Persona 3 Reload producer apologizes for excluding the JRPG's female protagonist, but explains that adding her would cost "two to three times that of Episode Aigis"

Persona 3 Reload unfortunately won't be receiving the playable female protagonist, Kotone, seen in another version of the classic, and now, the game's producer has apologized for the exclusion. 

When Persona 3 Portable came out in 2009, players had the choice between playing as two different protagonists. The recently-released remake Persona 3 Reload faithfully adapted a classic and cleaned up some of its rusty joints, however it sadly ditched the option to choose your gender and protagonist.

"I'll begin with an apology, but unfortunately, the appearance of the female protagonist in P3R will not happen," general producer Kazuhisa Wada reiterates in an interview with Persona Central. "Of course, we considered the inclusion of the female protagonist alongside Episode Aigis, but the more we delved into it, the more hopeless it seemed."

Episode Aigis is the forthcoming expansion for the remake, which itself is remaking Persona 3 FES' epilogue, released in some territories under the name The Answer back in 2007. (There's too many Persona 3s, I know.) Episode Aigis closes the story with a roughly 20-hour chapter and our titular robot bestie in the spotlight, but adding Kotone to the game would supposedly cost "two to three times of Episode Aigis." Wada explains that those high costs make it difficult to "entrust entirely to external companies."

"Even if P3R and the Expansion Pass were to exceed our sales expectations and resolve the cost issues, the release would still be far off," he continues. "Additionally, the expectation is also that we make completely new games, not just remakes, so we need to allocate limited development resources accordingly. I deeply apologize to the fans who have supported us for a long time, but we are happy that P3R has been released."

Kotone stans can still reunite with the character via mods on PC, as a very dedicated group have both implemented the character and drenched the entire game's user interface in pink. The end result is lovely. 

Meanwhile, developer Atlus is firing from all sides this year having just released Persona 3 Reload and published strategy gem Unicorn Overlord to rave reviews. Up next is the spruced-up version of Shin Megami Tensei 5 that practically doubles the original's already-mammoth playtime. And after that, the studio is gearing up to release one of those "completely new games" in the form of Metaphor Fantazio.

Waiting for Episode Aigis? Check out the other best JRPG games to sink your teeth into right now.