Persona 3 Reload Episode Aigis -The Answer- preview: Amazing gameplay from a classic epilogue

Persona 3 Reload’s Episode Aigis -The Answer- is almost here, and we had a chance to go hands-on with it ahead of launch. Despite Persona 3 being one of my favorites in the series—and favorite JRPGs of all time—I’ve never played Episode Aigis. I didn’t have the opportunity to years ago. With that in mind, I was incredibly excited to see how it all began and play it for myself. We had access to two portions of the early game of this DLC.

The first part was the opening cutscenes and movies that set up the DLC in Persona 3 Reload. The second part was actual combat, in the dungeon Episode Aigis primarily takes place in Malebolge. Those who haven't beaten P3 or P3R can learn more about the ending.

This article won't spoil any of it directly. However, if you want to know if the DLC is going to be worth it, read on.

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What exactly is Persona 3 Reload Episode Aigis?

Mitsuru is the best—we aren't taking questions at this time (Image via Atlus)

Episode Aigis is the Persona 3 Reload Epilogue, taking place after the events of the game’s final encounter/cutscene. The party gets together one last time when they're set upon by a mysterious robot who seems remarkably similar to Aigis—Metis. While Aigis had no idea who Metis was, she would ultimately set them on course for one last, dangerous adventure.

What makes this so fantastic is many players have never played Episode Aigis before. It wasn’t in the American release of P3 FES, or P3P. It ultimately serves to show the fallout of what took place at the end of the base game and further explain the events that took place. It’s important for those who want to really understand the tragic events of Persona 3 Reload, and it will finally be available in its entirety in the West.

However, one thing that did admittedly frustrate me a little bit at first is that your levels and Persona do not carry over. I found that it made sense because you could easily outlevel or outpace the content by simply being powerful at the end of the game.

It's time to get the gang back together for one more hei...mission (Image via Atlus)

You’ll be given a party of characters with decent Persona and levels/gear. It will be up to you to make the best of them and survive the coming challenges. In a way, it’s a whole new playthrough of Persona 3 Reload, just with a set starting level.

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How’s the difficulty in Persona 3 Reload Episode Aigis?

As the new protagonist, Aigis has picked up a fascinating power; she too, can have more than one Persona (Image via Atlus)

There’s a lot of talk about difficulty when it comes to Episode Aigis. I’ve heard a lot of people say it was needlessly difficult and incredibly frustrating. Of course, not everyone agrees with that. As someone who casually plays and enjoys Persona as a franchise, I can tell you that it was not crazy difficult from the outset. The file we loaded was set to “Normal” difficulty, so there is a possibility of setting difficulty—I’ll check into this.

Anything that went wrong or poorly was typically a mistake I made in combat by using the wrong spell or forgetting something simple. I do imagine it will get more challenging further down the line, but through the first boss, I breezed through the content. With Aigis, Metis, Yukari, and Akihiko, nothing stood a chance.

I did take time to explore everywhere to get as many items, and as much exp as I possibly could, but grinding just wasn’t a thing that was possible during this preview session. I was able to get a few levels, but that was about it. From what we understand, the Episode Aigis DLC is the entire DLC from the original game in its entirety.

While I couldn't do a lot of grinding, it was worth it to pick fights in Persona 3 Reload Episode Aigis (Image via Atlus)

That means you’ve got 30-40 hours of content to play through. It’s also worth pointing out that I only played through a few hours of the game at the most, so it could wind up being much harder down the line.

It also helps that the Theurgy system returned in Persona 3 Reload Episode Aigis. This system allowed each character to essentially have a special combat power. Each character had their own, and they acted as a sort of finisher, or way to make challenging fights a bit less frustrating. This carries over into Episode Aigis, and it certainly was worth using in battle.

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Is Persona 3 Reload Episode Aigis worth buying?

If you're a fan of Persona that's never played this epilogue, you owe it to yourself to take the time in September (Image via Atlus)

This is a question I hear a lot because the DLC is admittedly not cheap. However, when I consider how long Episode Aigis is—at least 30 hours—and how much content it has, I would like to think it’s worth it. Visually, it’s stunning, and the voice work continues to impress me just as it did in the base game.

It’s an important part of the overall Persona 3 experience, and as someone who has never played through it in its entirety, I think it will be something players play, experience, and find that they are satisfied with. I know most of the story thanks to fandubs and videos on YouTube, but it’s another thing entirely to play through for myself. Fans will have access to Episode Aigis on September 10, 2024, when it releases for P3R.