Highlights
- Persona 3 Reload will feature new backstories for Ken Amada and Shinjiro Aragaki, and the dog Koromaru.
- Aigis' social link will be included and expanded in some way, but certain details are still being held back for a later reveal. New song "It's Going Down Now" aims to recapture the feel of Mass Destruction and Kimi no Kioku.
Alongside the announcement of Persona 3 Reload's release date in the latest trailer (February 2, 2024), the development team spoke more about the remake's new content in a recent Famitsu interview. Notably, the main characters Ken Amada and Shinjiro Aragaki will receive new backstories that were never seen in the original or FES versions.
Regarding Shinjiro Aragaki, the Atlus director Takuya Yamaguchi says that the core of his scenario remains unchanged in the Reload version. However, the team has prepared "side stories" for those who grew fond of the character in the original game, and Yamaguchi believes that the new content will be like a "concentrated essence" of Shinjiro's characteristic charm.
As for the young party member Ken Amada, Atlus Producer Kazuhisa Wada admits that there wasn't much to see about Ken in the original game other than what was featured in the main story arc. However, other spin-offs such as the movies, the fighting Arena games, and the FES version have included additional information about him. So the upcoming game will include a side story based on feedback from the expanded information included in these spinoffs and derivative works.
The dog Koromaru is supposedly getting its own side story as well, according to the interview. The director teases that this side story will introduce a more emotionally expressive Koromaru, and that it is a must-see for all Koromaru fans.
The interview also directly clarifies that Aigis' social link will indeed be included in Persona 3 Reload, after loosely hinting at it in previous interviews. However, the team mentioned that they are still holding back on discussing certain elements regarding this aspect of the remake, and would like to reveal more about it at another time. So it seems that even Aigis' social link will be expanded in some way in this upcoming remake.
As for the song featured in the latest trailer, it's said to be a brand new song called "It's Going Down Now". This song will only be played when players launch a preemptive attack on an enemy (which is no different from how Persona 4 and Persona 5 added new soundtracks with similar prerequisites). The goal of this song is to recapture the original feel of Mass Destruction, along with incorporating the chord progression of Persona 3's iconic ending song "Kimi no Kioku".