Episode Aigis, the paid expansion that's coming to Persona 3 Reload in September, was originally going to be included in the remake itself. This is according to a Famitsu interview with producer Kazuhisa Wada (as translated by Persona Central), who explains that development cycle difficulties forced the team to abandon its ambitions.
"We wanted to make it happen from the first drafts of P3R, as we felt that it would be essential to have the concluding arc if we were remaking Persona 3," says Wada. "Due to various circumstances, however, there were a lot of difficulties which had to be overcome in order to make the remake a reality, with challenges from the outset of the main P3R project. As a result we had to abandon the remake of Episode Aigis."
But of course, Atlus has been able to revisit the project and plan it as paid DLC — so what changed? "Deep down, I couldn’t just give up on it, so even while developing the main story I kept searching for ways to make it happen," Wada admits. He goes on to say that thanks to support from fans of Persona 3 Reload, the team decided to push ahead with the expansion after all.
What's more, the company was able to assign Yu Hashizume as the director of Episode Aigis — something that apparently wasn't possible during Remake's core development cycle.
There's no doubt that cynicism will cast a shadow over all of this, however — especially given Atlus' history of questionable consumer-facing decisions. But as of right now, this is the official word from Reload's producer. Episode Aigis was going to be included, it was dropped, and then it was picked back up to be sold as DLC (we still don't know what the pricing structure is, by the way).
What do you make of this? Are you looking forward to Episode Aigis, or are you done with Persona 3 Reload? Grab your evoker in the comments section below.
[source famitsu.com, via personacentral.com]
Comments 59
This sounds more like Atlus forced this on purpose than anything else.
I almost never buy Atlus games at launch anymore except Vanillaware games.
I’m so glad I waited on SMTV, I knew there would be a definitive version.
Yeah right what a load of BS, more like it was fully developed and already in the base game before they thought "you know what, we can charge extra for this as DLC instead".
I'm having a hard time actually believing that...
If that was the case then it should be free dlc lol not paid dlc 😂 still looking forward to it though regardless
@dgmgeneral07 Thankfully Vanillaware are independent and only use Atlus to publish their games. If Atlus had any say in their games then I'm sure they would meet the same fate as the Persona/SMT series on getting a tonne of DLC and upgraded versions.
Yeah sure ATLUS whatever you say 😒
I have only played one persona game ever, persona 5. For about 1 hour until it made it clear that it's not my type of game.
Looking from a side it just feels like they are rereleasing same persona games every year under a different name.
Yeah, I do find that hard to believe.
If I'm being honest, if that specific piece of dlc is something like $15 or so, I'll believe him.
But if it's like $30 then it's a lie.
That means it's gonna be a free DLC since it was supposed to be in the base game, right? ...right?
Geez, you can't make this stuff up lol.
Redman featuring method man whathever man is what im saying about that.word up son
A likely story.
The Answer was a lot more straightforward than the main game - it was mainly dungeon-crawling, if I remember correctly. This definitely smells of an opportunity to grab some extra cash.
I loved the Persona series but with the amount of BS that comes with the DLC and rereleases, I haven't touched any new Atlus developed game in years. They make quality stuff, but I can't stand their business practices.
If it was slated to release next year I’d say fine, makes sense. But mere months after the release? And sold only with extra cosmetics? I call BS.
@UltimateOtaku91 Why wait 7-8 months though, I'm wondering? Atlus have shown before they're not worried about selling major DLC content day one.
@JeongersGaming just speculation, but it’s possible they were waiting to see if the base game did well. If it flopped, they can rerelease it next year for the same price with the extra content. If it did well, which obviously it did, then they can sell the dlc as addon content. For what it’s worth, it’s better than p5r which not only made you buy the game again, but also didn’t carry over progress because it was a ‘new’ game. A great one, don’t get me wrong, but genuinely messed up practices mar an otherwise stellar product.
I'd guess it's to do with the Xbox deal with SEGA given Microsoft have conditioned the Xbox playerbase to not actually buy games, rather wait for them to come to Game Pass.
"We can't charge more than $70"
My heart is with the SEGA warriors who had to fight with such development difficulties.
My purchase was dropped from the game due to financial difficulties. I hope they understand.
