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It's almost the end of 2024, and while we're all embarrassed by a few songs on our Spotify Wrapped, seeing Persona 3 Reload as my second most-played Xbox game of the was the real kicker for me.
Those 132 hours shouldn't have been that surprising. After all, this game is the very first JRPG I've ever played front to back. I recall it monopolizing most of my free time in February, as evidenced by it being my busiest month on the console according to the Xbox app. It took a whopping 86 hours for me to realize I was enjoying Persona 3 Reload, but looking back at how my general attitude on JRPGs has evolved over the last year, it's been instrumental in reforming everything I think about the genre – and for that, I'm immensely grateful.
Home truths
I hear you seething from behind the screen, dear reader, so for clarity's sake: no I am not inferring that I am embarrassed to have played and loved a JRPG. Rather, much like how Troye Sivan's "One Of Your Girls" was somehow my most listened to song in 2023 despite my having zero affinity for the artist himself, I simply did not realize how much time I'd apparently invested into Persona 3 Reload until my Xbox "wrapped" spelled it out for me.
In hindsight, I really should have seen it coming. From becoming fiercely protective over characters I'd originally loathed to grappling with P3R's unique social sim-meets-turn based combat gameplay, I've waxed lyrical in the past about how unexpectedly brilliant I found it. But the truth is that I've always had a tricky relationship with the genre itself, and Persona 3 Reload unpicked all of that unconscious bias. Well, most of it anyway.
Despite how much I know they can and do vary from game to game, the best JRPGs have always struck me as something of a collective entity. A fearsome monolith where time-honored titans fold into more niche sleeper hits to form a gargantuan, legion beast, one I'd been too intimidated to confront until recently. It's a fear I'm sure every gamer can relate to: the fear of being a bit shit at something new, and mitigating that embarrassment by avoiding it. The daunting task of even starting to play a JRPG aside, though, I will also admit to a little associated baggage stemming from childhood.
Growing up in Hong Kong, it was vehemently "uncool" for expat kids to play JRPGs – the best Pokemon games aside. An unspoken rule governed the playground and our consoles alike, decreeing that JRPGs, anime, and manga were for three kinds of people: local kids, creepy old men shiftily examining the adult section at the back of DVD stores, and Westerners hell-bent on venerating Japanese and Southeast Asian art, women, and culture to the point of fetishization. This was such a pervasive sentiment at my school that I don't recall anyone openly disclosing that they played JRPGs at all – though looking back, I'm sure that they did. I recall being so alarmed by my England-based cousin being a huge Final Fantasy superfan, I instinctively felt uncomfortable being around them for no apparent reason. I was convinced that JRPGs were simply not for me or anyone like me, and to put it bluntly, interacting with them just made me feel gross.
Facing the music
I've always had a tricky relationship with the JRPG genre itself, and Persona 3 Reload unpicked all of that unconscious bias.
Despite now knowing full well that JRPGs are not reserved for specific demographics – and nor are they all synonymous with perversion – learned mentalities are hard to break. Especially one like this, being so entrenched in my identity as a British-born Hong Konger with some kind of white knight point to prove.
I've been wanting to challenge this chip on my shoulder for years, skirting around all of the major recent JRPG releases because they never felt approachable. I don't own a PS5, so Final Fantasy Rebirth and Remake were off the table. Metaphor: ReFantazio had a bizarre sounding name and also sounded like a sequel, so I mentally shelved that one too. But Persona 3 Reload is the first JRPG that I felt inexplicably compelled to play, providing the perfect blend of familiarity and novelty to make getting my feet wet an exciting rather than terrifying concept. As a horror fan, I was drawn to the idea of a supernatural 25th hour. As a tabletop RPG fan, I revelled in the opportunity to try out a new school of turn-based combat. Yes, it still features teenagers in occasionally questionable outfits, but P-Studio and publisher Atlus have removed enough of the original's outdated sexual kitsch – which I experienced plenty of during my 10-hour stint with Persona 3 Portable last year – that Reload never feels tainted by it. Instead, I found myself mesmerized by its characters, propelled through each combat encounter with an unyielding momentum that kept me pushing for one more day of exploring all its hidden depths.
2024 is the year I opened my heart to JRPGs, and Persona 3 Reload in particular. One game has already banished so many of the negative preconceptions I'd been unconsciously holding against the genre, and I'm more incentivized than ever to keep that curiosity rolling into 2025. This year, I won't be in denial about my keenness to keep exploring JRPGs – playground rules be damned.
Persona 3 Reload's new Link Episodes are just what the long-serving JRPG needed
