Summary
A senior Atlus official has indirectly dismissed the recent speculation that Episode Aigis: The Answer was cut from the day-one version ofPersona 3 Reload. The DLC was announced at the newest Xbox Partner Preview event in early March, with Atlus revealing it as the third and final part of thePersona 3 Reloadexpansion pass.
Shortly thereafter, prominent Sega leaker Midori took to Twitter to state that the development work on The Answer, a remake of thePersona 3: FESepilogue chapter of the same name, was already finished by the timeReloadhit the store shelves in early February 2024. The claim took the fandom by surprise, with some fans taking it to mean that The Answer was cut from the day-one version of the RPG in order to sellPersona 3 Reload’s $35 expansion pass.
Episode Aigis: The Answer Is Only About Halfway Done Right Now, Atlus Says
And while Midori’s track record with both Atlus and other Sega-related leaks has been impeccable up until now, it would appear that this particular information was either inaccurate or misinterpreted. That’s according to a recent Famitsuinterviewwith Episode Aigis Director Yu Hashizume andPersonaseries Producer Kazuhisa Wada, which saw the latter reveal that The Answer wasn’t greenlit until afterPersona 3 Reloadwas announced in June 2023. Meanwhile, Hashizume said that Episode Aigis is approximately “40-50%” done right now, according to Persona Central’s translation of the interview.
The two officials have hence indirectly dismissed theclaim that thePersona 3 Reloadversion of The Answer is cut content. The fact that the Xbox Partner Preview teaser featured Japanese instead of English voice acting dovetails with this status update, as Atlus traditionally does English localizations after its projects are content-complete.
This turn of events marks the first high-profile occasion on which Midori was apparently wrong about anything since they started leaking information on various Sega projects in late 2022. It hence serves as a good reminder that all unofficial info of this sort should be taken with a dose of skepticism, even when it comes from a generally trustworthy source. Midori can definitely still be described as such, having been among the first to report on the existence of thePersona 3remake, among many other projects. They were also the only source toleak the exact contents of thePersona 3 Reloadexpansion pass, having done so over a month ahead of its official announcement.
Atlus Confirms FeMC Isn’t Coming to Persona 3 Reload
Midori has also repeatedly stated that Atlus had no plans tobring the female protagonist fromPersona 3 PortabletoReload. That claim has now been confirmed by Wada, who told Famitsu that Kotone’s exclusion from the remake was a difficult but necessary decision because the associated development challenges were simply “too high.” For clarity,Portable’s “FeMC” route didn’t just include an alternate protagonist with her own lines and minor interactions, but also replaced and reworked a fair amount of Social Links. The Answer would also require significant story changes to accommodate a female protagonist because Kotone had vastly different group dynamics—which play a central role in the epilogue chapter—from her male counterpart.
Persona 3 Reload
WHERE TO PLAY
Step into the shoes of a transfer student thrust into an unexpected fate when entering the hour “hidden” between one day and the next. Awaken an incredible power and chase the mysteries of the Dark Hour, fight for your friends, and leave a mark on their memories forever.Persona 3 Reload is a captivating reimagining of the genre-defining RPG, reborn for the modern era.Experience the pivotal game of the Persona series faithfully remade with cutting-edge graphics, modernized quality-of-life features, and signature stylish UI. Fully immerse yourself in an emotional, gripping journey with new scenes, character interactions, and additional voiceover. Choose how to meaningfully spend each day through various activities from exploring the Port Island to forging genuine bonds with beloved characters. Build and command your optimal team to take down otherworldly Shadows and climb closer to the truth.
