October 2 saw the free demo for Persona 3 Reload land on Nintendo Switch, and the reactions… well, not quite in unison. The official Nintendo and Atlus West hype tweets went out over the project’s “captivating beginning,” wherein players are allowed to explore all the way into the boss fight with the first enemy. Full release is set for October 23rd, which is cool and all, but once you start scrolling down the comment replies, oh boy… it literally has that vibe about it:
Let’s start with the damny demo; that thing competes in the content game. I mean, very much packed. A player called Brandon (@disnerdpnw) said that it might have been 7 to 9 hours. Such a length for any legitimate chunk of demo time; it resembles a mini-game in itself. And that’s great for anyone that wants to get a little taste before committing. And I’ll tell you what-very quickly, performance issues began to stand up and be counted!
With various players’ states reporting the game running at 30fps and not cutting it, Chris (@ChrisMack32) put the words of “Should be 60 fps, it’s more than capable of that” in; and he isn’t actually the only one. Eldonchorizo_ (@Eldonchorizo_) took this a step further and said: “Add a 60FPS performance mode or no buy. This game isn’t even demanding. Graphics like this should not be limited to 30 FPS.” Yikes on that! Then there’s _almagesto_ who said, “Played the demo, and it runs really bad. No thx.” And performance is a huge deal for a lot of them.
There! In fact, there’s more. That physical versus digital drama isn’t creating much of a glad atmosphere. A few players appear to be quite angry about the game key card being used for a physical release. QuinnCheeky (@QuinnCheeky) ranted, “do not give a fk will not be buying i do not support game key card’s anti consumer bs.” And Hero190909 (@Hero190909) echoed that with “Game key. Pass. Would have doubled dipped.” Well, there’s one more thing to get people frustrated. So the whole bone of contention is that could actually want the game on the cartridge instead of a download code. That is a whole rumbling affair.
On the other hand, some folks are perplexed by what the grind is all about with it not being on Switch 1. WulfsigeAK (@WulfsigeAK) stated, “@Atlus_West put it on Switch 1 and I’ll buy it.” Fair comment, but, again, that is probably not going to happen since this is a Switch 2 title. However, it does point to a larger audience on the older hardware that feels a little left out.
But hey, it’s not all doom and gloom. Some visitors are loving the experience. Jesse8bit (@jesse8bit) said, “Woohooooooo!!!!!! This is going to be perfect for playing on the go!!!” So portable Persona is a big win for some. And Eliza_Artz (@Eliza_Artz) stated that she has not encountered any performance issues while in handheld mode so it is not entirely bad. But DiNegative feedback has been the loudest in these past hours.
There’s also the price chatter. PandaBoxxer (@PandaBoxxer) came in at a totally incorrect moment and said, “drop the price of your games. Donkey Kong DLC should be free,” okay not related at all but that’s how gamers are. And in comes the never-ending call for Persona 6 from NocturnalDN (@NocturnalDN) because, of course, that’s a thing.
Oh, and a player wanted to know the size of the file (@HarryLe77212177) since that is always a valid question when it comes to these RPG giants. And then Gabe Nwagbala (@Gabe_Nwa) says, “Do we get to carry our mode demo progress to the full game?” which is quite an important question for such a long demo.
So what’re we left with? Persona 3 Reload arrives on Switch 2 on October 23, while a massive demo is already out there giving a hefty taste of the game. But a large part of the player base seems quite displeased by the performance and the shelling. Crazy about how a demo announcement can draw so many hard and fast opinions! Well, that’s gaming communities for you: passionate, loud, and never shy about airing their opinions.
Maybe Atlus will address some of these issues with a day-one patch or something. MONDOPATRICK (@Mondopatrick657) was hoping that a patch for the frame rate and “chunky visuals” might arrive soon, so there is hope that the final product will be a smooth one. But for now, if you’ve got a Switch 2, the link for that demo download just might be in your top bookmarks. Be sure to try this one out—but be prepared for it maybe not running so well at the end. An alternate option for the purists who really want physical media would be to either see how that key card pans out or, as Sazupr (@Sazupr) suggests, go for PS5 since it’s cheaper over there and at least on actual discs.
Okay, so I think that wraps it up. Almost everything is ready for the release of Persona 3 Reload, but the release road trip has already been bumpy. This is exactly where the feelings Atlus was flung on. They make fantastic games, but sometimes, the business side gets messy. Still, it’s another opportunity for Persona fans to dive into one of the best JRPGs ever made. So that’s something we can smile about. That said, maybe keep your expectations regarding performance low until you get a peek at the finished product.
