical anime in Japan. This is the first time that his name has been revealed, as he was credited as "???" in the theatrical anime.

――How was the voice recording session?

YamaguchiMr. Takahashi studied the voice of the dog quite a bit for the theatrical release. He definitely made use of that experience for his performance this time around as well. We hope everybody can appreciate the skills of our voice actors and their craft in breathing life into even non-human characters. We have also prepared a side story that provides more context on Koromaru’s past. You don’t want to miss this emotionally rich Koromaru lore!

Still eagerly awaiting more info about Shinjiro and Ken…

――Shinjiro joined the party at a relatively late point in the original game. I wonder if his personality is explored more deeply in P3R.

YamaguchiYes. His fundamental story arc remains the same, but we have prepared a side story for him. This side story definitely highlights Shinjiro’s charm, which we hope will especially appeal to fans who’ve loved him since the original version. Please look forward to it!

NiitsumaWe hope that Shinjiro fans will enjoy his appearance in our recently revealed trailer as well!

――I think there’s a lot of room to go deeper into the character of Ken as well―anything to note there?

WadaIn the original version, there was not much exploration into Ken outside of the main story, but in later works―including the theatrical anime―we were able to delve deeper and reveal more information about him. For P3R, we’ve crafted a side story encompassing this expanded character background as well.

YamaguchiKen is a character who grew up in a complicated environment. If we were to lean too heavily on either side of who he is―a youthful elementary school student, or the part of him that was forced to grow up quick―we felt he would cease to be Ken, so we had to craft a story keeping that balance in mind.

――Speaking of Ken, in the PS2 version, fans got a wholesome glimpse into the more innocent-side of his personality from his security camera footage in the dormitory. How about in P3R?

YamaguchiYes, in P3R, we left those security cameras in the dorm for our fans to enjoy!

Aigis Aeon Social link, confirmed!!!

――Game features like walking Koromaru and the surveillance cameras were not in the original Persona 3, but were added during Persona 3 FES, correct?

YamaguchiYes, they were.

――Since Aigis was reintroduced in the latest press materials, I would like to ask a direct question... Is Aigis's Aeon Social Link also included?

YamaguchiWow, that was indeed very direct! Haha. Well…

NiitsumaIf I have to say yes or no… yes, it is!

――Hoooraaay!

All　(Laugh)

――... Sorry, I was personally rather curious about this... In your first interview, you mentioned that it’s not like all story content included in Persona 3 FES won’t also be included in Persona 3 Reload, so I really wanted to know if an Aigis Social Link was included or not.

NiitsumaI am glad to hear that you are relieved. There are other things I would love to talk about as well, but for now, all I can say is to please keep your eyes peeled for additional info.

――I mean, I’d also love to ask more questions about this topic, haha… but I suppose we can always chat further another time. For now, could you share more about who Aigis is as a character, and what makes her unique?

YamaguchiYes, I am especially excited for people to see Aigis in battle. The Protagonist and his friends in Persona 3 are ultimately ordinary students, and do not gain superhuman powers in a fantasy world or anything. They are not "superhuman" even though they can perform spectacular moves in battle. Aigis, on the other hand, is the one and only superhuman entity in this game. This makes her moves in battle even more dynamic.

NiitsumaI’d also like to draw people's attention to Aigis’s 3D model. Her proportions were heavily stylized in the original PS2 game, but fans may be familiar with a more realistic rendering of her based on figurines and other derivative works. Although she has been depicted in multiple different ways, we wanted to continue to emphasize the idea that she is an entirely unique entity within the world of Persona 3.

――We've seen Aigis with similar proportions in Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight (P3D), but it certainly seems that this game has brought another new feel to her. Were the 3D models of the characters, including Aigis, created from scratch for P3R?

NiitsumaWhile we did use the P3D model as a base, we approached it with the mindset of creating her from scratch and made various adjustments. That was something Yamaguchi and the modeling staff coordinated in detail.

A fresh but nostalgic musical experience

――In addition to the PV, a video highlighting battle scenes has also been revealed. Is the track playing in the background of the video new?

