Persona 3 Reload Social Links Will Not Break, But Reversals Can Still Happen

The Japanese outlet Famitsu recently posted an updated interview they conducted with Persona 3 Reload staff, including director Takuya Yamaguchi. He revealed that Social Links in this version of the game would not be breakable, but reversals would still be able to occur.

For those unaware, Persona 3 Social Links could entirely cease if you left them alone for long periods of time and made poor choices in crucial interactions. Greater leniency and eventual abandonment of the idea would occur in later Persona releases, but it was a memorable feature of the original Persona 3. Still, Social Link reversals will be able to happen in Reload, though it seems like they’ll be difficult to encounter unless you go out of your way to do so.

In case you missed it, check out our announcement coverage of Persona 3 Reload, comprising a trailer, screenshots, English voice actor information, and more.

Atlus also confirmed that Persona 3 Reload will receive special teasers on “each official full moon.”

• The producer clarified that the game will feature added main story content from Persona 3 FES but lack The Answer epilogue and the female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable.
• Staff confirmed that Tartatus will feature new elements, such as a dash function, to make exploration more enjoyable.
• Will feature new events to focus on characters who did not receive as much focus in the original game.
• Development Began in Late 2019
• Development for Reload is in its Final Stages; Will be a Deeper Dive, Not an Evolution
• New Commercial
• Implied Fatigue System Removal
• Every Social Link Rank Up Scene Voiced; Highest Amount of Voiced Lines in the Series
• Maxing All Social Links is Easier
• Fleshed-Out Tartarus Dialogue & Breakable Objects
• “Something” to Compensate for No Male Party Member Social Links
• Mitsuru, Fuuka & Akihiko Renders + Gameplay Trailer

The translated exchange revealing the absence of Broken Social Links and the return of the Reversals in Persona 3 Reload is viewable below via our team’s Ryuji:

Interviewer: […] Speaking of Social Links, there were elements such as “Reverse” and “Broken” (a system in which a player could fail to progress with a Social Link if they did not interact with a character or selected wrong answers entirely.)…

Yamaguchi: In [Persona 3 Reload], the “Broken” system has been removed. However, “Reverse” can still happen, though the conditions have been made severely less strict, so simply leaving a Social Link character alone will not cause it to Reverse, as it did in the original version.

The “Broken” state itself would only occur if something was already wrong in the original version, and I thought it would be too bad if a “Broken” outcome happened and the Social Link could no longer progress. Therefore, after much thought, I decided we should remove it entirely.