Atlus has now confirmed you will need to buy pieces of content you probably don't want if you wish to play the Episode Aigis DLC for Persona 3 Reload, as the expansion is locked behind the £28.99 / $34.99 Expansion Pass. It won't be up for purchase separately, with a PR representative telling Push Square "the three parts of the Expansion Pass will not be available separately, and only available as part of the full pass".
As such, to gain access to Episode Aigis in September, you'll need to buy the complete DLC package, which bundles in a musical track pack and additional costumes. The former launched yesterday and the latter is out in May, then Episode Aigis releases at some point in September 2024. It's generally standard procedure to allow DLC packs be available for purchase outside of a season pass, as was the case at Persona 3 Reload's launch when Atlus dropped a ton of day one DLC. However, that's not happening for Episode Aigis.
In a recent interview with Famitsu, it was claimed that Episode Aigis — which remakes post-game content The Answer from Persona 3 FES — was going to be part of the base game, but Atlus encountered issues during development. "We wanted to make it happen from the first drafts of P3R, as we felt that it would be essential to have the concluding arc if we were remaking Persona 3. Due to various circumstances, however, there were a lot of difficulties which had to be overcome in order to make the remake a reality, with challenges from the outset of the main P3R project."
However, based on the positive public reception to Persona 3 Reload, the team decided to push ahead on production of the expansion. "Deep down, I couldn’t just give up on it, so even while developing the main story I kept searching for ways to make it happen," said producer Kazuhisa Wada.
Comments 56
Just when you begin to think Atlus can't get any more anti-consumer than they already are, you get another revelation to prove you wrong. Unbelievable.
Well, this will go down well
Whole Episode Aigis saga is laughable.. it's like they are trying to provoke anger from every single one of their ex-fans. You have to admire the calamity..
Talk about stealing hearts, the irony, Atlus now looking like one of those bosses in P5 who saw people as ATM Machines.
I don't think that counts an expansion pass then, cuz it's just one expansion that they don't give you all at once, since you can't purchase the expansions individually... Pretty scummy move, ngl
This not only put me off from buying the DLC, it put me off from buying the game anytime soon.
lol wow what a way to crap on your fan base
Everyone seems to forget that we had to rebuy the whole game to get access to The Answer on PS2 back in the day. No other option back then. Odd how there weren’t “ANTI-CONSUMER!!!” cries back then…
I’m not saying Atlus is a paragon of virtue here, but P3R is amazing and…okay, I’m not HAPPY to but I’m CONTENT to give Atlus the money they’re asking for to get this content when the time comes. I’ve spent more for things that ended up not being worth it, and Atlus has a consistent track record there as far as I’m concerned.
Lol wouldn't expect anything less from scummy Atlus, don't worry though as next year you can buy the Royal Edition which comes bundled with the game, expansion pass and FES content.
So many other JRPGs, slimy Atlus don't deserve your money so just ignore them and play other games.
Lol I'm not gonna diss a developer thats made some of my favorite game experiences ever and while I didn't skip the game on purpose. I'm definitely glad by the time I get to it, it'll be on a sale for the whole package 😅
Yeah even I can't support this ***** practice. They can keep this DLC, I'll get it when it's heavily discounted and *****. I couldn't care less of the other two "expansion pass" DLC and just wanted to play The Answer.
What an absurd practice but not surprising from greedy ATLUS.
Won't help that this is apparently included on game pass either. Does feel like a slap in the face to long term Atlus / Persona supporters playing on Playstation
@Rob_230
The second they gave Xbox players both the Xbox One and Series X version for £59.99 but expected PS owners to pay £59.99 for a third time with no discounted rate or upgrade path, I decided not to support them going forward.
Atlus have made that decision easier and easier with each Persona related move.
What are the odds it discounted before the answer is released.
@Rob_230 That's the main reason I won't spend a penny on an Atlus game ever again, I've been buying their games since the Persona 3 on PS2 and that's including the dance and fighting spin offs and Persona 1/2 PSP ports. Playstation and its players basically made them who they are today and why the series is so popular so for them to screw us over like they have is unforgivable, they chose money over their loyal fans so going forward I choose to rent their games or buy second hand and not give them a penny.
@dskatter I think this time it's more about the straight up lying to the fans of the original. Alot of questions were asked about episode aigis and they stated that they were not going to release the expansion after release or had any plans of it in the future.