That explanation doesn't sound too convincing. Atlus makes great games, but they have shoddy DLC practices. I'm actually interested in playing The Answer, but I don't want to buy Persona 3 Reload unless it gets heavily discounted.
Surely people aren't silly enough to think that Atlus makes these choices.. It's SEGA. They own Atlus and publish all their games. Stop complaining about Atlus.
I’ll get it when it’s remastered for PS6
Another day, another disgusting Atlus lie, can't wait to read their next one!
And so they're going to make us pay for it? For content they're essentially admitting should've been there? Get outta here Atlus.
So it should be free DLC then.
Make no mistake. It was always to plan to charge for it and now they’re in damage control.
@BeerIsAwesome Top tier reply!
And the boy cried wolf!
I already know how it ends so it doesn't matter and yes the ending sucks and yes a new generation of people r gonna hate Yukari after this
@Grumblevolcano Honestly I was shocked the the DLC is being given away via GamePass. Usually expansions aren’t so that’s not something Xbox players are “conditioned” to. We’re used to paying extra for DLC even for first party games. Not complaining about this getting this one though!
I am thankful that they are going to add it as The Answer does complete the package... but yeah I don't believe this for a second lol.
Love ya Atlus, you make some truly fantastic games but you do got your quirks.
lol it’s Atlus… yall really believe this? If it was going to be free as part of the whole package then why can’t it be a free dlc drop? 🤣 they purposely waited to make it a paid dlc.
@UltimateOtaku91 agreed looool
I’m a sucker so this stuff really doesn’t bother me. I wish it was available at launch like the Persona 5 Tactica “story” DLC. At least I’m knowingly a sucker tho.
Made the right call of never purchasing the game glad someone got it for me instead. For The Answer I'm not bothering lol. Expect once DLC is out P3 : Reload Complete Edition in 2025.
Sorry, but I call total BS.
The difficulty? Not making enough money from the mostly PS/Steam userbase.
I don't believe them. SegaAtlus is one of the greediest companies alongside TecmoKoei. They love to nickel and dime and double dip, triple dip, and quadruple dip their customers. Just look at Persona 5. They release it on PS3, then PS4, then a full priced PS4 Royal edition with no upgrade path, and then finally a full priced PS5 Royal edition with no upgrade path. They shamelessly milked that game dry. I fully expect them to do the same with P3R.
I still say the dlc is completely skippable.
It doesn't change anything. It's just a squabble between the characters that goes nowhere. 🤷
It would matter if there was a direct sequel, but nothing so far.
This is why I “hate” Atlus…. What they did with Persona 5/Royal and Disgaea 7 DLC monetization it’s despicable… only worse it’s the Dead or Alive ones…
@Nem if it’s that “simple” then why the “difficulty”?
@Bamila You say you have basically no experience with Persona games, and then immediately follow it up with a declarative statement about Persona games. Classic internet chatter.
@guntam I'm just stating how it looks like from side when it comes about persona games. Nothing classic about it, just my observation.
@Bamila Your "observation" that is completely wrong because it's based on one hour of playtime. Very insightful. Even Googling "Persona series" for 45 seconds would have resulted in a more valuable take.
Yeah ofc it was and my dad works at Nintendo and PlayStation.
When they released p5r as an expanded version, and strikers was released after, they stated that Royal was not Canon. Would not be surprised if they did the same with persona 3 when the dlc drops.
It's also not looking good for persona 6 if they carry on this way.
@Bamila That's kinda stupid, it's like saying all Uncharted games or all Final Fantasy games are the same with different names, sure its the same concept but they're so different and all great in their own ways
Better to not say anything at all if that's your excuse. When the price finally drops we'll be talking about this all over again.
I personally think they’re full of it on this one as while I think they may have intended it with the original release I think they’re absolutely lying about just dropping it. As we’ve come to learn games nowadays take lots of money and lots of time so I don’t think they started work got a year in and dropped it and neither do I believe they only got to work either last year when people demanded the answer content or even just a couple weeks ago when Reload came out. I mean I’ll get it still but just don’t BS like this. Oh and don’t get me started on their treatment of the P3P content. Seriously don’t we’ll be here all day ahahaha.
