Persona 3 Reload - The Answer review: answers to most of The Answer’s issues

Episode Aigis brings another dimension to Persona’s most controversial addition

Persona 3: Reload - Episode Aigis -The Answer- / Atlus

In the history of the Persona series, few things have been as divisive as The Answer. It was originally released back in 2007 with the first Persona 3 upgrade, FES, and has never been seen again. Those who are old enough to have played The Answer are filled with only anguish. After you finished the main story of Persona 3, The Answer offered players an optional post-game dungeon with some extra story pieces and a catch. The Answer’s dungeon, The Abyss of Time, is locked to Hard mode with no difficulty options. Compounding this issue is that in Persona 3 FES, you had no control over your teammates, making each battle that much harder.

Most people (myself included) gave up on The Answer’s seemingly endless and unforgivably brutal dungeon. Resources are thin, and your teammates make worse decisions than Elon Musk. However, those who pushed through, spent hours grinding out the best Personas, and beat the final boss, did so only to realize that The Answer was just a glorified second Tartarus. And let’s be frank, Tartarus is the worst part of Persona 3.

Persona 3: Reload - Episode Aigis -The Answer- / Atlus

The phrase ‘faithful remake’ was used a lot in the marketing for Persona 3 Reload’s DLC, but absolutely no one wants The Answer brought back exactly how we remember it. There are people like me who always felt they were missing out on some of Persona 3’s story by never finishing it, but were conflicted as it would mean spending 30 eye-bleeding hours exploring the Abyss of Tartarus in order to do so. Luckily, Episode Aigis is about as far from a faithful remake as you can get without giving it a new name altogether.

The most obvious change is that the combat uses the upgraded system from Persona 3 Reload. This means that you have full control over your party, can shift between characters, and have access to powerful Theurgy attacks. When you load up The Answer, you will be greeted by the difficulty options from the main game, including Peaceful, which removes game overs. Immediately, Episode Aigis gives you all the tools you need to complete The Answer if you so wish.

Persona 3: Reload - Episode Aigis -The Answer- / Atlus

All of the improvements to the combat don’t alter the fact that the Abyss of Time is another 200-floor dungeon, but unlike Tartarus, you don’t have the high-school simulation story elements and gameplay to break it up. However, it seems that Atlus knows its fans are there for the characters and the story, and have tried to correct the sins of The Answer’s past. After each boss, you can take part in character episodes with party members that unlock new passive buffs for them. However, breaking up the monotony of dungeons isn’t the only role these scenes play.

The story of The Answer has been criticized for what players perceive as a complete revision of the story of Persona 3, and have often complained about the ‘destruction’ of their beloved characters. Not only do these new scenes with each character give you a break from bashing shadows, but they add more context to the characters and their decisions. Persona 3’s DLC sees the team turn on each other as the group fractures without their leader. The protagonist was a guiding force for the team, and it seems natural that things would fall apart without him.

Just because these internal struggles made sense, it didn’t mean people liked them. When Yukari fights the whole group, people were left asking where their happy-go-lucky waifu went. I like that Atlus doubles down on The Answer’s original story, but adds more context as to why the characters are acting so out of whack. We see more about how the protagonist’s death has affected each of them, and how they are struggling to move on.

Persona 3: Reload - Episode Aigis -The Answer- / Atlus

Atlus has done everything to update The Answer for modern audiences. It’s faithful in the way that the original style of gameplay and story beats remain intact, but the combat is more nuanced not only allowing people to pick their level of difficulty, but by offering better synergy between teammates during fights. Atlus has also added everything it can to the story to not only break up long stints in the Abyss of Time but also to recontextualize the characters and their actions.

Despite all of this, Episode Aigis is still The Answer at its core, and its core is Twotarus. There are a few interesting story beats here, but you could just as easily experience them from watching a cutscene compilation, rather than running around the dungeon listening to them exclaim, “Oh, a treasure chest” and “A shadow. Should we fight it?” on repeat between being jumpscared by enemies that body you off screen. Episode Aigis is undoubtedly the best way to play The Answer and see its story, but if you don’t like Persona 3’s combat, you really need to ask yourself if it’s something you want to play at all.

Score: 7/10

Version tested: Xbox Series X|S