Episode Aigis, the contentious DLC coming to Persona 3 Reload this September, goes to value gamers who personal the bottom recreation a reasonably penny. To be exact it’s going to value $35. That’s as a result of it’s going to solely be out there as a part of the sport’s Enlargement Go, which bundles three items of post-release DLC. Meaning it prices half the value of the bottom recreation. And whereas it is a transfer sure to polarize followers much more on Episode Aigis, it’s a choice that feels in keeping with Atlus’s established method to paid DLC.
Speaking to Push Sq., an PR consultant for Atlus mentioned that “the three components of the Enlargement Go won’t be out there individually.” These three components are Episode Aigis (a prolonged epilogue to the bottom recreation), in addition to music and costume packs themed to Persona 4 and 5. The worth of the Enlargement Go has already sparked criticism from followers, as a result of it costing half the value of the bottom recreation and never being included for many who bought the $100 Premium Version or $200 Aigis Version of the sport. The one strategy to get the Enlargement Go at no further value is to obtain it as a Game Pass subscriber, through which case you really personal it even when your subscription ends. The Steam web page for the Enlargement Go presently has largely detrimental opinions, though the primary wave of content material solely launched on March 12, with customers admonishing Atlus over the value.
The inclusion of Episode Aigis has struck a nerve for its personal causes. Episode Aigis is Reload’s model of The Reply, the epilogue to the bottom recreation initially included on the 2007 FES launch of Persona 3. Not providing followers the chance to buy Episode Aigis alone is simply one other approach Atlus is digging itself right into a gap with followers, because it reduces the selection to a binary purchase or don’t play the DLC in any respect. Lately Atlus has earned the ire of followers for its DLC practices on a number of events. I wrote at size about Soul Hackers 2’s day one DLC that added a “bonus” story enlargement that felt like a necessary piece of content material to fill out the empty sections of the sport. Persona 3 Reload’s Enlargement Go is the unlucky, however pure development of this method to DLC.
Within the lead as much as Reload’s launch, builders marketed the sport as a remake of the unique Persona 3. It could not embrace content material from the FES or PlayStation Transportable releases of Persona 3. That meant followers have been advised to not count on The Reply or the feminine protagonist. Persona collection normal producer Kazuhisa Wada even reassured audiences that Reload was a “full expertise,” only one month earlier than asserting Episode Aigis. Now, in any case these guarantees, Atlus is charging $35 extra to get entry to content material that in all probability ought to have been a part of the remake’s base launch.