@Edwirichuu it's not what I meant, tho..what I meant is that they release the same persona 3 etc that already had like 3 releases in the past, each time with different subname and some expanded content. Charging new game price
@Bamila Oh, my bad, the wording was kinda bad. I can totally see where you're coming from, but like, the additions and upgrades on things like Persona 5 Royal and Persona 4 Golden are massive and really worth the upgrade, it's not just simple re-releases, but it is scummy to ask for full price to those who bought it years prior. However they're not yearly releases, there's generally like 4 year gaps between them (with the exception of the older games that came out super close to each other)
Dude, the game is already over 80 hours, that’s less than a dollar an hour of gameplay. They are a small team and if releasing DLC is needed to keep the company afloat, so be it. It’s not like they gave us half a game, I don’t get the complaints here?
@BrandoCalrissian game is charging $35 extra dollars for a "Season Pass" with 1 actual bit of content, and 2 Music DLCs that could've been part of the original release (which itself is part of a $30 bundle). $120 for the entire package doesn't look that good, especially when only a small portion of that isn't cosmetic.
The size of the team doesn't really matter, but regardless it's way bigger than what you're implying. Most of the P5R team went straight to P3R (about 40), and that's just the staff dedicated solely towards development of this title; there's also way more staff at Atlus who would have assisted in the development. 40+ isn't that small of a team to begin with, let alone the rest of the support.
There's still an expectation of the fact that a remake/rerelease of a years-old game should come with the extra content released. There's plenty of examples of games being remade from the ground up with extra content (Crash N-Sane), there's examples of games being both remade and containing all their extra content (Mass Effect: Legendary). P3R leveraged itself as the remake that completes the game, tying in all the content from the various version (or at least, that was the belief) to finally unify the one version of Persona games that is broken. What was given wasn't that; a complete remake of the original release (with the "added features" being the space for the new Personas from other games), the extra content from one of the releases being provided 6 months after release, and the other game being entirely shafted (so there's still a reason for people to by P3P on modern consoles). It's a very good remake (one I have not yet started, due to my pig-headed logic that I needed to Platnium Xenoverse 1 before), but this is a concerning trend for some; Persona releases have been designed specifically to never release like P3/P/FES did, generally being the original and the redesign that comes out later. Quite simply, this isn't what was wanted or expected.
What a liar be a man and keep your mouth shut or tell the truth. I would have had more respect if he said we wanted more money.
@DarkTron Nobody expects thar rhere has ro be extra content with a remake. People expect a complete game if its remade and no nonsense excuse. You want extra money be my guest but dont come with a fake excuse.
@BrandoCalrissian Isn't the game already f
a remake of its to expensive make it a €60 od €70.
@DarkTron yeah, you make some fair points but your comment about team size further my argument. More artists = more salaries to be paid. It's not like Persona games are selling tens of millions of copies. It's like 2-3 per release.
This is a fully realized and fully overhauled game, it's not like you're getting screwed here with a $70 price tag. I'm one trophy away from the platinum and I'm sitting at 88 hours. You are still getting a tremendous bang for your buck, dollars to donuts. Expecting another 10-20 hours of additional content all for the same price that other 30 hour games charge is a bit entitled. There is a reason that studios are shutting down left and right and can't afford to operate.
I would prefer Atlus would give the "option" of DLC and continue to make quality games. The other option is to operate at a loss, layoff a bunch of artists and/or possibly not be able to afford creating more Persona games in the future. I don't mind supporting a dev that makes games I appreciate and speak to me.
If you don't want to buy the DLC, simply don't. It's there for those of us who want to experience it. And believe me after playing the game, you're not getting ripped off because it's not included. It's a wonderful game on it's own.
@Flaming_Kaiser no, I don't think so. The quality of the improvements seem fair to me. If it's too pricey, there is a port option available for like $20 on the psn. You could just skip the updates and play that version for a much cheaper price tag.
I think Reload is worth it in my opinion.
@BrandoCalrissian Way ahead of you ill wait for the without a doubt rippoff complete edition the worst thing is that they didn't even put it in the most expensive edition. And i thought EA was scum. 🤣
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