Persona 3 Reload: Female Protagonist Still Unlikely

In a recent development update, Atlus producer Kazushi Wada has once again addressed the absence of the beloved female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable, known as Kotone Shiomi or Minako Arisato, in the newly released Persona 3 Reload. Dive into the details of his latest statements to understand why fans might not see her in this remake.

No FeMC for Persona 3 Reload

Adding Kotone/Minako Would be Too Costly and Time-Consuming

In a recent interview covered by PC Gamer, producer Kazushi Wada shared insights into the decision-making process behind the exclusion of the female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable in Persona 3 Reload. While planning the post-launch DLC, Episode Aigis - The Answer, the team at Atlus seriously considered including Kotone/Minako. However, due to significant development and budget constraints, they ultimately decided against it.

Persona 3 Reload, a full remake of the iconic 2006 JRPG, hit the shelves in February this year, bringing back many of the cherished features and mechanics. Yet, the omission of Kotone/Minako has left many fans disappointed. Despite the vocal support from the community, Wada emphasized that integrating the character was simply not feasible.

"The more we discussed it, the more unlikely it became," Wada stated. "The development time and costs would not have been manageable." Even the possibility of introducing her through a DLC was explored, but Wada concluded, "but since it is not possible for us to release P3R with the female protagonist in this window, we just can’t do it. I'm really sorry to all of the fans who were holding out hope, but it is likely never going to happen."

The popularity of the female protagonist in Persona 3 Portable led many fans to anticipate her inclusion in Persona 3 Reload, either at launch or as part of post-release content. However, Wada's recent comments have dashed those hopes. He had previously noted in an interview with Famitsu that adding her to the game would be far more challenging and costly than developing the Episode Aigis DLC.

"For a female protagonist, I am sorry to say that unfortunately, there is no possibility," Wada explained in the earlier interview. "The development time and cost would be several times longer than Episode Aigis, and the hurdles would be too high."