@UltimateOtaku91
I'm not bothered by the Game Pass thing because I wouldn't have played it on there anyway as I prefer actually buying games and JRPGs physically.
Atlus however have been utterly insane about how they've been pricing this game and how they've went about doing PS5 releases prior.
The fact that PS5 owners don't get a native PS5 version of Persona 3 Portable or 4 Golden is insane but they are more than happy to make a native Series X version? I know the improvements won't matter too much in the long run but PS owners rightly deserve the upgrade as well.
@Martijn87 Things are allowed to change. I can say I have no intention of doing something, see something that drastically changes my mind, and say “you know what, maybe I WILL do that after all!”
I definitely see both sides here, I just don’t have the level of pure outrage that the “I will never buy anything from Atlus again!!!!!” folks seem to maintain.
They've been doing stuff like this for quite a while now. With every new release they did something a little more egregious. Probably trying to feel out what they can get away with.
I'd say they are getting a little out of hand. This'll probably end in an outcry, a boycott, review bombing or the like soon. I can see them walking back certain future pricing models some time this or next year if this continues.
@dskatter
I refuse to support them again after the Persona 5 Royal PS5 edition nonsense and every single move they've made since has only reinforced that stance for me.
I play JRPGs primarily so I don't think Persona is even that great of a series and is possibly the most overrated one I can think of.
I do however enjoy Persona 3 enough that I would have broken that stance for one game because of how much I enjoyed that one but Atlus has made it very clear that they don't give a toss about certain players.
@dskatter This is simply a terrible, anti-consumer move that thoroughly deserves to be criticized. What happened in the past is no justification, nor is the quality of the base product.
@Ainu20 What specifically is anti-consumer here? Changing their mind about releasing extra content? Charging money for it? Both?
“Anti-consumer” gets bandied about so much that it’s lost a lot of meaning/impact for a good number of people.
Persona 6 Expansion pass will be available for purchase only if you purchased Persona 3 Reload along with its Expansion pass
The reissuing of definitive games with no upgrade path is quite annoying. Even the PS5 re-release of P5R with no upgrade path was disappointing. I'm sure this is an unpopular opinion, but this I'm less inclined to worry about.
At the very least, this is not something specific to Atlus. For example, I believe you had to buy the entire expansion pass for Xenoblade 3 Future Redeemed (which admittedly was a better value package than this pass, though only just).
Ultimately businesses exist to make money, and they need to do that in order to survive. As a fan of a series/developer it can be perhaps slightly annoying to pay a little more to gain access to the games you love, but the outright anger is misdirected.
@ShadowofTwilight Agree to disagree! I respect that stance, even if I don’t share it.
Remind me why do people like ATLUS again?
@dskatter I agree with you 100%. I'm personally not bothered by it as I don't like the original ending and have no intention of playing more of it, but I can understand the normal reactions ( not the outraged ones) regarding very fast change.
@dskatter this was my takeaway. Fes was also sold separately if I recall correctly. If they were asking 90 dollars then yeah, outrage deserved. But I dunno, sounds like it’s just another anger train to me. Could be avoided by announcing it as 39.99 without other dlc or expansion pass. Then it’s just an expansion.
@dskatter I thought that would've been obvious, I mean it's the entire subject of this article. The fact that they're only making it available through the expansion pass instead of as a separate purchase.
@ShadowofTwilight I still think the Microsoft deal with SEGA and the nature of Game Pass is the source of all this. It feels like the setup for Atlus releases for non-Game Pass members are to pay for Atlus games to be on Game Pass.
So like how the floodgates opening on XGS exclusives going multiplatform feels like Microsoft's way of making up for lost money from putting CoD day 1 on Game Pass.
@Keyblade-Dan
To be fair they do make arguably some of if not the best JRPGS on the market. Persona 3, 4, and 5 are legitimately some of my favorite games of all time.
That said though stuff like this are just a terrible look. There's no excuse here this is just not cool period. I will definitely be at least holding out for a sale if not possibly skip it all together which is quite disheartening as a fan.
@ShadowofTwilight It's not just the gamepass deal, it's the shift in marketing with xbox, the fact they skipped the PS5 versions of P4G and P3P yet the xbox had next gen versions, the fact that they are relying on playstation gamers to buy their games so they can afford to go into gamepass on the xbox side, the way they deal with dlc and expansions is getting worse and trying to force people to double dip full price for extra content and including a main expansion into a pass instead of letting us buy it cheaper on its own. Atlus have got way too cocky since Persona 5 and need a reality check that not all their loyal fans will put up with this BS.
