Persona 3 Reload does away with one of the original JRPG's most punishing features

gamesradar.com:

Persona 3 Reload will undo a pretty punishing feature from the original game.

Back in the original Persona 3, it was possible to 'break' Social Links, meaning they couldn't be progressed further. You'd only do this by ignoring a certain Social Link for a good while, causing it to 'reverse' (effectively level down), and then break completely, stopping you from seeing the rest of a bestie's storyline.

This system is somewhat going away in Persona 3 Reload. Famitsu has just posted an updated interview with game director Takuya Yamaguchi (as first reported by Noisy Pixel), where the director reveals the broken Social Links feature is being scrapped in the remake.

However, although you can no longer 'break' Social Links, you can still 'reverse' them, undoing the good time you've spent with a character. Atlus appears to be making neglecting a character much less punishing while making you still think about who you haven't spent time with recently if you don't want their level to 'reverse.'

Social Links are your overall bond level with a character if you don't know. You can level them up by spending time with NPCs at predetermined points, just like in later Persona games like P5, but all subsequent games following P3 scrapped both the 'break' and 'reverse' features for characters, letting you take your time with who you hang out with.

Persona 3 Reload launches next year in 2024, and as Atlus revealed earlier this year, the remake will have an entirely new English voice cast. From the sounds of previous dev comments, the Fatigue system might not return either, and unlike Social Link changes, where players don't seem fussed, they didn't sound happy with this indication.

Check out our new games 2023 guide for a look over all