REVIEW IS FOR PERSONA 3 PORTABLE; read this for context, then keep reading for the differences / review of Reload.

probably 3 stars for male primary character, 4 for female. there's so much quality of life improvement from here to p5r that it's a bit hard to go back.

if you're going to try to 100%, consider a blind play with male MC first, then do FeMc second as it's easier to max her social links and the padding from ng+ should give plenty of room. male MC practically requires a guide due to 3 more s links in daytime compared to FeMc.

the procgen dungeons are ok but I appreciate the in depth design of p5's palaces.

overall glad I played it, the second play was dubious value, different s links but overall same plot, and it's still a long game even with ng+ equipment. if they remake it like is rumored, might play again
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RELOAD:
5 Stars.
Fabulous redone version of the original with the art style of @persona-5 and all new voice acting and completely redone (not just upscaled) animations. They were able to reuse the story writing and all the "crunchy bits" of the engine for the most part, but man they put a lot of effort into this. Still a fabulous game, and the definitive way I would recommend new fans check the game out. P3Portable has _more_ content but unless you're dying to play through the entire game twice (and see above; I don't really advise it), you aren't going to notice it, and then it's missing the content that was in P3 FES and which will be added to DLC in reload this fall. So there really is no way to get all the content in one title, you might as well pick Reload since it's got as much as anything and the beautiful coat of paint to boot. If you like Persona 5 and haven't checked out Persona 3 ever, or it's been a while, Reload is absolutely worth a shot. Free on Game Pass as of June 2024; the DLC is also free-to-own (seemingly forever even without a Game Pass sub) if you have Ultimate and claim it before January 2025.