It's those three people who just wanted to download the tracks that have to pay all that money that I feel sorry for.
Never played Persona but I've been getting into JRPGs more lately. I saw this game on sale a week or 2 ago and almost pulled the trigger.
I'm very glad I didn't. This is some anti-consumer BS. Also, I think the expansion pass is currently free on Game Pass which makes this all the more laughable.
So the game is £60 + £30 expansion,
Can pretty much pick up a second hand series S and GPU for a month and play it there!
This is laughably terrible but also just wait on a sale for it if the extra $15 is too much to justify for junk DLC.
Stay classy, Atlus.
Oh boy. That's below the belt.
What a fall from grace, once upon a time when you saw the Atlus logo you knew that it was an automatic day one. Now when I see the logo I roll my eyes and then whatever game it is I know I will get it in 1-2 years if they catch me in a good mood 🤷
Reminder that this will all be free for Xbox owners, you know the fanbase that didn't help them get where they are now. It wouldn't surprise me if at some point they decide to drop PlayStation (as a giant middle finger) and just focus on Xbox/Steam/Nintendo.
I bought this from Amazon recently and have just sent it back for a refund. Screw your anti-consumer practices.
I loved Persona 3 Reload; I will not be buying Episode Aigis if it is locked behind an expansion pass. Vote with your wallet.
Getting season pass as its worth the money. People exaggerate to much, its not like this is some woke Gaas game loaded with microtransactions. It's a full and complete remake of a very long and loved RPG and all they did is separate The Answer which is something people didn't seem to like much in FES version. Who cares.
Hahaha 🤣🤣 this was originally a PS2 game too, this is madness 😔
@Athrum not even for free on extra, smdh
@Zenos then you’re too far up Atlus’ ass to see sense.
This is a bare-bones remake, at best. The graphical overhaul and mechanics refinement is standard in remakes, most other remakes strive to conglomerate all their extra editions or versions into 1 (e.g. Mass Effect, Kingdom Hearts etc.). The remake was announced with the belief that it’ll at least try to bring in the extra content, and they haven’t even done that. Plus, according to leaks, this DLC has been in development for over a year already, there was no logic in locking it behind a DLC save for extra money. They’ve already found proof that the “hold off content” and “release it to reinvigorate” strategy works (Sonic Frontiers got a DLC that was basically the true ending, that was so poorly designed the reveal trailer a week before release had cut content), so they’re happy to try it out.
Even ignoring all those points, this is simply a rip-off. The DLC is being artificially inflated in price by means of music packs, when there’s little demand for that. Stupid ideologies like this is going to eventually lead to another mar,et crash, every little item is being monetized to the extreme.
That's sa hame. How long of a wait for the "bundled GOTY" edition? 2 years?
@DarkTron I disagree. Persona 3 remade up to Persona 5 standard is a fantastic remake. Put 120 hours into it so far and on second playthrough. How is that a bad deal? You guys complain far to much.
Edit: Mass effect never had a remake but instead a simple remaster.
Atlus get away with far too much. They sure do milk the hell out of the Persona series and the main SMT series to a lesser extent. They make fantastic games but they're always riddled with day one DLC's and re-releases to "finish" the experience.
I've bought nearly every re-release and spin off over the years because of FOMO but I'm starting to reach my limit. Square doesn't even milk FF7 this much.
Well this further validates my reason to wait and not buy at launch.
I knew they would pull BS like this, and I doubt this is the end.
I’m waiting for the fes edition years later
@dskatter Agreed, people are forgetting that FES was the second release. Every article I see only mentioned FES, and not vanilla. I'm just glad it's coming as DLC and not a whole new release.
@Olskeezy yeah, same — I borrowed P5R on PS4, and with these rereleases I was pretty interested in getting into the series,, but with so many non-definitive versions floating around it's completely killed my enthusiasm.
I just feel glad I've never played a Persona game before. The way Atlus are treated their fans is outright disgusting.
@Czar_Khastik
with the track record of ATLUS, I will only play P6 at least five years after its release.
It is not like before, we have so many good games, i couldn't even complete my backlog, so no rush into new games. I have patient to wait.
Yeah, I'll probably just wait until this dlc goes on discount, which never seems to take too long with atlus games.
Tap here to load 56 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...