KitajohYes, “It's Going Down Now" is a new song that plays when you ambush an enemy. In Persona 5 Royal and Persona 4 Golden, we’ve had new songs play for ambushes while the original tracks play for standard battles, so we tried to incorporate that in P3R as well. However, instead of using the original track as is, this time the entire song was revisited to fit this new title.

――Wow, that’s exciting! "It's Going Down Now" also seems to have some essence of "Mass Destruction" from the original game. It captures the feeling of P3, even though it's my first time hearing it.

KitajohI'm very happy to hear that you feel that way. The idea was to make a fresh but nostalgic song, so I tried to create it while respecting the atmosphere of the original game. In the intro and other important parts for “It's Going Down Now," I used the sound of the original "baby baby" and included the chord progression of "Memories of You" in the chorus.

KitajohFor the vocal songs, Lotus Juice (the male vocalist) requested that we rewrite the lyrics to better fit the scene, change the original one-chorus song to two choruses, and for some songs, add a little arrangement to the tone to match the vocals. For the new songs, we didn’t feel it would blend well if we simply added additional tracks to the original setlist created by Meguro (Shoji Meguro, sound composer of the original game), so I added phrases, chord progressions, and samples from the original songs, including "It's Going Down Now." Therefore, phrases, chord progressions, sampling, and other elements of the original songs are all utilized as glue in the creation process to tie everything together.

NiitsumaWe felt the music of the original game released 17 years ago has a charm that has not faded at all, even listening to it now. However, we also felt it would be a disservice to simply reuse the original songs as they were, considering that this title is launching on modern platforms. I think the final music we created ultimately landed in a very good place, from the standpoint of appreciating both the newness of the full remake and the timeless charm of the original.

Introducing Azumi Takahashi as a vocalist

――In P3R, we noticed that Lotus Juice―who served as the male vocalist in the original version―has been brought back, while Azumi Takahashi―a new artist―has been introduced as the female vocalist.

WadaYes. After discussions with the various internal and external teams and departments, in pursuit of rebuilding the visual style and music of Persona 3, we decided to breathe new life into the vocal element of the experience as well.

NiitsumaSince we really want this game to resonate globally, we explored who would be a good candidate for vocals that would work well both in Japan and overseas. Among them, Azumi Takahashi really stood out, especially taking into consideration our creative needs such as the tone of the game we wanted to capture and compatibility with Kitajoh's musical style. Azumi is able to express an exquisite rawness in her voice in a good way, and we love the youthful feeling she brings to the table.

KitajohYeah, I really feel that her bright vocal tone―and of course, her powerful singing ability―really matches the characters without making the game feel too mature.

WadaIn the past, we’ve breathed new life into previous games through the voices of Mayumi Fujita and Shuhei Kita, and it felt like we were making a similar decision here. Of course, Yumi Kawamura―the vocalist in the original game― and her legacy is still very important to us, and if we ever hold another musical event for the Persona series, perhaps we’ll even have a chance to witness the singers from the past and present perform together... I think that would be amazing, and I’m looking forward to it now.

Excitement for the game’s launch!

――The release date for P3R has finally been announced. If you have any words of excitement, we’d love to hear it!

YamaguchiIn terms of development, we are reaching the final stages. We are confident that we will be able to deliver our latest work not only to fans of the original game, but also to those who started the series with Persona 4 or Persona 5 and have yet to play Persona 3. Please look forward to it!

NiitsumaIt feels like we’ve finally made it. I am proud to say that we have created an awesome, full remake of a beloved game. We’ll continue to periodically share more information, so please stay tuned!

KitajohPersona 3 was released the year I joined ATLUS. I never imagined that I would be arranging its music 17 years later, but I think this experience has brought me closer to those who came before me. I felt like I was able fine tune the music without too much pressure while also respecting the quality of the original game, so it’d mean the world to me if people enjoy the new music as well.

WadaWe worked really hard to bring you the ultimate way of experiencing Persona 3, and we can’t wait for you all to finally experience it. Thank you again for your continued support!