Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis Hands-On Preview – The (Better) Answer?

See the video version of this preview below to see the game in action!

Thanks to the great people at Atlus, I recently had the privilege of trying out a small portion of the upcoming DLC for Persona 3 Reload, Episode Aigis. Episode Aigis is often known by its original name, The Answer, which is what this section of the game is called in the PlayStation 2’s Persona 3: FES release. It was essentially Persona 3 DLC before DLC was actually called DLC. An extra 20–30 hours tacked on to an already amazing game, sign me up! At the time, most of us were on board with rebuying Persona 3: FES for not only the rebalanced and adjusted main game, aka The Journey, but also to play an epilogue to one of the best RPGs released on the system at that point.

However, The Answer was not what many, including myself, expected. The worst part of the original Persona 3 was the long stretches of Tartarus, where you do nothing but go floor to floor with nothing happening, and that’s essentially the entire gameplay of The Answer. It is a slog of a dungeon crawler to try and get through. It was difficult, tedious, and, worst of all, very divisive story-wise. I could go on and on about my dislike of The Answer, but it’s now 2024, and we have a fancy new version. Persona 3 Reload did a lot to mitigate and change most of the original game’s glaring issues, so can Episode Aigis do the same for The Answer?

The demo we got to play consisted of the opening sections of Episode Aigis, which included the first story segment and the subsequent first door of the Abyss of Time, which was up to the first boss. So, there was only a little to play, but enough to get a sense of the direction they were going with this. As always, I will refrain from spoiling story segments as much as possible. Still, for the most part, the opening story section is almost a one-to-one recreation of the original, including the fight between Metis and Aigis and a new version of the animated cutscene that plays after this fight. In fact, there will be all new animated cutscenes throughout Episode Aigis, including a new opening and ending. After this, Aigis becomes the defacto main character for the DLC, with all the powers the protagonist had in the original game, and thus begins the descent into the Abyss of Time.

Some gameplay changes in Episode Aigis are apparent right off the bat. For one, the Twilight Clock is back from the base game, which was a new edition to Persona 3 Reload. So, to heal, you’ll need to collect those Twilight Fragments to use the clock and open the Twilight Chests in the Abyss. Thankfully, they seemed more plentiful than they did in the base game. The UI now has an Aigis style, which is really cool to see. Aigis also has many different on-field action abilities compared to the MC. She can lock on to enemies from a distance and fire upon them to engage in combat. I noticed it seems more precise from far away, but when up close to any object, it fires at a wide angle to help engage shadows that might creep up on you. I feel this will continue to be updated as the game progresses, just like you can get new abilities in the base game for the MC.

The same rules from the base game apply depending on how you engage the shadows. Sneak up and attack first, and you get a SEES advantage and get the new battle track to play — which, by the way, is a total banger. If you get snuck up on or engage on equal footing, you will get a new version of “Mass Destruction,” a remix of the one used in the original The Answer. Combat hasn’t changed much from the base game, either. You can use shift off the bat and have access to four characters to start, including Metis. Metis now takes the role Aigis previously had, with her Theurgy attack being Orgia Mode and relying primarily on physical skills. She does have access to Bufula and a few support abilities to help fill Mitsuru’s role early in the game since she is not available at the start. Metis’ personality skill allows her to build her Theurgy gauge from when she shifts from Aigis. As for Aigis, she now has the power of the Wild Card and commands multiple Personas, taking over the role the MC fills in the main game. I noticed she had a new Theurgy attack that the MC did not have: Justice, a medium pierce attack with a high chance to crit all targets using Power and Archangel, so there is a good chance she will have more. It also seems like every character might get a new Theurgy attack since they only have one of the two they had in the base game.

One thing I couldn’t check was if the compendium could be used in Episode Aigis, since I wasn’t allowed back in the Velvet Room after the story segment. For those who do not know, one of the hardest and most annoying parts of the original The Answer is that Aigis never had access to the compendium, which made it pretty brutal to get the Persona you needed for certain bosses. I believe that will change for Episode Aigis, especially since Theurgy attacks are tied to what Personas you have unlocked. Also, because we were only allowed to play up to the first boss, we couldn’t see any additions there might be to procuring items and equipment outside of the Abyss of Time. I have faith that much of this stuff will be readily available in Episode Aigis, as it seems the developers understood what made The Answer so annoying to play.

Unfortunately, as I said, after the first boss, who went down pretty fast to my Theurgy attacks, the demo was over, as was my time with Episode Aigis. I have always been a person of second chances, and I am now more willing than ever to give Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis a shot, despite my feelings for the original The Answer.

Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis releases worldwide on September 10th for PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Series X|S, and PC for Expansion Pass holders. If you are still on the fence, join us over on our Twitch channel on release day as we play through it as part of the summer marathon of Atlus games in prep for Metaphor: ReFantazio in October.