Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis Is Atlus' Answer To Highly Desired DLC
by William Hernandez
Persona 3 Reload is getting DLC. As many hoped for, the story epilogue, The Answer will be remade (now titled Episode Aigis -The Answer-) and it will be the headline release of a three-wave expansion pass. The expansion pass will be available for purchase as soon as March 12, 2024 (though, only the first wave will be accessible in-game by then) and it tentatively seems to be priced at $34.99. That's quite the upcharge from the ¥3850 (~$26 USD) price it has in Japan. It remains to be seen as for whether or not you can purchase the waves separately from each other, but...surely that'll be the case, right? If you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you won't have to worry about that at all thankfully as the expansion pass will actually be free-of-charge as part of their Perks program. A September release for Episode Aigis -The Answer- is going to feel like a really long wait, but it is pretty content-rich for an epilogue to be fair.
A Revised Answer?
Episode Aigis -The Answer- is going to be a remade and modernized interpretation of the original final chapter to Persona 3. The original was quite infamous for its gameplay so one can only hope that "remade" means more than just new graphics. To that end, the only real change that has been advertised is the addition of new theurgies; though, I suppose that being able to directly command all party members should make things way less frustrating overall. The story is where the epilogue shines as it answers some of the questions you might have about the base game's ending. It also fleshes out the SEES members a good deal and is quite important to their character development. Oh, and there's a new character called Metis who is...basically what you would think that she is based off of her looks. Sorry, but no spoilers here. If you love Persona 3, this expansion is definitely worth checking out.
Content In Waves 1 And 2
On March 12th, the first wave of the expansion pass will be made available. Wave 1 is all about extra background music from Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal. The tracks that are confirmed to be included are: "Life Will Change", "Beneath the Mask", "Kichijoji 199X", "Gentle Madman", "I believe", "Keeper of Lust", "Blooming Villain", "Victory", "Backside of the TV", "Game", "Junes Theme", "Heaven", "Long Way", "Revelations: Mitsuo", "The Almighty", and "Results."
In May, the second wave will be made available. The Velvet Costume & BGM Set will feature Velvet Room themed costumes for all SEES members. The outfits seem to be exact copies of Elizabeth, Margaret, and Theodore's designs which is a cool nod to the mix of characters. The remixed background tracks included are: “Electronica In Velvet Room (“P4D” ver.)”, “Battle Hymn of the Soul (t.komine REMIX “AT 1st” P3D-EDIT ver.)”, “Battle Hymn of the Soul (Daisuke Asakura Remix)”, “Battle Hymn of the Soul -USH ver.-”, and “Dance Hymn of the Soul (Disco In Velvet Room)."
Could Atlus have handled this DLC better? Yeah, probably. $35 is definitely way too much to charge even if a majority of that cost is going towards Episode Aigis -The Answer-. Speaking of which, the epilogue should have been included in the base game. As I've mentioned before, though, I also understand why it wasn't a priority. It didn't exactly release to high praise originally and it also has over 30 hours of content. That's a lot to remake on top of a ~90 hour long RPG. It may not be the best of situations, but Atlus finally has a chance to redeem this epilogue. Persona 3 Reload already is the definitive edition of Persona 3. Episode Aigis -The Answer- can be just that for The Answer. The songs and the costumes are cool too, I guess.
