Persona 3 Reload was billed by developer’s Atlus as a “complete experience” , but datamined leaks and an enigmatic line of in-game dialogue hint at the fact the FES expansion may just arrive as DLC.
Persona 3 Reload, the remake of the classic 2006 social-sim, impressed and enchanted both hardcore fans and newcomers to the series alike. During the lead-up to the release, developers, Atlus, said they wanted to “genuinely work on recreating” Persona 3’s player experience, and they succeeded.
However, the developers had also told fans not to expect a Persona 4 Golden or Persona 5 Royal treatment for P3R.
Which meant those hoping to see “The Answer” included as part of the remake’s story were out of luck.
Aigis was a central figure in the storyline of Persona 3 FES.
What is FES? And what is The Answer?
For those not in the know “The Answer” is a reference to the expansion, Persona 3 FES. FES added an estimated 30 hours of new gameplay in the form of an epilogue chapter, set after the original game’s ending.
Its storyline centered around Aigis, one of the SEES members in Persona 3, and involved a departure from the game’s Social Link mechanics and a focus on combat and dungeon exploration.
While not everyone was a fan of the story twist FES brought to Persona 3’s narrative, it is still a large chunk of story and gameplay missing from Persona 3 Reload. This is why there are those among the fanbase who’d like to see it arrive as a DLC someday.
But will the FES expansion ever be released for P3R?
Is the FES expansion coming to Persona 3 Reload?
While there has been no official statement from Atlus about any DLC for Persona 3 Reload, there is some evidence to suggest it could be on the cards.
On February 3 a dataminer shared evidence of six new pieces of potential DLC for P3R. While the majority of these files were costume sets, there was one that caught the eye of fans of the series. A file titled “Episode Aigis/The Answer” appears among the six, seemingly hinting at the FES expansion for Persona 3.
Of course, just because these downloadable content files were hidden in P3R’s code, doesn’t mean Atlus has any plans to release them. Still, it does show the devs have toyed with the idea of a potential DLC release covering the FES expansion.
Another hint which seems to suggest The Answer still might appear as part of Persona 3 Reloaded, is an in-game line in an item the player receives from Elizabeth after completing the game on its hardest setting, Merciless.
Could the mysterious message be a hint about FES?
“At the end of a great trial, the answer illuminates my path” is the message inside the Blue Envelope players receive as a reward for beating Merciless mode.
While cryptic and cool, there’s also no guarantee this is a clue about future DLC content. It could just as likely be a fun Easter egg the devs included for hardcore Persona players.
Hints and leaks aside, fans will have to wait to see if Atlus makes any official announcement about DLC for Persona 3 Reload.